Our Verdict
Great TV for mixed usage. Picture quality, Input lag and motion all perform very well, almost everyone will have a great experience with this TV.
- Deep blacks
- Bright, which is good for HDR
- Very fluid motion
- Picture quality deteriorates at an angle
Very good movie performance. Deep and uniform blacks aided by the good local dimming give an excellent picture in a dark environment.
Good TV show performance. The X900E gets quite bright and doesn't reflect light much. It remains enjoyable both day and night.
Great TV for sports. The colors are uniform so there won't be blotchy fields, and motion is very smooth.
Great TV for video games. The TV is responsive and has very fluid motion. Gamers will be very pleased with the X900E.
HDR movies look great on the X900E. The TV gets quite bright and can display saturated colors. Blacks are nice and deep as well.
Excellent HDR Gaming performance. The TV remains responsive even with HDR games, and the picture quality is equally good.
Good PC monitor. Mouse movement isn't delayed much and motion is handled well but the picture deteriorates at an angle causing the edges to darken when sitting close.
Changelog
- Updated Jun 12, 2018: A note for Xbox One X and Xbox One S owners: 1080p @ 120 Hz from the Xbox is only supported on this TV when the Xbox's connection type is changed from Auto-detect (Recommended) to HDMI, but unfortunately in this mode 4k and HDR aren't supported.
- Updated Mar 12, 2018: Converted to Test Bench 1.2.
- Updated Dec 11, 2017: Google Assistant has now been added to Android TV on Sony TVs, and it brings a lot of new features to the voice control. The remote score has been increased to reflect the new fuctionality.
- Updated Nov 10, 2017: Retested input lag with the latest firmware (PKG6.2669.0070NAA); there was no significant change.
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Differences Between Sizes And Variants
We tested the 55" (XBR55X900E). For the most part, we expect our review to be valid for the 49"(XBR49X900E), 65"(XBR65X900E), and 75"(XBR75X900E). Unlike the other sizes, the 75" variant has an internal power brick.
If someone comes across a different type of panel or if their Sony XBR-55X900E doesn't correspond to our review, let us know and we will update the review. Note that some tests such as the gray uniformity may vary between individual units.
| Size | Model | Alternative Name | UK Model |
| 49" | XBR49X900E | XBR-49X900E | KD-49XE9005 |
| 55" | XBR55X900E | XBR-55X900E | KD-55XE9005 |
| 65" | XBR65X900E | XBR-65X900E | KD-65XE9005 |
| 75" | XBR75X900E | XBR-75X900E | KD-75XE9005 |
Popular TV Comparisons
The Sony X900E offers a compelling package that is very competitive considering its price point. Picture quality is great, and its local dimming is a strong selling point. See our recommendations for the best TVs and the best 4k TVs.
The Sony X900E is better than the Samsung MU8000 in almost every usage. The Sony X900E has significantly better local dimming and slightly better contrast ratio and can display deeper blacks which is great if you watch movies or HDR content in a dark room. Also, the Sony X900E has better reflection handling, which is good news if you watch TV shows in a brighter room. On the other hand, the Samsung MU8000 has a bit better input lag, and this will please those who play video games.
The 2018 Sony X900F is marginally better than the 2017 Sony X900E. The X900F has a better response time, so fast-moving objects have very little motion blur that isn't noticeable to most people. The X900F also received an update that enables Dolby Vision support with the native apps and some external devices.
The Sony X930E is slightly better than the Sony X900E. The Sony X930E has marginally better input lag when sent a 4k @ 60Hz + HDR input signal and can also decode a Dolby vision signal, and this is great if you play HDR games. The Sony X930E has slightly better SDR peak brightness which makes it suitable for watching TV shows in a brighter room and also has better local dimming which improves picture quality when you watch a movie. On the other hand, the Sony X900E has a slightly better response time that will please gamers.
The Sony X940E and X900E are very similar and offer nearly identical performance. The X940E has better dark room performance due to the improved local dimming feature and better black uniformity. The X900E has a much better response time and motion looks much smoother with very little motion blur. The X940E has been updated with support for Dolby Vision.
We buy and test dozens of TVs yearly, taking an objective, data-driven approach to deliver results you can trust. Our testing process is complex, with hundreds of individual tests that take over a week to complete. Most of our tests use specially designed test patterns that mimic real content, but we also use the same sources you have at home to ensure our results match the real-world experience. We use two main tools for our testing: a Colorimetry Research CR-100 colorimeter and a CR-250 spectroradiometer.
Test Results
Older Test Bench: This product has been tested using an older TV test methodology, before a major update. Some of the test results below aren't directly comparable with other TVs. Learn more
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