If you prioritize exceptional picture quality for movies and gaming, the Hisense U8H may be worth the additional expense with its superior contrast and brightness, making it a strong performer for HDR content. However, consider the Sony X90L if you're looking for solid overall performance at a more affordable price, keeping in mind it still offers good brightness and color for most content. In brightly lit rooms, both will perform well, but the Hisense's higher brightness might give it an edge. For sports and fast-moving content, both TVs have suitable refresh rates, but the Hisense may provide a slightly smoother experience due to its more advanced motion handling. Both models have low input lag for gaming, with the Hisense slightly ahead but not to a degree that would concern casual gamers. Give Feedback
this description is based on the product variant with some specs and product variant with some specs. At the time of writing, the variant with some specs cost some dollars and the variant with some specs cost some dollars.
Advantages of the Hisense U8H (LCD)
Best in class for bright room
Very good for dark room
Very good for movies & TV
Excellent for cartoons & animation
Very good reflections
Advantages of the Sony X90L (LCD)
Good for sports
Excellent for news, talk, & other TV
Best in class for upscaling
Best in class motion processing
Key differences
Picture Quality
8.4/10
7.8/10
7.75/10
CONTRAST
7.125/10
9.1/10
COLOR VOLUME SCORE
8.8/10
miniLED FALD
PANEL TYPE
LED FALD
VA
PANEL SUB-TYPE
VA
The Hisense U8H (LCD) has very good picture quality, while the Sony X90L (LCD) has good picture quality.
Movies & TV
8.2/10
7.6/10
7.75/10
CONTRAST
7.125/10
6.8/10
BLACK UNIFORMITY
6.0/10
7.5/10
UPSCALING
10.0/10
Yes
HDR10 SUPPORT
Yes
Yes
HDR10+ SUPPORT
No
Yes
DOLBY VISION SUPPORT
Yes
The Hisense U8H (LCD) is very good for movies & TV, while the Sony X90L (LCD) is good.
The Hisense U8H is exceptional for watching movies and cinematic TV because it has impressive contrast, efficient local dimming, and excellent black uniformity, ensuring deep blacks and rich picture quality. The Sony X90L, while good for these experiences, has slightly lower contrast and less effective local dimming, which may affect the depth of black shades and overall picture contrast, but it offsets this with a more consistent out-of-the-box color setup and better gray uniformity.
Sports
6.5/10
7.2/10
3.9/10
MOTION PROCESSING
10.0/10
120Hz
REFRESH RATE
120Hz
7.3/10
INPUT LAG SCORE
7.0/10
7.5/10
UPSCALING
10.0/10
9.1/10
SDR BRIGHTNESS SCORE
9.4/10
Yes
HLG SUPPORT
Yes
The Sony X90L (LCD) is good for sports, while the Hisense U8H (LCD) is only fair.
The Sony X90L is better for watching sports largely due to its superior motion processing capabilities, which help provide smoother playback during fast action, in contrast to the Hisense U8H, which may fall short in this area. Although both TVs struggle with reflections handling and have similar viewing angles which are not very wide, the Sony’s lower reflection handling performance is less of a hindrance due to its excellent motion processing, and both TVs have adequate gray uniformity for sports viewing.
Bright Room
9.7/10
8.6/10
5.5/10
VIEWING ANGLE
5.5/10
9.1/10
SDR BRIGHTNESS SCORE
9.4/10
9.1/10
HDR BRIGHTNESS SCORE
8.3/10
8.6/10
REFLECTIONS SCORE
5.9/10
The Hisense U8H (LCD) is best in class for bright room, while the Sony X90L (LCD) is very good.
The Hisense U8H has higher brightness in both SDR and HDR, which makes it stand out in bright rooms, and can handle reflections very well, while the Sony X90L, even though very good in brightness, falls short in handling reflections, which can be an issue in well-lit environments. Even though both have good contrast and color capabilities, the difference in reflection handling gives the Hisense U8H an edge in bright room viewing over the Sony X90L.
The Hisense U8H (LCD) and Sony X90L (LCD) are both very good for gaming.
The Hisense U8H and Sony X90L are both regarded very good for gaming largely due to their low response times and low input lag, which are crucial for a smooth gaming experience; additionally, each TV supports a high refresh rate of 120Hz, providing fluid motion during fast-paced games.
Cartoons & Animation
9.1/10
8.6/10
8.4/10
COLOR GAMUT SCORE
7.7/10
9.1/10
COLOR VOLUME SCORE
8.8/10
9.1/10
SDR BRIGHTNESS SCORE
9.4/10
8.5/10
COLORS OUT OF THE BOX SCORE
8.0/10
8.5/10
GRAY UNIFORMITY
6.6/10
Although they have very similar scores, PerfectRec considers Hisense U8H (LCD) to be excellent for cartoons & animation, while the Sony X90L (LCD) is very good.
News, Talk, & Other TV
8.8/10
9.0/10
9.1/10
SDR BRIGHTNESS SCORE
9.4/10
7.5/10
UPSCALING
10.0/10
Although they have very similar scores, PerfectRec considers Sony X90L (LCD) to be excellent for news, talk, & other TV, while the Hisense U8H (LCD) is very good.
The Hisense U8H excels in upscaling lower resolution content and offers very good SDR brightness, making it suitable for viewing news and talk shows in well-lit rooms. The Sony X90L, with excellent upscaling and SDR brightness, provides a crisp viewing experience for standard daytime programs, possibly edged by slightly better processing of colors right out of the box.
Cost
$933
$898
$400
$600
$800
$1,000
$1,200
$1,400
The Hisense U8H (LCD) has a price of $933 and the Sony X90L (LCD) costs $898.
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How the Hisense U8H (LCD) and the Sony X90L (LCD) compare to other TVs
"Hisense is over here making the best TVs for the majority of average families. U8H is a juiced-up utility knife of a television that manages to do a lot of things pretty well. The brightness this TV is capable of pushing out means I can see everything going on in any video game I’m playing regardless of what time of day it is"
Get a great deal on the Hisense U8H (LCD) or the Sony X90L (LCD)
About Hisense
Hisense, a Chinese TV manufacturer, entered the US market in approximately 2011 and has since acquired TV divisions from various companies such as Toshiba, Sharp, Hitachi, and NEC. Currently ranking as the fourth largest vendor in terms of sales volume, Hisense aims to capture a wide range of TV budget segments. They offer exceptional value with TVs that often outperform their competitors at similar price points, making them a compelling choice for consumers. In the US, they use Google TV as their smart TV software which provides the largest app selection and a very modern user interface, however it is not as user friendly as the software from other vendors.
About Sony
Sony stands as a highly experienced and widely trusted TV manufacturer, earning a reputation that surpasses all others. A Japanese company, Sony has been making TVs for far longs than it has been making Playstation game consoles. Sony's high-end TVs are often regarded as the ultimate choice for videophiles, representing the epitome of quality, albeit at a premium price point. Renowned for their advanced and precise motion handling, as well as their cutting-edge local dimming algorithms, Sony consistently delivers unparalleled performance in these areas. They include Google TV software with all their TV sets, which grants access to the largest selection of apps available and they also include Bravia Core which is a movie streaming platform specifically for Sony TVs that offers higher picture quality by using more bandwidth.
This information was produced and vetted by the PerfectRec TVs team. We are a product research and recommendation organization that meticulously reviews and evaluates the latest TV information and makes it digestible for you.
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Joe Golden, Ph.D
CEO and TVs Editor
Joe is an entrepreneur and lifelong electronics enthusiast with a Ph.D in Economics from the University of Michigan.
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Staff Expert & Software Engineer
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Staff Expert & Software Engineer
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TVs Expert
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