As per tradition, the EISA Awards have been announced a few weeks ahead of the IFA 2018 show in Berlin. This year, LG wins in ‘Best Premium OLED TV’, whereas Samsung takes home ‘Best Premium LCD TV’. There are no TV awards for Sony and Panasonic.
EISA Awards 2018-19
Once again, the EISA committee has introduced new categories for TV awards. All major manufacturers get a slice of the pie but Philips and LG are the big winners with two TV awards each.
This year, EISA has introduced awards for ‘Best Artificial Intelligence TV’ and ‘Best Monitor Innovation’. The former goes to LG’s flagship LCD TV, which has the exact same “AI” features as all of LG’s OLED TVs. The latter goes to Sharp’s 8K display that lacks the crucial HDMI 2.1 port. It requires four HDMI 2.0 cables to receive an 8K video signal but of course there are no consumer devices to accommodate that.
EISA has abandoned the category for ’Best Smart TV’. Most TVs today come equipped with built-in app in some form or another but consumers prefer external media boxes for video streaming, according to analyst company Conviva.
Also read: List: The best TVs (review scores)
Here is the full list.
EISA Awards 2018-19 – Home Theatre Display & Video
| Best Buy OLED TV: | Philips 55OLED803 |
| Best Buy LCD TV: | TCL 55DC760 |
| Premium OLED TV: | LG OLED65E8 |
| Premium LCD TV: | Samsung 65Q9FN |
| Best Home Theatre TV: | Philips 65OLED903 |
| Best Artificial Intelligence TV: | LG 65SK9500 |
| Best Monitor Innovation: | Sharp 70X500 |
| Best Buy UHD Blu-ray: | Sony UBP-X700 |
| Best High-end UHD Blu-ray: | Panasonic DP-UB9000 |
| Best Premium Projector: | Sony VPL-VW760ES |
| Best Buy Projector: | BenQ W1700 |
EISA Awards 2018-19 – Home Theatre Audio
| Best Slim Installation Component: | Morel Virtus Nano Integra 602 & SoundWall PowerSlim PMC600 |
| Best Home Theatre Subwoofer: | SVS SB-4000 |
| Best Buy Soundbar: | Polk Audio MagniFi Max |
| Best soundbar: | LG SK10Y |
| Best Buy Home Theatre Speaker System: | Jamo S 809 HCS / S 810 SUB / S 8 ATM |
| Best Home Theatre In-wall Speaker: | Focal 300IWLCR6 / 300IW6 |
| Best Home Theatre Speaker System: | Kef Q Series |
| Best Home Theatre Receiver: | Pioneer VSX-933 |
| Best Home Theatre Amplifier: | Denon AVC-X8500H |
EISA Awards 2018-19 – Hi-Fi
| Best Hi-Fi Innovation | Micromega M-One M-150 |
| Best High-End Headphone | Focal Clear |
| Best Headphone | Sennheiser HD 660 S |
| Best Smart Loudspeaker | Harman Kardon Citation 500 |
| Best Best Buy Loudspeaker | Q Acoustics 3050i |
| Best Loudspeaker | ELAC Adante AS-61 |
| Best Turntable | Technics SL-1200GR |
| Best DAC | Chord Electronics Hugo 2 |
| Best Streamer | Pro-Ject Stream Box S2 Ultra |
| Best High-end Amplifier | NAD M32 |
| Best Best Buy Amplifier | Pioneer A-40AE |
| Best Amplifier | Primare L15 Prisma |
| Best Stereo Receiver | Yamaha R-N803D |
| Best Stereo System | Marantz ND8006/PM8006 |
| Best Wireless System | DALI Callisto 6C & Sound Hub |
| Best All-In-One System | Naim Audio Uniti Atom |
| Best Compact Music System | Denon CEOL N10 |
| Best Analogue Music System | Pro-Ject Juke Box S2 |
| Best Portable DAC/Headphone Amp. | iFi Audio xDSD |
EISA is also handing out awards to cameras, mobile devices, and other types of products. See all of them at eisa.eu. Last year’s awards can be found here.
