Sony X900F TV Review

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Hi, I'm Daniel from Rtings.com.
Today we're testing the Sony X900F. It is a great TV, with good picture quality from
directly in front but the colors degrade at an angle. It is a slight improvement over
the X900E, but not by much. We bought the fifty-five-inch model, but it
is also available in sizes from forty nine to eighty five inches. We expect these sizes
to have similar picture quality, but bigger TVs usually have more uniformity issues.
We'll start by looking at the design of the TV, and then go into the picture quality and
features. We will compare the X900F to other TVs on the market at the moment, but note
that this is one of the first TVs released this year so the competition will change as
more models are released. The design of the X900F is great. The most
noticeable difference from 2017 Sony's is the wide-set stand which will make it difficult
to fit on some tables but does provide stable support. It is possible to swap the left and
right legs for a smaller footprint, but it is still wide compared to last year's model.
Each leg of the stand contains a clip for cable management, which is a nice touch but
not as nice as the routing through the back panel available on the X930E. Compared to
the X900E and X930E the TV is a bit thicker, so does stick out slightly if wall-mounted.
The build quality is good, and although the TV is mostly plastic it feels well-constructed.
The inputs are located on the rear of the TV, with three HDMI inputs directed down the
back and one more out the side, which are easier to access. Only two of the HDMI inputs
support full HDMI 2.0 bandwidth. We can see that the thermal image is relatively
uniform, this is because the LEDs which consume the most power are distributed uniformly over
the screen. This is in contrast to edge-lit TVs which are much hotter around the sides.
Now we'll move on to the picture quality. We will be comparing the performance directly
with 2017 models, as this is the first release of this year. If you want to see how it compares
to other TVs released throughout the year then subscribe to our channel or follow the
review page on our website below for up to date comparisons.
The high native contrast ratio is in the same ballpark as other TVs with VA panels, which
is good and provides deep blacks in a dark room. It's not as good as the perfect blacks
of OLEDs but provides better dark scene performance than IPS TVs such as the LG SJ9500.
The X900F has a full-array backlight which works well to provide deep blacks and limit
blooming but can be a bit too aggressive, dimming small highlights considerably. The
resulting performance is a bit better than last year's X900E and is more similar to the
X930E. It is much more effective than edge-lit Samsung and LG TVs such as the SJ9500 which
produce significant vertical blooming. The uniformity of the screen is good, and
dirty screen effect shouldn't be an issue for sports. The edges of the screen are a
bit darker though. Like most LED TVs, the image loses accuracy
when viewed at an angle. OLED TVs like the LG B7 and IPS TVs like the SJ9500 can maintain
much better colors from the side, so may be a better pick for a wide living room.
The reflection handling is great and should be fine for most rooms but isn't as good as
the glossy finishes found on the LG B7 and Samsung QLEDs. For a very bright room with
lots of direct light this may be distracting. When watching HDR content the TV has great
brightness, with almost 900 nits in our real scene. This is between the X900E and X930E,
and quite a lot brighter than most TVs. The X900F also supports a wide color gamut
for HDR. It offers the same performance as the X900E, which is great but can't produce
as saturated colors as OLED and QLED TVs.
The X900F currently supports HDR10 and is expected to be updated with Dolby Vision HDR
support in the future, similar to what happened with the X930E. While it is better to support
both technologies, this isn't a big difference. Dolby vision is technically superior, but
HDR10 already exceeds the capabilities of current TVs and is much more widely available.
If you're interested, you can read more about this in the description below.
The response time is excellent, so only a short trail can be seen when watching sports
or playing fast-paced games. The backlight flickers, but at a high frequency of seven-hundred
and twenty hertz so the image appears smooth, without the duplications visible on the LG
SJ9500. The TV also has options to adjust the flickering
behavior, which works well to adjust the motion as you prefer. Compared to last year's X900E
and X930E there is a new behavior which is marketed as 'X Motion Clarity'. This causes
different zones of the TV to adjust the pattern of flicker, producing different motion. For
example, this is a single photo taken of the screen using a moving camera tracking two
identical moving objects. The blur is different due to the different flickering of each zone.
Overall this is a similar behaviour to TVs which have local dimming and use PWM to dim
zones, just with a fancier flickering pattern. The minimum backlight flicker frequency possible
on the TV is 120Hz, so most content which is 60Hz appears duplicated and isn't as
clear as some other TVs. The input lag is highly dependent on the input
signal. Similar to the X930E which uses the same X1 Extreme processor, the input lag is
low at 4k for example when gaming with the Xbox One X or Ps4 Pro. The lag is still good
but a bit higher than the competition with a 1080p signal, for example when gaming on
a Nintendo Switch. Now for the smart features. As with most Sony's
the X900f uses Android TV. It is a very open platform with the widest availability of apps,
but it also feels quite slow and unintuitive to use. The remote includes a button for Google
Assistant, which allows for a variety of commands such as asking about the weather or playing
content on Netflix. So overall, the X900F is a great TV but improvements
are marginal over last year's X900E. Between these two TVs, people should just go with
whichever is cheaper. LG OLED TVs such as the B7 have better picture
quality, especially when viewed in a dark room. They also remain accurate at an angle,
which is good for those with wide seating. Depending on your use, there may be a possibility
of burn-in though so if this is a concern you should go with an LCD TV.
2017 Samsung QLEDs such as the Q8C can produce very colorful images and do have better reflection
handling in a bright room, but have worse dark scene performance and can't produce bright
HDR highlights in real scenes. Between a 2017 QLED and the X900F, the Sony is a better choice.
We haven't reviewed a 2018 QLED yet so we don't know how these newer models will compare.
We plan to review the Q9FN in the coming weeks. LG LCD TVs such as the SJ9500 remain accurate
when viewed at an angle so are a good pick for those who have wide seating, but offer
poor dark scene performance with blacks that appear gray. For a bright room with wide seating
it may be a good choice, but if you watch from in-front or the room sometimes gets dark
then the X900F is a better choice. So that's it! You can check out all of the
measurements on our website. If you like this video, subscribe to our channel, or become
a contributor. Also, we are currently hiring in our offices
in Montreal for various positions. So, if you want to help people find the best product
for their needs, have a look at the careers page on our website.
Thank you for watching and see you next time.
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Sony X900F TV Review - Rtings.com

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