If you're looking for a more budget-friendly option, the Sony X85K is significantly less expensive and delivers great performance for gaming and sports content due to its high gaming score and motion processing capabilities. Its bright room performance is satisfactory, but it may not be the best choice for darker rooms or for watching movies with deep black levels as it lacks local dimming.
On the other hand, the Sony X90K, while costing more, offers better overall picture quality, especially in dark rooms due to its superior contrast and local dimming feature, which enhances the viewing experience for movies. Its sound quality is also higher, with more speaker power, which can enhance the audio experience.
Both options have the same great upscaling and motion processing abilities, making them good for a variety of content. However, the X90K's slightly better color performance may be noticeable in vibrant, colorful scenes. The X85K and X90K are both 120Hz LCD TVs and support various HDR formats, but neither supports HDR10+.
Your decision should be based on whether you value better dark room performance and sound quality over the price you're willing to pay. If you want to save on costs and mainly watch sports or game, the X85K is a strong choice, but if you watch a lot of movies and want better performance in dark settings, the X90K may be worth the extra investment. 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 Sony X85K (LCD)
Good reflections
Advantages of the Sony X90K (LCD)
Very good for bright room
Good for dark room
Very good for gaming
Good for movies & TV
Good for use as monitor
Key differences
Movies & TV
6.4/10
7.5/10
7.50/10
CONTRAST
7.38/10
6.8/10
BLACK UNIFORMITY
6.1/10
10.0/10
UPSCALING
10.0/10
Yes
HDR10 SUPPORT
Yes
No
HDR10+ SUPPORT
No
Yes
DOLBY VISION SUPPORT
Yes
The Sony X90K (LCD) is good for movies & TV, while the Sony X85K (LCD) is only fair.
The Sony X90K offers better overall movie and cinematic TV viewing primarily because it has local dimming, which enhances contrast and black uniformity, vital for deeper blacks and high-quality images in dark scenes. While the Sony X85K also has good color accuracy and black uniformity, the lack of local dimming means it cannot match the X90K's performance in these crucial areas, though it still provides clear images with well-defined colors.
Gaming
7.5/10
8.1/10
7.6/10
RESPONSE TIME SCORE
8.0/10
7.3/10
INPUT LAG SCORE
7.0/10
10.0/10
MOTION PROCESSING
10.0/10
0.0/100
GAMING LOCAL DIMMING
76.0/100
7.3/10
GAME HDR BRIGHTNESS SCORE
8.6/10
The Sony X90K (LCD) is very good for gaming, while the Sony X85K (LCD) is good.
The Sony X85K is praised for its gaming performance with good response time and input lag, making it a reliable option for most gamers. However, the Sony X90K steps up the experience with a very good response time and equally good input lag, offering a more fluid and responsive gaming experience for those who are particularly sensitive to these factors.
News, Talk, & Other TV
8.2/10
8.7/10
8.4/10
SDR BRIGHTNESS SCORE
8.7/10
10.0/10
UPSCALING
10.0/10
The Sony X90K (LCD) and Sony X85K (LCD) are both very good for news, talk, & other TV, though the Sony X90K (LCD) is somewhat better.
The Sony X85K performs very well with upscaling and has excellent color accuracy out of the box, making it ideal for watching news, talk shows, and other TV programs. The Sony X90K also excels in upscaling and SDR brightness, with good color out of the box, and its local dimming enhances contrast, which benefits these types of content.
Bright Room
7.4/10
8.0/10
5.5/10
VIEWING ANGLE
5.4/10
8.4/10
SDR BRIGHTNESS SCORE
8.7/10
7.0/10
HDR BRIGHTNESS SCORE
8.3/10
7.3/10
REFLECTIONS SCORE
6.3/10
The Sony X90K (LCD) is very good for bright room, while the Sony X85K (LCD) is good.
The Sony X90K is superior in a bright room compared to the Sony X85K because it has a higher HDR brightness and a better local dimming feature, which enhances contrast and bright scene portrayal, crucial for visibility in well-lit environments. On the other hand, while the X85K has a good SDR brightness for everyday content and acceptable reflections handling, its lower HDR brightness and lack of local dimming mean it's not as well-suited to combating bright room conditions as the X90K.
Cost
$1,098
$998
$400
$600
$800
$1,000
$1,200
$1,400
$1,600
$1,800
The Sony X85K (LCD) has a price of $1,098 and the Sony X90K (LCD) costs $998.
"As Sony’s next-to-flagship LCD TV, the X90K series delivers impressive performance for the price. The XR90K had fairly accurate out-of-box color. The TV’s multi-position stand lets you either set the screen flush with any stand its mounted on or elevate it to clear space for a soundbar. With the latter option, you get around 3 inches of clearance enough to accommodate most soundbars. The X90K’s excellent suite of gaming features ranks it up there with the best 120 Hz 4K TVs."
Get a great deal on the Sony X85K (LCD) or the Sony X90K (LCD)
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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