Our Verdict
The Sony X900F is a great TV for a range of usages. High contrast ratio and local dimming results in great dark scene performance for watching movies in a dark room. Input lag is low, especially at 4k, and motion handling is excellent which is great for gaming. The TV can produce bright, saturated highlights for HDR. Unfortunately, the image degrades when viewed at an angle.
- Deep and uniform blacks.
- Excellent motion handling.
- Bright HDR highlights.
- Picture quality degrades at an angle.
Great movie performance for the X900F. Blacks are deep and uniform, with local dimming to improve dark scenes. The picture quality is great and colors are accurate out-of-the-box. 24p movies are displayed smoothly, which is good.
Great for watching TV in a bright room. The image on the XBR55X900F gets bright which helps to overcome ambient glare, and the reflection handling is impressive. Picture quality is also great. Unfortunately, the Android smart platform isn't as good as the competition and the image degrades when viewed at an angle.
Good TV for watching sports. The Sony X900F has a fantastic response time, so fast-moving objects will have little motion trail behind them. It can get very bright and it handles reflections well to combat glare in bright rooms. Unfortunately, this isn't a good choice if you're planning on watching the game with a large group of people since its viewing angles are poor. However, its gray uniformity is good with no visible dirty screen effect, which can be distracting when watching sports.
The Sony X900F is excellent for playing video games. The input lag is good enough for gaming, but unfortunately, it doesn't support any variable refresh rate (VRR) technology. If you game in dark rooms, it has a great contrast ratio and good black uniformity. For people who game with older consoles, this 4k TV displays 720p and 1080p content well.
HDR movies look great. The Sony X900F supports HDR10 and Dolby Vision. The picture quality is great, with a high native contrast ratio and good uniformity, and the TV can create bright, vivid highlights for HDR.
Great for gaming in HDR, such as with the Xbox One X or PS4 Pro. Input lag is low at 4k, and motion handling is excellent so fast-paced games feel responsive. The X900F supports HDR10 and can produce bright, saturated highlights thanks to the high peak brightness and wide color gamut.
Great TV for PC use. The X900F feels responsive thanks to low input lag and excellent motion handling. It supports chroma 4:4:4 for clear text across all backgrounds but unfortunately, the viewing angle is poor, so the edges of the screen darken when viewed from up-close.
Changelog
- Updated May 21, 2020: Converted to Test Bench 1.5.
- Updated Feb 21, 2020: Converted to Test Bench 1.4.
- Updated Apr 09, 2019: An app update has added ads to the home screen. We have updated the ad-free box.
- Updated Feb 28, 2019: Converted to Test Bench 1.3.
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Differences Between Sizes And Variants
We tested the 55" (XBR55X900F). For the most part, we expect our review to be valid for the 49" (XBR49X900F), 65" (XBR65X900F), 75" (XBR75X900F) and 85" (XBR85X900F).
Depending on where you are, the X900F is also known as the XF90, X90F, or X9000F. Although we haven't tested them, we don't expect any significant differences between them other than minor regional differences, including different tuners.
If someone comes across a different type of panel or if their Sony X900F 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 | VESA Mount Size |
| 49" | XBR49X900F | XBR-49X900F | KD-49XF9005 | 200x200 |
| 55" | XBR55X900F | XBR-55X900F | KD-55XF9005 | 300x300 |
| 65" | XBR65X900F | XBR-65X900F | KD-65XF9005 | 300x300 |
| 75" | XBR75X900F | XBR-75X900F | KD-75XF9005 | 400x300 |
| 85" | XBR85X900F | XBR-85X900F | - | 400x400 |
Popular TV Comparisons
The Sony X900F is a solid performer across the board. It can produce deep blacks aided by local dimming for watching movies in a dark room, has excellent motion handling for sports or fast-paced games, and can produce bright, saturated highlights for HDR. Having said that, it faces tough competition in the price bracket - especially from the Sony X900E. See our recommendations for the best smart TVs.
The 2018 Sony X900F is marginally better than the 2017 Sony X900E. The X900F has a better response time, so fast-moving objects have very little motion blur that isn't noticeable to most people. The X900F also received an update that enables Dolby Vision support with the native apps and some external devices.
The Sony X900F and the Sony X950G both have very similar performance. The X950G has lower input lag, which is good if you play video games or use the TV as a PC monitor. The X950G is brighter than the X900F, but the X900F has marginally higher native contrast ratio, although neither of these differences are noticeable under normal conditions.
The Sony X900F and the Sony X930E have very similar performance. The Sony X900F has a marginally better response time that you might notice if you're a hardcore video gamer. On the other hand, the Sony X930E has better contrast that produces deeper blacks in dark environments and is great if you watch HDR content. Also, the Sony X930E has somewhat better SDR peak brightness that you will appreciate if you watch TV shows in a brighter room.
The Sony X95J is better than the Sony X900F. The X95J has a much better local dimming feature, better viewing angles, and slightly better reflection handling. The X95J is also much better for gaming, as it has significantly lower input lag, it supports HDMI 2.1, and it also has VRR support to reduce screen tearing.
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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