Sony X900H 65 inch TV 4K Ultra HD Smart LED reviews

This midpriced TV outdoes the TCL and Vizio with superior connections for next-gen consoles and over-the-air TV. The XBR-X900H is that the best-performing midpriced Sony TV I’ve tested in years, with excellent contrast and brightness, accurate color and many of punch with HDR. increase that a solid smart TV system, sleek styling and cutting-edge features and you have got an excellent television for anyone who values Sony’s brand but doesn’t want to cough up for one among its OLED TVs. Find more in Sony X900H 65 Inch TV 4K Ultra HD Smart LED Reviews.

Sony X900H 65 Inch TV 4K Ultra HD Smart LED full Reviews

The key to the present TV’s image quality, like all LCD-based sets that perform well in my side-by-side tests, is well implemented full-array local dimming. It improves black levels and contrast by illuminating different areas of the screen separately as required . In some crucial ways, like reducing stray illumination with HDR, the X900H beat the similarly equipped TCL 6-Series in those tests, but in other ways the TCL won out, with superior brightness and contrast overall. The Sony also costs quite the TCL, so it isn’t my top recommendation for people that want the simplest image quality for the cash .

There are many good reasons to settle on the Sony X900H instead, however. the primary is superior connectivity: Unlike the TCL, it’s compatible with the highest-quality 4K/120Hz video from the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5, and in contrast to any TV at this price it also features a built-in Next Gen TV tuner for upcoming ATSC 3.0 broadcasts. The Sony is additionally available during a massive 85-inch size, something not offered by TCL or Hisense. and perhaps Sony’s brand cachet is vital to you — but you do not want to throw down even more for a FALD-equipped Samsung just like the Q80T. If that or any of the opposite reasons above appeal to you, the X900H should get on your list .

A couple of subtle touches separate the X900H from other big-screen, thin-frame TVs available today. there is a line of silver metallic finishing round the extreme edge on all four sides, matching the silver-colored stand legs. Those legs are thinner than usual but feel plenty solid, and that i appreciated that they are metal and not plastic.

A look round the sides finds holes for Sony’s unusual speaker array, and therefore the bottom has bass ports. Both are invisible from the quality seating position but contribute to improved sound, consistent with Sony. i do not test audio quality for CNET TV reviews, but don’t expect miracles here — any decent soundbar will likely outperform the X900H’s built-in audio by a mile.

The remote is old-school Sony: way too many buttons, most of which you’ll never use. I prefer the sleeker, simpler clickers of Samsung and Roku, also because the motion-infused wands of LG.

Android TV: No Google TV yet, but still solid

Google recently debuted a replacement smart TV system called Google TV, but currently it’s only available within the new Chromecast. Sony says its 2021 TVs will launch with Google TV which it’ll share details on current and older models (like the X900H) soon. Meanwhile the present version, called Android TV, still performs well. Apps launched quickly, I zipped around thumbnails and navigation screens with ease, and response times generally were on par with Roku, Samsung and LG TVs.

Only Roku has as many apps as Android TV, and it lacks the voice power of Google Assistant. Roku’s search is best , however. LG has Assistant, also as Alexa, but its app selection falls short. The X900H’s array of Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos apps is solid too: Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney Plus, Vudu and Fandango Now support both, Google Play Movies supports Vision (but not Atmos) and Tidal supports Atmos.

Android TV’s menus are perfectly usable, if almost as evolved as Google TV. the house page is clean and straightforward , with favorite apps grouped at the highest for straightforward access during a customizable bar and clear routes to urge more apps, search and more. New for 2020, you’ll customize the input menu, and therefore the TV settings menus have clear explanations of the consequences of various adjustments, complete with illustrations.

I did experience some problems. There’s quite few annoying pop-ups and notifications on the house page. you cannot customize the highest section or what appears in each row, so a screen mostly filled with clutter you do not care about is inevitable. Wi-Fi was also unstable on my review sample. a few of times i used to be greeted with a pop-up alert saying Wi-Fi was disconnected. the sole way I could turn it back on was to unplug the TV and plug it back in. I asked Sony about the difficulty and a spokesperson told me it plans to issue a software update to affect the difficulty — no word yet on timing.

Assistant on TVs works well. Commands are transcribed on-screen, along side suggestions for follow-up commands. The X900H lacks the far-field mic found on last year’s version, which may be a bummer, but talking into the remote worked fine. i used to be ready to launch apps, perform searches, mute and alter volume, tell it to “play cat videos on YouTube,” get the weather, set timers then on.

It wasn’t without typical Google Assistant wonkiness however. Once I asked, “What’s the newest news?” and an account login page appeared, and once I clicked through a YouTube channel did not load, complete with a “Something went wrong” popup, a blank screen and a spinning progress indicator.

You can link the Sony TV with Google Nest Home or Amazon Alexa speakers for hands-free action. The X900H allows you to use your phone to cast apps via its built-in Google Cast functionality, which works a bit like a Chromecast, and also supports Apple’s AirPlay 2 and HomeKit compatibility. AirPlay 2 lets the TV function as a display for TV shows, movies, music, photos and sites with an iPhone, iPad or Mac because the controller. Unlike many other TVs, however, this Sony lacks the complete Apple TV app.

The best picture-enhancing extra on the X900H is full-array local dimming. Unlike Vizio, Hisense or TCL, Sony doesn’t disclose the amount of dimming zones on its TVs, and while more zones generally equate to raised performance, that’s not always the case.

Other picture-centric extras include a native 120Hz refresh rate, a notable improvement on paper over the fake 120Hz refresh rates (they’re actually 60Hz native) found on some TVs. The X-Motion Clarity mode that debuted in 2018 is additionally on board. It boosts motion resolution by applying black frame insertion only where it’s needed on the screen, which is claimed to eliminate the sparkle and dimness evinced by similar modes in past sets. See the image quality section for more.

Unlike Samsung, TCL and Vizio, Sony doesn’t use quantum dots, so its HDR color gamut isn’t as wide. additionally to plain HDR10, the X900H supports the Dolby Vision HDR format, unlike Samsung.

Specs

• 011-sony-xbr-65x900h
• David Katzmaier
• 4x HDMI inputs
• 3x USB ports
• Composite video input
• Ethernet (LAN) port
• Optical digital audio output
• 1x headphone/subwoofer audio output
• 1x RF (antenna) input
• RS-232 port (minijack)

The X900H has a number of the foremost capable inputs of any 4K TV. It supports numerous HDMI 2.1 features, namely enhanced audio return channel (aka eARC), automatic low latency mode (ALLM, or auto game mode) and variable refresh rate. Its HDMI inputs can accept 4K resolution at 120 frames per second — a feature that sets it aside from many 2020 TVs just like the TCL 6-Series, especially for gamers who want to require advantage of high frame rates from an Xbox Series X or Sony PlayStation 5. A firmware update coming soon will enable variable refresh rate also .

It’s also the sole non-8K TV to feature a built-in ATSC 3.0 over-the-air tuner, which allows the X900H to receive NextGen TV broadcasts. Those are still only available during a tiny number of markets so I didn’t get the prospect to see out this feature, but it’s nice to understand that when the broadcasts become more widespread, Sony X900H owners won’t need to connect an external tuner box to observe .

Unlike many of Samsung’s sets, the Sony actually has an analog video input, albeit composite-only, and that i also appreciate having a headphone jack.

Picture quality comparisons

The Sony X900H is a superb performer overall, with a satisfying , balanced image that also manages to deliver many pop and contrast. It can’t quite match the black levels and lightweight output of some LCDs I’ve tested — last from TCL and Hisense — but still comes pretty close. Meanwhile other areas of image quality, namely color accuracy and shadow detail, were superior to those TVs.

Click the image at the proper to ascertain the image settings utilized in the review and to read more about how this TV’s picture controls worked during calibration.

COMPARISON MODELS

TCL 65R635 vs Hisense 65H9G

Dim lighting: Dark movie scenes played during a dark room are the foremost challenging quite content for LCD-based TVs and while the Sony looked excellent in my side-by-side tests, it wasn’t quite nearly as good because the TCL 6-Series or the Hisense at maintaining that crucial darkness. Letterbox bars in mid-dark scenes, like the general’s speech within the bunker at the start of 1917, provided one example. the opposite two TVs were both ready to preserve a blacker color of “black” within the bars and other dark areas, just like the soldiers’ silhouettes, which made them look a touch more realistic than the X900H. The difference was minor overall, however, and even less noticeable in other scenes with brighter lighting.

On the opposite hand, the Sony preserved details in shadows most consistently among the three TVs, for instance within the super dark scene with the soldier awakening (1:06:38), and also controlled blooming and stray illumination alright . Again, the differences with SDR were relatively minor and every one three TVs looked excellent.

Bright lighting: The X900H can get exceedingly bright, although it didn’t measure quite as bright as another sets I’ve tested recently.

Light output in nits

The “accurate” numbers above were measured with the Sony’s Xtended Dynamic Range setting within the High setting within the Custom picture mode, which may be a great choice for bright rooms where you continue to want an accurate image. As usual, the brightest setting, Vivid, is incredibly inaccurate.

Compared to the others, the Sony’s screen finish was visibly superior at preserving contrast and black levels during a bright room, but it did a somewhat worse job of dimming bright reflections. Overall I preferred the Sony’s bright-room image thereto of the others in most scenes.

Color accuracy – Sony X900H 65 Inch TV 4K Ultra HD Smart LED Reviews

Despite its lack of quantum dots I’ve come to expect excellent color from Sony and therefore the X900H is not any exception. Its Custom and Cinema modes were very similar before calibration although both skewed slightly blue; afterward they were nearly perfect. Watching program material bright scenes, just like the fields, woods and uniforms in Chapter 8 of 1917, looked the foremost pleasing and natural of the three TVs, outdoing the apparent saturation of the TCL in my comparison.

Video processing

The X900H had no issues delivering proper 1080p/24 cadence with its Motionflow controls within the Off position, which is perhaps the simplest for film purists. Meanwhile the Auto setting introduced the buttery smoothness of the serial effect. Then there’s the Custom setting, which has adjustable Smoothness and Clearness.

A Smoothness setting above 1 introduces significant SOE, while 0 turns it off. I actually didn’t mind the slight smoothing that the 1 setting introduces (some purists might), but its effect on motion resolution was really slight, so I’d probably persist with 0. The Clearness setting ramps up black frame insertion to enhance motion resolution, but it doesn’t have any effect (aside from dimming the image) unless you’ve Smoothness at 2 or higher. In other words there is no thanks to get the simplest of both worlds — high motion resolution and no SOE — with one setting.

The X900H measured the simplest (lowest) input lag of any Sony TV yet, at around 15 milliseconds in Game mode for both 1080p and 4K HDR — an improvement of 4ms compared to last year’s X950G. within the Custom mode, meanwhile, I measured 91ms with both resolutions.

Uniformity: The X900H sample I tested was excellent during this category, with few visible variations across the screen in static or moving test patterns or program material, like a hockey match. Compared to the TCL and therefore the Hisense, the Sony lost black level fidelity and contrast from off-angle more severely as I moved faraway from the sweet spot within the center of the screen. On the opposite hand, it preserved color better than the opposite two.

HDR and 4K video – Sony X900H 65 Inch TV 4K Ultra HD Smart LED Reviews

The X900H may be a suburb HDR performer overall. I started my comparison with my reference video, the montage from the Spears and Munsil UHD HDR Benchmark, and therefore the refore the Sony held its own nicely compared to the TCL and the Hisense, although it couldn’t quite match either one for contrast. Its biggest challenge, needless to say , came during the difficult bright-on-black sections, for instance the honey dripper at 2:50. Both of the others delivered deeper black levels that gave the image more pop and contrast, also as showing less blooming and stray illumination.

In brighter, more natural shots just like the snowy mountains and therefore the hot springs, the Sony narrowed the gap, although brightness in highlights and in larger bright areas like clouds and snow lagged the TCL slightly and therefore the Hisense even more. Color accuracy was excellent, a touch better than the TCL and significantly better than the Hisense, with a balanced yet vibrant look to the flowers and insects. The Sony also preserved detail in very bright areas better than the Hisense.

Turning back to 1917 in 4K HDR, the Sony again competed well and in some scenes looked the foremost balanced and pleasing of the three. The general’s bunker scene (6:55) was one example: the TCL 635 showed darker black levels but worse blooming and stray illumination, and while the Hisense was brighter in highlights its color looked the smallest amount realistic and it also showed blooming. Again the Sony preserved shadow detail the simplest among the three also .

In brighter scenes the Sony again trailed the opposite two at delivering that trademark HDR blast of sunshine , for instance within the skies above the soldiers as they walk quickly through the trenches. The TCL and therefore the Sony were relatively close, however, and hard to differentiate without measuring their bright areas directly, while the Hisense was visibly brighter than both. On the opposite hand, as I saw with the 4K Benchmark, colors on both the TCL and Sony looked more accurate and natural than on the Hisense.

4K HDR gaming – Sony X900H 65 Inch TV 4K Ultra HD Smart LED Reviews

For this test I played The Last folks Part 2 on a PS4 Pro within the TVs’ various Game modes: Game mode on the Sony and Gaming HDR (aka THX-certified Game Mode) for the 635 (I didn’t include the Hisense during this test).

When you’re crawling around a dark building hunting zombies, shadow detail is more important than black level and contrast, because it allows you to see into dark recesses to identify enemies. By that measure the Sony was better than the 635, delivering every ounce of detail within the darkest shadows while the 635 was a touch more shrouded. That said, the TCL won for black levels, contrast and clock in an equivalent (default) game settings. With many games, including The Last folks Part 2, you’ll adjust gamma and shadow detail to taste (and you should).

Moving out into the day-lit Seattle streets, the 635 again looked best overall because of superior contrast, which as was common helped colors pop. The Sony still looked great, however, and differences would be tough to discern outside of a side-by-side comparison.

Geek Box

Sony X900H 65 Inch TV 4K Ultra HD Smart LED customer Reviews

I pulled the trigger on the x900h (x90h). Some context. I am replacing an 2012 LG 3d 55 inch. Loved that TV, but am getting Xbox Series X ready and wanted 4K HDR for gaming, streaming, and movies. The purchase, price was not really a factor, I was willing to buy the Q90t or CX which were about double the price. So, out of the box, with only a few minor settings adjustments, I love this TV:

Positives:

– HDR: Disney +, Netflix, and movies on Google Play in Dolby Vision are just simply jaw dropping. The blacks are almost OLEDish, the brightness and color is almost QLEDish. Its really the best of both worlds and produces stunning contrast. I am amazed on how good the picture was for the price I paid ($1169 at Best Buy).

– This TV is bright– I saw on Rtings.com and Digital Trends that it has a peak brightness of around 750 nits and it worried me. But then some owners said it was plenty bright. So what was it? I turned on the opening of Rise of Skywalker in the Sith Temple on Dolby Vision Bright, I wanted to see a dark scene. The contrast looked like the CX. Every time the lightening flashed my wife and turned our heads because the flash was so bright. I turned down the brightness from 50 to 30 in the settings. (included a pic with Dolby Vision Bright on below).

– I saw that some people had issues with banding, I only saw banding on a 720p broadcast of the Indians game. Anything 1080p and 4k that I have watched as not had any banding at all.

– I have an original Xbox One. So I could not test out the HDR gaming. I will say, in 1080p, its is the best looking gaming I have done thus far. Forza Horizons is just gorgeous. Did not notice any lag.

Negatives:

– This is an HDMI 2.1 TV, that, out of the box, is not HDMI 2.1. Sony promises an update to activate the full 2.1 features (VRR, ALLM, 4k at 120hz). As of now, it has not been updated, but I would imagine it will be before the PS5 comes out and you will see the x900h bundled with the PS5 on Black Friday.

– Android TV took a few minutes to get used to. Not really a negative, just wish it had the bottom menu like Tizen interface on the Samsungs instead of taking up the whole screen.

– On the sound front, I have a Samsung q80 sound bar. I have not played around with the TVs sound at all.

Overall: There is so much bang for the buck with this TV. Really eye popping color, super dark blacks, and great contrast. I know it is a “video game” TV spec wise, but I cannot imagine a much better picture for streaming 4K HDR content. If like me, you were torn between higher end models, I say give the x900h (x90h) a shot and save a grand. You will not be disappointed.

By Bcspiel at Best Buy

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