Sony 65 Inch 4K Ultra HD guide

Tom's Guide Verdict

The Sony Bravia XR X90K stands out as a solid midrange offering that, with the exception of sound, can do many things well. You get good color and brightness, a solid remote and Google’s smart TV interface for a reasonable price.

The Sony Bravia XR X90K is a TV that’s aimed squarely at midrange buyers. That’s not a knock, to be clear—this LCD set with full-array LED backlighting is designed to do a little bit of everything at decently high quality, and the combination of a fine picture with Google TV and an above-average remote control is likely to meet the essential needs of anyone who buys one.

The flip side is that the X90K triumphs at very little. Its brightness and color are good but not great, its gaming capabilities are good but not great, and its sound is… well, not great. You can pay a bit more and get a better TV or a bit less and get a better value. But if this isn’t one of the absolute best TVs we’ve seen, it does almost everything more than well enough.

The Sony X90K is an upper mid-range 4k LED TV. It replaces the Sony X90J and sits behind the Sony X95K, which uses Mini LED backlighting, something this TV doesn't have. It uses Sony's Cognitive Processor XR as its processor, and it comes with the Google TV smart platform, which has a user-friendly interface with a ton of apps you can download, and you can use the Google Assistant voice assistant to search for content and easily open your favorite apps. It's available in a wide range of sizes, from 55 to 85 inches, so you can get the one that suits your needs. It has a few extra features like full-array local dimming, and for gamers, it has HDMI 2.1 bandwidth and variable refresh rate (VRR) support to reduce screen tearing.

The new Sony Bravia XR-X90K LED TV, is a very complete TV and provides good performance for those looking for a good TV, but without having to shell out a lot of money.

To do this, it has very interesting technologies such as Sony’s cognitive XR processor, Full Array backlighting as well as 2 HDMI 2.1 ports for 120 Hz gaming on PS5 or Xbox Series X consoles.

It is available in 55, 65, 75 and 85 inch sizes and at a price that we consider quite tight. If you want to know all the features offered by this Sony X90K XR Full Array continue reading.

TechRadar Verdict

As Sony’s next-to-flagship LCD TV, the X90K series delivers impressive performance for the price. Its full-array LED backlight features local dimming for deep blacks, and its LCD panel has quantum dots for enhanced brightness and color. It’s not the brightest TV you can buy – you’ll need to step up to a mini-LED model for that – and some blooming and uniformity issues make it a lesser choice compared to OLED TVs, but the X90K’s video and audio quality, Google TV interface, ATSC 3.0 tuner, and extensive gaming features including 4K 120Hz support make it a great overall value.

Even with that difference, the 65-inch X90K series TV we tested delivered pictures with impressive brightness, and the local dimming processing used by the set’s full-array backlight created powerful blacks with good shadow detail and only limited backlight “blooming.” For the price, the X90K’s overall performance is very good and should satisfy even fussy viewers.

Sony XR-65X90K (65-inch HDR) at Amazon for $998

The X90K series is the next-gen version of the company's X90J sets, a series that currently sits on our list of the best 4K TVs. X90K sets carry over many features from that line, including Sony’s XR Triluminos Pro panel, which combines with its Cognitive Processor XR and Contrast Booster XR features to deliver HDR images with powerful contrast and a rich color range. XR90K series TVs lack X-Wide Angle, a feature found in the flagship XR95K line that improves off-axis performance, but as long as you watch within a 30 degree viewing angle (basically, the width of an average sofa) that shouldn’t be an issue.