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The 65X8505C isn't done any favours in this section by its use of the new Android TV platform.
For even if you actually like having access to hundreds of apps - many of them games right now - there are considerable issues with the Android TV menus. The recommendations system doesn't work very well, the ordering of the 'shelves' of content links seems poorly thought through, and the level of customisation on offer is laughable.
Worse, Android TV is prone to crashing and can sometimes run sluggishly - as well as appearing to cause response speed issues with the 65X8505C's general operating menus.
This means that even if you opt to ignore Android TV as much as possible, Android still affects your user experience to some degree.
One good point about the 65X8505C's operating system, though, is the unusual but elegant and clear way it divides up its picture calibration options.
Sound
Having been well and truly spoilt by the stunning sound from Sony's 75X9405C, it's hard not to feel disappointed by the much more mainstream sound delivered by the 65X8505C.
Trying to stay objective about it in the context of the newer set's skinnier design, it's good to hear voices sounding quite natural and rounded for the most part; audio details appearing with reasonable clarity; and the soundstage achieving a fraction more bass than might have been expected from the physical space on offer to the 65X8505C's speakers.
However, while the mid-range doesn't appear too crowded at reasonably low volumes, things start to sound strained and even outright distorted and 'buzzy' if you push the volume to the sort of levels you might want to when watching an action movie (assuming you don't have any close neighbours to worry about).
Value
The 65X8505C doesn't feel expensive at £2,400 for a 65-inch 4K UHD TV equipped with the high level of picture specification it carries.
In an ideal world it might have been nice to find HDR support or maybe even direct LED backlighting at the near £2,500 level of the market, but so long as you're careful with how you set its pictures up it's hard to imagine anyone who buys a 65X8505C feeling shortchanged.
Unless, perhaps, they end up falling on the 'hate' side of Android TV's apparent love it or hate it status.
