Philips OLED706 4K Android TV supports 120Hz and variable refresh rate, priced from RM8,999

Philips has been actively launching new TVs in Malaysia and the latest edition to its line-up is the Philips OLED706 4K Ultra HD OLED Android TV. This model sits just below Philips’ flagship OLED+ 936 TV. The OLED706 model – for short – comes in 55” and 65” sizes, but apart from that, both screen sizes share the same specifications and features.

The OLED706 has Philips’ understated design language with thin metal bezels and little fanfare. Being a high-end model, it comes with aluminium stands, but the stand does not lift the TV high off the ground. So placing a soundbar without blocking content at the bottom of the screen will be a challenge. The best solution would be to wall mount the TV.

As suggested by the name, the OLED706 is powered by the Android 10 (Q) operating system, giving you access to the Google Play store and its large curation of video and music streaming apps. You also get 32GB of storage which is more than enough for video and streaming apps. The TV remote also has an upmarket feel and has a built-in microphone for interacting with Google Assistant for voice commands.

Displaying your content is a 4K OLED panel powered by a quad-core processor with Philips’ P5 Perfect Picture Engine for image processing. I have not consumed content on a Philips TV that uses this image processor, so I can’t comment on the image quality. That said, it should at the very least, output deep blacks with punchy and vibrant colours given that it’s a modern OLED panel.

All the major HRD standards like HDR10, HDR 10+, HLG and Dolby Vision are supported. However, there is no brightness information given by Philips, so I can’t guess the quality of HDR contents. Furthermore, it doesn’t have the popular Filmmaker Mode preset which follows the guidelines set by The Ultra High Definition Alliance. What it essentially does is disables all post-processing of the TV and gives you a picture that is the way the filmmakers intended.

However, if you’ve been shopping around for an OLED TV for your gaming setup, be it PC or console gaming, the OLED706 has all the bases covered. Firstly, 4K at 120Hz support is here for high framerate gaming. This is native support for 120Hz refresh rate and not upscaled from 60Hz using Motion Estimation and Motion Compensation (MEMC) like on the Xiaomi Mi TV Q1. There are a handful of console games that can actually hit 120fps, but on a PC, it’s much more attainable.

But, what will interest every gamer is that TV supports auto low latency mode (ALLM) and variable refresh rate (VRR) support. ALLM will automatically switch your TV to game mode to reduce input lag. On the other hand, VRR will prevent screen tearing by constantly matching the refresh rate of the TV to your gaming device.

For audio, the OLED706 comes with two, 10W speakers and a 30W subwoofer to form a 2.1 speaker configuration. Philips claims it’s capable of reproducing Dolby Atmos audio, but this is just marketing fluff as I’ve seen soundbars with dedicated Atmos channels struggle to reproduce the sound. That said, the 30W subwoofer should help reproduce the rumbles of the lower frequency range. But if you value the audio experience, you should be looking at a premium soundbar or a dedicated home theatre system to get the full Dolby Atmos audio.

One feature that Philips is heavily advertising is its Ambilight system, which is essentially RGB lights that you might have seen on gaming monitors. The Ambilight software will analyse the colours being displayed on the screen and duplicate them using the RGB lighting on the wall behind the TV.

Lastly, let’s take a look at the connectivity options you get with the Philips OLED706. There are 4 HDMI ports that, according to Philips, are all capable of audio return channel (ARC). HDMI 2.1 standard is only available on HDMI 1 and 2, while only HDMI 2 is the dedicated enhanced audio return channel (eARC).

Moving on there are 3 USB ports and since Philips does not explicitly say which version, it’s safe to assume they are USB 2.0 ports. You will also find a S/PDIF and ethernet port, along with a 3.5mm headphone jack. Wi-Fi ac and Bluetooth 5.0 radios are available for wireless connectivity.

So how much will the Philips OLED706 4K Ultra HD OLED Android TV set you back? Well, Philips is having a special launch promo price in Malaysia so you can get the TV at:

• 55” OLED706 4K Ultra HD OLED Android TV (55OLED706) — RM8,999 RM7,999
• 65” OLED706 4K Ultra HD OLED Android TV (65OLED706) — RM11,999 RM9,999

At the time of writing, the promo price has not been reflected on Philips’ official Shopee store. If you rather buy the TV from a retail store, you can head on over to philips.com.my to locate a partner store.

Philips also has a range of 4K LCD TV that also support gaming features like VRR and ALLM which come at a lower price point. The Philips 8500 series starts from RM3,299 for a 50” size and shares the same P5 Perfect Picture Engine, VRR, ALLM.

If your priority is a large screen size on a budget, then you can consider the Philips 7000 series, specifically the 7906. You can get a 70” 4K panel for RM5,499, but you do sacrifice some picture quality and gaming features like VRR support.