Our family really loves this TV. My wife immediately noticed color and black level improvement over our previous displays (two Sony TVs & a Samsung). Definitely a big step up in quality & enjoyment for our home theater.
PROS:
MOTION: I really like the motion handling of this display. I notice more detail and clearer images during fast motion scenes (re-watched Bumblebee & Aquaman on 4K disk and was blown away by how much detail was missed compared to the old TV). Almost gets the balance between smoothness and 'no soap opera effect' perfect.
PICTURE: Color is vibrant with nice saturation, black levels are great, shadow detail is good, the black bars on letterbox movies look great, and the Dolby Vision HDR highlights are really bright (re-watched The Mandalorian: Prisoner episode and was surprised at the brightness of the strobe lights and laser fire on board the prisoner ship).
SPEAKERS: The TV's built in speakers sound great (after a few adjustments of the various settings). There are simulated surround settings, 7 band EQ slider adjustments, and a Dialog Enhancer setting that acually makes a difference.
AUDIO: (see also cons below) My wife commented how the audio sounded better on our home theater set up. The Dolby Digital Plus output (over HDMI 3 ARC) sounds more detailed on our Sony STR-DN1080 Receiver compared to the Dolby Digital PCM output from our previous 2015 Sony TV.
APPS: The apps launch quickly, menus are responsive, streams start fast, and 4K upscaling of 1080P content looks great too. I love the Apple TV box, but this TV almost negates the need for it with its very good app performance.
REMOTE: the remote feels good, thin and slim in the hand with nice tactile button pushes, textured plastic back side, brushed finish plastic front side. Note: no backlight.
SCREEN: Zero dead/stuck pixels on my panel
CONS:
AUDIO: A squeak noise happens whenever tapping the pause/stop/back buttons during playback of the internal TV Netflix App (Atmos content) over my Sony Receiver/Klipsch speakers (doesn't happen on the TV's built in speakers). Turning OFF 'Pass Through Mode' in the TV's sound menu seems to have stopped the squeak glitch.
SCREEN: Slight darkening of the corners of screen on while displaying a light solid color (common with VA panels), but this is unnoticeable during actual TV viewing. Not a big deal at all to me, but worth mentioning.
NOTES (as of Firmware v6.0132 dated June 2, 2020):
*Movies Anywhere App: supports Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos
*Disney+ App: supports Dolby Vision, doesn't support Dolby Atmos
*YouTube App: supports 4K HDR
*Amazon App: supports 4K HDR & Dolby Atmos, no Dolby Vision. A few problems I noticed are that the app is slow to load to the home screen, and there is a weird frame rate skip that can be distracting to some on certain selections.
*Netflix App: supports Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos. The 'Netflix calibrated picture mode' looks too dull in my opinion. It auto enables the light sensor (too aggressively), and none of the settings can be changed within this mode.
*my TV is on a wired 300 Mbps internet connection (for streaming stablility/quality/speed)
*The built in Apps have a unique picture settings memory separate from each of the HDMI input settings
*Dolby Vision picture settings have separate picture settings memory from non-DV sources unique to each input
*I prefer to use 'Dolby Vision Bright' picture setting on all DV supported media, looks great
*The Sanus VLT6 wall mount for the 85-inch tv size is awesome: easy to move around for access to ports & lots of adjustments for changing the position/leveling
*Belkin Ultra High-Speed HDMI cables and Monoprice Ultra High-Speed HDMI cables are used in my setup (at least perhaps until 'Certified Ultra High Speed' cables hit the market)
*After allowing permissions in the Google Home app, Google voice commands can be spoken into the remote to allow control of Nest Thermostat temperature settings. Also, Philips Hue Lights can be turned on/off/dimmed/brightened in your different zones.
*The NEST tv app allows viewing of a NEST doorbell camera on the TV screen (as long as your NEST account wasn't migrated to your Google account).
*The remote is IR out of the box, but BlueTooth mode can be activated in: Settings > Remotes & Accesories > Remote Control > Connect Via BlueTooth > Connect a new remote > then follow the onscreen directions. To switch back to IR mode, just repeat the steps again stopping at the [Connect a new Remote]. It seems only one remote can be connected via BlueTooth at a time, thereby setting it back to IR mode. Remote commands feel more responsive in BlueTooth mode, plus you don't need to point it at the TV.
*Probably because the eARC firmware is glitched or not fully implemented yet (edit: I read responses from Sony reps in the Amazon Q&A section and eARC support will be added as a future firmware update, but I am leaving this information to help others in case they have a similar problem), I encountered the following issue. My Panasonic 4K Disk Player (DP-UB820) would not operate correctly when connected directly to one of the TV's HDMI ports (with Sony Receiver then connected to HDMI 3 ARC). Sound would stop on Sony Receiver (movie picture still playing, but with zero audio) after using stop/pause/search functions. Sometimes an error would flash briefly on screen, usually not at all, to "please use a compatible HDCP 2.2 device on current input" and then the TV would freeze up, go blank and become unresponsive followed by a screen of black and white horizontal lines. Next, the TV would turn off and become unresponsive to remote power button commands. After about 3 minutes or so the TV would reboot showing the SONY logo, the colored Google circles, the Android logo, then finally the home screen again. Note: Audio signals sent out from the TV through ARC (when it worked) was NOT in Dolby Atmos True-HD (lossless) format, but only as Dolby Atmos Dolby Digital Plus. FIX: Only after connecting the Panasonic Player directly to the Sony Receiver, then the Sony Receiver to the TV's HDMI 3(ARC) did disk movies finally work with no audio problems or TV resets. Dolby Atmos True-HD (lossless) audio worked great with no stop/pause/search glitches.
CONCLUSION: We are very happy with this purchase. This a great TV for the price and I feel it is worth every dollar spent. Netflix and Movie viewing are awesome and I am looking forward to PlayStation 5 gaming on this display with the future HDMI 2.1 features (4k120, ALLM, VRR, eARC).
These 2.1 features will be added to HDMI ports 3&4 *according to Amazon Q&A section Sony Reps. RTings.com should have a review up soon with a ton of great information for those interested.
| Brand Name | Sony |
|---|---|
| Item Weight | 1 pounds |
| Product Dimensions | 48.5 x 13.38 x 30.75 inches |
| Item model number | XBR55X900H |
| Is Discontinued By Manufacturer | Yes |
| Color Name | Black |
| Special Features | Flat |
