The Sony X90J offers nearly everything we\u2019d want from a mid-range 4K LED-LCD TV. It has some issues, but largely this is a fantastic TV that most folks will absolutely love.<\/b>
\nThe Sony X90J is nearly everything we\u2019d want from a mid-range 4K LED-LCD TV. For the money, there are few TVs that can match it in terms of picture quality and feature set, making it top of its class for mid-range models. Honestly, though, we kind of saw this coming. Last year\u2019s Sony X900H\/XH90 was one of the best TVs of the year for all of the same reasons, and now Sony\u2019s made it even better with its new Cognitive Processor XR that offers incredible upscaling and contrast control. We like it so much because it\u2019s a native 120Hz TV with two full-spec HDMI 2.1 ports for the Xbox Series X and PS5, Variable Refresh Rate, and Auto Low Latency Mode, plus it uses a full array panel with local dimming for better black levels. Setting it up is easy and the TV uses the new Google TV platform that puts recommended content front and center. There are still a few lingering issues with setting up a new console on the TV \u2013 as well as some issues of how the TV looks in broad daylight in a bright room and off-axis viewing \u2013 but the Sony X90J succeeds in delivering stellar performance for a reasonable price. The Sony X90J is part of the Sony TV 2021 collection that includes the new A90J and A80J OLED TVs, plus the X95J and X80J 4K LED-LCD TVs. The X90J, reviewed here, is the middle child of the lineup and offers many of the best features of the high-end TVs minus the color sensor of the Z9J or the X-Contrast Pro of the A90J OLED. The good news? It\u2019s much, much cheaper than either of those two. In terms of screen sizes and pricing, here\u2019s what you\u2019re looking at: So where does that put the Sony X90J compared to the competition? Somewhere right in the middle. It\u2019s obviously not as affordable as the TCL 6-Series QLED that only costs around $649 for a 55-inch screen size, but it\u2019s also not nearly as expensive as some of the 8K TVs we\u2019ve seen come out this year like the new Samsung QN900A. It\u2019s therefore right in the middle alongside the Samsung QN90A and LG C1 OLED that offer a higher peak brightness and better black levels, but only the Sony X90J comes with the content-first Google TV. The wild card here, however, is the new Sony X95J. It\u2019s the step up above the X90J that offers X-Anti-Glare technology, higher brightness and better contrast. It\u2019s slated to be much more expensive than the X90J \u2013 which is why we mostly would recommend this TV to friends and family over the X95J \u2013 but scrutinizing cinephiles might want to hold out until they can scrape the money together for the X95J instead. Because it\u2019s a full array LED-LCD TV with local dimming, the Sony X90J isn\u2019t as slim as the company\u2019s OLED TV lineup \u2013 but it\u2019s certainly not unattractive either. The front of the TV has a relatively thin bezel \u2013 though it doesn\u2019t offer the edge-to-edge picture that some other 4K TVs do \u2013 and two thin legs. The legs themselves easily slide into position near the outer edge of the TV and do a great job of stabilizing the screen. Spin it around to the side and you\u2019ll see that the Sony X90J isn\u2019t exactly the slimmest screen on the market, but it uses the extra space to its fullest potential. Inside the TV is a full array panel with local dimming, plus a rock-solid sound system with two sound positioning tweeters on the sides of the TV and down firing woofers. Spin it all the way around to the back and you\u2019ll find your typical port selection: here you\u2019ve got four HDMI ports (two of which support 4K\/120 and one is eARC compatible), plus ethernet, digital optical audio out, auxiliary and an RF tuner. You\u2019ve also got two USB ports there. While we wish all four ports would be HDMI 2.1 compatible, having two ports will at least allow you to connect both a PS5 and Xbox Series X simultaneously for dual 4K\/120Hz gameplay, though, plugging it directly into HDMI port 4 isn\u2019t enough – you\u2019ll actually have to go into the settings -> Channel & Inputs -> External Inputs -> HDMI signal format -> HDMI 4 -> Enhanced format. There\u2019s a second option that says Enhanced format (Dolby Vision) but don\u2019t select that as it prevents the TV from outputting at 120Hz and right now there doesn\u2019t appear to be a way to get the TV to accept 4K\/120Hz signal and Dolby Vision simultaneously. Finally, in terms of a remote, the Sony X90J ships with the latest voice remote that comes with a built-in microphone and four shortcut buttons for Netflix, Amazon, YouTube and Disney Plus. The remote feels great in the hand and because it\u2019s fairly large, it\u2019s not easy to lose. At this point in the review for a Sony TV we\u2019d traditionally be talking about Android TV, but this year we\u2019ll be talking about Google TV instead. That\u2019s because, while Android TV has been Google\u2019s smart TV platform for close to a decade now, Google TV has arrived to take the reins \u2013 and we\u2019re glad it has. What we like so much about Google TV is that it’s flashier, more vibrant and more dynamic than Android TV. It takes content recommendations from every service you already use (and a few you don\u2019t) and puts them front and center of the home screen \u2013 as long as you sign into your Google account when first setting up the TV. Tapping into your Google account will also populate the main screen of the Chromecast\u2019s UI with relevant and recommended content. If you\u2019re familiar with Android TV, this will all look super familiar to you, but for the uninitiated it\u2019s a veritable smorgasbord of content compiled from different sources. For example, on our home screen we have Captain America: The First Avenger (most likely because we binged the Marvel movies in order) and Parks and Recreation, among other comedies and sci-fi films. Scroll down a bit more from your recommended content row and you\u2019ll find Netflix-esque rows of content that are grouped together by genre, a row of recommended videos from YouTube and finally trending shows and movies. You\u2019ll also find rows for hand-selected movies and shows categorized in other unique ways (like Oscar-award-winning films) that are fun to peruse through while looking for something to watch. When you select something to watch, you can either immediately start watching it or add it to your Watch List so that you can find it again later. Google TV also uses a thumbs up \/ down system to help you improve the recommendations it makes. Last but not least, there\u2019s a halfway decent built-in search feature that can show you several ways in which to stream a certain movie or show, but it\u2019s not nearly as robust as Roku\u2019s built-in search engine. In terms of app selection, you\u2019ve got a lot to choose from here including all the main services (Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, etc\u2026) as well as one service no one else has called Bravia Core. Simply buying an X90J before February 23, 2024 entitles you to 10 movie credits to use against a selection of at least 300 movies. Those films include most of Sony Picture Entertainment\u2019s catalogue like Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and Jumanji: The Next Level. It\u2019s something no other TV has at this point and considering it\u2019s essentially free to try, it\u2019s absolutely worth taking advantage of while you can. Overall, we feel that Google TV is a great addition to this year\u2019s Sony TV sets and it helps the X90J compete with Samsung and LG\u2019s similarly strong smart TV platforms. As you\u2019d expect, colors and highlights look absolutely gorgeous here. The TV does an incredible job taking HD content and upscaling to 4K, and native 4K HDR content \u2013 especially those shot in Dolby Vision \u2013 look exceptionally beautiful. Again, that\u2019s no surprise because we felt the exact same way about the X90J\u2019s predecessor, the Sony X900H. So what\u2019s changed in the picture quality department? Well, the biggest addition this year is the new Cognitive Processor XR that adds more depth to some scenes \u2013 especially to older content shot in HD \u2013 and better contrast control. Let\u2019s start first with the Cognitive Processor XR. What it does differently is that it can divide up a scene into several parts, and then can figure out what the focal point is. If the processor sees a bright neon sign it knows to boost the brightness and clarity of that sign. If it identifies a person, it works to enhance their skin tone and any fine details like hair or wrinkles. This happens instantly on a frame-by-frame basis all behind the scenes. As for the enhanced contrast control, well, that comes down to the way the processor works with the full array panel and an integrated light sensor. In an briefing with TechRadar last year, Sony said that the TV has a technology called XR Contrast Booster 5 that helps boost bright areas and lower the black levels in the same scenes, plus it retains that contrast regardless of what the lighting conditions are in the room thanks to the ambient light sensor. Now, that being said, regardless of how bright it was in the room under no circumstances does the Sony X90J ever reach the same brightness levels as Samsung\u2019s QLED TVs like the Samsung QN90A that we reviewed earlier this year. That means direct light can be a real problem. If you\u2019re someone who has a TV right in front of an open window, you\u2019ll likely see some glare \u2013 which will reduce some of that contrast. That\u2019s doubly true if you look at the screen off-axis as the X90J struggles with limited viewing angles. It\u2019s not as bad as, say, the Vizio V-Series that loses a ton of color saturation when you\u2019re just 30 degrees left or right of the TV, but it is noticeable the further off-axis you sit. The good news is that, sitting straight on, the TV looks phenomenal with no major issues \u2013 even when it\u2019s set to the Standard picture mode. Out of the box picture is nicely saturated and doesn\u2019t suffer from any picture defects or motion artifacting. Switching to another mode will give you a different color tone and\/or motion processing setting \u2013 which is nice if you want even smoother control for watching sports \u2013 but most times you\u2019ll be just fine with Standard or Custom with a few tweaked settings. For a mid-range TV without any attached soundbar, the Sony X90J is surprisingly powerful in the sound category. Using only two 10W full range drivers and two side tweeters, the X90J delivers convincing and clear audio that, largely, sounds very good. Like other Sony TVs, the X90J uses Sony\u2019s new X-Balanced Speaker to deliver clearer sound with less distortion at high volumes and the tweeters help broaden the soundstage of the TV \u2013 though, it does make some compromises on the bass response. Shows, movies and games we played on the TV all sounded crisp and clear with easy-to-understand dialogue and solid simulated 3D sound. While the simulated 3D audio is never quite as good as a full Dolby Atmos setup \u2013 it\u2019s not even close, really \u2013 it is a nice feature to have while you\u2019re waiting to install a more fully featured AV solution. The good news is that the TV does offer Dolby Atmos passthrough through its HDMI 3 eARC port, which means connecting a soundbar and controlling both with the TV\u2019s remote is a breeze. We\u2019d recommend pairing it with something like the Sonos Arc, but really any Dolby Atmos soundbar would do the trick here. Overall, there\u2019s still a bit more room for improvement, especially when it comes to more powerful bass and better simulated surround sound, but it\u2019s one of the more powerful TV speaker systems we\u2019ve heard on a mid-range 4K TV.<\/p>\n