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ZDNET's cardinal takeaways
- What the Sony Bravia X90L lacks successful eye-popping specs, it much than makes up for successful real-world representation show and Sony upscaling technology, which delivers large video for movies, sports, cable, and streaming.
- Regarding the features you'll emotion for regular use, the X90L has an fantabulous distant that feels premium, is conscionable the close size, includes backlighting, and has a bully equilibrium of conscionable the close fig of buttons
- The X90L besides has Google TV built-in.
- The closest rivals to the Bravia X90L are the TCL QM8 and the Hisense U8 Series, some of which outgo a small little than the Sony and person awesome specs.
The Sony Bravia X90L is presently $300 disconnected astatine Best Buy for a constricted time.
The Sony Bravia X90L is 1 of our picks for the best Sony TVs you tin buy, and for bully reason. Its colour accuracy, precision brightness, 120Hz creaseless motion, and 4K representation processing marque it 1 of our astir recommended TVs you tin buy. I besides see it 1 of the astir underrated TVs available. And with the 2025 TVs hitting the market, you tin prevention connected conscionable astir each size of this fantabulous 2023 model.
I've seen each of the champion 2024 TVs from Sony, Samsung LG, TCL, Hisense, and respective others. When I had to regenerate an 8-year-old 55-inch TCL TV that died, I chose a 65-inch Sony X90L due to the fact that I deliberation it has the champion representation for the wealth close present and boasts immoderate other advantages.
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While the Sony Bravia XR X90L doesn't stroke you distant connected the spec expanse -- it's an LED TV with a full-array backlight -- the real-world show and usability marque it 1 of the champion buys connected the market, based connected ZDNET's testing. This Sony TV is technically successful the aforesaid class arsenic 2 of its fashionable rivals: the TCL QM8 and Hisense U8K.
However, portion those are Mini LED TVs and look similar they should beryllium amended TVs connected paper, the Bravia X90L has amended colour accuracy, plentifulness of brightness, and a nicer distant than either the TCL oregon Hisense TVs (although caller models are starting to emulate the Sony remote). It goes without saying that the Sony show is the champion among these 3 models.
Since Sony has had a agelong concern with Google, the X90L besides has an fantabulous implementation of Google TV. This makes the X90L's bundle interface overmuch friendlier to usage than Samsung's Tizen and LG's webOS, which tin beryllium overly analyzable and frustrating to navigate.
With the X90L, you besides get Sony's fantabulous representation processing to upscale contented to 4K, which is particularly adjuvant if you're watching older contented oregon YouTube videos, and it's stronger than thing offered by Hisense and TCL. And if you're looking for a TV to ticker movies, the X90L astir rivals costly OLED and high-end QLED TVs that outgo astir doubly arsenic much. If you upgrade from a TV that is astatine slightest 4-5 years old, you volition beryllium blown distant by the representation prime of X90L -- and it volition necessitate a batch little tuning out-of-the-box than different TVs.
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Sony has the astir precocious representation processing of each 5 large TV brands. That means it doesn't oversaturate and overbrighten the representation similar Samsung, LG, TCL, and Hisense models sometimes do. Again, that means Sony TVs often person a amended representation than higher-spec rivals from fund TV makers (Hisense and TCL) and tin often vie with much costly models from premium vendors similar the aforementioned Samsung and LG.
For gamers, this TV has a dedicated crippled mode, HDMI 2.1, VRR, and Auto HDR Tone Mapping erstwhile connected to the Sony PS5. It besides has a crippled paper to fine-tune the settings to your preferences.
The Sony X90L isn't arsenic agleam arsenic its Mini LED rivals from TCL and Hisense -- oregon adjacent its 2024 successor, the Sony Bravia 7 -- but it inactive takes vantage of Sony's precocious backlight strategy to brighten circumstantial parts of the image. It besides does an fantabulous occupation of revealing the details successful the shadows of acheronian movies and shows. I'm utilizing the X90L successful a agleam country and person ne'er had an lawsuit wherever I wished the representation was brighter.
Keep successful caput that Sony's products often transportation a 10% to 20% terms premium due to the fact that of the Sony marque name, truthful it's important to look for income and deals similar the ones we've highlighted from Amazon.
If you person a small much to spend, I'd urge upgrading to an OLED. The Sony A80L, the Samsung S90C and the LG C3 are each 2023 OLED screens that are besides connected sale. The cheapest among these is the 42-inch LG C3, which starts astatine $890.
The caller US tariffs connected imports from countries similar China, Vietnam, and India purpose to boost home manufacturing but are apt to thrust up prices connected user electronics. Products similar smartphones, laptops, and TVs whitethorn go much costly arsenic companies rethink planetary proviso chains and measurement the outgo of shifting production.
Also:Tariff warfare has tech buyers wondering what's next. Here's what we know
Televisions, galore of which are manufactured successful these nations, whitethorn acquisition terms increases of up to 20%, making them little affordable for consumers. Manufacturers contemplate relocating assembly operations to countries with tariff exemptions, but specified moves impact logistical challenges and important costs. Companies similar Samsung, which produces a important information of their TVs successful Mexico, expect being little affected than competitors relying heavy connected Chinese manufacturing.
Overall, consumers should brace for higher prices and imaginable shifts successful merchandise availability wrong the location amusement market.
Looking for the adjacent champion product? Get adept reviews and exertion favorites with ZDNET Recommends
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