When comparing Sony X720E 55" (KD55X720E) vs TCL R617 65" (65R617), the Slant community recommends TCL R617 65" (65R617) for most people. In the question“What are the best TVs?” TCL R617 65" (65R617) is ranked 128th while Sony X720E 55" (KD55X720E) is ranked 169th. The most important reason people chose TCL R617 65" (65R617) is:
Regarding the overall picture quality, the TCL R617 performs on par with the noticeably pricier high-end TVs. In its price range, the TV offers exceptional performance no matter if it is placed in a dark or bright environment. It can reproduce a wide range of bright and vibrant colors as well as some truly inky blacks because of its wide color gamut, high color accuracy, excellent gamma tracking, high native contrast ratio, and stellar peak brightness. Colors pop and look realistic thanks to the low average color error dE of 2.33, which is noticeably below the color error margin that can be spotted by a human eye. Also, colors don't look flat due to the TV's near perfect gamma tracking. The colors look very bright thanks to the TV's high overall peak brightness that is measured at more than 700 nits. No other TV in this price range can get that bright. Dark scenes look profound thanks to the high native contrast ratio and excellent uniformity of its blacks. The TV's native contrast ratio is measured at around 6000:1, which is significantly above what its competitors offer.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Excellent viewing angles
The X720E has excellent viewing angles because of its IPS panel, which gives you greater freedom than VA panels when it comes to finding a good viewing spot. In fact, you will only notice a minor color shift if your viewing angle is greater than 41 degrees.
Pro No problems with image retention
Unlike the majority of OLED panels, this LED TV does not suffer from image retention problems. You can leave the TV on for long periods without having to worry about pixel damage.
Pro Well-rounded inputs
Regarding connectivity, this TV is has everything you'd currently want. It has three HDCP 2.2 compliant HDMI 2.0 ports, digital and analog audio output ports, and an Ethernet port. Additionally, as the TV has a composite input interface, you can enjoy playing your retro consoles, such as the Nintendo and Sega without having to go through the hassle of signal conversion. HDMI, USB, and analog coaxial ports are situated on the side of the TV so you won’t have any problem accessing them even if it’s mounted on a wall.
Pro Ads-free main interface
The main interface of the smart OS does not feature advertisements or sponsored content.
Pro Excellent for upscaling content
This TV does a fantastic job when it comes to upscaling low-resolution content. In a nutshell, it can upscale 480p, 720p, and 1080p content to 4K resolution while preserving details and sharp edges. Great for those with a collection of old DVDs or Blu-ray disks.
Pro Excellent for console gaming
The Sony X720E is a great companion to latest gen consoles, like the Xbox One X, PS4 Pro, and Wii U because of its 4K60 support, low input lag, and motion blur candling capabilities.
Furthermore, the TV’s full HDR support allows you to fully experience HDR-enhanced games such as World of Tanks, FIFA 18, etc.
Pro Great for bright rooms
The combination of reasonably high peak brightness and semi-gloss screen finish allows this TV to deal with reflections and glare efficiently. Its 340 nits of brightness are almost double than what its direct competitor, the TCL S405, offers. Furthermore, the X720E diffuses up to 97.6% of ambient light; thus the TV does not suffer from reflections.
Pro Great picture quality
Regarding the overall picture quality, the TCL R617 performs on par with the noticeably pricier high-end TVs. In its price range, the TV offers exceptional performance no matter if it is placed in a dark or bright environment.
It can reproduce a wide range of bright and vibrant colors as well as some truly inky blacks because of its wide color gamut, high color accuracy, excellent gamma tracking, high native contrast ratio, and stellar peak brightness.
Colors pop and look realistic thanks to the low average color error dE of 2.33, which is noticeably below the color error margin that can be spotted by a human eye. Also, colors don't look flat due to the TV's near perfect gamma tracking. The colors look very bright thanks to the TV's high overall peak brightness that is measured at more than 700 nits. No other TV in this price range can get that bright.
Dark scenes look profound thanks to the high native contrast ratio and excellent uniformity of its blacks. The TV's native contrast ratio is measured at around 6000:1, which is significantly above what its competitors offer.
Pro Good for console gaming
Thanks to its low input lag and 4K 4:4:4 support, 65R617 is a good option for console gaming.
Pro Works well in a bright room
With this TV you will not have problems associated with reflections and glare even in fairly bright environments thanks to the TV's amazing brightness and semi-gloss screen finish that helps it to diffuse reflections fairly well.
The TV's peak brightness measures at around 700 nits, which is far above what the other TVs in this price range offer.
Cons
Con Dark scenes look shallow
Because of the really low native contrast ratio of 907:1, dark scenes look washed out if the TV is placed in a dark environment.
Con Non-intuitive smart OS
Unlike other Sony TVs, the X720E has a custom, Linux based operating system which runs the Opera TV application store. OS is unintuitive and confusing to use.
Con Not suitable for competitive gaming
While the TV's input lag of 19.7 ms is noticeably smaller than the overwhelming majority of TVs on the market, it still can not compete with rapid TN gaming monitors when it comes to fast and competitive gaming. The input lag of such panels can go all the way down to 3 ms.
Con Built-in speakers don’t sound right
The X720E comes with an integrated 20W 2.0 stereo speaker system. While it can get pretty loud (around 100 dB), the quality of sound is very weak, especially when it comes to bass. The speakers sound unclear and muddy.
Con Not compatible with Dolby Vision
When it comes to HDR content, the X720E cannot display Dolby Vision-compliant content as it is only limited to HDR10 content. Even though HDR10 has more available content, multiple services require Dolby Vision for HDR playback.
Con Can’t unleash full potential of HDR content
Even though this TV does support HDR10 media, the low HDR peak brightness, poor native contrast, lack of local dimming, and lack of wide color gamut severely limit the quality of HDR playback. Even some lower tier TVs will produce higher quality HDR images.
Con Poor viewing angles
To enjoy the exceptional picture quality of this TV, you need to sit right in front of it as the overall picture quality of the R617 decreases drastically when viewed from an angle. Black levels start to degrade once the vertical viewing angle gets higher than 11 degrees.
Though, this is a widespread issue for the VA TVs.
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