Sharp GR8465E

It's certainly not easy to reach into already saturated markets and offer a competitive product at roughly the same price as established giants. Take televisions for example; there is broadly space for LG and Samsung, and among gaming and media enthusiasts it's pretty much evenly split between the two, with a few outliers investing in a Sony Bravia, or perhaps a Hisense UX.

TCL, among others, has found favour on the more affordable stages of the ladder, and Sharp is now looking to do the same. Of course, they offer more expensive models, but here they also present a so-called "Gaming TV" called GR8465E, which at the time of writing is on offer for around £600, but which normally costs as much as £1,000. In comparison, you can get a Samsung S90D on offer, or even an LG B4 for that money. If nothing else, it's pretty clear with just a little searching that it's possible to get a decent OLED panel for the same money, but not at the aggressive cheaper offer we're seeing right now.

So what do you get for your money, no matter what you end up paying? This is a 4K QLED 144Hz TV, which offers AMD FreeSync, Dolby Vision IQ, eARC support, and Harman Kardon-optimised built-in speakers. Besides the fact that this is neither a QD-OLED nor just an OLED, these are premium specifications. It can achieve 450-500 NITS (our own tests actually show slightly higher broadly measured brightness of 519 NITS), which is honourable, but even OLED panels traditionally known for being dimmer like LG's B4 can achieve between 550 and 590 NITS, and Samsung's QLEDs can both peak and maintain much higher than that. It's not that the picture lacks depth, after all it's 12-bit via the aforementioned Vision IQ, and both HDR performance and motion are perfectly acceptable. The problem is that in games, 4K content or upscaled 1080p content, Sharp doesn't impress, and if you stumble upon it for £1,000, you can find infinitely better picture quality in either sharper Samsung models or LG OLED panels, that's just the undeniable truth.

Sharp is using the latest version of Google TV, and it works just fine. The suite mirrors the latest Google TV and naturally offers a spacious overview, an excellent user interface, and responsive controls, though in our experience, Google's OS is so heavy that TVs get slower and faster over time, but we can't definitively state that here. The remote control is also minimalistic and well-functioning, and the built-in solar panel is actually a good idea that ensures you don't have to charge it or change batteries.

Built and tuned by Harman Kardon, the built-in speakers are compatible with AQUOS Wireless Surround, which you can purchase without having to use a soundbar as a centre, and supports both Dolby Atmos and DTS:X. However, the result is the same; they're fine, but easily beaten by even the cheapest soundbar. There's simply no room for speakers of any value with so little room in the thickness, and the Harman Kardon partnership doesn't do much for the experience.

At £600, the Sharp GR8465E is not a bad deal at all, not even close. No flagships from either Samsung or LG creep down that far, and considering the gaming-specific features, the lightweight Google software, and the sharpness and brightness of the panel, it's an appropriate price. But at full price? No, it's infinitely hard to recommend as it competes quite directly with far, far better options.