The Sony X800H, also known as the Sony X80H, is a decent entry-level 4k TV with an IPS panel on most sizes. It's a great TV for watching TV shows in a bright room, with decent reflection handling, high peak brightness, and great viewing angles. Like many Sony TVs, it has excellent accuracy out of the box, excellent gradient handling, and it upscales lower-resolution content well, with no noticeable issues. Unfortunately, it's not very good for watching movies in a dark room, and it doesn't deliver a very impactful HDR experience, as it has low contrast, okay black uniformity, and no local dimming. It doesn't have much to offer for gamers either, as it has a limited 60Hz refresh rate and doesn't support any advanced gaming features, like FreeSync or HDMI 2.1. The 85 inch model is a bit better for dark-room viewing, as it has a VA panel, so it likely has much better contrast and better black uniformity, but this comes at the expense of viewing angles.
Our Verdict
The Sony X800H is a decent overall TV. It can get bright in SDR and displays 480p, 720p, 1080p, and 4k content well with no upscaling artifacts. The viewing angles are great if you plan on putting this TV in a wide room, but unfortunately, the contrast ratio is mediocre so blacks look gray in a dark room. With an incredibly low input lag and good response time, this TV performs best for sports or video games. HDR content doesn't look great as it doesn't get bright enough to make highlights stand out. With no risk of permanent burn-in, this TV also serves well as a computer monitor.
- Great peak brightness.
- Image remains accurate at an angle.
- Good response time.
- Mediocre contrast ratio.
- Might not be able to handle intense glare.
The Sony X800H is disappointing for watching movies. The contrast ratio isn't bad for an IPS panel TV, but blacks still look gray when viewed in the dark, and there's no local dimming feature to further darken any blacks. Additionally, the black uniformity is just okay. Older movies on DVD or Blu-ray are upscaled well, and look almost as good as native 4k movies. Unfortunately, it can only remove judder from native 24p sources.
- Good gray uniformity.
- Mediocre contrast ratio.
- No local dimming.
- Can only remove judder from 24p sources.
The Sony X800H is great for watching TV shows. It can get bright and it handles reflections well enough in most average-lit rooms. 720p content, like from a cable box, looks great, as does 1080p and 4k content. The image remains accurate even at a wide angle, great if you have a wide seating arrangement or like to move around with the TV on. Also, the built-in speakers produce dialogue very well. The built-in smart platform has a huge selection of streaming apps, so you're sure to find something for everyone.
- Great peak brightness.
- Image remains accurate at an angle.
- Good gray uniformity.
- Might not be able to handle intense glare.
The Sony X800H is good for watching sports. It has a good response time so motion looks clear and this TV can get bright enough to combat glare in most rooms. It has good gray uniformity, which is important for watching sports, with minimal dirty screen effect that most people won't notice. Also, the viewing angles are great, so people watching the big game from the side of the TV won't lose any image accuracy.
- Great peak brightness.
- Image remains accurate at an angle.
- Good response time.
- Good gray uniformity.
- Might not be able to handle intense glare.
The Sony X800H is okay for gaming. It has an incredibly low input lag and good response time that most gamers should appreciate. Unfortunately, it isn't recommended for dark room gaming due to its low contrast ratio and okay black uniformity. It has a black frame insertion feature to improve motion clarity, but it can cause some image duplication. Unfortunately, it doesn't support any advanced gaming features like FreeSync or HDMI 2.1.
- Incredibly low input lag.
- Good response time.
- Good gray uniformity.
- Mediocre contrast ratio.
- No local dimming.
- No advanced gaming features like VRR or HDMI 2.1.
The Sony X800H is mediocre for watching movies in HDR. The contrast ratio is mediocre, and the black uniformity is just okay, so blacks look gray in dark rooms, and there's no local dimming feature to further darken any blacks. It displays a wide color gamut, but its color volume is unremarkable, so it can't display certain shades of colors. It has okay HDR peak brightness, bringing out some highlights, but it can't deliver a truly impactful HDR experience.
- Good gray uniformity.
- Can display a wide color gamut.
- Mediocre contrast ratio.
- No local dimming.
- Can only remove judder from 24p sources.
The Sony X800H is just okay for gaming in HDR. The input lag is extremely low, and it has a good response time that makes motion look fairly clear. It displays a wide color gamut, but it can't produce deep shades of colors with its mediocre color volume. It has an unremarkable contrast ratio, no local dimming feature, and only okay black uniformity, so the X800H isn't suggested for HDR gaming in the dark.
- Incredibly low input lag.
- Good response time.
- Good gray uniformity.
- Can display a wide color gamut.
- Mediocre contrast ratio.
- No local dimming.
- No advanced gaming features like VRR or HDMI 2.1.
The Sony X800H is great to use as a computer monitor. The input lag is remarkably low, and the viewing angles are very good if you need to share your screen with people around you. It displays proper chroma 4:4:4, which is important for reading text. Unfortunately, it doesn't handle reflections well in really bright rooms, but there's no permanent burn-in risk or temporary image retention on this TV.
- Image remains accurate at an angle.
- Incredibly low input lag.
- Good response time.
- No advanced gaming features like VRR or HDMI 2.1.
- Might not be able to handle intense glare.
Changelog
- Updated Sep 11, 2024: We've updated the Accelerated Longevity Test with more details on this TV's failure. Unfortunately, it's been removed from the test permanently.
- Updated Aug 07, 2024: Updated the investigation status in the Accelerated Longevity Test.
- Updated Jul 29, 2024: We posted an update to the Accelerated Longevity Test section of the review, as the backlight has failed, and this TV has been removed from the test.
- Updated Jul 17, 2024: We uploaded the latest brightness measurements and uniformity photos for the Accelerated Longevity Test.
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Differences Between Sizes And Variants
We tested the XBR55X800H, and we expect our results to be valid for the other sizes, except for the 85 inch model, which uses a different panel. The 43" and 49" models are edge-lit, which may affect some results, like contrast and uniformity. The X800H is also known as the X80H or the XH80 depending on the region. At Costco, it's sold as the X81CH, and it's available in the larger sizes.
| Size | US Model | Alternative Name | Costco Model | EU Model | Panel Type | Backlight type |
| 43" | XBR43X800H | XBR-43X800H | - | KD-43XH8096 | IPS | Edge-lit |
| 49" | XBR49X800H | XBR-49X800H | - | KD-49XH8096 | IPS | Edge-lit |
| 55" | XBR55X800H | XBR-55X800H | XBR55X81CH | KD-55XH8096 | IPS | Direct LED |
| 65" | XBR65X800H | XBR-65X800H | XBR65X81CH | KD-65XH8096 | IPS | Direct LED |
| 75" | XBR75X800H | XBR-75X800H | XBR75X81CH | KD-75XH8096 | IPS | Direct LED |
| 85" | XBR85X800H | XBR-85X800H | XBR85X81CH | KD-85XH8096 | VA | Direct LED |
If someone comes across a different type of panel or if their Sony X800H doesn't correspond to our review, let us know and we will update the review. Note that some tests, like the gray uniformity, may vary between individual units.
Note: We were able to confirm the 85 inch model has a VA panel, and you can see the pixels photo here. We thought the 75 inch model also had a VA panel, but we confirmed it uses an IPS, as you can see in this photo.
Our unit of the Sony X800H was manufactured in January 2020; you can see the label here.
Popular TV Comparisons
The Sony X800H performs very well as a budget TV. The IPS panel has a better contrast ratio and black uniformity than most IPS TVs, so it's better suited for dark room viewing than some of its competitors. Although the X800H is supposed to be a direct replacement to the Sony X800G, it performs similarly to the higher-end X850G, which is great.
See our recommendations for the best TVs, the best 4k TVs, and the best smart TVs.
The Sony X950H is higher up in the lineup than the Sony X800H, so it performs better, but they also have different panel types. The X950H has a VA panel with a much better contrast ratio and a full-array local dimming feature, so it displays deep blacks. It also gets much brighter, delivering a better HDR experience. However, the X800H has an IPS panel, so it has much wider viewing angles.
The Sony X80K/X80CK is a newer version of the Sony X800H, but it's a bit of a downgrade. The X800H has better overall picture quality because it gets brighter and has a quicker response time. It also has a wider viewing angle, so the image remains accurate at wider angles. However, the X80K has eARC support, which the X800H doesn't have, so you can connect a receiver and pass lossless audio to it from devices connected to the TV.
The Sony X80J replaces the 2020 Sony X800H. Both use IPS panels with wide viewing angles and low contrast ratios. They perform similarly overall, although the X800H has a bit more to recommend it. It gets brighter in both SDR and HDR, and its viewing angles, which are the main benefit of IPS panels, are even wider than the X80J's.
The Sony X900H is significantly better than the Sony X800H. The X900H has a much higher contrast ratio due to its VA panel, it has local dimming, and it gets brighter overall. Response time is faster on the X900H; however, the X800H has lower input lag, and its IPS panel has wider 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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