Sony X900H
A 4K TV with fantastic HDR, but it’s not as ‘Ready for PS5’ yet as Sony would like it to be
From $1,695 sony.com
Sony’s elite-but-lessexpensive 4K LED TV, the X900H has most – though not quite all – of the features and functionality included in the top-of-the-line X95H range. But, despite representing pretty impressive value for money, as it stands it isn’t quite the complete package yet.
In terms of picture quality and HDR, this set really shines. As is usual with Sony, every HDR standard except HDR10+ is catered for here. With some 4K Dolby-Vision-assisted content up and running, the Sony looks vivid and detailed. Edges are drawn smoothly, picture noise is suppressed almost entirely, and the all-important skin-tones and -textures are completely convincing.
There’s a slight ‘either/or’ element to the way the set delivers black tones: you can either have them impressively deep and lustrous, or with plenty of detail. But there’s no arguing with the way the Sony serves them up alongside bright, clean and detailed white tones. The full array
backlighting means screen uniformity is excellent, and there’s no clouding or haloing where black meets white.
As well as offering lovely native 4K picture quality, Sony’s X1 4K HDR picture processing engine is also charged with upscaling sub-4K material. And it’s equally successful in this respect.
1080p images have a good deal more 4K-ness to them than might reasonably be expected. As far as detail, texture, colour and contrast are concerned, it’s deeply impressive. Patterns of real complexity provoke some restlessness, but in virtually every circumstance it’s a composed and coherent watch.
For gamers, the set falls into the ‘good’ rather than ‘great’ category. The current lack of HDMI 2.1 specification is going to put off those who’ve pre-ordered their next-gen console, but a lag time of comfortably less than 20ms isn’t to be sniffed at. And, let’s not forget, HDMI 2.1 is promised in a future update and the 4K at 120Hz ability that goes along with it could bring that figure down by a fair amount.
By the prevailing standards of LED TVs, the X900H sounds gratifyingly burly and expansive.
It can handle a Dolby Atmos soundtrack – not in the sense of delivering surround-sound/overhead from its speakers but in simply being able to downscale and deliver it. And in this respect it does well: there’s frankly unlikely muscle and drive to the Atmos-derived audio it serves up. The Sony’s ability to go respectably loud without simultaneously becoming brash or edgy is not to be underestimated, either.
Screen time
The industrial design of the X900H is, really, about all you could ask for. That’s to say it’s a huge amount of screen, surrounded by minimal bezels of impressive build quality and finish. Even though the chassis is relatively deep, it’s all put together with proper integrity.
Your voice, or the remote control, is used to navigate an Android 9.0 interface, and as it’s gratifying and infuriating in equal measure. On the plus side, there are plenty of options as regards streaming services (all the big ones bar Apple TV+) and catch-up TV apps. On the downside, it continues to insist on occupying the entire screen when you summon the interface, so you can’t navigate and watch TV at the same time.
In the simplest terms, this is a very good TV indeed. It has some areas of true picture-making prowess, sounds better than the bulk of TVs at any price, and is a most effective upscaler of sub-4K material. If you can live without HDR10+ compatibility and the Apple TV+ app and can wait for next-gen HDMI features for the PS5 and Xbox Series X, it’s as good a TV as this sort of money will currently buy, in its larger sizes beating its closest competition on price by a large margin.