Sony's budget-friendly Bravia X80K 4K HDR TV disappoints in a comprehensive review

Just like its two main competitors, the Japanese tech behemoth Sony is in the midst of launching its latest and supposedly greatest 2022 TV lineup. Even though the company's Bravia-branded television sets often carry a higher price tag than competing products from Samsung and LG, Sony also offers a quite affordable 4K HDR TV in the form of the Sony X80K, which has now been put through its paces by the TV experts at Rtings.com.

Unfortunately, the 2022 Sony Bravia X80K only managed to score a rather mediocre 6.8 out of 10 possible points in the very thorough data-based review. In comparison to its immediate predecessor, the X80J, the IPS panel of the Sony Bravia X80K has an even lower native contrast ratio of just 869 to 1, which is certainly low by today's standards. The peak brightness of the budget model also decreased as the X80K struggles to hit 400 nits in HDR mode, while the equally-priced X800H from the 2020 model year provided a more adequate HDR experience by hitting up to 538 nits in certain scenes.

To its defense, Rtings also found that the Sony Bravia X80K still features great viewing angles that make the affordable TV perfect for wide seating arrangements. But overall, technically inclined buyers should be aware of the fact that Sony's cheapest television set in this year's Bravia lineup is a step in the wrong direction as it performs a bit worse than than the company's most affordable TV models from the last couple of years. The Sony X80K may be the best fit for modest watchers of sports and TV shows, but for watchers of mixed content, Rtings concludes that the X80K is just "okay overall".

Buy the Sony 43-inch 4K Ultra HD TV X80K smart LED-TV with Dolby Vision HDR from US$598 on Amazon