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.

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

This is a very long review, there’s lots to say about this Sony XR-55X90S Bravia XR Smart TV, so I’ll give you the TL:DR version up front. You should definitely buy this TV if you enjoy primarily HD broadcast TV, if you enjoy the quality streaming services, if you (plan to) have a 4K Blu-Ray player or if you generate your own 4K content and especially if you’re the kind of person that likes to be able to tweak and configure everything just the way you like it. On the other hand if you really just watch broadcast TV, the occasional catch-up show and don’t tinker much then this TV is probably total overkill and you could save some money by choosing something less full-featured without a huge drop in picture quality. This TV does almost everything all by itself without the need of set-top-boxes and does most of it extremely well. Of course not everyone wants everything but if you are that kind of person read on…

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…

TV looks stunning even before you switch it on, Seems to be constructed with top grade materials. Very thin screen, unobtrusive stand giving an elegant look, love the cable management feature. The clarity of the screen and the fact that it can be viewed from all angles without loss of image intensity is a real boon.

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.

The Sony XR-55X90S arrived extremely well clad in a polystyrene shroud and thick industrial cardboard transit packaging, ensuring your much awaited smart television arrives on your doorstep in the same condition it left the factory. Added to this of course was the professional two man team who arrived with the telly and will lay the box down in whatever location you tell them to.

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.