Bang & Olufsen BeoVision 4-85 review

Spruce-up your yacht or penthouse flat with the last word in home cinema style

BeoVision 4-85
Expensive and exceptionally well engineered, this TV is one for the super rich

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BeoVision 4-85

Although it's always been a pricey brand, the last four or five years has seen the Danish brand issue TVs that haven't been sufficiently different to mass-market propositions to get anyone very excited.
That all changes with the BeoVision 4-85.

We liked:

Contrast, colour and sheer detail are the picture highlights, but this TV goes way beyond its great 3D and 2D work. The robotic camera, home automation options and speaker opportunities are excellent, as is the touchscreen remote and iPhone app, while the motorised stand does nothing to lower our expectations. The choice of plasma when LED-backlighting is so well marketed is a shrewd, if risky move – and absolutely pivotal to its success.

We disliked:

The constant piling-on of costs – for the remote, surround sound decoder, speakers, stand and even delivery charges – might begin to annoy even those with vast resources. We're also rather surprised there's no online dimension whatsoever, while the lack of a Beo6 touchscreen remote as a default, included option is a shame.

Final verdict:

Incredibly expensive and aimed at money-no-object types, the BeoVision 4-85 sees a return to form. Bang & Olufsen's engineers have sensibly built the swish user experience around a cutting-edge plasma panel that excels with all sources.

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Jamie Carter

Jamie is a freelance tech, travel and space journalist based in the UK. He’s been writing regularly for Techradar since it was launched in 2008 and also writes regularly for Forbes, The Telegraph, the South China Morning Post, Sky & Telescope and the Sky At Night magazine as well as other Future titles T3, Digital Camera World, All About Space and Space.com. He also edits two of his own websites, TravGear.com and WhenIsTheNextEclipse.com that reflect his obsession with travel gear and solar eclipse travel. He is the author of A Stargazing Program For Beginners (Springer, 2015),