How to read a Sony TV model number
A Sony code like XR-65A95K or KDL-43WF663 tells you the screen size, the year the set came out, and roughly where it sat in Sony's range. It also points to the answer most Sony owners are really looking for: whether the TV can install new apps, or whether it is stuck with the apps it came with. Sony publishes no key to its own numbers, so everything on this page was read off Sony's own support and product pages, one model at a time.
Updated 9 October 2026
Look up your model number
This lookup needs JavaScript to run. The guide below explains how to read the number by hand, so the page works either way.
Type the code from the back of the TV or from a shop listing. It is worked out in your browser; nothing is sent anywhere. The same lookup, with a summary of every brand, lives on the TV model number lookup page.
Where to find the model number
On the TV itself, look for the black-and-white sticker on the back of the set, near the side sockets, or along the bottom edge. Sony notes that on some sets it is engraved on the front of the television instead. If the TV is on the wall, hold a small mirror behind it and photograph the label with your phone, then flip the photo.
In the menus, Sony has two different routes, because it has sold two different kinds of TV:
- Android TV and Google TV sets: press the HELP button on the remote. If there is no HELP button, open Settings, then follow whichever of these your menu offers: Help and Feedback, then Help, then Status and Diagnostics, then System information. On some sets it is BRAVIA Settings, then Customer Support, then Contact and Support.
- Sony's other sets, from 2015 on: press HOME, then Settings, then System Settings or Product Support, then Customer Support or System Information, then Product Information.
The box and the printed manual carry the number too, which is often the quickest place to look.
What software it runs, and whether you can add apps
This is the part that catches people out, and it is the reason a Sony code is worth reading at all. Sony has sold two very different kinds of television side by side, in the same years, under similar-looking numbers.
- Android TV and Google TV sets. Sony has sold these since 2015, and the ones called Google TV arrived in 2021. These have an app store built in, so you can add and remove apps yourself.
- Sony's simpler sets. These are not Android. They come with a fixed set of apps that Sony chose for the country where the TV was sold, and in Sony's own words those sets will not let you install any additional ones. The apps already on the TV keep working; nothing new can be added.
Our own TV Cast receiver by 2kit is one of the apps built into that fixed set on Sony televisions in several countries, the United States among them, which is how we came to know this part of Sony's range so well.
The honest answer about which of the two you own: the model number narrows it down but does not settle it. Sets whose number starts with XR or with K are Android-based, so they have an app store. Sets whose number starts with KDL, KD or XBR might be either. The surest check takes ten seconds on the TV itself:
- Press HOME. If the screen says Google TV, or shows your Google account picture in a corner, it is a Google TV.
- If there is a clock or a settings cog in the top right instead, it is an Android TV.
- If it looks like neither, it is one of the simpler sets.
- A microphone button on the remote also means Android TV or Google TV, though not every one of those sets has the button.
One trap worth knowing: the spec sheet on Sony's own site is no help in telling Android TV and Google TV apart. It lists the newer Google TV sets as "Android TV" as well, because Google TV is built on Android. It does reliably separate the Android sets from the simpler ones, so it is still worth checking there if the Home screen leaves you unsure.
From 2024 the question goes away: every Sony television since then is a Google TV.
If an app has vanished from your Sony rather than never being there, it may have been switched off for your model on purpose. Here is every app Sony has switched off, with dates.
The model number, piece by piece
Sony has changed the shape of its numbers twice, so three different forms are in circulation at the same time. All three start with a few letters, then the screen size in inches.
Sets from 2024 onward: K at the front
Here is a full example based on the TV model K-65XR80.
| Part | What it is | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Letter | Sony's current naming, used from 2024 | K-65XR80 |
| 2 digits | Screen size: 65 inches | K-65XR80 |
| Rest | The range: XR80 is the one Sony sells as BRAVIA 8 | K-65XR80 |
There is no year letter on these at all, so the number alone cannot tell you 2024 from 2025.
Sets up to 2023, Americas and Asia: year letter at the end
Here is a full example based on the TV model XR-65A95K.
| Part | What it is | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Letters | Sony's naming for its 2021 to 2023 upper range | XR-65A95K |
| 2 digits | Screen size: 65 inches | XR-65A95K |
| Letter | The range: A is an OLED screen | XR-65A95K |
| 2 digits | How high it sits in that range: 95 is the top | XR-65A95K |
| Last letter | Model year: K is 2022 | XR-65A95K |
Sets up to 2023, Europe: year letter in the middle
Here is a full example based on the TV model KD-55XH8196.
| Part | What it is | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Letters | Sony's naming outside the United States | KD-55XH8196 |
| 2 digits | Screen size: 55 inches | KD-55XH8196 |
| Letter | The range: X is the upper LCD line | KD-55XH8196 |
| Next letter | Model year: H is 2020 | KD-55XH8196 |
| Last digits | The exact version, which changes from country to country | KD-55XH8196 |
So on a European set the year letter comes before the long number, and on an American one it comes after it. Same year, same TV generation, two ways of writing it.
The year letter
Sony works through the alphabet one letter per year, and it skips the letter I, presumably because it reads as a 1. Every year below is the model year that Sony states on that model's own specification page:
| Letter | Year | A set that proves it |
|---|---|---|
| none | 2024 onward | K-65XR80 |
| L | 2023 | XR-65A95L |
| K | 2022 | XR-65A95K |
| J | 2021 | XR-65X90J |
| I | Skipped | - |
| H | 2020 | XBR-65X900H, KD-55XH8196 |
| G | 2019 | XBR-65X950G, KDL-43WG663 |
| F | 2018 | XBR-65X900F, KDL-43WF663 |
| E | 2017 | XBR-65X900E, KDL-32WE613 |
| D | 2016 | XBR-65X930D, KDL-32W600D |
| C | 2015 | XBR-65X930C |
Sony used the same system before 2015, and you can still find an A set and a B set on its support site, but Sony no longer states a year for those pages. Rather than guess at them, this guide stops at C, and so does the lookup above: an older code comes back with everything except the year.
On the newest sets, an M2 at the end means the second version of that same model, which came out later. It is not a year of its own: K-65XR80 is from 2024, K-65XR80M2 is from 2025, and K-65XR90M2 is from 2026.
The letter before the series number
One letter sits between the screen size and the series number, and it is the quickest signal of what kind of screen you are looking at. Sony does not publish what these letters mean, so this is what each one has stood for across Sony's own range rather than an official key:
| Letter | What it usually means |
|---|---|
| A | An OLED screen, Sony's premium line |
| X | The upper LCD line, the biggest group by far |
| Z | 8K, a handful of very large sets |
| W | The entry line, usually the smaller and cheaper sets |
| S | The entry line on sets from 2024 onward |
The two digits after the letter say how high the set sits within that line, so an A95 outranks an A80 and an X95 outranks an X80. On sets from 2024 the letters XR replace this: they mark the upper range, but they say nothing about the screen, because the XR sets include both OLED and LCD models.
The letters at the very front
These mark which naming generation the TV belongs to, which in practice tells you its rough age and where it was sold:
| Starts with | What it tells you |
|---|---|
| K | 2024 and newer, everywhere. Always a Google TV |
| XR | Sony's upper range from 2021 to 2023, Android-based |
| XBR | Sold in the United States, up to about 2020 |
| KD | Sold outside the United States, and still used on a few small sets |
| KDL | Sony's older LCD line. Some of these are the simpler sets that cannot add apps |
One thing these letters do not tell you is the picture resolution, which is a common claim elsewhere. Sony's KD-32W830K, for example, is a 32 inch set with a 720p screen, so KD on its own does not mean 4K. Check the resolution on the spec sheet rather than reading it out of the code.
What changed in 2024
In 2024 Sony stopped naming its televisions after the code and started naming them after a single number. The code is still on the sticker, but the shop listing now says BRAVIA. These run side by side, so it helps to know both:
| Sold as | Code | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| BRAVIA 9 | K-xxXR90 | The top of the range |
| BRAVIA 8 | K-xxXR80 | OLED |
| BRAVIA 6 | K-xxA60 | OLED, below the 8 |
| BRAVIA 5 | K-xxXR50 | Mini LED |
| BRAVIA 2 | K-xxS20 | The entry LED set |
A Roman II after the number, as in BRAVIA 8 II, is the later version of that same set, and its code carries the M2 described above.
First check: does your Sony have a browser at all?
Plenty of these Sony sets cannot open a website, full stop. In Sony's own words the television is internet-capable and runs certain apps, but has no internet browser function, and a browser is not available for all models. Since these sets cannot install apps either, there is no way to add one later. We have not found anyone else who says this plainly, and it is the first thing to check, because it decides whether any of our tests can run on your set.
To find out: press HOME or MENU on the remote, open Apps or Applications, then All Apps or All Applications, and look down the list for Internet Browser.
If Internet Browser is there, your Sony will do something no Samsung or LG does. Those two keep their model name to themselves. A Sony that is not running Android sends its model number, the country it was built for and its firmware version to every website it opens. So open What TV Do I Have on the television and it names your exact set, then hands that number to the lookup above for you. We have seen one report itself as a 43 inch KDL built for Great Britain, on web software based on Chromium 49, which is the 2016 generation.
If Internet Browser is not in that list, nothing on this website will run on that television, and neither will anyone else's. Nothing is lost except the convenience: read the model number off the sticker on the back of the set, or from the menu described further up this page, and type it into the lookup at the top from your phone or computer. You get the same answer.
None of this applies to a Sony running Android TV or Google TV. Those have a browser, and they keep their model name to themselves, the same as Samsung and LG.
Why there is no browser table on this page
Our Samsung and LG guides each end with a table matching the TV year to the version of the web browser inside it, because both companies publish that for app developers. Sony publishes no equivalent, and its spec sheets name a browser supplier without ever naming a version. We are not going to invent that table, so for a Sony set the only reliable answer comes from asking the television itself: open the TV Capability Test in the TV's own browser and it reports what that specific set can actually play, which is the number that matters anyway. That needs the set to have a browser, which many of these Sony sets do not, as the section above explains.
Buying a used or imported Sony
Sony's code is less useful here than Samsung's or LG's, because Sony does not publish what the last digits mean, and the TV reception standard is not in the number at all. Three things are worth checking before you buy:
- Which apps it has, if it is one of the simpler sets. Sony picks that list per country, and an imported set keeps the list of the country it was built for. Nothing can be added later.
- Whether it receives broadcast TV where you live. An American set will not pick up European aerial or cable channels, and the other way round. Anything over HDMI, and the apps, are unaffected.
- The mains voltage and the warranty, both of which follow the country of purchase.
For an Android TV or Google TV set the apps are the smaller worry, because the store will offer you whatever is available in your own account's country.
Questions people ask
How do I tell what year my Sony TV is from the model number?
Find the single letter that sits either at the very end of the code or just after the range letter in the middle, then read it as a year: L is 2023, K is 2022, J is 2021, H is 2020, G is 2019, F is 2018, E is 2017, D is 2016, C is 2015. Sony skips the letter I. If the code starts with K and a dash, as in K-65XR80, there is no year letter and the set is from 2024 or later.
Can my Sony TV install new apps?
Only if it is an Android TV or a Google TV. Sony's other televisions come with a fixed set of apps, chosen for the country where the TV was sold, and will not let you install any more. Press HOME to check: a Google TV says so on screen or shows your Google account picture, an Android TV shows a clock or a settings cog in the top right, and anything else is one of the simpler sets. Every Sony television from 2024 onward is a Google TV.
Is my Sony TV Android TV or Google TV?
Sony put Android TV in its range from 2015 and introduced Google TV in 2021, so a set from 2021 or later could be either. The spec sheet will not settle it, because Sony lists Google TV sets as Android TV as well; Google TV is built on Android. Press HOME instead: a Google TV shows the Google TV name or your account picture, an Android TV shows a clock or a settings cog instead.
What do KDL, KD, XBR and XR mean on a Sony TV?
They mark which naming generation the set belongs to, not its specification. KDL is Sony's older LCD line, and many KDL sets are the simpler ones that cannot add apps. KD is the name used outside the United States and still appears on a few small sets. XBR was the United States name up to about 2020, and XR was the upper range from 2021 to 2023. From 2024 every Sony code starts with K and a dash. None of these letters tells you the resolution.
What does the letter after the screen size mean?
It tells you the kind of screen. A is OLED, X is the upper LCD line, Z is 8K, and W is the entry line, with S taking that role on sets from 2024. The digits after it rank the set within that line, so an A95 sits above an A80. Sony does not publish a key to these letters, so treat them as a strong signal rather than a specification.
Why is there no year letter on new Sony TVs?
Sony changed its naming in 2024. The code now starts with K and a dash, and the shop listing uses a BRAVIA number instead, such as BRAVIA 8 for the K-xxXR80. An M2 at the end marks the later version of the same set, so K-65XR80 is from 2024 and K-65XR80M2 is from 2025, but the code no longer carries a year of its own.
My Sony TV has no internet browser. Can I add one?
No. Sony says that these televisions are internet-capable and run certain apps, but have no internet browser function, and that a browser is not available for all models. They also cannot install apps, so there is no way to add one. Check the list under HOME or MENU, then Apps, then All Apps: if Internet Browser is not there, the set cannot open websites at all. A streaming stick plugged into an HDMI socket is the usual way around it, and it also brings the set a current app store.
Can a website tell which Sony TV I have?
On a Sony that is not running Android, yes, provided the set has a browser. Those sets send their own model number to every website they open, along with the country they were built for, which Samsung and LG televisions never do. Open What TV Do I Have on the television and it names your exact model without you reading the sticker. The catch is that many of these Sony sets have no browser at all, and one cannot be added. Sony sets running Android TV or Google TV have a browser but keep their model name to themselves.
Does the model number say which country my Sony TV was built for?
Not in a way anyone can read reliably. The digits at the end of a European Sony code change from country to country, but Sony does not publish what they stand for, and the broadcast reception standard is not in the number at all. For an import, check the spec sheet for that exact model instead.
For the other brands, see Samsung TV model numbers explained and LG TV model numbers explained, or start from the TV model number lookup. To identify what your set is running right now rather than read a printed number, run What TV Do I Have, and to see exactly what its browser can play, run the TV Capability Test.