Sony X950H Bravia Review 07/2020

Posted on 24. June 2020 Updated on 8. July 2020

The new Sony allround talent?

80%

The Sony X950H Bravia is the 4K LED LCD flagship of the Japanese manufacturer’s Bravia series this year. To further improve the characteristics of the installed VA panel, Sony also uses its X-Wide Viewing Angle coating and offers Full Array Local Dimming. Its predecessor, the X950G, already scored with its good picture quality and motion handling. Here you can find out if it’s the same with the X950H.

49"

$ 918^*

55"

$ 1,198^*

65"

$ 1,698^*

75"

$ 2,497^*

Contents: Sony X950H Bravia

1 Elegant design and solid manufacturing
2 Nice image for streaming and gaming
3 Very good Motion Handling
4 No gaming TV, but some nice features
5 Above average sound
6 Modern Smart TV for streaming enthusiasts
7 Variants of Sony X950H Bravia
Our conclusion: Allround model with home theater ambitions
Alternatives to the Sony X950H Bravia

Elegant design and solid manufacturing

The Sony X950H Bravia impresses with its sophisticated manufacturing and attractive design. The frame as well as the feet are made of aluminium, while the back is completely made of plastic. The cables run behind the feet and can be fixed here with clips. The feet are also adjustable. Because they can be pushed together further towards the centre of the TV, the X950H can also be placed in small spaces. Nevertheless, the feet are stable enough to ensure that the television hardly wobbles at all. The various connections are now located on the side instead of at the bottom as in the model before, making them easier to reach.

Especially the almost continuous screen surface of the X950H is very chic and provides an immersive feeling. Exceptions are the sizes 49 and 85 inches, where a narrow frame is existing and the feet are firmly installed.

Design

Cable management
Flexible, but stable metal feet
Continuous screen
49'' & 85'': Narrow frame, fixed feet

Nice image for streaming and gaming

The X950H has a 10 bit VA panel with deep black and a relatively high contrast. Sony already uses its X-Wide Angle layer on this year’s model from 55 inches to improve the limited viewing angle of the built-in VA panel and it can even significantly minimize reflections and mirroring. However, it is still missing in the 49 inch version. With more than three people in front of the screen, it could still be difficult with the viewing angle. Thanks to Full Array Local Dimming, the contrast is further improved, but the layer means that the TV has to lose some contrast again. Nevertheless, the maximum brightness and black level are very good and ensure that a good picture is produced, especially in bright surroundings. These features and its wide colour gamut make the Sony X950H ideal for HDR content in streaming and gaming. As usual, Sony’s image processing programs deliver a very natural image here.

Picture Quality

Viewing angle
Black level
Contrast: 3170:1
X-Wide Angle coating (except 49'')
Hardly any reflections
Full Array Local Dimming
Max. Brightness: 980 Nits
Wide color gamut

Very good Motion Handling

There’s hardly anything to criticize in the Sony X9500H’s motion handling. Thanks to a refresh rate of 120 Hz and a very short response time of only 4ms, there is no motion blur, which is particularly beneficial for sports fans. In standard mode, the image flickers at 120 Hz, but if you turn off the automatically activated Motion Flow, it flickers at 720 Hz, which is not noticeable to the eye. If required the motion interpolation feature can also be added. A particularly positive feature of the X950H is that no judder can be detected for any resource.

Motion Handling

Short Response Time: ~4ms
No Motion Blur
Motion Interpolation
No Judder

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No gaming TV, but some nice features

When looking at the Sony X950H’s features, it’s clearly noticeable that it isn’t designed as a pure gaming TV. Even though the input lag in the available gaming mode is relatively low and it has analogue connections for gaming with older consoles, relevant modern features like a variable refresh rate and the Auto Low Latency Mode are missing. Unfortunately, an HDMI 2.1 connection is also missing. It’s not quite clear to us why HDMI 2.1 and the mentioned features aren’t available on the Sony X950H, but on the somewhat cheaper Sony X900H.

Gaming

Input Lag: ~19 ms
Analogue connections
No VRR
No ALLM
No HDMI 2.1

Above average sound

The X950’s sound quality is surprisingly good. It has separate high-frequency speakers that are designed to adjust the sound even more precisely to the picture. The only exception here is again the 49 inch version, which only comes along with the bass reflex speakers. In addition, the sound can be adjusted to the respective room environment via an acoustic calibration – the so-called Ambient Optimization Feature from Sony. Overall, the sound is relatively balanced, even if the bass leaves something to be desired. For this, the Sony X950H has an HDMI eARC connection and thus enables audio formats, such as Dolby Atmos and DTS:X in uncompressed format. Thus, a high-quality surround sound bar or system is recommended.

Sound

49'': No high-frequency speakers
Balanced sound
Weak bass
HDMI eArc
Dolby Atmos
DTS:X

Modern Smart TV for streaming enthusiasts

The model comes with the latest Android TV version, Android 9.0 Pie. This operating system runs much faster and error-free than previous Sony versions. The interface is clearly structured and the large app selection includes all classic streaming providers. Here, the additional Netflix Calibrated Mode, which is supposed to reproduce the original studio quality of Netflix Originals, is especially noticeable. The included smart remote scores with additional backlighting, which was again saved on the 49 inch variant. There is only a standard remote control here. The smart remote control enables voice control via Google Assistant. Amazon Echo for Alexa and Google Home can also be connected. Furthermore, with Twin Tuner, USB recording and TimeShift is possible.

Smart TV

Android 9.0 Pie
Large selection of apps
49'': standard remote
Smart Remote with voice control
Twin Tuner
USB recording
TimeShift

Allround model with home theater ambitions

The Sony X950H Bravia is again a really good TV when it comes to movies and series. In terms of features, it’s noticeable that Sony tries to bring the cinema feeling into the living room with this model: Picture and sound are in harmony and surround sound is also possible. The frame is also reduced to a minimum. All this is rounded off by the sophisticated motion handling, so even fast HDR content is no problem. The device is also suitable for sports programs, which can be watched without any problems in a bright room in the afternoon. The X-Wide Angle coating improves the limited viewing angle, but is not as good as its Samsung counterpart. The X950H also has some room for improvement when it comes to gaming, which is why other models are better suited for this. The 49 inch version is unfortunately only a slimmed-down version of the larger models.

Go to offer Alternatives Detailed Rating

80 %

_” For films and sports in a small group ^“

PROS

Image quality
Sound formats
Slim frame
Motion Handling

CONS

Gaming

Info

49'': only cut-down version

Alternatives to the Sony X950H Bravia

Sony X950G
Previous model

In comparison, the predecessor model, the X950G from 2019, scores slightly worse than the newer X950H in all categories, but there are hardly any significant differences. Even though the X950H’s image and colors still look best from a frontal perspective and are slightly blurred from the side, this is even more pronounced on the X950G. A slight improvement can therefore be seen here. The X950G’s maximum brightness was a bit higher, though. The selection of inputs, on the other hand, has remained completely the same, while the TV’s built-in speakers have improved considerably. New is that the 55 and 65 inch size variants now also have the X-Wide Angle coating. This was previously reserved exclusively for the two larger versions. Unfortunately, Sony hasn’t upgraded its new model in terms of gaming, and both fall behind the competition.

$ 998^*

$ 998^* inkl. Versand

$ 1,485^*

$ 1,485^* inkl. Versand

$ 2,100^*

$ 2,100^* inkl. Versand

$ 2,900^*

$ 2,900^* inkl. Versand

Samsung QLED Q80T
Superior TV for gaming

Both the Sony X950H and the Samsung QLED Q80T have a VA panel with a coating to improve the limited viewing angles. Accordingly, both TVs achieve a good black level and a high native contrast. Nevertheless, the technology works slightly better on Samsung than on Sony. The Samsung model also offers better gaming performance, with VRR via FreeSync, Auto Low Latency Mode and an HDMI 2.1 input. The Q80T’s very low input lag does its part to beat the X950H in terms of gaming. However, the Samsung Q80T doesn’t offer Dolby Vision or DTS, whereas the X950H does.

$ 1,098^*

$ 1,098^* inkl. Versand

$ 1,298^*

$ 1,298^* inkl. Versand

$ 1,440^*

$ 1,440^* inkl. Versand

$ 2,180^*

$ 2,180^* inkl. Versand

$ 3,498^*

$ 3,498^* inkl. Versand

LG OLED CX
OLED with allround qualities

The LG CX OLED has – as the name suggests – an OLED panel and is therefore superior to the X950H in terms of contrast, color accuracy and viewing angle size. Especially in dark environments, the picture is much better than with an LCD panel. However, the OLED’s Automatic Brightness Limiter (ABL) can be a bit annoying in large bright scenes. The CX is again in front in the gaming area, as it has an HDMI 2.1 connection, the Auto Low Latency Mode as well as VRR and is therefore also prepared for PS5 and Xbox Series X. But you shouldn’t forget that the LG OLED CX is still a bit more expensive than the Sony X950H.

Check price

$ 2,245^*

$ 2,245^* inkl. Versand

$ 4,497^*

$ 4,497^* inkl. Versand