The Sony X950H is Sony's flagship 4k LED LCD TV for 2020. It's an impressive TV for most uses. It delivers great picture quality, with great contrast, excellent peak brightness in SDR, and a good full array local dimming feature. It also has excellent peak brightness in HDR, so small highlights stand out. It also has great motion handling, with an impressive response time and a fast 120Hz refresh rate. Unlike the 2021 models, it runs the older Android TV interface instead of Google TV, but it still has a great selection of streaming apps and an easy-to-use, fast interface. It has low input lag, which is great for gaming. However, sadly, it doesn't support any of the advanced gaming features found on some of the newer models, like variable refresh rate support or HDMI 2.1 support for 4k @ 120Hz gaming.
Our Verdict
The Sony X950H is great for most uses. It's well-suited for watching movies in a dark room or shows in a bright room, as it has a great contrast ratio that allows it to produce deep blacks, and its excellent peak brightness can easily overcome glare. It delivers a great HDR experience and upscales lower resolution content from cable TV well. It has a fast response time and low input lag, but there are no advanced gaming features like VRR. It can display chroma 4:4:4 and is immune to permanent burn-in, making it a very good choice for use as a PC monitor.
- Great contrast ratio results in deep blacks.
- Gets very bright to combat glare.
- Upscales lower resolution content well.
- Outstanding reflection handling.
- Image degrades at an angle.
The Sony X950H is great for watching movies. It performs very well in dark rooms thanks to its great contrast ratio, full-array local dimming, and outstanding black uniformity. It upscales lower resolution movies well and can remove judder from all sources. However, low frame rate content like movies can appear to stutter due to the TV's fast response time.
- Great contrast ratio results in deep blacks.
- Removes judder from all sources.
- Upscales lower resolution content well.
- Stutters a bit in low frame rate content.
The Sony X950H is great for watching TV shows. It provides good visibility in bright environments, as it can fight glare easily and it handles reflections well. Lower resolution content from cable TV is upscaled well and without any issues, and there's no risk of permanent burn-in even if you watch the same program all day long. The downside is the TV's mediocre viewing angles, which makes it harder to watch while walking around doing chores.
- Gets very bright to combat glare.
- Upscales lower resolution content well.
- Outstanding reflection handling.
- Image degrades at an angle.
The Sony X950H is very good for watching sports. Thanks to its high peak brightness and outstanding reflection handling, the TV is easily visible in the brightest lighting conditions. There's almost no dirty screen effect, and the TV upscales lower resolution content like cable sports well. Despite having Sony's 'X-Wide Angle' layer, the viewing angles are mediocre, so it's not the most ideal for watching a big game with a large group of people.
- Great response time.
- Gets very bright to combat glare.
- Upscales lower resolution content well.
- Outstanding reflection handling.
- Image degrades at an angle.
The Sony X950H is great for gaming. Its high contrast ratio and outstanding black uniformity make it a good choice for dark room gaming. It has a fast 120Hz refresh rate, and a great response time, so fast-moving objects are clear, with little blur behind fast-moving objects. It also has low input lag, resulting in a responsive gaming experience. Sadly, it doesn't support any advanced gaming features like HDMI 2.1 or variable refresh rate.
- Great contrast ratio results in deep blacks.
- Great response time.
- Fantastic low input lag.
- No advanced gaming features like VRR or HDMI 2.1.
The Sony X950H is great for watching movies in HDR. It has a high contrast ratio that allows it to produce deep blacks, and it has a full-array local dimming feature to improve black level. It has an impressive color gamut and high peak brightness to deliver HDR content with vibrant colors and bright highlights. Black uniformity on our unit is outstanding, so there's no distracting backlight bleed in dark scenes. That said, uniformity can vary between units.
- Great contrast ratio results in deep blacks.
- Good full-array local dimming.
- Removes judder from all sources.
- Excellent HDR brightness.
- Stutters a bit in low frame rate content.
The Sony X950H is good for gaming in HDR. It has a fast response time that results in very little motion blur, and it delivers a great HDR experience thanks to its high peak brightness and wide color gamut. Its input lag is low, even in 10-bit HDR mode. Sadly, it doesn't support VRR to reduce screen tearing.
- Great contrast ratio results in deep blacks.
- Good full-array local dimming.
- Great response time.
- Excellent HDR brightness.
- Fantastic low input lag.
- No advanced gaming features like VRR or HDMI 2.1.
The Sony X950H is very good for use as a PC monitor. It has low input lag and fast response time, resulting in a responsive desktop experience. It supports chroma 4:4:4 at all resolutions, and its VA panel is immune to permanent burn-in. However, its viewing angles are mediocre, so the edges of the screen may look inaccurate if you sit up close.
- Great response time.
- Gets very bright to combat glare.
- Outstanding reflection handling.
- Fantastic low input lag.
- No advanced gaming features like VRR or HDMI 2.1.
- Image degrades at an angle.
Changelog
- Updated Sep 26, 2025: We uploaded the latest brightness measurements and uniformity photos for the Accelerated Longevity Test.
- 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 X950H (XBR55X950H), and for the most part, we expect our review to be valid for the 65 inch, 75 inch, and the 85 inch models. Note that the 49 inch variant doesn't have Sony's 'X-Wide Angle' layer to improve viewing angles, so it's expected to have a higher contrast ratio. There are also other differences, such as the borders, speaker configuration, and location of inputs, as some of the HDMI ports on the 49 inch variant are downward-facing. In Europe, this TV is known as the XH9505, and we expect it to offer the same performance.
If someone comes across a different type of panel or their Sony X950H 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.
| Size | North America Model | EU Model | 'X-Wide Angle' |
|---|---|---|---|
| 49" | XBR49X950H | KD-49XH9505 | No |
| 55" | XBR55X950H | KD-55XH9505 | Yes |
| 65" | XBR65X950H | KD-65XH9505 | Yes |
| 75" | XBR75X950H | KD-75XH9505 | Yes |
| 85" | XBR85X950H | KD-85XH9505 | Yes |
Our unit of the Sony X950H was manufactured in February 2020, you can see the label here.
Popular TV Comparisons
The Sony X950H is a great TV for most uses. It has impressive motion handling, and it delivers an excellent HDR experience. However, it doesn't perform as well for gaming due to its slightly higher input lag and lack of variable refresh rate.
For other options, check out our recommendations for the best TVs, the best 4k HDR TVs, and the best 4k gaming TVs.
The Sony X950H is much better than the Sony X85J. The X950H has a good full-array local dimming feature, and it's much brighter than the X85J. The X950H also has much better reflection handling and slightly better viewing angles. On the other hand, although the X85J lacks a local dimming feature, it has better contrast. The X85J is also a bit more future-proof, as it has two HDMI 2.1 ports.
The Sony X950H is slightly better than the Sony X900H overall. The X950H has better viewing angles, reflection handling, and it delivers a better HDR experience, as it has a better HDR color gamut and it can get brighter. However, the X900H has a higher contrast ratio since it doesn't have the 'X-Wide Angle' layer, and it has a lower input lag. Also, the X900H has more gaming features like HDMI 2.1 inputs and VRR support.
The Sony X95J is a bit of a downgrade from the Sony X950H in some ways. The X95J has a much better local dimming feature, but the X950H has better black uniformity and better contrast. The X95J is a bit better for gaming, though, with two HDMI 2.1 ports and VRR support.
Overall, the Sony X950H is a little bit better than its predecessor, the Sony X950G. They have near-identical features and perform similarly when it comes to motion handling, but the X950H has a better color gamut, significantly better reflection handling, and its local dimming is also improved. That said, the X950G gets brighter and it's more color accurate out of the box. Black and gray uniformity are better on the X950H, although it could be due to manufacturing tolerances.
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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