Design
Curved No
From the front, the Sony X90J looks almost identical to the Sony X900H from 2020. It's simple and minimalist, with thin borders on all sides. However, the glossy plastic bezels and feet look somewhat cheap.
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Design
Uniformity Pictures
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LEARN ABOUT ACCELERATED LONGEVITY TEST
Design
The feet are set almost as wide as the TV, and there's no option to position them closer, so you need a fairly large surface to put the TV on. You don't need to screw them in; they just slide into the TV.
Footprint of the 55 inch TV: 41.92" x 13.35".
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Design
Wall Mount VESA 300x300
The back looks very different from the Sony X900H. It now has a grid-like pattern with a larger square in the middle with the Bravia branding. All inputs are facing sideways, which makes it easier to access when wall-mounted. For cable management, there are two clips included to hold the cables behind the feet.
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Design
Borders 0.39" (1.0 cm)
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Design
Max Thickness 2.83" (7.2 cm)
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7.5 Design
The Sony X90CJ's build quality is good. It's entirely plastic, including the feet. While it feels sturdy overall, there's a lot of flex on the back panel. You can easily pull the borders from the screen, but this shouldn't be an issue for most people. The feet support the TV well, but it still wobbles a bit.
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8.8 Picture Quality
Contrast
Native Contrast
The Sony X90J has a fantastic contrast ratio, better than the Sony X900H, and it also has a full-array local dimming feature to improve the black level further. It displays deep blacks, which makes it well-suited for dark room viewing. Note that contrast can vary between units.
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LEARN ABOUT CONTRAST
6.0 Picture Quality
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5.5 Picture Quality
Local Dimming
Backlight
Dimming Zones Count Of Tested TV
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8.0 Picture Quality
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7.0 Picture Quality
Hallway Lights (~1950 cd/m²)
Yellow Skyscraper (~700 cd/m²)
Landscape Pool (~300 cd/m²)
Peak 2% Window
Peak 10% Window
Peak 25% Window
Peak 50% Window
Peak 100% Window
Sustained 2% Window
Sustained 10% Window
Sustained 25% Window
Sustained 50% Window
Sustained 100% Window
Automatic Brightness Limiting (ABL)
Sony X90J has good HDR brightness, which is a significant improvement over the Sony X900H, and is enough to make highlights stand out. The EOTF follows the PQ curve perfectly, but the roll-off is quite sharp, which causes the loss of some details in very bright scenes.
The Automatic Brightness Limiter (ABL) is less aggressive, and the most notable changes are in the 10% windows, which are much brighter. If that's distracting for you, we measured the brightness with the Peak Luminance setting disabled. The brightness drops considerably, with real scenes measuring at 498 cd/m². All windows are between 493 cd/m² and 565 cd/m², except the 2% peak and sustained windows, which are around 320 cd/m². While disabling Peak Luminance can help reduce the effect of the ABL, it doesn't deliver an impactful HDR experience.
We measured the HDR brightness in the 'Custom' Picture Mode with Brightness at max, Contrast at '90', Color Tone set to 'Expert 2', HDR Tone Mapping set to 'Gradation Preferred', and Auto Local Dimming and Peak Luminance set to 'High'.
If you want to make HDR content brighter and don't mind losing image accuracy, set Advanced Contrast Enhancer and Peak Luminance to 'High', Brightness and Contrast to max, and HDR Tome Mapping to 'Brightness Preferred'. These settings result in a much brighter image, as you can see in this EOTF plot.
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LEARN ABOUT HDR BRIGHTNESS
7.4 Picture Quality
Hallway Lights (~1950 cd/m²)
Yellow Skyscraper (~700 cd/m²)
Landscape Pool (~300 cd/m²)
Peak 2% Window
Peak 10% Window
Peak 25% Window
Peak 50% Window
Peak 100% Window
Sustained 2% Window
Sustained 10% Window
Sustained 25% Window
Sustained 50% Window
Sustained 100% Window
Automatic Brightness Limiting (ABL)
The Sony X90CJ's HDR brightness in Game Mode is roughly the same as out of Game Mode. It's slightly dimmer, but the difference is tiny and not noticeable. We measured the HDR brightness in Game Mode with the same settings as out of Game Mode.
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9.6 Picture Quality
600 Nit Tracking Delta
1000 Nit Tracking Delta
4000 Nit Tracking Delta
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LEARN ABOUT PQ EOTF TRACKING
8.5 Picture Quality
Real Scene Peak Brightness
Peak 2% Window
Peak 10% Window
Peak 25% Window
Peak 50% Window
Peak 100% Window
Sustained 2% Window
Sustained 10% Window
Sustained 25% Window
Sustained 50% Window
Sustained 100% Window
Automatic Brightness Limiting (ABL)
The Sony X90J has impressive SDR brightness. It's slightly brighter than the Sony X900H in the real scenes, and it's enough to combat glare in most well-lit rooms. Even though brightness varies a bit between content, it's not that distracting.
The most variation is with the 10% windows, which are significantly brighter than the rest. If that bothers you, you can disable the Peak Luminance setting. With it off, we measured the real scene brightness at 442 cd/m². Scenes are more consistent, with most windows measuring between 468 cd/m² and 479 cd/m², but there's some frame dimming in the 2% windows, with both peak and sustained at around 349 cd/m². We suggest leaving Peak Brightness on if you want the brightest screen possible with an accurate image.
We measured the SDR brightness after calibration in the 'Custom' Picture Mode, with Brightness at max, Contrast at '90', Color Tone set to 'Expert 1', Auto Local Dimming set to 'High', and Peak Luminance set to 'High'.
If you want a brighter image and don't mind losing image accuracy, set the Picture Mode to 'Vivid', Brightness and Contrast to max, Color Tone to 'Neutral', Auto Local Dimming to 'High', and Peak Luminance to 'High'. We reached 857 cd/m² in the 10% window with these settings.
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LEARN ABOUT SDR BRIGHTNESS
7.6 Picture Quality
Wide Color Gamut
DCI P3 xy
DCI P3 uv
Rec 2020 xy
Rec 2020 uv
Update 07/09/2021: We remeasured the color gamut using a 50% stimulus as opposed to the regular 75% stimulus we normally test with. We can achieve a wide color gamut like this, but we're leaving the results as-is to be consistent with other reviews because we normally measure at a 75% stimulus. You can see the results here:
- DCI P3 xy: 88.73%
- DCI P3 uv: 94.31%
- DCI P3 Color Gamut
- Rec. 2020 xy: 64.68%
- Rec. 2020 uv: 70.36%
- Rec. 2020 Color Gamut
The Sony X90J has a good color gamut, but it's just short of the required 67% Rec. 2020 coverage to be considered a wide color gamut. It's lower than the Sony X900H, although the difference is pretty small and isn't noticeable. It's very difficult to tell that it doesn't have a wide gamut just by looking at an image. We measured this multiple times with different settings and picture modes, and we also compared it side-by-side with the Sony X80J, with both TVs receiving the same 4k, 4:2:2, 10-bit signal through an HDMI splitter. We took the readings with a colorimeter and spectroradiometer set up three feet from the TV, and we also took a spectrum reading, which you can see here. The results were the same. We measured a wide color gamut by lowering the stimulus received, but HDR is meant to be watched with a bright image.
If you want something that displays a much wider color gamut for HDR, then look into the Vizio P Series Quantum 2021.
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LEARN ABOUT COLOR GAMUT
7.3 Picture Quality
1,000 cd/m² DCI P3 Coverage ITP
10,000 cd/m² Rec 2020 Coverage ITP
White Luminance
Red Luminance
Green Luminance
Blue Luminance
Cyan Luminance
Magenta Luminance
Yellow Luminance
Update 07/09/2021: We remeasured the color gamut and color volume using a 50% stimulus as opposed to the regular 75% stimulus we normally test with. We're leaving the results as-is to be consistent with other reviews because we normally measure at a 75% stimulus. You can see the results for color volume here:
- DCI P3 Normalized: 80.3%
- DCI P3 10,000 nits: 42.1%
- DCI P3 Color Volume
- Rec. 2020 Normalized: 61.6%
- Rec. 2020 10,000 nits: 32.1%
- Rec. 2020 Color Volume
Despite having a worse color gamut than the Sony X900H, the Sony X90J has a better color volume, mainly due to its higher contrast ratio and peak brightness. It still has trouble with bright blues and greens, though.
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LEARN ABOUT COLOR VOLUME
8.9 Picture Quality
White Balance dE
Color dE
Gamma
Color Temperature
Picture Mode
Color Temp Setting
Gamma Setting
The Sony X90J's accuracy is incredible out of the box. Most color and white balance inaccuracies are minor and hard to spot with the naked eye. The color temperature is just a bit colder than our 6500 K target, which results in a very slight blue tint. Gamma follows the 2.2 target relatively well, but very dark scenes are too dark, and some bright scenes appear brighter than they should. Note that accuracy varies between units, but it's rarely an issue with Sony TVs.
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LEARN ABOUT PRE CALIBRATION
9.5 Picture Quality
White Balance dE
Color dE
Gamma
Color Temperature
White Balance Calibration
Color Calibration
The Sony X90CJ has exceptional accuracy after calibration. The white balance has improved, but the color accuracy remains in the same ballpark because it was already outstanding out of the box. Color temperature is much closer to our 6500 K target, and gamma is perfect.
You can see our recommended settings here.
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LEARN ABOUT POST CALIBRATION
7.3 Picture Quality
50% Std. Dev.
50% DSE
5% Std. Dev.
5% DSE
The Sony X90J has decent gray uniformity, although this varies between units. The corners are darker on ours, and there's a bit of dirty screen effect in the center. Uniformity is better in dark scenes, but the right edge of the screen looks brighter than the rest.
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LEARN ABOUT GRAY UNIFORMITY
7.2 Picture Quality
Std. Dev.
Native Std. Dev.
Black uniformity is good. Without local dimming, the screen is more dark blue than black, and there's a bit of clouding here and there. With local dimming enabled, most of the screen is black and more uniform, but there's noticeable blooming around the test cross. Note that black uniformity varies between individual units due to manufacturing tolerances.
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LEARN ABOUT BLACK UNIFORMITY
5.3 Picture Quality
Color Washout
Color Shift
Brightness Loss
Black Level Raise
Gamma Shift
As is expected of a VA panel, the Sony X90J has poor viewing angles. This means that the image looks inaccurate and washed out when viewed from the side, so it's not ideal for wide seating areas.
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LEARN ABOUT VIEWING ANGLE
7.1 Picture Quality
Screen Finish
Total Reflections
Indirect Reflections
Calculated Direct Reflections
The Sony X90CJ has decent reflection handling. Like the Sony X900H, it struggles with direct reflections, but it's worse here because the direct reflections are even more prominent and distracting. It's best to avoid placing it opposite a window or bright lights.
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LEARN ABOUT REFLECTIONS
7.5 Picture Quality
100% Black to 50% Gray 6.0
50% Gray to 100% White 8.0
100% Black to 50% Red 6.0
50% Red to 100% Red 10
100% Black to 50% Green 6.0
50% Green to 100% Green 8.0
100% Black to 50% Blue 8.0
50% Blue to 100% Blue 8.0
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LEARN ABOUT HDR NATIVE GRADIENT
8.4 Picture Quality
Smoothing 8.5
Detail Preservation 8.0
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7.5 Picture Quality
There are no issues or visible artifacts with the upscaling of 480p content like DVDs.
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LEARN ABOUT UPSCALING: SHARPNESS PROCESSING
Picture Quality
Subpixel Layout
Type LED
Sub-Type
The Sony X90J uses a BGR subpixel layout. It doesn't affect picture quality, but it can cause blurry text in some applications when using it as a PC monitor. You can read more about it here.
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8.4 Motion
80% Response Time
100% Response Time
The Sony X90J has a great response time. It's very similar to the Sony X900H, but the 0-20% transition is significantly better, resulting in less dark smearing behind fast-moving objects. It still has some overshoot in a couple of transitions that causes some inverse ghosting in dark scenes.
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LEARN ABOUT RESPONSE TIME
9.5 Motion
Flicker-Free
PWM Dimming Frequency
The Sony X90J uses pulse width modulation (PWM) to dim the backlight. It flickers at 720Hz in all Picture Modes and brightness levels. This flicker frequency is high enough that it shouldn't be visible to most people.
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LEARN ABOUT FLICKER-FREE
Motion
Optional BFI
Min Flicker For 60 fps
60Hz For 60 fps
120Hz For 120 fps
Min Flicker for 60 fps in Game Mode
The Sony X90J has a backlight strobing feature to reduce persistence blur, commonly known as black frame insertion. It's meant to work like it's flickering at 120Hz, and we get a doubling effect with it on, but our readings also show that the backlight is still flickering at 720Hz, as you can see in the graph above, and with the fine lines in the motion photo. However, if we measure two high points in the flicker cycle to calculate the period for the cycle, we see that the BFI is working at 120Hz. It doesn't flicker at 60Hz at all.
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LEARN ABOUT BLACK FRAME INSERTION (BFI)
Motion
Motion Interpolation (30 fps)
Motion Interpolation (60 fps)
The Sony X90J has a motion interpolation feature to interpolate 30 and 60 fps content up to 120 fps. It works well when there's not a lot of movement on the screen, like if people are walking or talking. There are more artifacts in fast-action scenes; objects don't seem to move properly, and it looks glitchy.
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LEARN ABOUT MOTION INTERPOLATION
6.9 Motion
Frame Hold Time @ 24 fps
Frame Hold Time @ 60 fps
Low frame rate content like movies stutters a bit due to the TV's fast response times. If it bothers you, enabling motion interpolation helps. Some reviewers and users have reported constant stuttering in games, but it appears that Sony has already fixed the issue in the latest firmware update.
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LEARN ABOUT STUTTER
10 Motion
Judder-Free 24p
Judder-Free 24p via 60p
Judder-Free 24p via 60i
Judder-Free 24p via Native Apps
The Sony X90CJ removes 24p judder from any source, which helps with the appearance of motion in movies. It automatically removes it from native sources, but different settings are needed for native apps and 60p/i sources, which you can read about here.
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LEARN ABOUT 24P JUDDER
9.4 Motion
Native Refresh Rate
Variable Refresh Rate
HDMI Forum VRR
FreeSync
G-SYNC Compatible
4k VRR Maximum
4k VRR Minimum
1080p VRR Maximum
1080p VRR Minimum
1440p VRR Maximum
1440p VRR Minimum
VRR + Local Dimming Yes
The Sony X90J has variable refresh rate support to reduce screen tearing when gaming. It supports HDMI Forum VRR, meaning it can take full advantage of the Xbox Series X, PS5, or any recent NVIDIA graphics card. The VRR feature works across a wide range of refresh rates, so even if your frame rate drops low, it'll remain nearly tear-free. Sadly, it still doesn't work properly with AMD graphics cards.
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LEARN ABOUT VARIABLE REFRESH RATE
9.2 Inputs
1080p @ 60Hz
1080p @ 60Hz Outside Game Mode
1080p @ 120Hz
1080p @ 144Hz
1440p @ 60Hz
1440p @ 120Hz
1440p @ 144Hz
4k @ 60Hz
4k @ 60Hz + 10-Bit HDR
4k @ 60Hz @ 4:4:4
4k @ 60Hz Outside Game Mode
4k @ 60Hz With Interpolation
4k @ 120Hz
4k @ 144Hz
8k @ 60Hz
The Sony X90J has low input lag in Game Mode, although it's not as good as some other gaming TVs like the Samsung QN90A QLED. That said, it's still very low and should result in a responsive gaming or desktop experience. You can use motion interpolation when gaming, but it increases input lag significantly and isn't recommended.
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LEARN ABOUT INPUT LAG
9.3 Inputs
Resolution 4k
480p @ 59.94Hz (Widescreen)
720p @ 59.94Hz
1080p @ 60Hz @ 4:4:4
1080p @ 120Hz
1080p @ 144Hz
1440p @ 60Hz
1440p @ 120Hz
1440p @ 144Hz
4k @ 60Hz
4k @ 60Hz @ 4:4:4
4k @ 120Hz
4k @ 120Hz @ 4:4:4
4k @ 144Hz
8k @ 30Hz or 24Hz
8k @ 60Hz
The Sony X90J supports most common resolutions up to 4k @ 120Hz, but there are some issues with 1440p. It doesn't support 1440p @ 120Hz at all, and 1440p @ 60Hz has to be forced through a custom resolution, and chroma 4:4:4 doesn't work with it. It displays chroma 4:4:4 with all of its other supported resolutions, including 1080p and 4k @ 120Hz, and after a firmware update (PKG6.3629.045NAA), we confirmed there aren't any issues with color banding or blurred text with 4k @ 120Hz signals. This was a common issue on the Sony X900H, so let us know if you experience the same thing.
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LEARN ABOUT SUPPORTED RESOLUTIONS
Inputs
Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM)
4k @ 120Hz
1440p @ 120Hz
1080p @ 120Hz
HDR
VRR
Update 03/04/2022: We checked to see if Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM) works after Sony's firmware update to include VRR support. The TV switches into Game Mode when you play a game from the Xbox Series X, so ALLM works, and you don't need any additional settings for it.
The Sony X90J can display a 4K @ 120Hz from both the PS5 and Xbox Series X. However, it can't do it in Dolby Vision on the Xbox because when the HDMI Signal Format is set to 'Enhanced Format (Dolby Vision)' the Xbox indicates that the TV doesn't support 120Hz at 4k, which is the same behavior as the Sony X900H. This means you have to choose between 4K @ 120Hz or Dolby Vision at 60Hz.
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Inputs
Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM)
4k @ 120Hz
1440p @ 120Hz
1080p @ 120Hz
HDR
VRR
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Inputs
HDR10
HDR10+
Dolby Vision
HLG
HDMI 2.0 Full Bandwidth
HDMI 2.1 Class Bandwidth
CEC Yes
HDCP 2.2 Yes (HDMI 1,2,3,4)
ATSC Tuner
USB 3.0
Variable Analog Audio Out Yes
Wi-Fi Support Yes (2.4 GHz, 5 GHz)
The Sony X90J supports HDMI 2.1 on the HDMI 3 and 4 ports. Unfortunately, the eARC port is also HDMI 3, so unless your soundbar or home theater system supports 4K @ 120Hz passthrough, you can only plug in one HDMI 2.1 device.
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Inputs
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Inputs
HDMI 4
USB 2
Digital Optical Audio Out 1
Analog Audio Out 3.5mm 1
Analog Audio Out RCA 0
Component In 0
Composite In 1 (adapter required, not incl.)
Tuner (Cable/Ant) 1
Ethernet 1
DisplayPort 0
IR In 1
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Inputs
ARC/eARC Port
eARC: Dolby Atmos Over Dolby Digital Plus
eARC: Dolby Digital Plus 7.1
eARC: LPCM 7.1 Over Dolby MAT
eARC: Dolby TrueHD 7.1
eARC: DTS:X Over DTS-HD MA
eARC: DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1
eARC: LPCM Channels (Bitstream)
ARC: Dolby Digital 5.1
ARC: DTS 5.1
Optical: Dolby Digital 5.1
Optical: DTS 5.1
The Sony X90J can pass high-quality, uncompressed audio to a compatible receiver through an HDMI cable, thanks to its eARC support. We received reports that it doesn't properly pass DTS signals via ARC, but we confirmed that it doesn't have issues with any audio format.
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7.6 Sound Quality
Low-Frequency Extension
Std. Dev. @ 70
Std. Dev. @ 80
Std. Dev. @ Max
Max
Dynamic Range Compression
The Sony X90J's built-in speakers sound good. They're well-balanced, but like most TV speakers, there's a noticeable lack of bass extension, meaning they can't produce a deep, thumping sound. They get pretty loud, which is good for large or noisy environments, although there's some compression when playing at max volume. There's a digital room correction feature that tunes the frequency response to best suit your rooms' acoustics.
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LEARN ABOUT FREQUENCY RESPONSE
6.1 Sound Quality
Weighted THD @ 80
Weighted THD @ Max
IMD @ 80
IMD @ Max
The Sony X90J's distortion performance is mediocre. The amount of total harmonic distortion is low at moderate volume levels but increases significantly near max volume. Note that the amount of distortion present varies depending on the content, and some people may not hear it.
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LEARN ABOUT DISTORTION
8.0 Smart Features
Smart OS Google TV
Version 10
Ease of Use
Smoothness
Time Taken to Select YouTube
Time Taken to Change Backlight
Advanced Options
Update 07/09/2021: We previously experienced a bug with the Cinemotion setting turning itself on at times in the 'Custom' Picture Mode. However, we noticed the bug doesn't happen anymore, and the setting works as intended.
Like other 2021 Sony TVs, the Sony X90J runs on Google TV, replacing Android TV. It's fairly easy to use and runs very smoothly. Some users have reported that the Wi-Fi connection drops at times, but we didn't experience this issue while testing.
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0 Smart Features
Ads
Opt-out
Suggested Content in Home
Opt-out of Suggested Content
There are ads and suggested content on the home screen and in the Google Play Store. You can opt-out of personalized ads, but you can't remove them completely.
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LEARN ABOUT AD-FREE
9.0 Smart Features
App Selection
App Smoothness
Cast Capable
USB Drive Playback
USB Drive HDR Playback
HDR in Netflix
HDR in YouTube
The Google Play Store has tons of apps available, and they run very smoothly for the most part. Chromecast is built-in, which means you can cast content from a mobile device connected to the same network.
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8.5 Smart Features
Size
Voice Control
CEC Menu Control
Other Smart Features
Remote App Android TV
The Sony X90J comes with the same large remote as past Sony models. There are shortcut buttons to popular streaming services, and unlike remotes from other brands, you get a full numpad, too. You have to have Bluetooth enabled in the TV's settings for the voice control to work, and you can ask it to change inputs, search for content, open apps, and change settings like the brightness. During testing, it didn't initially work with the Android App, but we updated the firmware of the app, and it worked.
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Smart Features
There's a single button below the Sony branding at the center of the bottom bezel. It lets you power the TV On/Off, restart the TV, change the input source, channel, or adjust the volume.
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Smart Features
- Remote control
- 2x AAA batteries
- Power cord
- VESA mount adapters
- User guides
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Smart Features
Power Consumption 49 W
Power Consumption (Max) 148 W
Firmware PKG6.3629.0454NAA
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