Sony X90K Review | Is Sony X90K Better Than A QLED TV?
Recently, Sony launched its K series of TVs, a successor to last year's J series models. Sony Bravia XR X90k 4k TV is one of the company's premium models, which replaces Sony's last year's model X90J. Like Sony X90J, Sony X90K TV also comes with Full Array Local Dimming and has the same Sony's cognitive processor XR, which is an artificial-intelligence-based processor. The company claims that this cognitive processor thinks like humans, and, imitating them tries to produce that picture and audio quality, which humans want to see and listen to. Sony X90J was an excellent TV, and now, let's see whether X90K is a worthy successor to X90J or not!
You can watch the video review of this TV, on our YouTube Channel Techiebeez India, in which we have carried out its dimming test, and brightness test, and, have also demonstrated how to play VRR-enabled 4K HDR games through PS5 PlayStation.
Sony X90K is available in the 55, 65, and, 75 inches’ variants. As of now, only the 55 and 65 inches’ variants have been released by the company. The price for the 55 inches TV is Rs 1,23,490, whereas, the 65 inches variant is being sold at a price of Rs 1,66,999. We will be reviewing the 65 inches Sony X90K TV. Its performance is similar to the 55-inch model.
Unboxing Sony X90K
Inside the box, you get a power cord, 2 pieces of the metallic tabletop stand, a remote, 2 AAA+ batteries, 4 bottle-shaped screws, which are used for wall mounting this TV, an instruction manual and a warranty card.
Its metallic silver-grey stands come in a blade design. This time there is a provision to increase the height of the TV, in order to place a soundbar below it. This provision went missing in the last year's model Sony X90J. You just need to push these two pieces of stands inside the space provided for the stands. You do not need any screw to fix them.
Design & Built X90K
The TV is almost bezel-less from three sides and on the bottom, too, there is a very slim bezel. This time, instead of the centre, Sony's logo is placed on the left bottom. On the back, there is a grid pattern and the placement of the ports is given on the left side. The side profile of this TV is also ultra-slim. The design and build quality, are pretty decent. Overall, this TV looks smart and elegant. Its construction quality and rear design are a tad better than Sony X90J. The built quality of the remote is decent. It is different from Sony's last year's model, X90J. The number buttons have been removed from the remote, and because of this, the size of the remote is reduced, making it pretty handy. On the remote, apart from the Google Assistant button, you get direct buttons to YouTube, YouTube Music, Netflix, and, Prime Video.
Connectivity Options
Coming to the connectivity options, this TV has 4 HDMI ports whose HDCP version is 2.3. The HDMI 3 and 4, have 2.1 specifications, are eARC specific, and come with variable refresh rates with support for Auto Low Latency and 4K gaming@ 120 Hz. You get HDMI CEC on this TV, so, you can operate multiple compatible devices connected to it through a single remote. Apart from 2 USB ports, this TV has an Ethernet port, a digital audio port, 1 RF input port, and, a headphone jack. It comes with dual-band Wi-Fi and Bluetooth v4.2.
Specifications
Now let's talk about the company's mentioned features and specifications. The company claims that this TV of theirs is future-proof, which comes with all the latest technologies. According to the company, the Cognitive Processor XR thinks like humans and produces the same picture and audio quality as liked by humans. X90K comes with a 10-bit VA panel along with Full Array DLED backlighting that exhibits local dimming. Apart from this, it supports HDR10, HLG and Dolby Vision. For clarity enhancement, it has dual database processing, XR 4K upscaling, and, XR super-resolution. For colour enhancement, there is Live Color Technology, XR smoothening and XR Triluminos Pro. For contrast enhancement, it has a dynamic contrast enhancer, XR contrast booster 10, and, XR HDR remaster. For motion enhancement, there is XR motion clarity. For gaming, there is auto HDR tone mapping and auto genre picture switch. The auto switch Mode ensures that when you are playing games or watching any movie you get the correct mode automatically.
This TV also comes with a connectivity option for Bravia cam. You can buy a Bravia cam separately and make video calls through it on this big screen. For audio, it has 10+10 Watts, 2 full-range bass-reflex X-balanced speakers and 5+5 Watts acoustic multi-audio sound positioning tweeters. This TV supports Dolby Atmos and Dolby Audio along with DTS. This TV calibrates sound according to the room size and the viewer's positioning in the room. Apart from sound zoom 2, it undergoes 3D surround sound upscaling. The company claims that the sound setup on this TV is designed in such a manner that it appears the sound is coming directly from the screen, where the action is taking place, rather than any speaker. According to the company, this TV is directly capable of producing 5.1.2 channel audio, in which the TV acts as a central speaker. Analysing your positioning in the room, this TV gives you the best picture and sound quality. This is an Android TV which also has a Google TV UI on it. The TV has a light sensor, which according to the lighting condition of the room, optimizes the brightness of the TV. Apart from Chromecast and Google assistant, you get an Apple Home kit and Apple Airplay on this TV. Apart from the remote, you can directly control this TV with your voice command. The Bravia cam allows you the flexibility to control the TV through your gestures. Apart from this, you can download the Google Android application on your phone and operate the TV through it. Dish TV comes with 16GB storage however the company has not revealed its Ram and the applications which are being employed, nowadays, to access the RAM do not give correct readings for TVs.
Real Performance
So all these were the company-given specifications, now let us talk about its real performance.
The Sony X90J TV impressed me much with its performance and this TV is better than that in certain aspects. If you go through the specification of both these TVs, they are almost similar, but still, overall, X90K performs a tad better than X90J TV.
Local Dimming
On performing the local dimming test we found that the X90K TV has a total of 59 dimming zones, which is much more than the last year's model X90J, which had only 24 dimming zones on it. X90K has a VA panel with Full Array DLED backlighting that exhibits local dimming. On X90K you get more than double the dimming zones present on X90J. It's local dimming certainly plays a major role in increasing the contrast ratio of this TV. The brightness of this TV is also a tad better than X90J. Because of full-array local dimming and more zones, X90K displays excellent detail clarity in HDR and Dolby Vision videos.
Brightness
The brightness of X90k in a 25% window is 1026 Nits and in a 100% window, the peak brightness is 887.2 Nits. The SDR Peak Brightness of the TV is 590 Nits, and its HDR peak brightness is approximately 870 Nits.
Blacks on X90K
You get to see very deep Blacks on this TV, however, there is also a downside associated with it, as in the dark scenes of some content, Blacks tend to overpower the finer details. On X90J, the detail clarity of dark scenes was better as the Black on it was not this deep. However, the issue of Blacks' overpowering details on the X90K is not as problematic as experienced on the Samsung TVs. And then, Sony gives you the option of reducing the Blacks, so after fine-tuning the Blacks on the TV you can even watch the dark scenes clearly.
Blooming
During the blooming test, the X90K TV failed to come out with flying colours. In this regard, X90J was somewhat better. Blooming is not visible while watching normal content. It gets visible in dark scenes, around busting firecrackers or well-illuminated buildings. It is more when seen through the camera. However, through naked eyes, the blooming is hardly visible if you switch off the Peak Luminance and tweak some necessary changes in the settings.
Colour Reproduction
If we talk about the colour reproduction of X90K, then it will not be an exaggeration to say that its colour vibrancy is superb! The XR Triluminos Pro works efficiently to increase the colour gamut and make it wider in order to render better colours than a QLED TV. Though technically, we cannot term it a QLED TV, however, on the basis of observation, I can tell you that this TV has more vibrant colours than any QLED TV. The colours of this TV display a shine, which makes the overall picture quality pretty attractive. The colours despite being vibrant do not look artificial at all.
After watching this TV, the colours of other TVs will not appeal to you. Though out of the box the colours of this TV are very good, after calibration they turn ultimate. After watching Sony X90K for a few days, the colours of my Sony X90J appeared a bit dull to me. After an endeavour of two days, I was finally successful in churning out the ultimate picture quality and colours even on my 75 inches Sony X90J. The foremost thing that I like about Sony TVs is that the company gives you a lot of control over the settings. You get umpteen settings on these XR TVs. You can tweak each and every setting according to your liking and obtain the ultimate picture quality. If we talk about the X90K, then brightness, contrast and colour vibrancy, all, have been improved on this TV.
Dolby Vision & HDR Performance
On X90K, you get to see good sharpness and picture clarity. Dolby Vision and HDR videos look pretty attractive on it. While watching Dolby Vision content you get Dolby Vision bright, Dolby Vision Dark and Vivid modes. Overall, this TV gives you a pretty good cinematic experience. The pictures on this TV display a 3D depth, which creates an illusion of their being real. The real performance of Dolby Vision and HDR videos is seen only on this category of TVs, which have high brightness. When you play HDR content on any TV its brightness automatically gets reduced. The TVs that come with high brightness are capable of playing even dark scenes beautifully with all their details intact, without the need for extra light that could spoil the ambience of dark scenes. Budget TVs are incapable of playing HDR content in its optimum quality because on them the finer details are not visible in dark scenes. Though Dolby Vision and HDR 10 comes mentioned in their specification, the low brightness budget TVs do not give you the true experience of HDR and Dolby Vision, these specifications are just there for namesake.
Picture Upscaling
Like the X90J, the picture upscaling of this TV is very good. Even old movies lying on Amazon Prime, look noise-free on this TV, to a large extent. The movies that I did not watch prior to X90J, because of their bad quality, are pretty enjoyable on, both, X90J and X90K as these TVs upscale the picture and reduce digital noise present in the original video. Through USB, too, you get a good picture upscaling. Uncompressed 4K HDR 10-bit videos play smoothly on this TV. This TV is capable of upscaling any 24p content being played through any external device, such as a set-top box, DVD player and Android TV box, connected to this TV. It even reduces the judder present in their content.
Picture Modes
X90K TV comes with Vivid, Standard, Cinema, IMAX enhanced, Game, Graphics, Photo, Custom, Dolby Vision bright, Dolby Vision Dark and Netflix Calibrated modes. In the Netflix calibrated mode, you get to watch a movie in almost the same colour, brightness and contrast, that the Hollywood movie creator intended to show you.
Audio
The company claims that the sound setup has been designed in a way that audio seems to be emanating from the screen, however, I did not experience any such noticeable effect of the audio. It seems coming from the TV in the same manner as heard on other TVs. But, this is also a fact, that the audio of this TV even out of the box is very good. The audio apart from being loud has amazing clarity. The company claims that this TV analyses your positioning in the room and optimizes the audio settings according to that, to give you the best audio performance. Though I cannot give confirmation regarding this feature, I can surely tell you, that I was able to hear the audio clearly, wherever I was in the room. The dialogues on this TV are crisp and clear. There is a definite improvement in the audio quality over X90J. The audio clarity of X90K is better than X90J. Even in the noise of several fans, you can clearly hear the dialogues. This TV has Dolby Atmos, which as of now is the ultimate decoding of audio.
The audio details that get lost during compression are restored during Dolby Atmos decoding, thereby, making the audio quality rich. However, this is also true that you do not get to hear any noticeable Dolby Atmos effect directly through the TV speakers. To even think that you can get a Dolby Atmos experience through a 30 Watts speaker system would be ridiculously insane. For a true Dolby Atmos experience, you need to connect this TV through its HDMI eARC to some good Dolby Atmos 5.1.2 or 7.1.2 home theatre system, in which ceiling speakers are also included so that the audio gets a vertical channel and you get to hear sound from above too. As installing ceiling speakers is not feasible in many homes' setups, you can go with Sony Z9F which comes with rear speakers. Its audio is superb and if you carry out a proper placement of its rear speakers, then, apart from excellent audio, you can also get the Dolby Atmos experience to some extent. And if your budget is less, then go with Sony's Dolby Atmos home theatre, GT700, which is reasonably priced, and whose review, I have already done. Its audio quality is very good and it generates a heavy bass, too. Watching movies on these home theatre systems is a very enjoyable experience. In the description, I have given the purchase links of these soundbars along with their video review links, if you want you can watch those videos. The higher-range home theatres of Sony are fully compatible with this TV. In the internal settings, you get a Bravia Sync feature, which fine-tunes the audio of these home theatres even further.
Viewing Angle
Coming to its viewing angle, it is a tad better than X90J. Sony has not given the X wide-angle technology on this TV, too, because of which when you watch from extreme angles the colours appear a little washed out. However, the TV looks good from most angles. Coming to its reflection handling capacity, if the light is not falling directly on the screen, then you will not face any problem related to reflection.
Motion Blur Handling
This TV comes with a 120 Hz refresh rate, normally, you don't get to see any motion blur on it, however, when the higher frame rate of the TV fails to match with the lower frame rate of any fast-moving content, then occasional stuttering might be noticed. And then, in many contents, judder is intentionally created according to the demand of the scene, which we mistakenly assume as motion blur.
Smartness
Now coming to the smartness of this TV, this is an Android TV that comes with Google TV UI. The bootup time of this TV is pretty faster than other Android TVs and the UI of Google TV is highly responsive and user-friendly too. When you watch any content, this TV keeps your choice in mind and starts displaying content of the same genre on the home screen. When you click on them, they start playing from the platform where they are. You just need to have a subscription to that application. On this TV, you get almost all applications, and, it also has a Google PlayStore, from where you can download applications and games. Apple TV application is also given on this TV.
Apart from controlling the TV through the remote, you can also control this TV directly through your voice command, and, you can operate all the compatible devices connected to it through your voice. This TV has different UIs for kids with parental control. You can set the timer on this TV and limit the viewing hours of your kids. It comes with a light sensor, which in auto mode, adjusts the brightness of the TV according to the lighting condition of the room. The TV also has a living decor application. You can set your personal pictures or screensavers, already given in it, and play them with music, thus, converting your TV into a piece of art.
The casting is smooth on this TV. You can cast your Android as well as Apple devices on it. Apart from Google devices, this TV is also compatible with Alexa. You can connect your headphones or earphones wirelessly to this TV, and, this TV also gives you the flexibility to connect your Bluetooth speakers and soundbars with it.
Special Features On X90K
Now let's talk about the special features given on this TV. It comes with the Bravia core application, where you get IMAX enhanced movies. On purchasing this TV, you get about a code through which you can make an account in this Bravia core application. After logging in, you will receive five credit points, through which you can unlock 5 movies and play them at will. This application is capable of streaming content at 80 Mbps, because of which, the picture quality and audio, both, get enhanced. When you use the credit, the IMAX enhanced mode gets activated and the screen size increases automatically. Because of this, the images increase in size and you get to see them all very clearly. This experience is really great. A new feature of this TV, which is not there on Sony X 90J, is that, on this TV, you get the provision to install Bravia cam, through which, you can not only make video calls but can also control this TV through your gestures. Keeping privacy in mind, the company has provided a switch-off button for this application.
Gaming Performance
On this Sony TV, you get 8.4 Ms of low input lag along with a fast response time, apart from a 120 Hz variable refresh rate and auto low latency rate, which makes your gaming experience buttery smooth. This TV is fully compatible with PS5 PlayStation. Or you can even say that the entry-level TVs of higher range, Sony x90J and Sony X90K, both, have been created by the company keeping PS5 gaming in mind. Because of its high brightness, this TV makes HDR gaming highly enjoyable. On both, X90K & X90J TVs, you get a similar gaming experience.
The graphics of this TV are excellent. When you connect your PS5 to this X90k or X90J TV, it will show that VRR is not supported on your TV, and, when you select 4K resolution it will not give you the HDR option. It will say that HDR is available only in the 1080p resolution. Seeing this don't panic! For VRR and 4K HDR gaming, initially, you need to do some settings on your TV. Go to the settings, choose the channel & output option from there, then, go to the external input and select enhanced format VRR for HDMI 3 or HDMI 4. If you have connected your soundbar to the HDMI 3, i.e., eARC, then choose Enhanced Format Dolby Vision for it, and, for HDMI 4, you need to select Enhanced Format VRR. Now, go back to your PS5 and check the screen, now, you will get the option for 4K HDR along with VRR. PS5 gaming on both X90K and X90J is an ultimate experience, which you can never get on any budget category TV. As soon as you connect your PS5 to your TV, it automatically switches over to the Game Mode. After you have made the required settings, & the VRR Mode gets switched on, colours tend to get dull, the solution to this is that you need to go to the picture settings and make some settings for the Game Mode. While playing games, though you do not get to see, VRR or refresh rate, displayed on the screen, through the ease of playing the same you can gauge it. In the VRR mode, the refresh rate varies between 48 Hz and 120 Hz. Gaming on this TV is very smooth and ultimate.
Perfect As A Monitor
This TV is also a perfect option for using as a monitor. In its settings, you get options to set the colour, contrast, and gamma level. Apart from this, you can even tweak individual colours to bring them close to accuracy. For good text clarity, this TV supports the Chroma ratio of 4:4:4.
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