In the grand scheme of things, most TVs sound pants.
Manufacturers do what they can with clever processing, but there's really no compensating for shifting air when it comes to making decent sound, and small speakers will always struggle to shift big air.
One manufacturer has a special solution to all of this, at least when it comes to OLEDs: Sony uses actuators that actually vibrate the OLED panel itself, essentially turning it into one big speaker.
Before you ask, no, you can't see the panel vibrating, and what you get in terms of sound is a really big (by TV standards), open, direct and detailed performance. There's not a great deal of bass depth, despite the presence of two accompanying integrated subwoofers, but the Bravia 8 II is nevertheless the benchmark for TV sound in 2025.
Well, it was.
Philips has taken a different approach to Sony and its other rivals. Instead of trying to come up with creative ways to make tiny, hidden speakers sound good, it's partnered with British hi-fi stalwart Bowers & Wilkins, which has built a sound system for the new OLED910 that you can see, and that actually adds to the TV's visual appeal.
This isn't a new initiative – the Philips/B&W partnership goes back a few years and several models – but the OLED910 is the most effective implementation of it so far.
This is a mild refinement of the sound system that was developed for the OLED909, which is no great surprise, as that was a near-perfect blend of form and function.
It involves a speaker bar that is attached to the bottom of the TV's screen. If that sounds ungainly, the opposite is true: the bar is slim, rounded and covered in Kvadrat fabric, and it softens and enhances the appearance of the TV, rather than detracts from it.
Within that stylish bar are nestled three sound channels (for left, right and centre), each one consisting of two 30x50mm midrange drivers, a single titanium dome tweeter, and a Nautilus tube.
There's a subwoofer mounted to the back of the TV's chassis, too, resulting in a 3.1-channel system with 81W of claimed power.
None of that would matter if the sound was poor, but I wouldn't be harping on about it if that were the case.
No, the OLED910 sounds excellent for a TV. B&W's hi-fi heritage is evident in the detail, dynamics and rhythmic precision of the delivery. Voices sound more human and evocative as a result, soundtracks deliver the drama they're designed to, and action scenes have punch and excitement.
There's plenty of spaciousness to proceedings, too, with Dolby Atmos soundtracks stretching far to the sides and above the TV, and effects placed precisely within the wall of sound.
And there's plenty of bass, too. It could be a little tighter, but the OLED910 reaches depths that the Sony Bravia 8 II won't dare dive to, and completely avoids the distortion that is the bane of flagship sets from the likes of LG and Samsung.
And, if you want to add some serious bass, the OLED910 actually has an old-school subwoofer output among its array of inputs and outputs, so you can add any traditional sub that you fancy.
To qualify all of this, I'm not saying that the OLED910 sounds amazing in an ultimate sense.
A dedicated audio system is absolutely the way to go if you want the sound to match the excellent picture quality, but you will need to go for a soundbar in the region of the Sonos Arc Ultra for the extra component to be worthwhile, whereas most TVs can be substantially sonically improved by a Sonos Beam Gen 2.
But I'm very aware that for many people, the idea of adding an extra component (even a stylish soundbar) to their set-up is an absolute no-no. For those people, there's a new best-sounding TV in town, and it's the Philips OLED910.
MORE:
Read the full Philips OLED910 review
And here's our Sony Bravia 8 II review
Here are all the best TVs you can buy right now
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