Sony has revealed its flagship LCD TV this year, the Sony X95J, will go on sale in the U.K. in June and is available for pre-order now at select European retailers.
The highly anticipated Sony X95J (pictured above) is a Full Array 4K LED television that will be available in a choice of 75-inch and 85-inch sizes at first, with a 65-inch model to arrive later in the year.
One of the standout features of the TV is its all-new Cognitive Processor XR, which is the company’s most advanced picture processor yet that aims to analyze and enhance image and sound quality in a more human way.
When Sony announced the X95J at the Consumer Electronics Show in January, it said the new chip works similarly to how the human mind perceives images by subconsciously focusing on certain points of whatever the person is looking at. The Cognitive Processor AX does something similar, and divides the screen into various zones and then detects the best focal point of each one. It then cross-analyses numerous elements within each zone, just as the human brain does, to adjust them in such a way that it delivers a crisper, cleaner image on screen. It ensures everything is more synchronised and lifelike, Sony said.
As well as the new chip, the Sony X95J sports a HDR panel with X-Wide Angle and X-Anti-Reflection technologies. It’s an IMAX Enhanced-certified model that has a very premium look and feel, with aluminium casing, a super-skinny Seamless Edge Bezel and a voice-powered remote control. There’s a three-way stand too for the two larger models.
The TV also incorporates Sony’s Contrast Booster tech, XR Contrast Booster 10, which helps to boost peak brightness while maintaining well exposed blacks and whites. Buyers will also enjoy features such as Ambient Optimisation, which adjusts the picture to compensate for sun-soaked living rooms, Dolby Vision HDR, AirPlay 2 and Bluetooth connectivity.
Gamers will be interested to know that the Sony X95J comes with HDMI 2.1 ports that enable 4K at 120 frames per second, Variable Refresh Rate and Auto Low Latency Mode, which all combine to deliver super smooth and responsive gameplay when connected to a PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X console.
The TV is one of the first in the world to run the new Google TV platform, which is a new interface for Android TV that makes it easier to surface new content, and buyers will get 12 months’ free access to Sony’s new high-bitrate streaming service Bravia CORE.
Sony hasn’t yet revealed pricing for the U.K. model, but in the U.S. it has already announced the 75-inch model will cost $3,000 (£2,116), with the 85-inch version listed at $4,500 (£3,175), so that’s probably a good indicator of what buyers can expect to pay here.
If that’s more than your budget can stretch too, a good alternative might be the Sony X85J (below), which is a mid-range model that’s also going on sale in June with a much wider choice of sizes available.
The Sony X85J will be available in 43-inch, 50-inch, 55-inch, 65-inch, 75-inch and 85-inch sizes and is powered by Sony’s older 4K HDR Processor X1 microchip. That’s the processor that featured on last year’s high-end Sony TVs so it’s still very capable, though it means there won’t be any XR Contrast Booster or 3D Sound Upscaling tech on this model.
What it does have is a 4K X-Reality Pro processing engine that’s able to upscale regular HD or SD content to 4K resolution, an X-Balanced speaker, Ambient Optimisation and a versatile two-way stand for ease of placement. It also comes with a 100Hz native panel, supports Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos, voice control through Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant, and Apple AirPlay 2 and HomeKit. The X85J also comes with HDMI 2.1 ports, so it might be one of the more affordable options for gamers that require 4K@120, VRR and ALLM capabilities. Like the above model, it will run the Google TV platform.
With regard to price, Sony's website indicates the 85-inch X85J will cost £3,000, but it has yet to reveal how much the smaller models will cost.
