Sony X950G 55 Inch TV: 4K Ultra HD Smart LED TV with HDR and Alexa Compatibility - 2019 Model

First off, despite the ability to make it that way, this is not going to be an overly technical review, I know a lot of people just want to make sure that plunking down $1200 for a TV is worth the extra money. While there's no short answer to that, hopefully this review will help. Secondly, let me preface this by saying that this TV replaced a TCL 6 Series which, by all accounts, was a very competent set in its own right, but between a few issues I had with the picture, primarily from the limitations of a 60Hz panel, and that one of my adult children having a TV that was on it's way out, I decided to upgrade.Other TVs I considered: No review is really complete without this - after a lot of research, I narrowed it down to the 950G and the Samsung Q70. I chose the Sony based on three factors - better color, better upscaling and that it includes Dolby Vision.Viewing Habits: Like a lot of people, I'm a cable cutter, so nearly all of my viewing is either by streaming or hard copy (Blu-ray, DVD) from a Sony UP-X700 4K player. Although seldom used, basic (480) cable is attached for occasionally viewing local news, but this input is not reviewed here due to limited experience with it.Viewing Area: Screen is roughly eight feet from the main seating area. Daytime viewing is quite bright, while nightime viewing is generally fairly dark outside of low ambient lighting.Picture Quality: The quality of the picture on this set is amazing. Colors are very good out of the box, and get better with some minor adjustments to the settings. The brightness of the set really lends itself to High Dynamic Range (HDR) content in general, and specifically with Dolby Vision content. Both Netflix and Amazon HD and UHD content look outstanding, and even with the compression often present on Netflix content, Dolby Vision encoded content looks great. Viewing content from the 4K player, things get even better - since I have a good size library of DVDs, I started there. While some movies were limited somewhat by a questionable conversion to digital to begin with, all were upscaled very well. A lot of it will naturally depend on how much effort went into the digitizing of the film in question, but the TV itself does an awesome job with the better quality movies. Blu-ray movies are handled even better of course, and films like Rogue One, Dances With Wolves and Guardians of the Galaxy 2 really pop on the screen. 4K/UHD movies look nothing short of outstanding - The Dark Knight, Avengers Endgame and Jurassic Park Dark World all played amazingly, with little to no blooming I've seen talked about in other reviews. Of course, as with any LED, this can vary slightly from panel to panel. The battle scenes at the end of Endgame, a place where the 60Hz panel really showed its weakness, was flawless on the 950's screen. If there is a downside to this TV, it's the same downside you'll get with any LED using a VA panel, and that's viewing angles. Anything much beyond 15° off center and you will start noticing a degradation in colors.Audio: As with most flat panel TVs, the sound leaves a lot to be desired, and if you really want to have quality sound, you will need a soundbar. That said, Sony has made strides since the introduction of the 900 E and F models by moving the tweeters up to the upper sides of the panel. Sound seems more like it is coming from the screen, and the Dolby Surround setting does a far better job at recreating a decent sound field.Grey Uniformity: Every LED TV out there will have some form of grey uniformity (dirty screen effect or DSE) problems, ranging from very bad, to barely noticeable, the 950G falls into the latter category. The DSE it does have is almost completely confined to a slight darkness in the extreme far corners. I can see no DSE in the main viewing area of the screen, and is not present in lighter colors of films like John Carpenter's The Thing or the documentary Spitfire like they were on the TCL. Again, this may vary from panel to panel.User Interface/Operating System: As someone used to using a Roku for over seven years, the Android based UI, outside of a cellphone, was a completely new experience for me, but I have to say that it is a pleasant one. Apps load quickly with the Android Oreo system, and the Netflix Enhanced picture option works quite well. The downside is that there is a distinct lack of variety in apps (streaming channels) when comparing it to a Roku UI TV, which can be said for all of the smart TVs not equipped with Roku. Of course, this is easily remedied by the addition of a 4K capable Roku box or stick if desired.Remote Control: Not much to say here other than that the remote is well laid out and your fingers quickly learn where to land to execute the desired function. Definitely an improvement over past Sony offerings.Build Quality: The easiest thing to say here is, 'It's a Sony". You aren't going to find quite the quality you'll find in Sony's Master Series, but the brushed dark metal panel surround is well made and the construction is solid. Provisions are made in the legs for cord management, although I feel it's a step backwards from the stand/cord management found on the 900E.Conclusion: At this price point, I'm of the opinion that it's pretty much a two horse race, between the 950G and the Samsung Q70. Between the better colors, superior upscaling and amazing brightness of the 950G, to say nothing of the stumbling on the one yard line by Samsung refusing to include Dolby Vision, the 950G was a great choice for me.Pros+ Brightness to handle HDR content+ Great color, even out of the box+ Amazing upscaling+ Includes Dolby VisionCons- Picture degrades once viewed from more than about 15° off center- Limited app choices when compared to the Roku UI- Sound quality

First ordered a 900F (55") because I was worried about this model being too bright and black levels suffering in a dark room, per reviews. I use this as a computer monitor, as well as for console gaming, often at night in a dark bedroom.Within 24hrs unfortunately it became clear the 900F I received was defective, it showed large green square artifacts on half the screen. So I returned it and ordered a 950G (55"), because I didn't want to test my luck on the same model.PICTURE Comparing the 900F and 950G, I would recommend the 950G for similar price, 100%. Blooming, black levels, and brightness are not issues in a dark room, with SDR content anyway. Both models have a great picture. I haven't had much opportunity to use the TV with HDR content yet, and I'm not really a big fan of overbright images, so not totally sold on HDR as a concept anyway. To me, black level is #1, and an OLED would be great instead but my primary use is computer monitor so OLED is out of the question due to burn-in risk. Samsung TVs also probably beat the 900F and 950G in terms of picture based on reviews, but I think the overall feature set and quality of Sony's models is compelling. One big problem with these Sony TVs is viewing angle. If you can't ensure center viewing skip them for sure, but if you are center then even sitting quite close is not a problem.PROCESSING I always disable software image processing like dynamic contrast, I want the rawest image possible, and no lag. However I was actually really pleasantly surprised by a couple of the features in these Sony TVs. Especially a feature for smoothing gradients which eliminates noticeable blotchy compression within subtle color gradients.SOUND Speaker quality is not relevant to me because I pipe sound to a stereo, though I did choose to go with Sony over Samsung in the first place because Samsung TVs do not have an analog line-out (3.5mm or RCA), both the 900F and the 950G had the jacks I need.REMOTE The 950G has a nicer remote with a thin metal front, its funny to say but it feels good to hold, compared to the 900F's which was all plastic and felt very cheap for $1000. Feature wise there is almost no difference. It still isn't the most impressive remote in the world, I previously had a Vizio with a full keyboard on the back, which was very cool.INTERFACE I don't need "smart" features, but they can be fun to play with. AndroidTV is actually quite nice to use, and it feels reasonably customizable. The 950G is indeed snappier and this can make a difference in some apps, for example watching a live CNN broadcast from the official app was a significantly better experience on the 950G. The 950G has special calibration features for the Netflix app, which is interesting, but not critical. The biggest advantage to the 950G is the "quick menu" that makes it much more convenient to quickly change picture mode or brightness for example, I don't think this is available on the 900F.

The Sony Bravia X950G worked great straight out of the box. I’m by no means a tv aficionado, and I just upgraded from a Visio 45” tv, but I can say that the picture quality is phenomenal, the sound quality is good (but even better when used with a Samsung/Bose Soundbar), and the tv is easy to see in both low light and bright light situations. It took some time to set up as you need to sync it with all your programs such as Netflix, Disney +, cable tv, soundbar, etc, but once it was set up, it worked perfectly every time. We’ve tested out the TV with regular cable watching, Blu-Rays, Netflix, Disney +, Apple TV, and most recently a lot of video gaming, and the picture quality has been great. We have zero issues with connectivity through WiFi and can even connect via AirPlay with little effort. This tv also syncs with Alexa so you can easily turn your tv on, off, and adjust the volume with just your voice. It’s not something we utilize often, but it helps when you can’t find the remote and just want the tv on or off quickly. Another cool feature that’s really convenient is that the television will automatically turn on and go to the correct input when you turn on one of the connected HDMI devices. The kids particularly like this feature because they turn on their Switch and the tv automatically turns on and goes to the correct input. This seems like such a simple thing, but it’s proven very helpful since I don’t have to hear the kids hollering for help on getting the tv on, figuring out the correct input, and so forth. I highly recommend adding some bias lighting and a sound bar if you want your TV a little more “extra” - it really helps ease the strain on your eyes and ups the bass on the sound. Overall, it’s a great television that offers a great viewing experience at a reasonable price.