Nathan Rizzuti, dedicated to Gadget Review for over 4 years, specializes in home entertainment technology and purchasing decisions. Outside of work, Nathan finds solace in playing bluegrass. With 50 months of consistent contributions at GadgetReview, Nathan’s expertise lies in navigating the realms of home entertainment technology and aiding purchasing decisions. His insightful articles, such as “Oh Ballers of Pittsburgh, Where Art Thou,” reflect a unique perspective that resonates with readers.
The Sony X90K TV provides deep blacks, high brightness, vivid colors, and smooth motion. It’s a worthy mid-range option, great for casual movie viewing. It performs well for the price, though it has potential issues like blooming and reflections.
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Table of Contents
Product Snapshot
Overview
Released in 2022, the Sony X90K TV was one of the best TVs in Sony’s line of 4k LED TVs. From a marker perspective, it was an upper-midrange TV, as it sports an effective mini LED backlight that delivers quality brightness and a good contrast ratio, especially with its full-array local dimming.
Overall, it offers many features commonly found among the best 4k TVs. The TV operates on Sony’s Google Smart TV OS, which offers a wide range of games and streaming services. It also comes with an effective, built-in Google Voice assistant, which is accessible via remote and the simple and intuitive.
For gaming, the TV has 1080 VRR and two HDMI 2.1 bandwidth inputs, along with 9.3 input lag. It has great build quality and is made of sturdy plastic. It also has an additional two HDMI 2.0 inputs and two for USB.
Consensus
our Verdict
The value-centric Sony X90K TV provides impressive visual quality, deep blacks, a bright display, and plenty of gaming features, making it great for casual viewing, HDR, and gaming.
SDR peak brightness of 579 cd/m² and boasts an excellent contrast ratio of 34,557: 1 for deep blacks, enhancing both movie and sports experiences. It also has a wide 95.08% color gamut, with vivid colors.
This TV also boasts the Google TV smart platform. Gamers will appreciate the quick 3.5 ms response time, low 9.3 ms input lag, and HDMI 2.1 bandwidth, but it lacks FreeSync.
However, the TV’s narrow 12° viewing angle and reflective anti-glare coating present challenges in wide seating areas. It excels in handling motion and peak brightness but has occasional blooming around bright objects and some inverse ghosting in fast-moving dark scenes.
The remote has a great built-in voice function for easy commands.
ReasonS to Buy
Great picture quality
Superb motion handling
Fast refresh rate
Reason to Avoid
Narrow viewing angles
Succumbs to slight blooming
Sony X90K TV Specs
Backlight Type
Full-Array
Display Type
LCD
HDMI Inputs
4
HDMI Type
HDMI 2.1
HDR Format
Dolby Vision, HDR10, HLG
HomeKit Compatible
Yes
Max Resolution
3840 x 2160 (4k)
Number of Audio Channels
7.1
Panel Type
LED
Refresh Rate
120 Hz
Screen size
55", 65", 75", 85"
Smart Platform
Google TV
Speaker Output
10W + 10W + 5W + 5W
Sync Technology
No
VRR
No
All Specs
Test Results
These are the most important criteria to test for TVs based on our comprehensive Testing Methodology.
Color Gamut % (DCI P3 xy)
92.615
Color Gamut % (DCI P3 uv)
95.08
Color Gamut % (Rec 2020 xy)
71.88
Color Gamut % (Rec 2020 uv)
79.75
Color Gamut % (sRGB)
0
Color Gamut % (Rec 709)
98.93
Color Gamut % (BT.2020)
0
Color Gamut % (Adobe RGB)
0
Color Gamut % (BT.709)
0
Contrast Ratio (x:1)
34,557
SDR Brightness (nits)
705
HDR Brightness (nits)
915
Input Lag (ms)
16.2
Response Time (ms)
11.9
Color Washout (Degrees)
27
Color Shift (Degrees)
40
Brightness Loss (Degrees)
35
Reflections (%)
5.6
Low-Freq Extension (Hz)
84.76
Freq Response StdDev @ 70db
2.71
Freq Response StdDev @ 80db
2.96
Weighted Total Harmonic Distortion @80db
0.043
Intermodulation Distortion @80db
1.36
EOTF (600 nit delta)
0.0065
EOTF (1000 nit delta)
0.0067
EOTF (4000 nit delta)
0.0065
All Tests
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Released in 2022, the Sony X90K TV was one of the best TVs in Sony’s line of 4k LED TVs. From a marker perspective, it…
Released in 2022, the Sony X90K TV was one of the best TVs in Sony’s line of 4k LED TVs. From a marker perspective, it was an upper-midrange TV, as it sports an effective mini LED backlight that delivers quality brightness and a good contrast ratio, especially with its full-array local dimming.
Overall, it offers many features commonly found among the best 4k TVs. The TV operates on Sony’s Google Smart TV OS, which offers a wide range of games and streaming services. It also comes with an effective, built-in Google Voice assistant, which is accessible via remote and the simple and intuitive.
For gaming, the TV has 1080 VRR and two HDMI 2.1 bandwidth inputs, along with 9.3 input lag. It has great build quality and is made of sturdy plastic. It also has an additional two HDMI 2.0 inputs and two for USB.
The Sony X85K is the model right below the Sony X90K. The main difference is that the X90K includes a local dimming feature and a…
The Sony X85K is the model right below the Sony X90K. The main difference is that the X90K includes a local dimming feature and a far greater contrast ratio, which creates deeper blacks and more vibrant brights. Overall, it’s a feature that makes the most difference when watching HDR content. The X90K also has a superior processor, which enhances speed performance, and includes a center speaker input. However, the X85K does have a better pre-calibration color gamut, which is about the only advantage there is other than the price. We also have a great Sony X80K review, which is the model right before the X85K.
The Samsung QN90B outshines the Sony X90K in almost all aspects. The Samsung TV is both brighter and displays deeper blacks. It also has a…
The Samsung QN90B outshines the Sony X90K in almost all aspects. The Samsung TV is both brighter and displays deeper blacks. It also has a superior local dimming feature. In short, you’ll get better quality both in dark and bright rooms with the QN90B. Gamers will also be drawn to the Samsung, as it has additional features, like VRR support and FreeSync. However, the Sony X90K holds an advantage over its competitor in local content smoothing, as it performs better when removing banding from SDR content.
The Hisense U8H clearly outperforms the Sony X90K. The brightness levels of the HIsense are far greater, both for viewing HDR content and in overall…
The Hisense U8H clearly outperforms the Sony X90K. The brightness levels of the HIsense are far greater, both for viewing HDR content and in overall peak brightness. The U8H also has a much higher contrast ratio, outperforming Sony in producing deep blacks. Furthermore, the Hisense experiences less blooming and handles reflections better. The only advantage had by the Sony X90K is its incredibly low content smoothing, and it blows the Hisense out of the water in this regard. However, both share the flaw of having poor viewing angles.
The Sony X90K is the successor to the Sony X90J. There are a few major differences, the foremost being that the X90J offers superior local…
The Sony X90K is the successor to the Sony X90J. There are a few major differences, the foremost being that the X90J offers superior local dimming, which means the TV suffers less blooming. The contrast ratios are nearly identical, but the X90K is slightly better. However, gamers might be drawn to the X90K because it offers a VRR range that, at 1080p, is wider than its predecessor. For more, read our full Sony X90J review to see the full list of specs and features. Or, if you want to see the model right above it, we have another Sony X95J review.
