Sony KD-55X85L: 55-inch Full Array 4K HDR LED Smart TV Sony - Review 🏆

The Sony KD-55X85L is a 55-inch 4K LED TV that offers an impressive combination of picture quality, smart features, and sleek design. This 2022 model has a 3840 x 2160 resolution LED panel with support for HDR and Dolby Vision. Key features include Google TV for smart capabilities, built-in Google Assistant and Chromecast, an aluminum slim frame design, and a backlit remote control.

With a 55-inch screen size, 4K UHD resolution, and HDR support, the X85L delivers crisp, detailed images whether you're streaming movies and shows or gaming. The LED backlight allows for bright, vibrant colors and deep blacks. This TV also has Sony's X1 4K HDR picture processor to handle upscaling and image enhancements.

For smart features, the KD-55X85L uses Google's Android TV platform, now called Google TV. This gives you access to popular streaming apps, Google Assistant voice control, Chromecast built-in, and smart home device control. The new Google TV interface aims to simplify searching for content and provide customized recommendations.

Design

The Sony KD-55X85L has a sleek and minimalist design that looks great in any living room. It has an ultra-slim aluminum frame with slim bezels, giving it a streamlined appearance when viewed head-on. The TV is designed with a three-sided bezel-less look, meaning the bezels on the side and top are extremely thin.

The rear of the TV has a nice brushed metal finish that adds to the premium look and feel. The stand matches the brushed metal aesthetic well and has a wide, centered position to provide stability. The stand can also be adjusted to different widths to accommodate different furniture sizes.

Overall, the build quality feels very solid and durable. The TV is not the slimmest at 3.7cm thick, but this allows Sony to include more powerful components while maintaining good heat dissipation. Assembly is easy with the snap-on stand, and cable management is tidy with the included clips.

If you are looking for a slightly smaller option, consider the Sony KD-50X75WL: 50-inch 4K HDR LED Smart TV. This model offers excellent picture quality with 4K HDR, smart functionality, and a user-friendly interface. It also features a minimalist design with slim bezels, ensuring it looks great in any room while providing an immersive viewing experience.

Display Quality

The Sony KD-55X85L features a 55-inch LCD panel with 3840 x 2160 Ultra HD resolution and support for HDR content. The TV uses Sony's X1 4K HDR processor to upscale lower resolution content to near 4K quality.

The display has high brightness levels, reaching up to 600 nits peak brightness when playing HDR content. This ensures bright, vivid colors and good contrast. The TV supports HDR10, HLG, and Dolby Vision formats to take full advantage of HDR content.

Viewing angles are also very good on the KD-55X85L. The LCD panel uses IPS technology which helps maintain color accuracy and contrast even when viewing the screen off-center. This makes it suitable for wide seating arrangements.

Overall, the display quality enables an immersive viewing experience with crisp detail and vibrant, accurate colors. The high brightness, excellent contrast and wide viewing angles make the KD-55X85L great for watching movies and TV shows.

If you are looking for a smaller option with similar 4K Ultra HD features, consider the Sony BRAVIA KD-43X80K: 43-inch 4K Ultra HD LCD TV. This model offers excellent picture quality with brilliant colors, thanks to Sony's advanced processing technology. It also supports HDR10, HLG, and Dolby Vision, ensuring high dynamic range content looks fantastic.

Sound Quality

The Sony KD-55X85L TV comes with decent built-in speakers that provide clear audio for regular TV viewing and streaming. The speakers use Sony's X-Balanced Speaker technology for better sound positioning and focus.

The TV supports Dolby Audio formats such as Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby Digital 5.1, and DTS Digital Surround to provide an immersive sound experience. You can adjust various audio settings like surround sound mode, equalizer, and volume leveling to customize the sound as per your liking.

Some key audio features of the TV include:

• 20W Speaker Output Power - Provides sufficient loudness for medium-sized rooms.

• Dolby Audio - Supports Dolby Digital and DTS audio formats.

• Clear Phase Technology - Fine tunes individual sound elements for clear audio.

• Auto Volume Leveler - Automatically lowers loud commercials and boosts soft dialogues.

• Night Mode - Compresses dynamic range for quieter listening at night.

• Voice Zoom - Focuses sound on dialogue by reducing background noise.

While the built-in speakers are decent, you can also connect external speakers or soundbars via Bluetooth or the audio output ports for a more powerful and immersive sound experience, especially for home theater setups.

Smart Features

The Sony KD-55X85L runs on Google's Android TV platform, providing access to a wide range of apps and services. It comes with Google Assistant built-in, allowing you to control the TV and smart home devices using just your voice.

Some of the key apps and services included are:

• Google Play Store - Download additional apps and games.

• YouTube - Watch YouTube videos in up to 4K HDR quality.

• Netflix - Stream Netflix content and get personalized recommendations.

• Prime Video - Access Amazon Prime movies and TV shows.

• Disney+ - Stream Disney+ originals, Marvel, Star Wars and more.

• Apple TV - Access Apple TV+ originals and iTunes movies and TV shows.

• Google Play Movies & TV - Rent or purchase movies and TV shows.

• Spotify - Stream music and podcasts.

• Chromecast built-in - Cast content from your mobile device to the TV.

The TV also works with Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa enabled devices, allowing you to control certain functions with your voice. Overall, the Android TV platform provides an excellent smart TV experience with its wide app selection, voice control features and Chromecast functionality.

Connectivity

The Sony KD-55X85L TV offers a good selection of connectivity options. For wired inputs, it has 4 HDMI ports, 2 USB ports, 1 composite video input, 1 component video input, 1 digital audio output, 1 RF input, and 1 Ethernet port.

The HDMI ports support HDMI 2.1 and HDCP 2.3, allowing you to connect 4K 120Hz devices or 8K 60Hz devices. There is also eARC support on HDMI port 3 for sending lossless audio formats like Dolby Atmos to a soundbar or AV receiver.

For wireless connectivity, the TV has built-in WiFi 5 and Bluetooth 4.2. The WiFi allows you to connect to your home network and access smart features like streaming apps and screen mirroring. Bluetooth allows you to pair wireless headphones, speakers, or other accessories with the TV.

Overall, with 4 HDMI inputs, dual band WiFi, and Bluetooth support, the connectivity options on the Sony X85L are very good for most users. The TV covers all the essential wired and wireless connection types needed in a modern 4K TV.

Remote Control

The Sony KD-55X85L comes with a minimalist remote control that keeps things simple while providing access to all key functions. It has a clean design with a few essential buttons and a built-in microphone for voice control.

Some handy features of the remote include:

• Voice search via Google Assistant - Press the microphone button to search for content, control smart home devices, and more using just your voice. This makes searching for content quick and easy.

• Dedicated Netflix and YouTube buttons - Instantly launch these popular apps.

• Number pad - Quickly enter channel numbers or passcodes.

• Four color buttons - Used for interactive TV control.

• Input selector and home buttons - Easily switch between different inputs like HDMI and apps. The home button takes you back to the main Android TV interface.

• Playback controls - Control playback of media with pause, play, fast forward, rewind, etc.

The minimalist remote is easy to use and provides one-click access to key functions. The voice control integration makes searching for content a breeze. It covers all the basics you need without too many extraneous buttons.

Performance

The Sony KD-55X85L delivers excellent performance thanks to its powerful processor. The Google TV interface feels fluid and responsive, with quick app launching and switching between apps. The processor handles upscaling lower resolution content to 4K smoothly and accurately.

Overall system navigation is snappy with no lag, making the TV feel very responsive. Even when multitasking by having several apps open or jumping between apps, the performance remains consistent. The TV boots up quickly when turned on.

The powerful processor also enables quick processing for gaming. Input lag measures very low, resulting in highly responsive gameplay. Fast motion in sports, video games and action movies retains clarity with no blurring or judder.

Pros and Cons

Pros

• Crisp 4K picture quality with vibrant colors and deep blacks thanks to the full array LED backlight and XR Triluminos Pro technology

• Fluid motion handling with XR Motion Clarity technology and native 100Hz refresh rate

• Impressive upscaling of HD content to near 4K with the 4K X-Reality Pro processor

• Great viewing angles with the VA panel and XR Contrast Booster

• Low input lag of just 8.5ms is great for gaming

• Runs on Google TV providing easy access to apps and content aggregation

• Solid sound with 2.0 channel speakers and Dolby Atmos support

• Extensive connectivity options including 4 HDMI ports

• Voice control with Google Assistant built-in

• Refined minimalist design with slim bezels

Cons

• Peak brightness could be better for HDR content

• Only 60Hz native refresh rate, not 120Hz

• Lacks more advanced gaming features like VRR and ALLM

• Audio is decent but lacks bass and clarity compared to a soundbar

• No HDR10+ support

Conclusion

The Sony KD-55X85L is an excellent mid-range 4K LED TV that offers strong overall performance. With its minimalist design, vibrant 4K picture quality, and Google TV smart platform, it provides a compelling option for buyers looking in this price range.

The X85 delivers deep blacks, accurate colors, and great motion handling thanks to Sony's X1 4K HDR picture processor. It supports Dolby Vision and HDR10 for enhanced HDR, though it lacks more advanced features like local dimming. Gaming connectivity is also solid, with HDMI 2.1 ports and low input lag.

Audio quality is decent, though lacking bass. The Google TV interface is smooth and intuitive. Voice control works well. Connectivity options like Bluetooth and Chromecast are handy for streaming and sharing content.

Considering its design, display and audio quality, smart features, and overall performance, the X85 provides very good value. For buyers wanting a mid-priced Sony 4K LED TV with strong picture quality and a streamlined smart platform, the KD-55X85L is easy to recommend.