This Sony Bravia is my pick for the best TV for the money in 2024 (2024)

ZDNET's key takeaways

• What the Sony Bravia X90L lacks in eye-popping specs, it more than makes up for in real-world picture performance and Sony upscaling technology to deliver great video for movies, sports, cable, and streaming video.
• In terms of the features you'll love in daily use, the X90L has an excellent remote that feels premium, is just the right size, includes backlighting, and has a good balance of just the right number of buttons.
• The closest rivals to the Bravia X90L are the TCL QM8 and the Hisense U8 Series, both of which cost a little less than the Sony and have impressive specs.

The Sony Bravia X90L is one of our picks for the best Sony TVs you can buy, and for good reason. Its color accuracy, precision brightness, 120Hz smooth motion, and 4K image processing make it one of our most recommended TVs you can buy. I also consider it one of the most underrated TVs available. And with the 2024 TVs now hitting the market, you can save on just about every size of this excellent 2023 model, from $200 off the 65-inch to $3,000 off the 98-inch.

Sony Bravia X90L LED 4K TV

View now at Amazon

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I've seen all of the best 2024 TVs from Sony, Samsung LG, TCL, and Hisense atCES 2024and at several events since then. And when I recently had to replace a 7-year-old 55-inch TCL TV that died, I replaced it with a 65-inch Sony X90L because I think it has the best picture for the money right now, and it comes with a couple extra advantages as well.

While the Sony Bravia XR X90L doesn't blow you away on the spec sheet -- it's an LED TV with a full-array backlight -- the real-world performance and usability make it one of the best buys on the market, based on ZDNET's testing. This Sony TV is technically in the same category as its very popular 2023 rivals, theTCL QM8 and Hisense U8K. However, while those are Mini LED TVs and look like they should be better TVs on paper, the Sony X90L has better color accuracy, plenty of brightness, and a nicer remote than either the TCL or Hisense TVs (although the 2024 models are starting to emulate the Sony remote). All three of these TVs are around $1,000 -- $900 to $1,300 street price -- for a 65-inch, and the Sony is the best of the three.

Also:The best TVs of 2024: Expert tested

Since Sony has had a long partnership with Google, the X90L also has an excellent implementation of Google TV, which makes the X90L's software interface much friendlier to use than Samsung's Tizen and LG's webOS, which can both be overly complicated and frustrating to navigate.

With the X90L, you also get Sony's excellent picture processing to upscale content to 4K, which is especially helpful if you're watching older content or YouTube videos and it's stronger than anything offered by Hisense and TCL. And if you're looking for a TV to watch movies, the X90L nearly rivals expensive OLED and high-end QLED TVs that cost almost twice as much. If you're upgrading from a TV that is at least 4-5 years old, you will be blown away by the picture quality of X90L -- and it will require a lot less tuning out-of-the box than other TVs.

Of all the five major TV brands, Sony has the most advanced picture processing and that means that it doesn't over-saturate and over-brighten the image the way Samsung, LG, TCL, and Hisense models sometimes do. Again, that means Sony TVs often have a better picture than higher-spec'd rivals from the budget TV makers (Hisense and TCL) and can often compete with more expensive models from the premium vendors (Samsung and LG).

Also: One of Samsung's best OLED TVs ever is still near an all-time low price after Prime Day

For gamers, this TV has a dedicated game mode, HDMI 2.1, VRR, and it has Auto HDR Tone Mapping when connected to the Sony PS5. It also has a game menu so you can fine tune the settings to your preferences.

The Sony X90L isn't as bright as its Mini LED rivals from TCL and Hisense -- or even its 2024 successor, the Sony Bravia 7 -- but it still takes advantage of Sony's advanced backlight system to brighten specific parts of the image and it does an excellent job of revealing the details in the shadows of dark movies and shows. I'm using the X90L in a bright room and have never had an instance where I wished the picture were brighter.

Of course, Sony's products often carry a 10% to 20% price premium because of the Sony brand name, so it's important look for sales and deals like the ones we've highlighted from Amazon, Best Buy, and others.

If you have a little more to spend, I'd recommend considering an upgrade to an OLED because the Sony A80L, the Samsung S90C and the LG C3 are all 2023 OLEDs you can pick up on sale for around $1,600 for a 65-inch model.