Critics agreed that the Sony X81CH has excellent native contrast ratios, virtually no motion blur, which makes it an adept LED Android TV for those who enjoy watching action movies. It also has a tuner for an HDTV antenna, and a healthy amount of ports so you can plug in whatever you need. It’s held back by a poor color gamut, thick borders, an unimpressive remote, clunky interface (but it’s getting better), and very poor bass. Another good option that has excellent color accuracy is the Sony X90J.
Picture Quality
4K
- Reviewers were impressed that the Sony X81CH possesses crisp, native 4K resolution support that shouldn’t cause any issues. They also liked that the Android TV did well at upscaling lower-resolution image content.
Color
- The Sony X81CH doesn’t have a wide color gamut, according to analysts, and can only make use of about 74% of the DCI P3 color space. Color loss also occurs at a mere 20 degrees as well, making the TV not suitable for wide-seating.
Black
- While experts agreed that the black uniformity on the Sony X81CH isn’t the best, there’s still some slight clouding around the corners, but they felt that it shouldn’t be too distracting.
Brightness
- The Sony X81CH doesn’t have very good peak brightness, according to top reviewers. Rtings measured it and found the brightest pictures can be about 265 nits. Brightness loss also occurs when viewing at 30 degrees off center, which doesn’t make the device good for groups of people trying to watch something.
Contrast
- Top experts loved that the Sony X81CH follows in the tradition of most other Sony TVs, such as the Sony X80J, delivering excellent native contrast. Reviewers measured the native contrast specifications at 5,125:1.
Dimming
- The Sony X81CH doesn’t have any local dimming features, so reviewers could not comment on dimming.
Gaming
- Most analysts weren’t impressed with the Sony X81CH’s gaming features because it doesn’t have too many of them. However, if you are willing to game at 1080P, you’ll be treated to a 120Hz refresh rate.
HDR
- The Sony X81CH has average HDR performance, according to most top reviewers. They mentioned that the picture quality is good enough, but the color gamut and brightness levels are low.
Motion
- Critics enjoyed that the motion blur on the Sony X81CH is virtually non-existent (thanks to motionflow mode). This is largely thanks to the TV being flicker-free, so you won’t notice any lines behind fast moving scenes.
Refresh
- The Sony X81CH boasts a 120Hz refresh rate in 1080P, according to experts. This helps to reduce screen-tearing significantly.
- Unfortunately, it decreases to 60Hz in 4K, especially with gaming.
Response
- Top critics measured the response time on the Sony X81CH to be about 12.1 milliseconds. It’s pretty average, but only dedicated gamers would find a response time like this to be a nuisance. Still, you won’t notice any trailing behind any fast-moving objects.
Viewing Angle
- The Sony X81CH has terrible viewing angles, according to top analysts. Color shift occurs at a mere 20 degrees, and you begin to lose the already dim brightness at 30 degrees.
Burn In
- No reviewers had anything to say about the potential burn-in risk of the Sony X81CH. But if you get the 65 inch screen size version, which comes with an IPS panel, there shouldn’t be any risk of burn-in.
Design
Stand
- The Sony X81CH doesn’t have a groundbreaking stand, according to critics, but they did measure it at 25″ x 9.5″ which is average. They reported no issues when using it, so it holds the TV reliably.
Back
- Analysts had nothing to say regarding the back of the Sony X81CH. It is a basic and average design.
Borders
- The Sony X81CH’s bezel borders measure 0.67”, which top reviewers agree is on the thicker side of TV borders. Though it should not distract you when viewing content.
Thickness
- Top critics concurred that the Sony X81CH is much thicker in comparison to most other TVs, measured at an astounding 3”. So it might stand out when wall mounted.
Features
Tuner
- The Sony X81CH does feature a tuner for an HDTV antenna, but reviewers didn’t have anything to say about it as this is being phased out on newer TVs.
Input
- Reviewers were happy that the Sony X81CH has a dearth of useful ports, such as 4 HDMI ports, 3 USB ports, the aforementioned tuner, and an ethernet port. By today’s standard, it’s more than enough as most TV’s only come with 2 USB ports.
Remote
- The Sony X81CH possesses a very basic but functional remote, which top product experts were unimpressed with. They felt it should be fancier like those from LG or Samsung.
Smart TV
Apps
- Top critics had nothing to say regarding the app selection on the Sony X81CH, other than that it’s there. It seems very average.
Streaming
- The Sony X81CH does have streaming services like Netflix and Youtube, but commentators had nothing to say regarding them. There are some reports of dark scenes that come across much too dark when streaming. Overall, they seem to agree that while the picture quality is good, online streaming quality could have been better.
Menu
- Reviewers agreed that the interface on the Sony X81CH is a little rough, despite having an Android OS, but improvements are being rolled out quite fast. You can check out the Sony X90J if you’d like something with a more user-friendly interface.
Sound Quality
Audio
- The Sony X81CH is a TV that can get loud, according to analysts. They liked that.
- However, it gets noticeably more distorted as you approach the speaker’s maximum volume.
Bass
- Despite the Sony X81CH’s loudness, it doesn’t produce a lot of bass, top experts were quick to point out
Soundstage
- The Sony X81CH is able to produce good distortion at lower volumes, according to reviewers, but does have some pretty poor frequency response. Again, at higher volumes, according to experts.
