Sony Bravia KD-65XE9005BU Overview

Execs

• Sometimes wonderful image high quality with SDR and HDR
• Inexpensive for a direct LED TV
• Built-in YouView

Cons

• Restricted viewing angles
• Not the brightest HDR TV round
• Mundane audio

Key Specs

• Overview Worth: £2499.00
• 65-inch 4K LCD TV
• HDR10, HLG HDR playback
• X1 Processing system
• Triluminos Color system
• Android TV good system

What’s the Sony KD-65XE9005BU?

The Sony 65XE9005 is a 65-inch LCD TV that mixes a local 4K decision and excessive dynamic vary assist with LEDs that sit straight behind the display screen, relatively than round its edges. The result’s a contrast-friendly – though not particularly brilliant – display screen that would nicely be the reply to many AV followers’ prayers. That is very true on taking account of its £2,499 value – which is barely half that of 2017 big-hitters such because the Samsung QE65Q9F and LG OLED65E7.

For a smaller model of this XE90 vary, take a look at our assessment 55-inch model: Sony KD-55XE9005 assessment.

Sony KD-65XE9005BU – Design and Construct

The XE90 is enticing in a no-nonsense type of method. The black bezel across the display screen is impressively skinny, with gleaming aluminium trim. The centrally mounted desktop stand sports activities a delicate and enticing champagne end, and options an efficient cable administration system.

Construct high quality is extra plasticky than that of the step-up Sony XE9305 sequence and beautiful Sony KD-65A1 OLED. Nonetheless, it’s greater than enough for a 65-inch 4K TV with a full array backlight for under £2,499.

The distant equipped with the KD-65XE9005BU is a bit rubbery and light-weight, and it’s a bit busy in its central space. Nonetheless, it’s way more preferable than the ‘flush button’ handsets Sony shipped with most of its 2016 TVs.

Associated: Finest 4K TVs

Sony KD-65XE9005BU – Setup

The XE90 is fairly simple to arrange, particularly if in case you have an Android telephone or pill. The preliminary setup menus even assist you put together the TV’s built-in Google Casting assist.

You’re additionally guided by auto-tuning and Wi-Fi setup, and requested if you wish to activate the YouView catch-up TV platform (which you do).

Getting essentially the most out of the XE90’s photos is a bit tough. For many viewing – and most customers – I’d suggest a barely tweaked model of the Normal image presets. Whereas the Cinema ones ship extra correct color tones for movies, the Normal preset does a greater job of hiding the TV’s backlight limitations.

There’s a essential exception to this, nonetheless. Particularly, that if you happen to’re watching a very brilliant Extremely HD Blu-ray in HDR – significantly a title that’s been mastered to 4000 nits – then each image preset bar Customized leads to a distracting blocking, glowing noise to seem over the image’s brightest areas.

Additionally, set the movement processing to True Cinema when watching movies and Normal when watching most different content material. By no means set the Black Modify characteristic increased than Low, don’t set the advance distinction enhancer increased than medium, and go away Auto Native Dimming to excessive to minimise backlight clouding.

I’d additionally argue that the KD-65XE9005BU is finest watched in a small quantity of ambient mild, relatively than complete darkness, to take its backlight clouding out of the equation.

Sony KD-65XE9005BU – Options

Highlights embrace assist for the HDR10 HDR format (HLG incoming through firmware replace), plus Sony’s acclaimed X1 video processing system.

Since this processor isn’t the X1 Excessive platform present in Sony’s step-up XE9305, ZD9 and A1 OLEDs, the XE9005 can’t be upgraded to assist the Dolby Imaginative and prescient HDR format. As well as, it options solely a single database for upscaling non-4K content material, relatively than the Excessive TVs’ twin database system. Nonetheless, it does nonetheless carry Sony’s sensible Tremendous Bit Mapping for processing away the colour-banding issues that many TVs endure when enjoying HDR, in addition to powering Sony’s Triluminos extensive color gamut engine.

The XE90’s good options and interface are delivered by Android, whose clunky, scarcely customisable on-screen menus and deal with app amount over high quality. The excellent news is that Sony is all too conscious of Android’s limitations, and so has regarded past Google to ship Amazon and Netflix of their 4K and HDR kinds, alongside the UK’s foremost 4 terrestrial broadcaster catch-up companies through YouView.

Sony KD-65XE9005BU – Efficiency

As you’d hope from a direct-lit LCD TV, the XE9005 delivers darkish HDR scenes with extra persistently deep black ranges and fewer distracting backlight clouding than just about any edge-lit LCD options. What’s extra, it does so with out crushing particulars out of the darkest areas, or leaving contrast-rich HDR pictures wanting excessively dominated by their darkest elements.

Actually, luminance is fantastically balanced proper throughout the TV’s supported HDR brightness spectrum, leaving you with a snug, pure picture wherein it’s simple to turn into immersed.

The lightest elements of the KD-65XE9005BU’s pictures look brilliant sufficient to depart you in little question that you just’re having an HDR expertise, but even if in case you have a extremely brilliant factor on-screen – resembling a torch glowing towards a near-black backdrop – the panel retains a lid on mild air pollution across the brilliant object.

I’m not saying there’s no mild ‘haloing’ round stand-out image components. Inevitably for its value, the XE90 isn’t precisely overloaded with backlight native dimming zones – I counted solely 20. So it’s hardly shocking that a couple of inches of extraneous mild seem round a few of the brightest picture components.

This ‘unintentional’ mild is delicate relatively than evident, nonetheless, and even at its worst it’s much less distracting than the full-height bars of sunshine air pollution with HDR pictures on TVs that use vertical edge LED lighting.

The XE90’s Triluminos system helps it to ship a good expanse of the tonal ranges seen on Extremely HD Blu-ray discs, alongside delicate tonal variations. It doesn’t do fairly in addition to Sony TVs utilizing the step up X1 Excessive engine, however that doesn’t cease the KD-65XE9005BU from outperforming the color efficiency of most equally priced rivals.

Its refined color presentation, and excellent movement dealing with, helps the TV to ship loads of affect from its native 4K pixel rely too. Even with out its MotionFlow processing lively, the KD-65XE9005BU suffers comparatively little judder or blurring. Nonetheless, the True Cinema and even Normal MotionFlow choices are so good at eradicating what little judder and blur there may be with out inflicting undesirable processing unintended effects, that I’m assured many customers will choose to make use of them.

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The KD-65XE9005BU additionally upscales HD properly, including element whereas concurrently lowering noise. It doesn’t do fairly in addition to Sony’s X1 Excessive TVs, however it’s higher than most rival mid-range TVs.

Players, in the meantime, might be happy to listen to that this TV solely suffers with round 30ms of enter lag (the time taken to render picture knowledge) in each HDR and SDR mode when utilizing its Recreation preset.

Whereas the KD-65XE9005BU is able to delivering genuinely beautiful photos a lot of the time, its mild backlight haloing round brilliant HDR objects isn’t its solely image subject. As I’ve talked about, extraordinarily brilliant HDR footage may cause some weird glowing noise within the image, which I might solely rectify by selecting the Customized image setting.

Additionally, whereas the it does ship an HDR expertise, it’s removed from the brightest HDR TV on the town, hitting peaks on a ten% window of round 875 nits. That is simply over half the brightness Sony delivers with its step-up XE9305 TVs, or that Samsung is ready to ship with its Q8C and Q7F QLED TVs. It locations a restrict on how spectacular the KD-65XE9005BU’s HDR photos can get.

I think many AV followers might be nice to compromise right here in return for the set’s comparatively muted backlight distractions, however it’s definitely a limitation try to be conscious of.

The ultimate image flaw is its restricted viewing angle. In case your seating place finds you watching the display screen from an angle of as little as 25 levels, black ranges scale back and the beforehand restrained blooming artefacts round brilliant objects turn into extra apparent.

A remaining phrase on audio efficiency: it’s nothing to write down residence about. Bass sounds skinny, and treble can turn into harsh and even distort a bit throughout motion scenes. Then again, dialogue at all times sounds clear and credible, and the soundstage is surprisingly giant. Nonetheless, if you wish to watch films, it is perhaps good to get some audio system or a soundbar.

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Ought to I purchase the Sony KD-65XE9005BU?

As long as you don’t want a TV that helps extensive viewing angles, and also you’re prepared to commerce some brightness for freedom from backlight striping, the KD-65XE9005BU is a robust mid-range TV choice. In an excellent world it might be a few hundred kilos cheaper, and Sony would repair the HDR peak brightness noise subject for all image presets.

The underside line is that there don’t look like another mid-range direct-lit LCD choices on provide from different established manufacturers this 12 months. And even when there have been, these rivals wouldn’t benefit from Sony’s excellent video processing.

Should you can add an extra £700 to the price range, Sony’s KD-65XE9305 provides much better HDR-friendly brightness and video processing. With regards to TVs in the identical value bracket, the almost definitely worthy rivals might be Samsung’s MU8000 and MU9000 sequence – look out for evaluations of these quickly.

Verdict

A better degree of brightness and some extra native dimming zones would have sealed the deal, however the KD-65XE9005BU is nonetheless a robust performer for its cash and deserves to turn into a giant hit with AV fans attracted by its direct LED lighting.

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Trusted Rating

Rating intimately

• Worth 9

• Good TV 8

• Picture High quality 8

• Design 8

• Sound High quality 6

Options

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Bodily Specs