The Sony X90J is an upper mid-range 4k LED TV. It's part of Sony's 2021 BRAVIA lineup, sitting below the Sony X95J, and it has many of the same features as the higher-end model but without as good performance. It's a future-proof TV as it comes with two HDMI 2.1 inputs that allow you to play 4k games up to 120 fps from gaming consoles or PCs, and it has variable refresh rate (VRR) support after a firmware update. It comes with Google TV as its smart interface, which has a ton of apps you can download through the Google Play Store and has a user-friendly interface. This TV comes with a VA panel that helps it perform well in dark rooms, and it even gets bright enough to fight glare in well-lit rooms, but it has narrow viewing angles, and it doesn't have Sony's 'X-Wide Angle' technology.
Our Verdict
The Sony X90J is a great TV for most uses. It's best suited for watching movies and HDR content due to its high contrast ratio, great full-array local dimming, and high HDR brightness. It has low input lag, a fast response time, VRR support, and a 120Hz refresh rate, making it a great choice for gaming. It's good for watching TV shows or sports because it upscales lower resolution content well and gets very bright to combat glare, but its narrow viewing angles make it less ideal for watching with a big group of people.
- Fantastic contrast.
- Great response time.
- User-friendly smart interface.
- Gets very bright to combat glare.
- Upscales lower resolution content well.
- Poor viewing angles.
- Struggles with direct reflections.
- Doesn't support wide color gamut.
The Sony X90J is good for watching TV shows in bright rooms. While its reflection handling is only decent, it gets very bright, so visibility in well-lit rooms won't be an issue unless you place the TV opposite a bright window. Its Google TV interface is easy to use, and there are tons of apps available. Its viewing angles are quite narrow, making the image appear washed out when viewed from the side, so it's not the best choice for watching shows with the entire family.
- User-friendly smart interface.
- Gets very bright to combat glare.
- Upscales lower resolution content well.
- Poor viewing angles.
- Struggles with direct reflections.
The Sony X90J is good for watching sports. It has a great response time to deliver smooth motion with fast-moving objects and a backlight strobing feature that further improves motion clarity. Its reflection handling is only decent, but it gets very bright to combat glare. Like most VA panel TVs, the viewing angles are pretty narrow, so it's not the best option for watching with a big group of people.
- Great response time.
- Gets very bright to combat glare.
- Upscales lower resolution content well.
- Poor viewing angles.
- Struggles with direct reflections.
The Sony X90J is excellent for gaming. It delivers an incredibly fluid and responsive gaming experience due to its low input lag, fast response time, and 120Hz refresh rate. It also has HDMI 2.1 inputs for console or high-frame-rate PC gaming. It has a fantastic contrast ratio and a great full-array local dimming feature, making it well-suited for gaming in the dark. It also has VRR support after a firmware update, but FreeSync doesn't work on it.
- Fantastic contrast.
- Great full-array local dimming.
- Great response time.
- HDMI 2.1 inputs for 4k @ 120Hz signals, even with chroma 4:4:4.
- HDMI Forum VRR support.
- Struggles with direct reflections.
- FreeSync doesn't work.
The Sony X90J is great for watching movies in HDR. It has a fantastic contrast ratio further enhanced by a great full-array local dimming feature, so it's ideal for dark rooms. It has a good color gamut even though it isn't technically a wide gamut, and it gets very bright in HDR, enough to make highlights pop. Low frame rate content like movies stutters a bit due to its quick response time, but on the bright side, it can remove 24p judder from all sources.
- Fantastic contrast.
- Great full-array local dimming.
- Removes judder from all sources.
- Good HDR brightness.
- Stutters a bit in low frame rate content.
- Doesn't support wide color gamut.
The Sony X90J is excellent for gaming in HDR. It has very low input lag, a 120Hz refresh rate, and a quick response time, so gaming feels smooth and responsive, and it also has VRR support. Sadly, it can't display 4k @ 120Hz in Dolby Vision. However, it displays deep blacks due to its fantastic contrast ratio and great full-array local dimming, making it well-suited for dark rooms. It has a good color gamut even though it isn't technically a wide gamut, and it gets very bright to make highlights pop.
- Fantastic contrast.
- Great full-array local dimming.
- Great response time.
- HDMI 2.1 inputs for 4k @ 120Hz signals, even with chroma 4:4:4.
- Good HDR brightness.
- HDMI Forum VRR support.
- Doesn't support wide color gamut.
- Can't display 4k @ 120Hz with Dolby Vision.
- FreeSync doesn't work.
The Sony X90J is good for use as a PC monitor. It has low input lag and a quick response time, and it supports most common resolutions as well as chroma 4:4:4 for better text clarity. There aren't any issues with 4k @ 120Hz signals with chroma 4:4:4 either. Its reflection handling is only decent, but it gets more than bright enough to combat glare. Unfortunately, it has pretty narrow viewing angles, so the image looks inaccurate at the edges if you sit up close.
- Great response time.
- HDMI 2.1 inputs for 4k @ 120Hz signals, even with chroma 4:4:4.
- Gets very bright to combat glare.
- Poor viewing angles.
- Struggles with direct reflections.
Changelog
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Updated Aug 28, 2025:
We've removed the TV from the Accelerated Longevity Test to investigate a likely hardware failure.
- Updated Jul 08, 2025: We uploaded the latest brightness measurements and uniformity photos for the Accelerated Longevity Test.
- Updated Apr 17, 2025: We uploaded the latest brightness measurements and uniformity photos for the Accelerated Longevity Test.
- Updated Feb 11, 2025: 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 55 inch Sony X90J (XR55X90J), and it's also available in a 50 inch (XR50X90J), 65 inch (XR65X90J), and 75 inch (XR75X90J) sizes. For the most part, we expect our results to be valid for the other sizes. Costco sells the Sony X90CJ, which we expect to be the same TV.
The 100 inch XR100X92 (or X92J) uses the same processor but has a different speaker configuration and our results aren't valid for it. There's also an 85 inch model known as the Sony X91J, but it uses a different processor, and our results aren't valid for that model, but you can see the differences between them below. The model numbers are the same in North America and Europe, but it may have a dash in it.
| Size | Model Number | Costco Model | Processor |
|---|---|---|---|
| 50" | XR50X90J | - | Cognitive Processor XR |
| 55" | XR55X90J | XR55X90CJ | Cognitive Processor XR |
| 65" | XR65X90J | XR65X90CJ | Cognitive Processor XR |
| 75" | XR75X90J | XR75X90CJ | Cognitive Processor XR |
| 85" | KD85X91J | - | 4k HDR Processor X1 |
| 100" | XR100X92 | - | Cognitive Processor XR |
If you come across a different type of panel or your Sony X90J doesn't correspond to our review, let us know, and we'll update the review. Note that some tests, like the gray uniformity, may vary between individual units.
Our unit was manufactured in March 2021; you can see the label here.
Popular TV Comparisons
The Sony X90J is a great TV. Not much has changed from its predecessor, the Sony X900H, except that it has a higher contrast ratio, gets significantly brighter in HDR, and its local dimming feature performs a bit better. Its color gamut isn't as good, but the difference is pretty small. It's very similar to the cheaper Sony X85J but with a full array local dimming feature. After a firmware update, it also has VRR support, but it's not as versatile as other TVs because FreeSync doesn't work.
For more options, check out our recommendations for the best TVs, the best 4k gaming TVs, and the best movie TVs.
The Sony X90L/X90CL is an incremental upgrade over the Sony X90J. The X90L has a better local dimming solution, giving it better contrast with local dimming enabled. It's also noticeably brighter in HDR and SDR than the older X90J and has a much wider color gamut. The X90J has slightly better image accuracy, but that's likely due to panel variance.
The Sony X90K/X90CK is the successor to the Sony X90J, and it's not worth the upgrade if you already have the X90J or if you're deciding between the two TVs. The X90K has a wider 1080p VRR range, but other than that the differences are minor.
The Sony X95J is slightly better than the Sony X90J. The X95J has much better reflection handling, better viewing angles, and a better local dimming feature. The X95J is also much brighter, and small highlights stand out better in HDR. The X90J, on the other hand, has better native contrast and better black uniformity, with less cloudiness in dark scenes.
The Sony X90J and the Sony X85J are very similar overall. The X90J has a full array local dimming feature that can improve contrast and reduce blooming in dark scenes, but the X85J has better native contrast and a flicker-free backlight. The X90J is brighter in HDR and HDR content displays at the correct brightness. If you care about calibrating your display for the most accurate image possible, one important difference here is that the X85J doesn't have a color management system.
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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