I was looking at the x950h based on the strong performance of the x950G (2019 model) and also at the x800h. I was replacing a 5 year old Samsung 4k that had a backlight issue and was too costly to repair.
Although this is literally a brand new to the market, I decided that possibly going middle-of-the-road with the x900h was probably a good idea (mostly price-wise) and the step up from the x800h to local dimming was something I wanted.
Was I right!
I worked in the TV industry for over 20 years, so I got pretty obsessed with picture quality and this TV does not let me down. Deep blacks, vivid colors. Not OLED, but really good. Overall strong picture quality right out of the box before I even began playing with the settings. Also good viewing angles probably at 45 deg of center on each side from about 10 feet away. Picture contrast and colors were maintained at least at these angles.
I've mounted the TV on a 1" deep wall-mount, so it's almost flush to the wall. With the exception of the power cord (which is a 90 Degree Figure 8 cable) all the inputs/outputs are on the left side. The Power cord is unfortunately on the right side in a recessed area, but for wall mounting it makes it a little tricky to get the plug in unless you have 2 people and someone does it before you place it on the mount. All the other connections can easily be made once mounted.
Couple of interesting features -
ATSC 3.0 tuner - will future proof you for 4k OTA signals and interactive content when available (larger markets will begin testing before end of 2020).
HDMI 2.1 support - really suggest you replace any legacy HDMI cables you may have with 48Gbps capable cables. My apple TV box picked up on the new TV having Dolby Vision support and tried to test for it (which requires 48Gbps), but it said my cable was "not stable" and dropped me back to 4k SDR. It's an older, high quality, 18Gbps certified cable, but it obviously was not built for the needed tolerances. New HDMI cables are now on order, but consider that if you're wall mounting and will have limited access to re-work cabling after install.
Android TV is good, i've configured it with my complement of OTT applications (youtube TV, Disney+, HBOMax, Prime, Netflix etc.) and works great. I personally prefer (as does the wife for consistency around the house) to use Apple TV's as my interface on all the home TV's. Fortunately, the TV does not force you into an Android experience - if you turn the TV on with the HDMI for your AppleTV as the selected input , you go straight into the external box's interface and don't have to fight your way out of Android TV first.
If anything lets it down, the lack of a good paper manual during unboxing is annoying. Also, the port labeling is not readable easily once mounted on the wall - i had to guess which one was HDMI1 for example (and of course, I got it wrong). The supplied quick-start guide does not show the ports in a way that tells you a layout.
In summary, strong TV. Good forward thinking features for you to grow into. I purchased the 55" for a smaller living room area of the house, but if the wife lets me, an 85" will end up in our media room before the year is out.... ;-)
Recommend this TV. No reservations so far.
| Brand Name | Sony |
|---|---|
| Color Name | Black |
| Special Features | Flat |
| Speaker Type | Soundbar |
| Standing screen display size | 55 Inches |
| Aspect Ratio | 16:9 |
