Sony XBR – 75X850F: At First Glance
In 2017, Sony’s TV division hit a fine run of form. So much that they were clearly dominating the middle-tier television sets.
More specifically, it was their XBR-X900E series that took the market by storm in 2017 thanks to their premium design, solid performance, and affordable price. The moment Sony added the X1 Extreme processor into the equation in 2018, the XBR series started looking unstoppable.
In a bid to cater to the audience in need of more affordable options, Sony dug back into their workshop in 2018 to refine the X850 series. The approach is pretty simple: offer the Sony TV experience in a more affordable style.
Even though Sony successfully delivered the Sony experience with this TV line, many claims that the good job was undone by the TVs display panel. Let’s find out for ourselves if this rumor is true.
Sony XBR – 75X850F: Design, Dimension & Weight
The design of the Sony XBR is quite simple and straightforward. Its smooth black screen has an elegant sheen that gives it a glistening appearance.
For the most part, the XBR – 75X850F shares similar aesthetics with its predecessors. Its thin metallic bezels have the same sharp-angled corners that its predecessors had on them.
While the top and side bezels are brushed in matte black paint, the bottom bezel has a chrome-like accent that gives the TV a bit of extra styling. This bottom bezel houses the Sony logo and a LED indicator brings another touch of style.
One other design feature that adds a simple but effective styling is the TV’s lack of visible cabling. Sony built cabling channels into the XBR – 75X850F’s feet to make this possible.
Consequently, this design makes the TV appear quite tidy.
The downside to this design is that the TV’s two feet had to be positioned widely apart. You will need a piece of wide furniture to accommodate the TV’s wide-set legs.
Focusing on the stands, they seem a bit different from what Sony usually offers. It feels similar to the one on the Samsung MU6100.
Like the MU6100’s stand, the XBR – 75X850F’s stand is built with plastic coated with an aluminum finish. Since it is made out of plastic, this stand is not solid.
It tends to wobble a bit if it is knocked or pushed. Likewise, when you touch the body XBR – 75X850F, you’ll notice that it feels more like plastic compared to other Sony high-end brands.
Fortunately, you won’t notice this plastic finishing from a distance thanks to the TV’s elegant build.
As a result, the XBR – 75X850F scores an eight in this design review.
Sony XBR – 75X850F: Display Features
When it comes to TV reviews, this is the aspect where we expect a TV to exhibit its innate potentials. In the case of the XBR – 75X850F, we can’t really say it had much potential to display.
It appears that the news about this TV may be true. The major issue with this TV is Sony’s decision to make use of an IPS type of LCD panel.
This IPS panel issue has always been an underlying issue, but it has come to be a full-blown problem in this TV. In my opinion, I think Sony has to increase the brightness of its TVs to keep up with highly demanding dynamic range sources.
Although the XBR – 75X850F delivers over 500 nits of peak brightness, the dynamic range sources are too taxing for the IPS to function efficiently. The moment you begin to view any scene that’s anything remotely close to black, the screen content starts washing out.
If there are hints of brightness in the black content, the screen reproduces the content in plain gray color.
This wouldn’t have been so disappointing if the XBR – 75X850F doesn’t support HDR signals. Since it features HDR10 and hybrid log gamma (HLG) effects, I expected the TV to cope better with high dynamic ranges.
On the positives, this TV also comes with a firmware update that ought to enable it to support Dolby Vision content streamed through online services. To be sincere, the XBR – 75X850F mostly does a good job.
Its X1 Extreme processor and Triluminos color management feature work together to help provide incredible light precision and noise management. This combination allows a precise impact on exact 4K images.
Generally, content consumption on the XBR – 75X850F is enjoyable. It almost perfectly reproduces bright and colorful content.
Bright colors are reproduced with full richness and details. With this TV, you can pick fine details like strands of furs and the creaks on the bark of a tree thanks to its balanced and natural color representation.
Unfortunately, the TV’s 500 nits of peak brightness don’t allow bright contents to attain the similar punch you would get on more expensive LCD and OLED TVs.
Above all, the biggest positive with the XBR – 75X850F, is that the extra brightness its HDR feature delivers helps it to offer crisp and detailed native 4K pictures. Thanks to Sony’s incredible motion processing, the clarity of these native 4K images remain intact even when you’re viewing fast-motion graphics.
Another thing worth mentioning is the XBR – 75X850F’s ability to produce images just 30ms after receiving input data. This makes it a functional television that can be used for gaming.
This isn’t to say that the XBR – 75X850F is an excellent video game TV. It does generate good visual quality, but its slow input speed is a factor that still keeps it from receiving a high score.
Its inability to efficiently handle dark HDR scenes is also a minus. Therefore, the XBR – 75X850F scores a seven in this display features review.
Sony XBR – 75X850F: Sound Features
Though the XBR – 75X850F’s picture quality may not be a 10/10 feature, its sound feature is really good. The XBR – 75X850F can get very loud without losing the richness of the sound being produced.
Its sound release process is even more impressive. To give more detail, the XBR – 75X850F lets sound off its slender body with an immersive effect that makes it seem as though the sound it produces doesn’t come directly off its speakers.
Thanks to its Bass Reflex speaker, you can pick out sound pitches perfectly. In a mix of different voices and sound intensity, you can feel the cohesion in the sound while still being able to differentiate the sound densities.
Furthermore, the XBR – 75X850F has the capacity to smoothly deliver extreme sound transitions from low bits to high octane volume and vice versa. Overall, the XBR – 75X850F’s sound feature is excellent for a lower mid-level 4K TV like itself.
Hence, the XBR – 75X850F scores an eight in this sound features review section.
Sony XBR – 75X850F: Ports & Connectivity Features
Unlike most TVs, the majority of the ports on the XBR – 75X850F aren’t vividly exposed on its back. Except for the power connector, the ports on the back of this TV are neatly secluded.
To be more specific, the power cable attaches itself to the rear-facing port on the right side behind the screen. Meanwhile, the rest of the I/O ports are housed in two rectangular cubicles on the left.
In one of the left cubicles, there is an HDMI port, two USB ports, and four 3.5mm connectors for headphones/audio out. There’s also a composite/component video input and an infrared remote control with included IR blaster.
The other ports on the other cubicle include three extra HDMI ports, an optical audio output, and one USB 3,0 port.
Furthermore, Sony offers an excellent remote for connectivity. This remote is a buttoned block wand with a rectangular design.
It has a circular direction pad with menu buttons flanking its circumference. Above this circular direction pad, there’s a number pad with playback controls, volume, and channel rockers.
There’s also a Google Assistant button located towards the top of the remote. This button activates the built-in microphone that allows you to use the voice assistant on the television.
In addition, there are two dedicated service buttons between the number pads and menu buttons. These buttons enable quick access to Google Play Movies & TV and Netflix.
Overall, the ports selection and connectivity on the XBR – 75X850F is quite fair for a TV of its price range. Hence, it scores a seven in this section.
Sony XBR – 75X850F: Smart Features
Sony’s devoted love for Google’s Android TV platform still keeps them behind the pecking order in the “Smart” department. Even though the Android TV is excellent, many rival TVs have now adopted more modern TV platforms to deliver smart apps.
The Roku TV and Fire TV are some of these platforms. I’m not saying that the Android TV is incompetent, but they just have a bit more cons compared to pros.
Nonetheless, the Android TV offers a strong set of features and incredible flexibility. There are lots of useful apps on this platform.
You have easy access to all of the big brands, including Amazon Video, Netflix, YouTube, Google Play Music & TV, and many more. In addition, you can also utilize Google Assistant for voice prompts.
There’s a dedicated button on the remote with which you can access this feature. Essentially, the Google Assistant helps you to find media, check the weather forecast, switch between apps, and even operate compatible smart home devices.
Though all of these features are impressive, the effects they have on the TV are not so good. The Android TV seems to put a burden on the TV’s available processing capacity.
As a result, the TV’s processing speed tends to slow down a lot. Even its setup menu also becomes very slow to access.
In addition, you can’t modify the TV’s home screen as smoothly as you would be able to on other smart TV interfaces. Moreover, the Android TV system software updates are too frequent and, in some cases, extremely large downloads.
Normally, the Android TV platform is usually too large and slow. On the Sony XBR – 75X850F the sluggish effect is even more obvious.
As a result, the Sony XBR – 75X850F scores a six in this section of the review.
Frequently Asked Questions
Although there is evidence that it originally meant “Project X, Black Remote,” which was designed to distinguish it from the then-standard range of Sony televisions, Sony claims that XBR stands for “eXtended Bit Rate.”
For the price, the Sony XBR – 75X850F is a good TV. Asides from its inability to keep up with high dynamic range and its issues with black content, this TV is an excellent device.
It offers good image quality, accurate color presentation (any color other than black), and solid video processing. Moreover, its modern, simple styling is a level above most budget models.
According to Sony, all you need to update your TV is to follow a few simple steps. Click on the link below to view the steps to update your TV.
How to perform a software update on your TV.
Sony and LG both produce OLED and LED televisions. Since LG’s OLEDs have more gaming capabilities and are often less expensive, they are the most popular brand.
Sony’s LED versions, on the other hand, are slightly superior to LG’s since they get brighter, have higher uniformity, and typically have better contrast.
Yes, it does. The Sony XBR – 75X850F can display 3840 x 2160 resolution at 120Hz without blur since 120Hz is its native refresh rate.
Conclusion
The 75-inch Sony XBR – 75X850F TV is a lovely, vivid, and bright mid-priced 4K HDR TV. It does a fantastic job of highlighting the improvements Sony has made over its previous generation.
To be precise, this TV has enhanced processing power, better brightness, and excellent motion performance. However, its dark color production betrays the already good job Sony has done.
Hence, a low-contrast IPS panel is the price you will have to pay if you want to enjoy Sony’s excellent video processing. If you can overlook this factor, then you are free to go ahead and purchase this TV.
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