Philips 55PUS8807 review: is this 4K TV truly 'The One'?

Philips has scored something of a marketing bullseye with The One, its premium mid-range LED LCD TV offering. Now in its fourth generation, the 8807 combines a dynamic UHD picture performance, ideal for bright room viewing conditions, universal high dynamic range (HDR) compliance, and a host of new gaming features.

That includes a dedicated Games Bar to keep you in the loop when it comes to settings, plus 4K 120fps support. It’s smart too, built on the solid bedrock of Android 11 with voice assistance baked in.

So is there really any need to spend more on your next best TV? Our Philips PUS8807 TV review gets into all the details you need know about...

Philips 8807 review: Price and availability

Philips has made sure there’s One for everyone (see what we did there?). This 8 Series set is available in 43-, 50-, 55-, 75-, and 86-inch screen sizes. It's the 55-incher on review here, known as the 55PUS8807/12 in the UK.

There’s no US equivalent to the 8807 as the licence to produce Philips TVs in the States is held by Funai. This model is made by TP Vision.

Prices are competitive. You'll be able to see the latest pricing for the 55-inch model in the shopping widget embedded below, but at the time of writing it's £699 at Currys.

Philips 55PUS8807 review:  Features & what's new 

There’s no shortage of niceties on the feature roster. Ambilight, Philips' celebrated mood lighting system, is present in three-sided form. It features the usual Follow Video, Follow Audio and flat colour wash modes to dynamically spill light beyond the screen onto surrounding walls.

The smart platform in use here is Android 11. With a broad selection of streaming apps, as well as Google Assistant support, it’s easy to live with. Mainstream channel catch-up is covered by Freeview Play, which also opens the doors to hours of free boxset material. 

New this season is Aurora, an ambient viewing option. Aurora comes with a number of gratis animations, including jellyfish, clocks, hearts and suchlike.  

Console owners will be more interested in a new Game Bar interface, accessible via an awkward long press on the menu button. As we’ve seen on rival game-centric control systems, this dedicated interface bar flags up frame rate, input lag level, HDR and colour space info. 

To further appeal, the 8807 is AMD Freesync Premium and Nvidia G-Sync certified. Two of its four HDMI inputs are 120fps capable. Latency is good enough: we measured 16.6ms input lag in Game Mode (at 1080/60).

Philips PUS8807 review: Images and sound 

The 8807 is a great bright-room TV. Images have high average brightness, high impact colour and punchy contrast. The processing engine responsible is Philips' fifth-gen P5 picture engine.  

The set does a surprisingly good job with near-black detail, not usually a strong point for LED TVs; it’s also pleasing cinematic, provided you watch using the set’s Movie motion style setting.

HDR support is universal. There’s Dolby Vision, HLG and regular HDR10, while HDR10+ Adaptive allows the screen to react and adjust image parameters based on Ambient light conditions.  

Its actual HDR performance is about average for this calibre of screen; we measured peak brightness at 520 nits. This effectively means that the set has the range to punch out fine specular details, like fireworks, headlights in the dark and so on, bringing depth to its images. But it's not as bright as the top-end sets elsewhere on the market.

Picture modes comprise Personal, Vivid, Natural, Eco, Movie, and Expert 1 and 2; there's also a Calman calibration option. With HDR content, you get HDR variations.

On the 8807, Eco mode looks overly dull, far better is the default Natural. Contrary to popular opinion, the Vivid setting is also a likely crowd pleaser, although there’s no question that it oversaturates.  

The sound system on the 8807 is a cut above typically thin flatscreen fare, but you’ll still likely want to invest in the best soundbar to complement the set. Its two 10W stereo output is OK for casual viewing, but given it offers Dolby Atmos pass-through, it makes sense to plan for an external soundbar or AV system capable of more immersive grunt.

You can also use the TV’s speakers as a centre in a multi-speaker home cinema setup, if that appeals.  And the 8807 is DTS Play-Fi enabled, which means it will work as part of a whole home audio system with other DTS Play-Fi kit, grouping with compatible Play-Fi speakers.

Philips 55PUS8807 review: Design & usability 

When it comes to cosmetics, this One looks a lot like the last, um, One – but that’s no bad thing. The set has an ultra-slim silver grey bezel, and comes with a matching central pedestal stand. All very neat.

The supplied remote control is similarly slim and silvery, with dedicated buttons for Prime Video, Netflix, Rakuten TV, and the Google Play app store. 

Connectivity comprises four HDMI inputs, two of which are 4K 120fps capable. All HDMI ports support ARC, with one eARC enabled. There’s also a digital optical audio output, two USB ports, and Ethernet to support Wi-Fi. The set has two tuners, one for terrestrial Freeview Play, the other satellite.

Philips 8807 review: Verdict 

Philips The One, also known as the PUS8807, is designed for broad appeal – and it certainly fulfils the brief. This model is better value than its predecessor (and many competitors), thanks to the provision of high frame-rate (HFR) compatible HDMI inputs and Philips' handy new Game Bar menu, making it a good option if you own a next-gen console.

The PUS8807 also impresses as an everyday telly for use in bright-room conditions. This is territory dominated by LG and Samsung, but Philips clearly wants in on the mainstream action. We think The One is well worth shortlisting, especially given its keen price and additional perk of three-sided Ambilight. 

Also consider

Fancy switching things up and going with a year-older OLED panel? LG's C1, in its 48-inch scale, is a little smaller and doesn't offer Ambilight, but its picture performance is a step above for hardly any more cash. Well worth it if you're contemplating the OLED option!