Sony has been a renowned television maker for years. The Sony KD-49XE9005 is a stylishly designed television with great promises for image quality. Can this fairly new television from Sony deliver on its promises?
Sony KD-49XE9005
Price1,400 euros
Screen type
LCD
Backlight direct led
Screen diagonal
49 inches, 123 cm
Resolution
3840 x 2160 pixels
HDR
HDR10, HLG standard
Frame rate
60Hz
Connectivity 4 x HDMI, 3 x USB, Ethernet LAN, Composite input, Component input, Optical audio output, Headphone jack, Subwoofer jack, RF, IF, PCMCIA jack
Smart TV
Android TV
Website
www.sony.nl 9 Score 90
- Pros
- Android TV with Chromecast
- Four HDMI connections
- Beautiful images with all sources, including HDR
- Excellent display of fast moving images
- Beautiful, rich color rendering
- Good black reproduction and excellent contrast
- Negatives
- No Dolby Vision
- Limited viewing angle with impact on contrast
Those who like clean lines will like this Sony. It has a thin, narrow frame that is finished with a metal-coloured trim. The device is less slim due to its direct LED backlighting, and uses an external power supply.
Connections
The XE90 is equipped with four HDMI connections, three of which are on the side and one on the back. They are all ready for Ultra HD. On the side you will also find three USB connections. The connections at the back point towards the wall, which is inconvenient for wall mounting. Cables can be neatly routed through the feet, for a nicely tidy arrangement.
Image quality
Thanks to the use of a VA panel and a backlight that is divided into 48 segments, this television delivers beautiful contrast. Of course he has to give way to OLED TVs and some LCD top models, but the images have a tangible depth and the boundaries of the segments remain invisible. The device converts all sources neatly and sharply to Ultra HD, removes noise and eliminates annoying color stripes in soft color transitions. The screen neatly shows all the detail in fast-moving images, and can smooth pan images neatly.
The calibration is good, the screen shows a lot of shadow detail, possibly even a little too much, in that case lower the 'black level' setting a point. The color rendering is beautiful. Only take into account the fairly limited viewing angle, those who sit out of the center will see a worse contrast.
HDR
The XE90 supports HDR10 and HLG standards. With a maximum brightness of around 815 nits, the XE90 is more than capable of displaying beautiful HDR images on the screen, especially in combination with its wide color range and excellent calibration. Thanks to the segmented direct LED backlighting, the contrast is also very good, but you can see that HDR content with its super bright accents is less forgiving than regular classic images. As a result, the contrast decreases, although you are spared clearly visible halos.
This review is based on the KD-55XE9005. A different screen size may use a different type of LCD panel which can affect contrast, viewing angle and to a lesser extent light output.
Smart TV
Sony uses Google's Android TV. It provides a good user experience, but in that respect it has to give way to the solutions from LG and Samsung that use a better and clearer structure. Browsing through the Android TV menus could go a little more smoothly, especially with a high-end model like this one.
The built-in Chromecast lets you easily play video or music from your smartphone on TV. A nice feature is hidden behind the 'Discover' button. It shows a small bar at the bottom of the screen with a self-created list of favorite apps, the media player, live TV and recommendations from YouTube and Netflix. Ideal if you want to switch quickly without going through the Android menu.
remote
The included remote is fine, with a handy layout, rubbery top and very low profile keys that are easy to press. It is equipped with a microphone, so that you can record searches, and there are separate keys for Netflix and Google Play centrally on the remote.
Sound quality
The XE90 has to make do with a considerably less powerful sound system than the XE93, but can nevertheless present a decent result. Turn up the volume knob for surprisingly loud performance, with reasonable bass support, but keep in mind that for a real movie experience it's better to use an external sound solution.
Conclusion
This LCD TV from Sony can boast many qualities and is therefore suitable for many viewers. Movie buffs will appreciate the excellent contrast and beautiful colors, while sports enthusiasts will appreciate every detail of fast-moving action. Gamers can look forward to a low input lag.
The KD-49XE9005 uses a segmented backlight to achieve excellent black levels and contrast. The main drawback is a limited viewing angle. If you are not centrally located in front of the screen, the contrast will decrease sharply. The image processing delivers great results with all your sources, the color reproduction is excellent and the device is more than capable of showing strong HDR images.
