Sony XR X95J review
Many people regard OLED TVs as the best for producing blacks and great contrast. However the maximum brightness they produce and well as the risk of burn in have also prevented more widespread adoption. Their higher price tag have also deterred others.
Sony has been active in both OLED and LED TVs and this year, the 2021 panels have added a few goodies that have made them the TVs to compare against.
The XR90J has already been review here: (https://peteswrite.blogspot.com/2021/05/sony-xr65x90j-tv-review.html) and it was a worthy replacement for the 9000H.
The XR95J is the replacement for the 9500H. 2021 brings a new XR chip which is touted to provide better brightness and contrast. Currently it is available in 65” and 85” options locally, and it is priced above the X90J introduced earlier this year. So is it worth the extra outlay?
The extra outlay does go towards tangible things. There is some extra brightness, the ultrawide feature, and a more fancy remote. There are extra dimming zones which will help with blooming.
Some info from the official site:
Features to note:
- new Cognitive XR processor which promises gains in motion contrast and overall picture quality with booster of 10
- HDMI 2.1 (two ports only)
- x wide filter for ultra wide viewing angle
- x anti reflection feature
- three feet options in the 75” and higher
- acoustic calibration
- pseudo 3D surround sound
- front firing subwoofer
- eARC with Atmos passthrough and DTS-X
- 3 USB ports
- Google TV interface with hand free voice control
- no acoustic speaker panel
Let's begin with the looks. There are thin bezels, and but they are thicker than the OLED cousins. Build quality is solid, the fit and finish is very impressive. Inputs are located at the side. This TV exudes premium and looks good mounted or on a console. The bezel is a bit more sleek than the 90J but it’s not a big difference.
The solid metal stands allow a two way configuration in the 65” version, with a choice of a standard or soundbar whilst the larger panels get three options: narrow or soundbar and standard. In soundbar mode, there is enough clearance for up to 10cm there is some space below for a soundbar. However those stands still take up more space than the older central stands used in past Sonys but bear in mind, even with the clever two way stands, you can't get more than 10cm clearance on a smaller 65” panel, so it may not fit a real centre speaker from your home theatre system.
There is a light sensor which allows you to adjust the amount of light according to the room brightness but I’ll rather turn it off.
The remote is the premium Sony one which comes with their top 2021 models. It’s decently built, but a tad long and there's a nice backlight. You do get a talk function which is quite handy. Pairing between your TV and the remote should be automatic unless you happen to have two Sonys near one another.. there are quick access buttons to the popular streaming apps, such as Netflix, Youtube and Prime Video, and the buttons feel decent.
The user interface is a standard Sony one. The new Google TV interface is quite brisk, and If you have been using them or even if you come from another brand, it should be fairly simple to work out. It will take you through a rather thorough setup process, which allows you to set up wifi, google, and get your basic apps going. The interface is responsive and I did not see any pop up ads.
You get Airplay2, Bluetooth, and there is a Google interface, which allows voice commands handsfree. I found the Sony to be responsive, and picks up my voice quite easily. The nice thing about the Bluetooth is that it will turn on your associated Bluetooth speaker or soundbar automatically too.
If you add a HDMI based device, such as a Blu Ray player or Apple TV, it will turn on the TV and you can control both with the Sony remote. Very neat.
So how does it look?
Many buyers and readers also are aware that Sony gets their panels from other makers, so you may think that all LED TVs should look the same, but the extra money goes towards a few important things:
The video processor and the sound processing are worth paying for and make a difference. Sony TVs are famous for getting the color right and it does so right out of the box with little tweaking needed. The colors from the Dolby Vision Bright mode are very impressive and super bright. This is where it really shines, literally. The panel performs extremely well in brighter rooms and even in a fully lit room, there is no issue with content. The anti-reflection also works well. In dimmer rooms, you’ll only notice the difference in contrast if you have an OLED panel nearby, otherwise the black levels and performance is really good.
This is due to the new XR processor which really helps with the picture quality in various modes. There are also more modes to tweak in this panel compared to the 2020 9500H. More importantly, Sony TVs perform well right out of the box,
When you first turn on the TV, the initial setup is simple and when you give this panel a good source, such as a 4k video from the built in Netflix app or a UHD disc, you will know where the money has gone. Firstly, the motion handling is good. There is barely any hint of ghosting. As mentioned, that brightness level is really high and will outperform most LED and even most OLED panels. It then loses out in contrast ratio than OLEDs. HDR performance is really good.
The panel is also quite good at upscaling and again you have to thank Sony for their magic in their componentry. The images are sharp, even when you use a free to air source, and you will notice this sharpness that allows you to appreciate details and combined with the natural colours, the picture quality is pretty remarkable for the money. Sitting close to the TV is fine if you’re viewing a high definition source. I’ve been able to sit within 1.5m to the screen and still find it satisfactory. In a regular living room in daylight with some light in the room but not directly shining on the screen, it performs fabulously and you won’t really cry out for an OLED. One very impressive thing is how well the colors appear on this screen. And this is without going deep into the settings. Kudos to Sony for this. In fact merely using the out of the box settings gave very good results and I suspect many owners are not going to reach for a calibration disc or hire a professional.
When you compare it to the X90J, it does do everything a little better, with a bit more pop and richer colors, whilst the brightness also goes a little higher. When you consider that the higher Master Series costs a lot more, this value strikes middle ground between the lower priced edgelit Sony panels and the Master series. In particular, the Dolby Vision Bright mode was very impressive in a standard living room. However, this panel has around 60 dimming zones in the 65” size, so if you compare the contrast ratio, blooming and handling of darker, more contrasty scenes, it does perform less impressively than the flagship Z Master series. But it also costs a lot less.
As for the sound, well it does not have acoustic speakers built into the panel but the speakers can go pretty loud and there is some bass, especially if it is set on a console. It will be fine for speech and news broadcasts, but you’ll still find a need for a decent soundbar.
I also checked for screen uniformity, and you do notice some uniformity issues in the corners but this is when one scrutinises hard with a test source. Under normal use, you will not be able to notice it.
Like the X90J, I also found that the internal free to air receiver picks up channels very nicely. I live behind a hill, and that stands between me and the local TV stations, but despite using a basic indoor antenna with no booster, I had no trouble getting all the local channels. The screen size does make these free to air channels look significantly worse than other media, but they are as sharp as you can get with the source.
As for the apps, when you feed it a high quality source eg 4k Dolby Vision from either the internal apps or a UHD disc, you will then truly appreciate the picture quality on hand here and you will know where your hard earned money has gone to. The interface responds quickly. Now in 2021, the MeWatch app is available for download, but it was not included in my set out of the box.
Sony’s previous 9500H / 950H was a big hit, offering good prices for a large LED panel with very decent performance. The X95J build on this and more. More contrast and brightness and better video processing. The standouts are how it handles color out of the box and the clarity of the picture.
Sony needs to be careful in pricing this panel, as the main competitor to this is the OLED C series from LG. The 85” version of this panel costs significantly less than the 83” Sony A80J, but the competition comes from LG, where for less than a grand more, the LG 83” OLED C1 presents fair value. There are also offerings from Samsung in the form of their QLED panels at similar prices. There are only 2 HDMI 2.1 ports and one of them carries eARC, which is half that of a typical LG TV.
But the X95J offers some very impressive picture quality, especially for those who fear burn in and watch mainly in brightly lit rooms. Furthermore the larger sizes panels cost less than the OLED competition for a FALD panel.
The other competitor is Sony’s own X90J panel. If you are shopping for larger panels, then the 85” X95J is a very solid value proposition for those who want a large non OLED panel that performs well. However at the 65” size, you have a cheaper alternative in the form of the Sony X90J.
So the right price does help move this panel and it deserves to sell a lot of these with the quality on offer. Now if Sony can give a competitive street price which places it closer to the mass priced LG C1 series, then this panel will represent a significant alternative.
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