Sony X93L: A great all-round TV

The Sony X93L series has replaced the 2022 flagship X95K series. But this is not a simple repetition in order to expand the model range, as it might seem at first glance. With good motion handling, great tone handling and natural colors, this is definitely a top-of-the-line Sony-branded TV.

What additions did the X93L get in 2023? Firstly, the Eco Panel, which provides optimal settings that save energy consumption. This centralized hub can be disabled from the home screen. Secondly, a new game menu that displays and controls various game parameters, including VRR. In the Sony XR-65X93L 4K HDR Mini LED review, we will describe in detail the features and parameters of the novelty.

Sony X93L review

Design

The Sony XR-65X93L TV continues to use a similar design to the X95K . This is a metal stand with two legs that snap into the bottom brackets of the case and are located at the very edges of the TV. There are still three positions: the standard position (very similar to the Master Series A90J ), a narrow position with less leg spacing from the center, and a third position called “soundbar” that raises the screen a few centimeters higher.

The metal frame of the case matches the color of the legs. The front panel of the Sony 65X93L TV is surrounded by elegant metal frames, thin on three sides and wide at the bottom, containing the Sony logo. Everything is assembled very high quality and looks elegant. In this model, we have microphones built into both the TV itself and the remote control (for use with Google Assistant).

All ports face either down or to the side and are covered with removable pads that have the same cellular texture as the case. Sony failed to make the X93L as thin as the Samsung QN95C with the same Mini LED backlight. Although it should be rightly noted that the ports of the Korean model are hidden in the One Connect module, unlike the X93L ports built into the case. The remote control is distinguished by the presence of two additional buttons for video services and the reassignment of the numeric keypad call button to the menu call button.

Image quality

The Sony X93L TV is equipped with a VA panel and a special X-Wide Angle and X-Anti Reflection film. These things clearly affect contrast, and the panel delivers an ANSI 1500:1 contrast ratio, which is surprisingly low for a VA panel. To improve this, of course, there is Full Array backlighting with local dimming. With 36 × 12 (432) backlight control zones, the TV still falls short of the ZD9 , which had 640 zones. The QN95C also has many more (720 zones).

So the question arises, is this enough, given the relatively weak native contrast ratio? With local dimming turned on, the ANSI contrast ratio rises to 4030:1, and even exceeds 20000:1 in other test patterns. So it has potential. In any case, the screen has very good uniformity, only on sharp images the edge of the screen is a little darker. But it’s only a few centimeters, so you have to look closely to see.

In any case, the X93L shows all the bright light details very well. But it also quickly becomes clear that a lot depends on what you’re watching. In very dark scenes with little highlights, you can often see a harsh halo, and the starry sky looks suspiciously dark gray instead of black. Of course, HDR images really suffer from this.

But pure dark images show a lot of black detail, and once the image gets brighter, you get more than decent contrast. The dimming really works well. If you need deeper blacks in dark scenes, you can set Contrast Optimization to Low without any negative effects.

The best calibrated picture mode is Custom. In this case, there is a bit too much blue on the tonal scale, but the error is very small. Color reproduction is accurate, including for skin tones. Those who watch in frequently changing lighting conditions can leave the ambient light sensor on and set the Peak Brightness setting to a higher value. The Sony X93L TV not only adjusts the maximum brightness, but also controls the tone curve (gamma value) and color temperature depending on the ambient light.

HDR

The X93L series generates a lot of light in SDR, and HDR results are good as expected. The 10% window shows a maximum of 1435 nits, the full white box goes up to 685 nits. These are good values, but lower than those of the TCL C845 . The color range is very good, Sony achieves 93% P3 and 68% Rec.2020. Therefore, the potential is more than enough for an impressive image. HDR10, HLG and Dolby Vision standards are supported.

While Sony’s processor ignores HDR10 metadata, it relies on its own image analysis. For all HDR images below 4000 nits, the result is very good. Deep colors delight with many light nuances. And just like in SDR, the TV manages to show a lot of black detail. The only downside is local dimming, which still causes very sharp ghosting in some images. That is, as shown in the images above, especially if you have large contrasting surfaces.

Games, reflections and viewing angles

X-Wide Angle film does provide a better viewing angle, but the image still loses some depth if you sit too far to the side. Anti-Reflection film softens the incident light well, but creates a colored blurry reflection. Hard light falling on the screen, for example, from a spotlight, is extinguished very well.

Sony offers quite a few features for gamers, but still not as extensive as the market leaders. Unfortunately, those who want to use eARC/ARC have to sacrifice one of the HDMI 2.1 connections. And while you have support for VRR and 4K120, you can’t combine that with Dolby Vision, so Xbox Series X players won’t be thrilled. Output latency is 19.6ms (4K60) and 11.0ms (2K120).

Smart TV

The Sony X93L model uses a MediaTek MT5895 chipset, an ARM Cortex-A73 quad-core processor, 3GB of RAM, and a Mali-G52 GPU. This chipset is a few years old but provides a good user experience on Google TV ( Android 13 ). Everything runs smoothly, the TV is responsive and apps launch quickly too.

The TV can be used for normal purposes. Then you get a home screen with pre-installed applications, but only for use with live TV and HDMI inputs. Once you need to update an app, you will almost certainly have to sign in to access the Google Play Store. With the latest updates, Google TV has also become a lot more fun.

It provides genre recommendations for a small number of services (Video, Apple TV and Disney+). But over what is displayed on the home page, control is still limited. You can only customize the application list. This is not to say that much has changed in the Sony menu. At the touch of a button, a ribbon with all sorts of shortcuts is displayed at the bottom of the screen. It can be customized too.

The inputs button not only shows all the inputs, but also the applications, and is therefore a very quick way to switch to another application. The X93L received the same slightly revised remote as the X95L . Added 2 buttons for selected video services. The keystroke is light and pleasant, and the finish is excellent. The brushed metal surface is easy to clean, and the keys light up as soon as you take the remote off the table.

Sound

The Sony Bravia X93L 65 TV received a 6 × 10 W surround sound configuration and support for Dolby Atmos. The TV takes room acoustics into account with a short test procedure. Acoustic Multi-Audio, similar to Acoustic Surface on OLED models, uses two tweeters at the top of the screen to position dialogue in the center of the picture.

The result is good, the volume is more than enough, the sound is pleasant, balanced. You can even hear a good portion of the bass. When playing music, it becomes clear that you should not greatly increase the volume, otherwise some distortion will be heard. Movie clips and Dolby Atmos demo tracks sound good, with a nice surround sound effect. Most viewers will be satisfied with the sound picture.

Connections

The Sony XR-65X93L TV is equipped with two HDMI 2.1 connectors (one with eARC support ) providing a full bandwidth of 48 Gbps. In addition, there are two HDMI 2.0 connectors. There are also two USB connectors, a composite video and stereo input (mini-jack) and an optical digital output. Headphones must use Bluetooth. To connect to the Internet there is a LAN port and WiFi. There are clips for cable management.

X93L Price
At the moment (July 2023), the price of the Sony Bravia XR-65X93L TV is $ 2,000 in the Sony online store. You can buy a Sony Bravia XR-75X93L TV for $2,800, while the Sony Bravia XR-85X93L will cost $4,500.

X93L review summary

The fact that a model of this caliber has to make do with two HDMI 2.1 connections and you’re forced to choose between Dolby Vision and 4K120 is a tiny disappointment. But. The XR Cognitive Processor provides very good image processing with accurate color reproduction. Together with the improved viewing angle and anti-reflective film, the X93L could be positioned as a TV for general family use in a dimly lit living room, rather than a TV for hardcore filmgoers. Google TV gives you access to a huge amount of live streaming, including the Sony Bravia Core. Only here the price seems to us too high.

Sony X93L specifications: