Sony’s beautiful OLED 4K TVs launch in April starting at $5,000

Sony’s beautiful OLED 4K HDR TVs, among the standouts of this year’s CES, will launch in April for prices starting at $4,999.99 for the 55-inch model. Preorders begin today. Aside from the centerpiece gorgeous OLED panel (almost certainly sourced from LG), the other special thing about the A1E lineup is the way these sets deliver audio. Sony calls it Acoustic Surface sound system; in short, sound seems to emanate directly from the display itself rather than traditional speakers build into the sides or underneath the screen.

Around back is the TV’s easel (there’s no regular stand that attaches to the bottom) that contains a subwoofer and all ports / cable management. Four HDMI, if you’re counting. The easel can be folded in flush against the TV for wall mounting.

The A1E OLED TVs support Dolby Vision, HDR10, and HLG, so you’re pretty well covered for HDR content. And what separates these TVs from existing (and very well-regarded) OLED sets from LG, according to Sony, is their processing engine. Sony’s “4K HDR Processor X1 Extreme” engine can do a better job making 4K content shine — something the company demonstrated in closed-door comparisons at CES.

As for software, you’re getting the usual Android TV experience, but now with Google Assistant added on top to make finding things to watch a little quicker.

The 55- and 65-inch ($6,499.99) models are both now available for preorder at Amazon and Best Buy and will ship in April. A larger 77-inch A1E OLED will launch later, and pricing on that beast is still to come.