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Customer Review
Reviewed in the United States on December 19, 2023
After 12 years of faithful service, the decision was made to retire our Sony KDL-46HX850( 46-inch 1080p/240Hz) TV.
Being one of the early "Smart" TV's on the market, it's limitations over the years became greater and greater, despite providing one of the best quality picture experiences ever, this includes, but is not limited to;
Apps - It came with only a handful of Apps installed, like YouTube, Internet Browsing, and Netflix. Sadly this particular TV does not allow you to download or add additional ones. Nor have said Apps updated for at least 5 years. Netflix opens and works once in a while, usually requiring multiple restarts to load.
Soundbar Issues - In late 2020 we added a 7.1 Nakamichi soundbar to our setup, after our previous Vizio 5.1 system we bought shortly after the TV died. However changing channels too quickly caused the station to lose sound, requiring a complete restart of the TV and Soundbar to allow sound to flow from the TV HDMI output.
Tried using Roku, but again, it never worked properly on this particular TV. It was tested however in two different Samsung models; the 2014 UN65H7150 65-Inch 1080p 240Hz, and a 2019 QN82Q90RAFXZA 82-inch 4K 120Hz and it worked fine on those two TVs.
So lets' get into the actual review for this model listed in the headline....
PROS:
First Impressions: Lightweight; weighs less than my 46-inch, although it doesn't have the gorilla glass my old one had. Thinner by about 3-5mm overall.
Remote; approx half the size of my 2019 Samsung model with dramatic improvements - C type rechargeable port versus requiring regular batteries, and even has a photo-electric eye to allow sunlight recharging system on the back of the remote. Disney+ and Amazon Prime single app buttons added.
Picture Quality; outstanding for obvious reasons; 1080p vs 4K; meaning twice as many lines of resolution. HDR which means greater color space, allowing for a wider range of colors to be displayed. Despite being only half of the frequency response of my previous set (120Hz vs 240Hz), I wanted to be sure this would not be a "noticeable" issue, so I tested this thoroughly out using movies from my personal collection that had heavy/intense action sequences, no ghosting or pixelation was detected.
Sound Quality; Have never used just the standard included back-facing speakers, so I cannot comment, always have used Soundbars.
Set-Up; Again this is such a breeze now compared to just a few short years ago, logging into Apps with QR codes on your phones versus typing everything out. From the time I had the unit on the wall and first powered up, until all software updates and Apps were added and logged into was less than 30 minutes. Added 6 different Apps that are used on daily basis in our household.
This is now the 2nd Samsung Q90 model I've purchased in the last 4 years, and I believe they are worth every single penny. But to be fair.....I must point out the negatives.
CONS:
Viewing Distance - to gain the full 4K experience at my current TV size (50") I need to be no further than 6ft away, which means I need to be sitting towards the middle/end of my bed. Whereas with my old unit, thew viewing distance was nearly double, meaning I could be lying down normally and not notice a drop in picture quality.
4K vs 1080p; when watching standard definition programming (480p), my old 1080p TV wins hands down, the additional upscaling done by 4K TV's makes to my eyes, the picture less enjoyable. It's just something I've gotten used to over the years. It stuck out heavily when I bought my first 4K, watching cable channels broadcasting in 480p resolution. Since most shows/movies cable and streaming services are at least HD quality, it still upscales, where again watching on a 1080p gave a better experience in my opinion.
Sound; Let's be honest, all HDTV's have terrible or barely passing audio, since they are backward facing. You are better off buying an inexpensive forward facing soundbar versus using the included speakers only. If you can afford it (and have the space), buying a 5.1 or 7.1 soundbar system is the way to go.
All three of my household TV's are Samsung models, although I have had quite a few Sony models in the past, reviews between brands when I am shopping for a replacement have been pushing me steadily towards Samsung.
Two terrible experiences have permanently soured me ever buying LG ever again.
Being one of the early "Smart" TV's on the market, it's limitations over the years became greater and greater, despite providing one of the best quality picture experiences ever, this includes, but is not limited to;
Apps - It came with only a handful of Apps installed, like YouTube, Internet Browsing, and Netflix. Sadly this particular TV does not allow you to download or add additional ones. Nor have said Apps updated for at least 5 years. Netflix opens and works once in a while, usually requiring multiple restarts to load.
Soundbar Issues - In late 2020 we added a 7.1 Nakamichi soundbar to our setup, after our previous Vizio 5.1 system we bought shortly after the TV died. However changing channels too quickly caused the station to lose sound, requiring a complete restart of the TV and Soundbar to allow sound to flow from the TV HDMI output.
Tried using Roku, but again, it never worked properly on this particular TV. It was tested however in two different Samsung models; the 2014 UN65H7150 65-Inch 1080p 240Hz, and a 2019 QN82Q90RAFXZA 82-inch 4K 120Hz and it worked fine on those two TVs.
So lets' get into the actual review for this model listed in the headline....
PROS:
First Impressions: Lightweight; weighs less than my 46-inch, although it doesn't have the gorilla glass my old one had. Thinner by about 3-5mm overall.
Remote; approx half the size of my 2019 Samsung model with dramatic improvements - C type rechargeable port versus requiring regular batteries, and even has a photo-electric eye to allow sunlight recharging system on the back of the remote. Disney+ and Amazon Prime single app buttons added.
Picture Quality; outstanding for obvious reasons; 1080p vs 4K; meaning twice as many lines of resolution. HDR which means greater color space, allowing for a wider range of colors to be displayed. Despite being only half of the frequency response of my previous set (120Hz vs 240Hz), I wanted to be sure this would not be a "noticeable" issue, so I tested this thoroughly out using movies from my personal collection that had heavy/intense action sequences, no ghosting or pixelation was detected.
Sound Quality; Have never used just the standard included back-facing speakers, so I cannot comment, always have used Soundbars.
Set-Up; Again this is such a breeze now compared to just a few short years ago, logging into Apps with QR codes on your phones versus typing everything out. From the time I had the unit on the wall and first powered up, until all software updates and Apps were added and logged into was less than 30 minutes. Added 6 different Apps that are used on daily basis in our household.
This is now the 2nd Samsung Q90 model I've purchased in the last 4 years, and I believe they are worth every single penny. But to be fair.....I must point out the negatives.
CONS:
Viewing Distance - to gain the full 4K experience at my current TV size (50") I need to be no further than 6ft away, which means I need to be sitting towards the middle/end of my bed. Whereas with my old unit, thew viewing distance was nearly double, meaning I could be lying down normally and not notice a drop in picture quality.
4K vs 1080p; when watching standard definition programming (480p), my old 1080p TV wins hands down, the additional upscaling done by 4K TV's makes to my eyes, the picture less enjoyable. It's just something I've gotten used to over the years. It stuck out heavily when I bought my first 4K, watching cable channels broadcasting in 480p resolution. Since most shows/movies cable and streaming services are at least HD quality, it still upscales, where again watching on a 1080p gave a better experience in my opinion.
Sound; Let's be honest, all HDTV's have terrible or barely passing audio, since they are backward facing. You are better off buying an inexpensive forward facing soundbar versus using the included speakers only. If you can afford it (and have the space), buying a 5.1 or 7.1 soundbar system is the way to go.
All three of my household TV's are Samsung models, although I have had quite a few Sony models in the past, reviews between brands when I am shopping for a replacement have been pushing me steadily towards Samsung.
Two terrible experiences have permanently soured me ever buying LG ever again.
