X85E in the US and XE85 in Europe is a 2017 mid-range TV from Sony. It is the successor to last year’s X85D (XD85) but differs in one key area, namely that it switches from an IPS LCD panel to a VA LCD panel. This alone should increase contrast visibly. In addition, it features 4K resolution, HDR, and Google’s Android TV operating system.
With the 85 series, Sony hopes to take on Samsung and LG’s mainstream models, but can it? We were disappointed with HDR picture quality on last year’s 85 model and other mid-range TVs so can X85E bring much-needed improvements in this area to the table? Let us find out.
Depending on your country in Europe, XE85 will exist in various design versions such as XE8505, XE8577, XE8588, XE8599, XE8596, and possibly others. These are all the same TV from a technical standpoint.Price and retailers:
Specifications
55" Ultra HD (3840x2160)
HDR10 & HLG (later firmware)
DCI-P3 color spaceVA LCD with edge LED Stand (fixed)
Wall (VESA 200x200)(HxWxD) 71.7 x 123.2 x 5.6 cm (without stand) 18.6 kg (without stand) 4x HDMI (4x 2.0)
3x USB
Ethernet
1x CI+Optical
HDMI-ARC
Headphones2.0 stereo (2x 10W) DVB T/T2/C/S2
WiFi (ac standard)MPEG4
HEVC
VP9 Profile2Android TV 6.0 Bluetooth remote (with microphone)
Remote smartphone appManual
Remote controlSubscribe to our Newsletter, Facebook, twitter or RSS to receive notice when new reviews are publishedFirst impressions
Sony established a new design foundation and few years ago and X85E follows in its tracks. It is by no means a flashy TV but it looks light and elegant.
The thin bezel is adorned by a thin silver line sandwiched in between two matte black plastic layers. The back is kept mostly clean but there is the usual ”bump” that we see on most modern TVs. Over the years, display panels have become very thin but a TV still requires modules like a power supply, print boards, tuners, and ports. These components take up space.
Part of the “bump” problem is manufacturers’ insistence on including legacy analog ports. I find it hard to understand why a 4K TV needs to be equipped with analog video input ports like the ‘component’ port in 2017. Nevertheless, Sony has chosen to do exactly that. These legacy ports point out towards the wall. We can live with that but we are disappointed to conclude that HDMI1 and the optical audio port also point in the same direction, making it difficult to mount the TV flush to the wall (if you want to use these connectors).
When first setting up the TV, the base felt a little wobbly but it does the job. In each of the two legs there is a small cavity for hiding cables. It is a cheap but very effective solution. The power cable is located at the opposite side than the rest of the ports.
As said, X85E is no stunner but for a mid-range TV I think it looks decent enough.
Like almost any other TV today, X85E has a glossy panel that reflects bright objects in your surroundings. We have seen much more effective anti-reflective filters on LCD TVs but of course we have to keep in mind that XE85 is a mid-range TV.User experience & features
As you may know, Google and Sony teamed up in 2015 to integrate the ’Android TV’ operating system into most of Sony’s TVs. This is the third iteration but unfortunately X85E uses last year’s SoC (System on Chip); a MediaTek MT5891, which is a little sluggish. The TV comes pre-installed with Android 6.0 (Marshmallow) but will receive an update to Android 7.0 later.
There is not much else of substance to add at this moment. X85E has the same software and hardware as the late 2016 and other 2017 Sony TVs that we have already examined in-depth so check out our reviews section if you want to learn more.
One thing that I do feel inclined to add is that Sony is one of the few manufacturers that actually manages to update software on previous TVs. It can take over a year for the latest Android version to arrive and Android TVs are at least 1 generation behind but that is still better than any competing manufacturer; all of them abandon only one year old “Smart TV”.
I should probably also add that the remote control has been slightly tweaked in 2017. It still feels incredibly cheap but at least it no longer creaks or pinches your skins in the joints. It has dedicated buttons for Google Play (the movie store) and Netflix. All things considered I can accept that a remote control like this comes bundled with mid-range TV but be aware that it is the same remote you have to endure when you buy one of the more expensive 2017 Sony TVs.
YouTube HDR did not work on our sample even though it was supposed to (the MediaTek chip should support ‘VP9 Profile 2’). I am not sure exactly why.
I you have not already heard, Sony will discontinue core functionality of the TV SideView mobile app, rendering it as good as useless. You can still use it to control basic TV functions but for that purpose you can also use Google’s official Android TV app. We took it for a spin and it has its moments but also some issues. One of the issues I found is that Google has yet to standardize text input in the Android TV user interface, meaning that an app such as Netflix uses its own text editor.
There seems to be some communication problem because whenever you try to input text in Netflix with the official Android TV app, it adds on top of new input all the letters you have already typed. So typing ‘ABC’ turns into ‘AABABC’. There are surely still bugs to be ironed out in Android TV. This one feels so basic that it should have been caught in version 0.1.
The built-in speakers are weak, bordering on shrill. Like most manufacturers, Sony has made an effort to make voices sound clear but besides that sound feels trapped and without bass. Depending on what you expect, this may be enough for casual TV watching but we would definitely recommend that you consider connecting a more powerful sound system.Calibration
It is standard procedure here at FlatpanelsHD to warn you about using the ‘Standard’ color mode on any TV. We also refer to this as ”out-of-box” settings and if you care just remotely about good picture quality and accurate colors you should avoid using the Standard mode on any Sony TV, including X85E. Just for completeness we did take a measurement (included below) but it was not pretty and ‘Vivid’ mode is so bad that it will make your eyes cry. Also notice, that the ‘Standard’ mode pushes everything into a much larger color gamut than the content was created in. We quickly moved on and used ‘Cinema Pro’ as a starting point.
As you can see in the tab table below, even the Cinema Pro mode is not spot-on but with some minor tweaks (2-point adjustment) we managed to improve color accuracy to under dE 2, which is a low enough error to not be discernible by the human eye. Ignore the jump at black in the calibration report since it was a blip in the measurements. If you want, you can use Sony’s 10-point controls to optimize even further but you need measuring equipment.
We have also included HDR measurements in the rightmost tab in the table below. The TV covers 92% of the DCI-P3 color gamut and 68% of the Rec.2020 color gamut, which a little more than Panasonic EX700 but not particularly impressive in perspective. The TV offers separate picture modes for SDR and HDR. We did not measure all of the HDR modes but based on our testing ‘Cinema Pro ’ is the most accurate.
Measurements | Out-of-box | Calibrated |
---|---|---|
Black level | 0.09 cd/m2 | 0.04 cd/m2 |
Black level (HDR) | >0.14 cd/m2 | >0.14 cd/m2 |
Brightness | 356 cd/m2 | 129 cd/m2 |
Peak brightness (HDR) | 404 cd/m2 | 404 cd/m2 |
Contrast | 3956:1 | 3225:1 |
Contrast (HDR) | 2886:1 | 2886:1 |
Input lag | 109 ms | 32 ms (Game Mode) |
DCI-P3 | 92% | - |
Rec.2020 | 68% | - |
Power consumption | Out-of-box | Calibrated |
---|---|---|
SDR | 101 W | 69 W |
HDR | 124 W | 124 W |
Standby | 0.3 W (20 W with quick start function) |
Time measurements | Time |
---|---|
Start-up (until responsive) | 4 s |
Start-up (until picture comes on) | 3 s |
Netflix app start-up | 3 s |
Youtube app start-up | 6 s |
Amazon app start-up | 13 s |
Google Play app start-up | 4 s |
Video file / source | Specs | Status |
---|---|---|
Amazon 4K HDR | 4K (3840x2160 pixels) – 10 bit colors - Rec.2020 color space – 4:2:0 subsampling – HEVC | Works |
Netflix 4K HDR | 4K (3840x2160 pixels) – 10 bit colors - Rec.2020 color space – 4:2:0 subsampling – HEVC | Works |
YouTube 4K HDR | 4K (3840x2160 pixels) – 10 bit colors - Rec.2020 color space – 4:2:0 subsampling – VP9 Profile2 | 4K works HDR fails |
Dubai 4K | 4K (3840x2160 pixels) – 23.976fps – 10 bit colors - BT.709 color space – 4:2:0 subsampling – 51.4 Mbps bitrate – HEVC - .ts file | Works |
Costa Rica 4K | 4K (3840x2160 pixels) – BT.709 color space – 4:2:0 subsampling – 12.71 Mbps bitrate – VP9 - .mkv file | Works |
Terrifying Pyroclast 4K | 4K (3840x2160 pixels) – BT.709 color space – 4:2:0 subsampling – variable bitrate – VP9 - .mkv file | Works |
Big Buck Bunny HD (.ts version) | HD (1920x1080 pixels) – 8 bit colors - YUV color space – 4:2:0 subsampling – 2.5 Mbps bitrate – 60fps - HEVC - .ts file | Fails |
Big Buck Bunny HD | HD (1920x1080 pixels) – 8 bit colors - YUV color space – 4:2:0 subsampling – 60fps - 2.2 Mbps bitrate – HEVC - .mkv file | Works |
LG Arctique 4K | 4K (3840x2160 pixels) – 8 bit colors – YUV color space – 4:2:0 subsampling – 50.0 Mbps bitrate – 29.970fps - AVC - .mp4 file | Works |
Eutelsat 4K demo | 4K (3840x2160 pixels) – 10 bit colors – YUV color space – 4:2:0 subsampling – 23.1 Mbps bitrate – 50fps - HEVC - .ts file | Works |
TravelXP HLG | 4K (3840x2160 pixels) – 50fps frame rate – 10 bit colors – BT.2020 color space – 4:2:0 subsampling – 20.7 Mbps bitrate – HEVC – HLG – .ts file | Fails (HLG SDR) |
Ghost Towns 8K | 8K (7680x4320 pixels) – variable frame rate – 8 bit colors - YUV color space – 4:2:0 subsampling – 20.7 Mbps bitrate – AVC - .mp4 file | Fails |
Group | Setting | Value |
---|---|---|
Profile | Cinema Pro | |
Brightness | Brightness | 8 |
Contrast | 90 | |
Gamma | -1 | |
Black level | 50 | |
Black adjust | Off | |
Adv contrast enhancer | Off | |
Colors | Color | 50 |
Hue | 0 | |
Color temperature | Expert 1 | |
Color space | Auto | |
Live Color | Off | |
Adv. color temp | Red gain | Max |
Green gain | -3 | |
Blue gain | -5 | |
Red bias | 4 | |
Green bias | -1 | |
Blue bias | -2 | |
Clarity | Sharpness | 50 |
Reality creation | Manual | |
Resolution | 20 | |
Mastered in 4K | On | |
Random noise reduction | Off | |
Digital noise reduction | Off | |
Smooth gradation | Off | |
Motion | MotionFlow | Off/Clear (Off for HDR) |
Film mode | Off | Video options | HDR mode | Auto |
HDMI video range | Auto | |
Color space | Auto |
Price and retailers:
Click for a more detailed explanation of the score system and our Awards.
SDR & 4K picture quality
Reduced input lag
Motion processing
Built-in Chromecast
Value-for-money
Poor HDR
Android TV still not great
Viewing angles
Speakers
Clouding