Sony XR-75X90K – 75Inch – BRAVIA XR™ – Full Array LED
![Sony XR-75X90K - 75Inch - BRAVIA XR™ - Full Array LED – 4K Ultra HD – High Dynamic Range (HDR) – Smart TV (Google TV) – (2022 model) [Energy Class E]](https://k4s.uk/posts/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/416fIFxx1rL.jpg)
Sony XR-75X90K – 75Inch – BRAVIA XR™ – Full Array LED – 4K Ultra HD – High Dynamic Range (HDR) – Smart TV (Google TV) – (2022 model) [Energy Class E]
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| Dimensions: | 167.5 x 103.2 x 39.8 cm; 35.8 Kilograms |
| Model: | XR75X90KPU |
| Batteries Included: | 2 AAA batteries required. (included) |
| Manufacture: | Sony |
| Dimensions: | 167.5 x 103.2 x 39.8 cm; 35.8 Kilograms |
| Origin: | Slovakia |
Couldn’t afford the full OLED version of this tv but this for me is nearly as good and a bargain if you can bag a warehouse return (599) full price was 799
This tv has a great spec vrr, Dolby , full array but be aware to get the best from it calibrate it, and sit front facing to it as side angles are not the best.
So – I bought this because I needed a new computer monitor, not remotely interested in any of the TV features…just wanted to connect it to my ROG 3080 Ti.
The delivery man helped me locate the package in the room I wanted and I was up and running within the hour. The setup was very simple since I wasn’t interested in anything but connecting to my computer…set my WiFi, language, HDMI input and that was it. I didn’t need to register anything, sign up for anything or give my details in any way.
The picture is stunning and required no fine-tuning…a huge step up from my previous TV/Monitor…I didn’t even realise things could look this good TBH. I’m not using the sound, so there’s nothing to say there.
A couple of things to watch out for – if you’re gaming on your computer, don’t be tempted to pick the gaming option when you tell it what your HDMI input is…select the computer option…I find the picture to be far superior that way. Additionally – if I set it to 120mhz (from windows), then every so often the screen will go black for half a second…it only happens once or twice a day…but it does happen, it’s almost as if it’s reconnecting with the graphics card. Running at 60mhz displays no such issue…since I’m old now, I can’t personally tell the difference…now, this could be a windows thing, a driver thing, a card thing or a tv thing, don’t *think* a temperature thing…no idea. TBH – if I cared about running it at 120, then I’d just go for it anyway…as I say, the blackouts are very infrequent really…but it might annoy or worry some.
Additionally – the default PC HDMI setting is set to Dolby, I removed this and set it to quality (or whatever it’s called)…if you select dolby or VFR then NVIDIA control panel will give you the option to activate VFR, but also says it isn’t a certified device…rather than mess around I just switched it all off and things are great. Maybe I’ll experiment at some point but I’m not seeing any real reason right now.
Overall, so far, I’m super happy. Gaming is… beautiful.
Tv is brilliant only downfall is how strong blooming is. Only reason I didn’t give it a 5/5. But other than that if you’re a gamer or love watching movies or sports it’s perfect for all modes
Amazing picture and sound. I don’t feel the need for my sound bar nor sub woofer anymore. Perfect for the PS5.
It arrives in a box that’s sealed along the bottom edge, you remove the seal and lift the top section of the box away to reveal the TV inside. The only assembly needed is to attach the legs (if you’re not wall-hanging it) and they just slot into the base of the TV with a click, no bolts or tools required. There are two sets of holes for the legs, one wide-set (about 1m apart) and one close-set (about 40cm apart) so you can choose either the wide fitting (which looks better) or the narrower set if you’re placing it on a smaller table or bench. Both raise the TV about 8cm off the surface, so slipping a chunky soundbar underneath might be tricky. The casing is a bit shiny-black-plastic but the bezel around the screen is very slim and the back panel is clean and neat looking so it’s bearable. Less bearable is the amount of reflection on the screen and this really isn’t a TV that benefits from facing a window or other light source, so consider where you’ll be placing it carefully. The remote control is also a bit plastic-y feeling but it’s slim and very well laid out with all the right features. Note there’s a version of this TV that comes with a metal-clad illuminated remote, but this isn’t it. On the back of the TV all the ports (except power) are arranged on a side-facing panel at the left side (looking from the front) and are accessible even when wall-mounted. The mains power socket is towards the right side facing backwards and a right-angled connector on a very short cable is provided – if you’re placing the TV any distance from a mains socket you’ll have to replace or extend that cable.
There are two satellite connectors and a single antenna connection but the TV has multiple tuners so (if you add a storage option) presumably you can record from one channel while watching another (I haven’t tested this). This TV is an official Freesat, Freeview and YouView device so you can receive virtually every channel and it scans and stores them all reasonably quickly. I’m using it with a single satellite connection so can’t comment on Freeview reception or YouView recording features but the mere fact this TV has YouView functionality means you also get the full set of standalone UK catch-up apps including BBC iPlayer, ITV Hub, My5 and All4. The Freesat compliance also means you get a full programme guide (via Gracenote) for satellite channels but this has stopped working on my TV for some unexplained reason, which seems to be an issue with some Sony TV’s. When scanning for channels you can generate different programme lists for each service — Satellite, Freesat, Terrestrial — and you then have the option to edit those lists to delete or reorder the channels to suit yourself. Usually you’d have to create Favourites lists to do this but Sony let you edit the actual channel lists themselves. It can take a while to do but at least you get the channels you want in the order you want and no longer have to memorise obscure channel numbers or scroll through endless channel lists looking for your favourites. There’s also the option to save the lists to a USB stick, transfer them to a PC and edit the lists in a dedicated app but DON’T try it with this TV because the app hasn’t been updated in years and just scrambles your lists meaning you’ll have to start all over again.
Once you get the channels scanned and sorted you can start to enjoy the TV itself and there’s a lot to appreciate. The picture is detailed but subtle and because the backlighting is screen-wide and forward facing it’s unusually bright, which it needs to be given how reflective the screen surface is. Straight out of the box it’s set to give nicely modulated and colourful pictures but you get to tweak almost every aspect of the image quality to suit yourself and it remembers your settings for each source – for example TV, apps and HDMI inputs. There are also two (switchable) calibrated modes for Netflix and Bravo Core (Sony’s super-high quality movie streaming service) and these modes take over and give you a ‘director’s eye’ view. Basically they’re automated D65 modes but sometimes they go too far and make the picture look like it’s been dipped in caramel, so try things both ways and see what you prefer. Another setting to check is ‘Clearness’ in the ‘Motion’ section which tries to smooth onscreen motion by inserting black frames into the video stream. This setting makes the image significantly flatter and darker and reducing it to the lowest setting brought my picture to life and gave it the dynamism and punch it was lacking – all without any noticeable loss of motion smoothness, so it’s one to double-check.
Unlike a lot of TV’s it isn’t brassy and over-saturated and if anything tends towards being a bit muted and flat and you have to tweak the settings with care to get the best from it, depending on your taste. While HD channels look great the remaining SD channels look a bit rubbish to be honest, it’s not the TV’s fault because it’s just revealing how poor and pixelated the over-compressed standard definition channels really are these days. It’s worth considering if you watch a lot of SD TV because ironically a less expensive and less forensic TV might make them look better. On the other hand if you give this TV something challenging to chew on, like a Dolby Vision stream or good HDR content then it really soars and you get an incredibly well balanced and detailed picture. If ever a TV could make you pay the extra to get Netflix in 4K this is it. Something like Amazon’s own Lord of the Rings : The Rings of Power looks incredible (shame it can’t improve the risible dialogue!) and the contrast range it can produce is stunning – you see details in the shadow while the sunset makes you squint.
Sony have equipped it with Google TV meaning there’s the TV equivalent of an Android tablet built into your TV and you can install app’s and features to build an entertainment hub without the need of any external devices. This is good and/or it’s bad, depending on your view of Google, because they try to insert themselves into almost every aspect of the TV to gather information on what you’re watching. This is most obvious on the Google TV homescreen which has basically been turned into an advertising billboard for paid promotion of TV shows and movies presented under the guise of personal recommendations. The first bit of good news is that you don’t have to sign in to Google’s service to use this TV because Sony have provided a stripped-back but usable interface that’s fine for most purposes. It’s also much better than Google’s own ‘apps-only’ interface which is deliberately annoying so you’ll avoid using it and switch back to full ‘surveillance mode’. The second bit of good news is that Sony have used Android as the basis of this TV’s UI but they’ve added to it and reconfigured it in such a way you don’t really have to visit Google’s homepage very often with better ways to achieve things that avoid Google’s obnoxious monetising. I’ve used a lot of different Android TV/Google TV devices including multiple non-brand STB’s, an Nvidia Shield TV Pro, a Philips Android TV and Google’s own ‘Chromecast with Google TV’ and this is (by far!) the best version of Android TV/Google TV I’ve tried. Sony have done more work and delved deeper than anyone else to make it work better, to customise it specifically to their own TV’s and to make it more user-configurable. That said, if you want to try and avoid Google’s profiling then you still have to visit their site and switch off all the tracking you’re unhappy with (if any) but that’s not Sony’s fault.
One thing that is Sony’s fault is the inclusion of Samba Interactive TV on this device, although they’re not the only TV manufacturer bundling it these days. You’ll be asked if you want to enable it during the setup of your TV and it’s worth knowing what it does. It’s basically spyware for your TV that tries to discover what you’re watching by analysing the pixels on your screen (yes, it watches what you’re watching) and then compares that to its own database of content to find a match. If it can’t find a match it assumes you’re watching ‘personal’ content but it has to first ‘see’ it to know that. It doesn’t scan protected content like Netflix but everything else is analysed and they use the information gathered to profile you and then enable more targeted advertising. I declined their kind offer and also disabled the Samba app that gets left running in the background. You might want to make your own choices.
You get 4 HDMI ports and one of them is eARC enabled (for connecting soundbars) and two are ‘Variable Refresh Rate’ and ‘Low Latency Mode’ enabled (thanks to a recent firmware update) for use with game consoles. Unfortunately it’s the same pair of HDMI ports that have these features so if you connect a soundbar using HDMI you’ve lost one of the Variable Refresh Rate ports. There’s inbuilt wi-fi and an Ethernet port but you can’t enable both at the same time which is standard Android behaviour – this limitation can be overcome but Sony have chosen not to. You get two USB ports, one USB 3.1 Gen 1 standard and one 2.0 standard, and only the faster 3.1 port is suitable for connecting a hard-drive to add PVR-style scheduled recording features. The scheduled recording feature is built into the system but doesn’t include a function that allows you to pause or rewind live TV. The total inbuilt storage in the TV is 16GB but only approximately 4.4GB of that is available (the Android system occupies the rest) to install apps or other content and so you might want to add some extra. Normally you’d just stick a USB flash drive into one of the USB ports and format that as system storage and carry on. However if you’ve already connected a hard drive into the one sole 3.1 USB port the only option left is to use the 2.0 port and that’s FAR too slow to work properly. Using it slows the whole Android system to a near crawl because the system is now accessing both internal and external storage simultaneously and can only go as fast as the slowest drive. I’ve been really surprised at just how slow this makes the TV, I’ve tried with a couple of different USB sticks and none of them was really usable. So you really have to make a choice between extra Android storage or a PVR recording facility because trying to have both is a nightmare. These days with almost all TV shows available immediately on catch-up app’s the PVR function seems less important, but it’s worth knowing about this limitation.
As mentioned, Sony have added a lot of customisation to the Google TV system and perhaps the best features are the set of 3 shortcut menus that give you fast access to Settings, Channels and Sources. These are accessed by dedicated buttons placed around the circle-buttons on the remote and each of them brings up a menu running along the bottom of the screen. You get a lot of control over what appears in each menu and it’s worth exploring the options. For example the Sources menu (which Sony confusingly call ‘Inputs’) can contain your selection of installed app’s, HDMI ports, inbuilt media players or screensavers. You can make each HDMI port conditional so it only appears in the menu when something’s actually connected to it or you can hide them completely, handy for the HDMI port your soundbar is using. The current version of Google TV inexplicably hides the Google Play Store app (where you buy and download new apps) from you but there’s the option to add it to this menu so restoring easy access. The TV channels menu lets you switch between the different channel lists and includes free streaming channels available from app’s like Pluto TV. It also gathers together current on-air programmes into themed mini-lists (like ‘movies’, kids’ etc) so you can find what you want to watch without grazing. You can flip into a full programme guide (if it’s working) and set scheduled recordings (if you’ve added a storage option). You can also make up to 5 Favourites lists and can combine channels from broadcast and free streaming services into themed lists – all your favourite free comedy channels for example. If you take the time to explore the options it’s possible to curate and configure your own personalised entertainment hub using this TV, without the need of any extra set-top-boxes, and it’s the most user-configurable TV I’ve ever owned, which is something I personally appreciate.
Finally the sound, I say finally because like most TV’s these days it seems a bit of an afterthought. The TV sound is fine but ultimately unimpressive and unworthy of a TV at this price point and Sony (like all TV makers) are obviously assuming you’ll add a soundbar at some point. The sound is very boxy, lacks bass and sounds like it’s all happening somewhere behind the screen. Dialogue is clear and there’s a decent sense of stereo width, which is unusual, and it’s certainly room-filling but it’s still too thin and weedy. It’s certainly bearable, I’ve heard MUCH worse, but probably only until you can get a good soundbar so budget for that sometime in the future.
Overall it’s an incredibly capable TV and Sony have done a really good job turning Google TV into a dedicated entertainment platform, actually a much better job than Google ever have. It runs apps faster than Google’s own Chromecast dongle and comes with Google Assistant built-in and a dedicated button and microphone in the remote for voice control. You can also enable Apple Home and Amazon Alexa options and the Alexa Sony Skill enables the ability to ask for specific channels, although you have to be so specific with channels names it’s a bit of a chore unless you really enjoy/need it. However, it is handy being able to switch the TV off from a different room (or house!) if you forgot or because it’s the kid’s bedtime…
Sorry for such a long review but this was the edited version. No, really…
Full array LED is a step forward compared with my last television. Instead of pixels being lit from behind or to the side, each is self-illuminating. Comprehending how this is done is well beyond me but I can grasp the theory — more precise contrast. Another bit of jargon is that it allows localised dimming.
Before I even opened the box I wanted to delve more into this latest technology and was rather worried to come across another jargon term — vignetting. According to some forums, full array architecture (regardless of manufacturer) is more prone to the corners of the screen being over dark. Further investigation revealed one individual who claimed that their full array television showed thin vertical lines when blue was displayed in density. I quickly disappeared down an anorak rabbit hole in which it seemed that picture quality had deteriorated since the days of the cathode ray tube. Maybe such commentary needs to be taken with a pinch of salt.
Setting up the television was par for the course with me — I initially think I can make do without reading the set up instructions and then find I wasted time for the sake of not following a straightforward guide. There are various add on cost options available via Amazon to pay for unpacking, setting up, taking away previous set and wall mounting (if you supply the bracket). These may be useful if you dread any of these tasks.
The looks of the television? To my eyes, the design of many brands has converged. This model looks stylish and up to date, but I don’t get obsessed. It doesn’t shout out when it is off, which is a good thing because I don’t want the room to be about the television. When it is on, it is the picture that counts.
After all the talk on anorak forums, I was prepared for a picture quality that was back to the sixties. I tested the set on a few wildlife programmes, which offer a good way to measure a variety of colours and panning shots (the latter being a challenge for some older technology back a few years). I just couldn’t fault the quality. I swapped slightly obsessively a few times between my older television (same size) and the new candidate and thought I could detect a material improvement. It is difficult to judge without a blind control test when the standard of picture quality is so high with full HD. Intuitively it ‘felt’ as if it was more advanced but this could have been too much reading about self-illuminating pixels and the new car effect. In the interests of a decent review I bored several guinea pigs with a ‘which is better’ challenge, disguising everything but the picture. Five chose the new model and one ‘I am not sure’ guinea pig was subject to re-sits; eventually they pointed to the new model and asked if they could go now, please.
Sound quality was fine for me without needing a sound bar. I guess it depends on the sound absorption of the room, distance from television, hearing and the type of programmes you watch. The sound only deteriorated marginally at full volume and felt immersive. Some may like a sound bar and I suppose if you have a dedicated television room you might want to go the whole hog and have surround sound speakers. I tried out a few music tracks and compared with a Bose unit and my eyes shut. The Bose delivered a purer note at higher frequencies and deep base but it is a sound dedicated piece of kit. I thought this model’s sound was plenty good enough for all but those who have an extremely good ear and they probably don’t use a television to listen to music, or channel sound through their hi-fi anyway.
The speed of switching between functions and apps seemed faster than my existing television and there was no particular delay. If I want to watch something on Netflix, I do not get impatient for the sake of a millisecond and I am in awe of the sheer processing ability of even lower end televisions.
All round? A very pleasing, higher end, up to date appearance, fast model offering the latest picture technology and good sound. I find it difficult to perceive how the experience could be improved upon. But then I thought that each time I compared an up to date model with one I had been watching for a few years. Maybe in a decade what is the cutting edge now will seem old hat, but it feels that it would be difficult to improve by an order of magnitude from here. A quality item and I cannot identify any shortcomings.
Visuals:
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The first thing I do with any new TV these days is to turn off whatever brightening, motion smoothing, hyper saturation etc nonsense that it was setup with for the shop floor. I’m sure that stuff works well in a technical sense, but I just don’t like how it looks. Setting the picture to ‘movie’ mode provides a much more natural and ‘expected’ look to media.
It’s a fantastic picture. The black levels are excellent for a non-OLED TV. I’ve been watching Rings of Power and it does justice to the lush visuals.
I haven’t noticed any ghosting when watching sports and other fast paced footage. Like pretty much all TVs, it’s a fairly reflective screen. Still watchable in daylight, but you may want to close the curtains if you’re trying to watch something with a lot of dark scenes.
Viewing angles are a little less good, with the picture becoming a bit washed out if you’re sitting far to the side of the tv. For most livingroom setups, this shouldn’t be an issue.
I’m not really a pixel-peeper and never really noticed a huge difference between 1080p and 4k content on my old tv. I notice it with this TV, possible due to the larger area. 1080p stuff still looks great, but 720p content is noticeably less detailed.
My only gaming console is a Switch, so I haven’t had a chance to try it out with 4K or HDR enabled games, unfortunately. The games look fine, though the size of the TV does expose the limited power of the console.
Audio:
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I’m pleasantly surprised by how good the audio is. I don’t have space for a soundbar or speaker setup, so I rely on the TV speakers. These are clear, surprisingly bassy, and the little setup for determining where the viewer is seated using the remote seems to work well.
Spoken audio has been clear in the shows and movies I’ve watched. Music is detailed and I’d definitely consider using it as a spotify speaker in a pinch.
Design, dimensions, and setup:
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This is the biggest TV I’ve owned. My previous TV was a Samsung Frame 43″ and this dwarfs it in all dimensions. It’s surprisingly deep so if you’re wall mounting it, it will ‘stick out’ from the wall by about 8cm or more. This may mean that the speakers have a bit more space to breathe.
The TV comes with feet. These are pretty minimalist, but they should be stable enough for most environments.
ATTN!: I should note that it was an absolute nightmare to remove the feet from the TV. I had to look up a tips video on youtube and use a flathead screwdriver to loosen the post before pulling it. I strongly recommend anyone reading this review to consider carefully whether they need to put the feet on before wall-mounting the TV.
Due to the size of the TV, I also really recommend having someone help out if you’re wall mounting it. It’s an unwieldy beast for one person.
Once mounted, it looks pretty good – not as good as the Frame did, but not bad. The top and side bezels are very thin, while the bottom is just tall enough to fit a Sony logo.
Software and UX:
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It’s an Android TV so you get a huge suite of apps to choose from, and hopefully it will be more long-lived than an in-house proprietary solution. Navigation is responsive and the remote can be used to help with voice search. I haven’t noticed any bugs so far.
I was previously using a Fire Stick 4K and I’d say this is a pretty similar experience, since I think they’re both Android based under the hood. It’s nice not to have another device to plug in and just install everything on the TV.
So far, all the apps I’ve tried have worked as expected: Netflix, Prime, Mubi, Plex, Disney, and iPlayer have streamed content without a hitch.
The main annoyance in the software is the upselling of content from services I don’t have access to. Ideally I’d like an option to only show apps I have logins for.
The remote is too long for no real reason. The dedicated streaming service buttons work well. It’s a pretty standard remote. I do wish it had the illuminated buttons that I’ve seen on other remotes in this range, but it does the job.
Overall:
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4.5 stars. The TV offers an excellent picture, good sound, and decent UX. My main complaint was that the feet are so difficult to remove (and the manual is so unhelpful about how to remove them)!
The quality of this Sony TV is excellent. Honestly, the picture is so vibrant, and clear. There are plenty of settings too to enable you to fine tune it so you can get the picture style you like. The sound quality is really good too for built in speakers. The TV is really easy to setup. It is a streaming TV so you do require a good internet connection. Through the TV you have access to loads of apps for watching TV including all the main ones Amazon Prime etc. You also have access to Bravia Core which is Sony’s own streaming service you just need to create an account. I haven’t had a Sony TV for a while but I can definitely recommend this one and will definitely be sticking with this brand in the future.
Setting up took us about 20-30 minutes as I did not quite understand the terminology used, I think it’s definitely a two-person job. it was just trial and error until I found a reasonable setting. I am still not sure I have the best available setting, Still trying to master the new controls and settings. Another gripe is that the size of remote control very long in length and thin in width, not very easy to tell which Side should face the screen in the dark.
The sound quality seemed to have a mid range peak, making voices sound a little bit harsh and nasal. This was corrected by adjusting the equaliser settings, so I feel this is now acceptable, but would expect better from Sony.
Access to all ports at the rear are covered by a removable plastic cover that was not extremely easy to fit. The USB side ports seem a bit slow. As an example, it took over 20mins to load up 165GB of Photos & Videos from my external HDD drive. Other than all the above I think it is a great compact TV plenty of connectivity for casting phones & Pads.
I now physically have this 55″ in front of me and can safely say that this is a 55X90S as per the listing, Sony UK seem to think that the S series only exists in 50″ and that this is the K series, which is not the case. The S series seems to be a 2022 model but has slightly lesser specs than the K series – in essence that seems to be 20W sound versus 30W and a different stand arrangement – fixed versus 3-way.
Full review to follow but in case anyone was misled into thinking that this had to be a K series because the 55″ “doesn’t exist” in S series form – it’s not the case, there seems to be an admin mix up somewhere.
Full review:
After some diligent setting up and thorough watching I think I’m in a position to give an honest review!
First thoughts – it’s BIG, not the biggest by far but replacing a 40″ 4K with this is a big leap – it dominates the room. That depends of course on whether table top or wall mounted it depends on your circumstances – being big and 4K means you need to be a way back to make the most of it however – maybe not so suitable for smaller rooms but each to their own.
Unboxing – the very sturdy box doesn’t quite match the symbolic ‘quick set-up’ as the main box section slides up and off the whole TV – it’s a slightly precarious arrangement once the plastic shipping ties are cut off however so be careful – it’s weighty and big so suggest a two-person lift to avoid problems. Comes with fixed stands either clicked in either side of centre or at the very ends – the former seems a little unstable to me so if your table/stand is wide enough I’d suggest keeping them at the widest position.
Turn on – a bit slow to get going, seems to be a Google TV thing but easy enough to set up going through the set-up guide. The remote has all the current favourites such as YouTube, Netflix, Disney+ etc but the interface is simple enough to navigate, though I found it slightly clunkier than the Samsung Tizen interface I’ve now gotten used to.
Picture – stunning of course, it’s a Sony and well known for a good picture, though this is meant to be the mid-range full array LED I think so would anyone notice the difference? Hard to say. I am suitable impressed at the way in which it handles lower definition content from the streaming services which may not be at least HD – unfortunately it can’t perform miracles on SD quality broadcasts or content so expect to have to live with that on such a large screen. DVD and Blu-ray at 1080p is great as expected and colours don’t seem to be over-saturated out of the box. I have one source of 4K from my laptop and this was amazing as expected – YouTube also streams in 4K if the video supports it. All configurable if you want to.
Sound – as with all TVs this is where it’s let down – unlike it’s siblings in the K range, this only has 20W of sound power (not 30W) and I think separate speakers (unlike the more expensive models with them built into the display) – as a result it’s pretty underwhelming though some processing helps. I have an AV receiver and for once I was able to get ARC to work via the HDMI with proper control BUT I think there is an ARC glitch where sound is pushed to the AV when using the in-built services, there is a weird sound that comes from the AV speakers which seems to be encoded incorrectly and hence I wasn’t able to output it to AV. That could be a deal-breaker if using a soundbar or AV amp that you already have – ARC is a bit hit and miss at the best of times! My receiver is the Marantz NR1603 so not the newest but it works with other kit.
Other features – at this level, a lot of features are supported, AirDrop is one useful thing if you have an iDevices and this worked flawlessly for me being able to beam content straight over. Chromecast is also supported and again being a Google TV it works as expected. Wifi and Ethernet both supported for ease of connection.
In conclusion, this TV is generally good for the average viewer, you pay for the brand and if you really want this size then it may well fit the bill – the yearly range is enormous so it’s hard to distinguish – at over 1000 it’s an expensive outlay to purchase ‘blind’ but for a full array LED it’s reasonable as the entry OLED in the same size a few hundred pounds more – not sure that could be justified for the average user. It may be worth waiting a few months as the price changes or take a look at last year’s range to see how they compare and review.
Other than the 55″ screen you will receive a remote control, a pair of legs for those who don’t intend to wall hang the unit, a 1.5 metre power cable with 3 pin UK plug, a quick start guide, a detailed instruction book and some odds and ends of fixtures and batteries. Besides the one piece protector that’s taped to the screen of the television, there’s some protective plastic covering to deal with along the bezel and other areas.
Connectivity for the Sony XR-55X90S is well catered for with 4 HDMI ports in total, one of which is an e/ARC/ARC 4K 120 Hz and one other 4K 120 Hz. A LAN input, Two USB ports one of which is specifically for HDD Rec. There’s an optical digital audio out, a 3.5mm headphone socket, an AV IN video/audio L-R, a Main and Sub satellite posts and finally an RF input.
I have to be honest and say that before the XR-55X90S arrived, I was pretty much in the dark regarding what full array LED was apart from the fact that this Sony model possessed that function. If I’ve understood it correctly, conventional LED TV’s use just one row of LED’s to balance light across the whole panel so that dark areas across the picture are not as defined and the light areas not as bright meaning the image on screen is not as crisp or lifelike as it could be.
However, a more vibrant and realistic picture can be achieved by technology known as FULL ARRAY LED which has more LED’s across the whole of the panel meaning each pixel is self-illuminating. The Sony Bravia range of TV’s also has extended dynamic range pro technology which controls each of these LED’s in real time so the picture always has more accurate blacks and realistic peaks of brightness bringing new levels of realism to everything you watch.
The Sony XR-55X90S boasts an astounding range of features and specifications. 4K full array LED, cognitive Processor XR taking vision and sound to a whole new level, XR 4K upscaling so that you can enjoy 4K quality regardless of the content or source, super resolution, smoothing and motion clarity and many more.
All of this stuff sounds impressive but what will it actually mean to me in my everyday viewing? Well, the one thing I do know is that it produces stunning audio and visual entertainment right in your own home with a level of clarity that is both sharp and detailed. I ran the gamut of what’s on offer, from Prime Video, Netflix, through to You Tube, I-Player, Freesat and anything else I could get up on screen and in all honesty, both sound and vision, in all cases, was absolutely tremendous.
Like any new piece of technology it takes time to customise your settings, but I felt that with the Sony XR-55X90S, this was quite intuitive and the smart remote made navigating around the Sony world quite easy either by the buttons or by using the voice search facility.
Connecting to Google TV and Bravia Core will expand the already massive choices you have even further and of course when you fancy beating up some aliens from outer space, you can always fire up your play station and enjoy your latest game, taking full advantage of Sony’s Variable refresh rate and auto HDR tone mapping. The auto HDR will be fully optimised instantly whenever you initially set-up the PS5 and the PS will automatically select the best HDR depending on your Bravia model.
In summary, regardless of whether you’re a sports fans, a movie buff or a gamer, the Sony XR-55X90S more than caters for all the different genre’s, with crisp, sharp graphics and great audio. You will of course enhance the sound reproduction by the use of a sound bar although I found the integral speakers to be more than adequate for my enjoyment. Straight out of the box the factory settings are not going to be to everyone’s liking but tweaking is the name of the game with this level of technology regarding capturing those sweet spots and I reckon I’m half way there already. In any case there’s a Sony community where you can go to ask questions from other participants and a Sony contact support site, so I’m sure you’ll not get stuck.
I wholeheartedly recommend the Sony Bravia XR-55X90S full array LED smart television.
Really big
You’ll need help getting the TV out of the box. It’s very heavy too.
I like the design that allows you to decide where to position the TV stand feet.
Setting it up is not difficult, just follow the instructions onscreen.
You can set the TV up the way you like it.
Comes with Netflix etc pre-installed.
You can also use less energy with the correct setting.
Connecting to the internet is easy as is scrolling through the channels. You can sync your satellite TV and games tech too
The picture is epic
I just wish that Sony had used all cardboard packaging. Not the dreaded polystyrene.
As you’d expect from a Sony Bravia TV, this is a slim model that provides ultra-clear HD reception and first class audio quality. It’s fantastic – the definition is so good you feel like you’re in the programme you’re watching. Very impressed and very happy with this TV.
Sony assumes streaming will be as important to you as live broadcast TV, the remote has dedicated buttons for the main streaming services. NB One annoyance is no backlight on the remote’s buttons. However you can press a button and speak commands to the remote that are interpreted by Google Assistant.
Linking to Amazon Echo/Alexa is also possible but a faff. There’s a Sony app on the TV for ‘Smart Speakers’ which links to Sony’s cloud service for associating to Alexa Skills or Google Home. I linked to Alexa and the TV then responded to ‘TV on/off’, ‘Channel Up/Down’ commands via Echo speakers.
Google TV user interface is pretty intuitive, especially if you are used to an Android phone, and there are numerous Apps for Google TV from the Play Store. However, there’s no mainstream web-browser such as Edge. Having many apps in the TV means you don’t need an Amazon Fire TV Cube. Needless to say, the TV is best for gaming with a PS5 with VRR and low-lag at 120Hz
There’s some options of turning off the data collection by Google but this isn’t the TV for you if you refuse to give any info to Google! Needless to say, ‘casting’ from an Android phone was simple and worked well.
Despite using a Sony sound-bar, it took me an age to get this working with the TV. After a lot of messing about, a menu appeared to setup the audio system and it finally started working. I’d say a sound-bar is still needed, the TV audio has minimal bass and sounds a bit ’empty’ for a larger TV.
One annoyance is that the TV sits on elongated ‘feet’ so you cannot put a sound-bar under the TV and it has to sit about 15cm in front of the TV due to to the ‘feet’. It looks messy and Sony really should offer a neater solution for using with a sound-bar. Of course the TV can be wall mounted with VESA standard mounting points on the back.
Connections include 4 HDMI, one with ARC/eARC, plus there’s wired Ethernet which I preferred to Wi-Fi.
Overall, if you have an Android phone/Google account you’ll be happy with this TV and get value from the Google ‘ecosystem’. Price for this TV is obviously lower than for an OLED but still high so may be worth waiting for a sale price.