LG 55EA9800 Curved OLED TV: Pricing
Updated 27/4/14 to reflect new pricing
When it first launched in Australia, the LG 55EA9800 Curved OLED TV had an RRP of $11,999. There aren’t many products that actively scare me when I’m taking them out of the box, but I’ve got to admit that this was one of them.
Twelve grand is an exceptional quantity to spend on a television set, especially one that’s only 1080p-capable.
Since then, under pressure from other 4K panels and newer OLED panels, LG’s dropped the asking price to just $5,999.
LG 55EA9800 Curved OLED TV: Fat Duck verdict
I’ve been testing the LG 55EA9800 Curved OLED TV pretty much non-stop over the past three days — it turns out there are some perks in this job if you don’t mind being penniless, after all — and I’ve tried to keep my focus on answering the question as to whether it’s worth buying.
On the one hand, the LG 55EA9800 Curved OLED TV delivers pictures of stunning clarity within a frame that’s simply the best on the market. Yes, Samsung has its own curved OLED, but having looked over both, I prefer the frameless look of the LG. If you bought the LG 55EA9800 Curved OLED TV, it should give you many happy years of high quality viewing.
When I first wrote up the LG 55EA9800 Curved OLED TV, I noted that on the other hand, you’d pay too much for it.
Really quite a bit too much for it, considering that 4K panels are dropping in price, and that’s a feature that this particular panel will never offer, but its descendants almost certainly will.
This is the very definition of a first generation, early adopter product, as well as something designed to “sell” LG as a maker of quality products. By the theory, if you liked this — and I do — you’re more likely to think “LG” even across lower price tier television sets. The odds are high that you can’t afford it. I know I can’t, even though it’s exceptionally lust-worthy.
What then, of the new price? Of course, it’s more “affordable”, because it’s essentially dropped half of its asking price in just over six months. That’s very much the nature of technology, especially at the effective bleeding edge.
So it might be “affordable”, but is that the same thing as “worth it”? I’m still not entirely convinced, and it’s oddly enough the price drop that makes me cautious. $5,999 is still a lot of coin to drop on a TV set, and while the LG 55EA9800 Curved OLED TV is very fine, this year’s newer models are even better, so if you’re still in the higher-tier price bracket for TVs, I’d be looking there. If you’re still in the budget space, it’s still sitting essentially out of reach, even though it is quite pretty.