Our Verdict
The Sony X800G is a decent TV for most uses. It is well-suited for a bright room, with wide viewing angles, but doesn't look as good in a dark room. It has very good motion handling, with an excellent response time, but has limited motion processing options, and can't remove judder from all sources. It has relatively low input lag, which is fine for casual gamers, but may disappoint more serious gamers.
- Image remains accurate at an angle.
- Very good motion handling.
- Blacks look gray in a dark room.
- Higher than average input lag.
The X800G is a mediocre TV for watching movies in a dark room. The contrast ratio is too low to produce deep blacks, and this is especially noticeable in a dark room, and blacks appear gray. This model also lacks a local dimming feature, and has disappointing black uniformity. It upscales 1080p content well though, great if most of your movies are on Blu-ray, and it can remove judder, but only from true 24p sources.
This is a great TV for watching TV shows during the day. It has wide viewing angles, good reflection handling, and good peak brightness, which is great if you like to move around with the TV on during the day. The smart platform has a huge selection of apps, and most streaming services are available. This TV also upscales older, lower resolution content really well, and TV shows on Blu-ray look great.
This is a very good TV for watching sports during the day, especially as a group. It has wide viewing angles, good peak brightness, and good reflection handling, great for watching the big game with a group of friends. It has a fast response time, so there is minimal blur behind fast moving objects (or players), and it has decent gray uniformity.
The X800G is a good TV for playing video games, especially console games. It has a fast response time, so there is little blur behind fast-moving objects in your favorite games, and although it has low input lag in Game mode, it is higher than most TVs currently on the market. Unfortunately, this TV doesn't support any advanced gaming features, such as a variable refresh rate, and it has a 60Hz refresh rate, which may disappoint some gamers.
Unfortunately, the X800G is a mediocre TV for watching HDR movies in a dark room. The contrast ratio is very low, so blacks look gray in a dark room, and it lacks a local dimming feature to compensate for this. This isn't as noticeable in a bright room though. It can display a wide color gamut, which is great, but it can't get very bright in HDR, so bright highlights don't stand out as much as they should.
This TV is decent for HDR gaming, mainly due to the fast response time and relatively low input lag. Unfortunately, it has a mediocre contrast ratio, no local dimming, and disappointing black uniformity, so it isn't ideal for gaming in a dark room. It can display a wide color gamut, which is great, but has mediocre color volume, and can't get very bright in HDR.
The Sony X800G is a great TV for use as a PC monitor. It has an excellent response time, so there is little distracting blur behind moving objects, including the mouse pointer. The image remains accurate when viewed at an angle, which is great if you are sitting close to it, as the sides of the screen remain uniform. It can display proper chroma 4:4:4 with 1080p, 1440p, and 4k content, and it can use nearest neighbor upscaling when sent a 1080p signal, which some people prefer. Unfortunately, it has higher than average input lag, which may disappoint some people.
Changelog
- Updated May 21, 2020: Converted to Test Bench 1.5.
- Updated Feb 21, 2020: Converted to Test Bench 1.4.
- Updated Jul 03, 2019: Review published.
- Updated Jul 01, 2019: Our testers have started testing this product.
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Differences Between Sizes And Variants
We tested the 55" X800G (XBR-55X800G), and we expect our results to be valid for the 43" (XBR-43X800G), 49" (XBR-49X800G), 65" (XBR-65X800G), and 75" (XBR-75X800G) as well.
The 43" and 49" models are advertised by Sony as edge-lit, which may affect some results.
If someone comes across a different type of panel or if their Sony X800G doesn't correspond to our review, let us know and we will update the review. Note that some tests such as the gray uniformity may vary between individual units.
| Size | US Model | Alternative Name | EU Model |
| 43" | XBR43X800G | XBR-43X800G | KD-43XG8096 |
| 49" | XBR49X800G | XBR-49X800G | KD-49XG8096 |
| 55" | XBR55X800G | XBR-55X800G | KD-55XG8096 |
| 65" | XBR65X800G | XBR-65X800G | KD-65XG8096 |
| 75" | XBR75X800G | XBR-75X800G | KD-75XG8096 |
Update 07/11/2019: We have received information that the 75" model (XBR-75X800G) has a VA panel. It likely has much better contrast and better black uniformity, but a worse viewing angle.
The X800G we reviewed was manufactured in April 2019.
Popular TV Comparisons
The X800G is a basic 4k TV with decent performance. It is a minor upgrade over previous models. See our recommendations for the best TVs, the best smart TVs, and the best sounding TVs.
The Sony X800G is slightly better than the X800E. These two TVs were not evaluated using the same test bench, so it's difficult to make a direct comparison, but there are a few differences. The newer X800G has better motion handling due to a faster response time, has better black uniformity, and has better reflection handling.
The Sony X800H is better than the Sony X800G. The X800H can get much brighter, the viewing angles are significantly better, and there's minimal dirty screen effect, which is distracting with fast-moving objects. The X800G handles reflections slightly better and the response time is slightly quicker, but the input lag is much lower on the X800H. Overall, the X800H is an improvement over its predecessor, the X800G.
The Sony X850G is better than the Sony X800G. The X850G has better gray uniformity, better reflection handling, and much lower input lag, for a more responsive gaming experience. The X850G can remove judder from all sources, and it can interpolate motion up to 120Hz.
The Samsung Q70R is a much better TV than the Sony X800G. The Samsung has much better blacks, thanks to its VA panel and local dimming feature. It can also get much brighter, especially for HDR content, has better motion handling, and has more accurate colors out of the box. On the other hand, the Sony's IPS panel gives it much better viewing angles.
We buy and test dozens of TVs yearly, taking an objective, data-driven approach to deliver results you can trust. Our testing process is complex, with hundreds of individual tests that take over a week to complete. Most of our tests use specially designed test patterns that mimic real content, but we also use the same sources you have at home to ensure our results match the real-world experience. We use two main tools for our testing: a Colorimetry Research CR-100 colorimeter and a CR-250 spectroradiometer.
Test Results
Older Test Bench: This product has been tested using an older TV test methodology, before a major update. Some of the test results below aren't directly comparable with other TVs. Learn more
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