Sony has earned a brilliant reputation for its Bravia TVs, and has set the benchmark for TV picture quality for decades now. Not only that, but Sony offers a decent variety of TVs, which means there’s bound to be a model to suit your individual needs.
Whether you want a mighty 98-inch mini-LED display for your home theatre, you’re in need of a more modest 43-incher, or you want something in-between the two to see you through the World Cup, there’s a Sony Bravia TV for you.
However, although Sony has made its line-up easier than some other manufacturers by simplifying its model names, as there are so many Bravia TVs on the market, choosing between them can be an overwhelming task. That’s where we come in.
As we have reviewed countless Sony Bravia TVs, and put each model through the same set of rigorous tests to determine its picture quality, performance and usability, we’re in a great position to rank the top performers. We also measure brightness and contrast levels, plus test the speakers to see how well dialogue, soundtracks and music sound.
In this guide we’ve included everything from the more affordable LCD screens to the premium OLEDs and everything in between.
However, if you aren’t sure which display will suit your home, then we’ve also got you covered. We’ve put together OLED vs LED, alongside a handy guide that explains what Mini-LED actually is. Make sure you check those out to ensure you’re buying the right TV for your needs.
Otherwise, read on to see our current favourite Sony Bravia TVs. For more options across multiple brands, visit our best TVs and best 4K TV guides. If you’re on a tighter budget, then our best cheap TV list has you covered.
Finally, if you want to compare Sony Bravia to other brands, take a look at our best Panasonic TVs, best LG TVs and best Samsung TV lists.
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How we test TVs
Every TV we review is put through the same set of tests to gauge its picture performance, usability, and smart features.
Tests are carried out over several days and are done by eye but supported with technical measurements. Testing by eye involves an expert watching a wide range of material to understand and determine a TV’s performance in fields such as brightness, contrast, motion processing, colour handling and screen uniformity.
We’ll consider the design of the TV in terms of build quality, study the spec sheets and see if the TV’s connections are up to spec, as well as playing video and audio content to ensure that the set handles playback as it claims. We also take note whether a product’s compatible formats and features are in line with industry trends or not to gauge whether it’s relevant for you.
Comparison to other related and similarly priced products is also important, to see if it’s missing any vital features and whether it impresses as a whole. After all this, we’ll come to a judgement on how the TV performs as a whole.
If you want to learn more, please visit our detailed page about how we test televisions.
Pros
- Film-like, colourful, dazzling image
- Energetic and dynamic sound
- Google TV is easy to like
- Slick motion processing
Cons
- The feet design aggravates
- Black levels look grey in a dark room
- Limited game features compared to rivals
- A tad more expensive and not quite as much value as rivals
Pros
- Spectacularly bright, colourful pictures
- Groundbreaking backlight controls
- Powerful multi-channel sound
Cons
- Blooming becomes more noticeable when viewing off axis
- No HDR10+ playback
- Only two fully features HDMI 2.1 ports
Pros
- Natural, immersive picture quality
- Good value for what’s on offer
- Clean, detailed sound
Cons
- One or two colour quirks
- No HDR10+ support
- rt Only two game-friendly HDMI inputs
Pros
- Expressive and natural picture quality
- Engaging Google TV smarts
- Convenient design
- Dolby and DTS support
Cons
- Less bright than the competition
- Sounds tamer than previous models
Pros
- Colourful, expressive picture
- Excellent processing
- Competitive smarts and features for the money
- Dolby and DTS audio
Cons
- Suffers with dark scenes
- Tepid bass performance
- Some clipping with HDR content
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Film-like, colourful, dazzling image
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Energetic and dynamic sound
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Google TV is easy to like
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Slick motion processing
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The feet design aggravates
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Black levels look grey in a dark room
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Limited game features compared to rivals
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A tad more expensive and not quite as much value as rivals
With the Bravia 8 II, Sony has delivered a TV that lives up to the hype. It arguably offers the finest picture quality of any TV current on the market.
Colours look impressively pure to our eyes, as well as excellent levels of sharpness and detail.
It’s brighter than the A95L but not as bright as other OLED models on the market. Regardless Sony uses the extra brightness the QD-OLED panel offers to deliver a range of colours that’s wider than any we’ve seen on other OLEDs. The accuracy of this set is impressive compared to other premium OLED TVs.
Sony’s Acoustic Surface Audio+ system delivers a big performance and places effects and dialogue accurately on screen. It’s an energetic, dynamic performance that makes the Bravia 8 II one of the best sounding flatscreen TVs.
In terms of its bass response, it gives the low frequencies more oomph that rival TVs are capable of. While a sound system can improve on it, we’re not in a rush to add one.
It comes with two HDMI 2.1 inputs that support eARC, VRR, ALLM, and 4K/120Hz high frame rates.
For gamers, PS5 fans get the most attention with the Auto Tone Mapping feature that optimises the HDR performance. Input lag is solid at 16.4ms but there are Sony TVs on this list that offer a quicker performance. For PC gamers, there’s no certified support for AMD FreeSync or Nvidia G-Sync.
This isn’t as much of a gaming TV. In fact, all of the Sony TVs on this list don’t offer a wide range of features for gamers, which is a surprise given Sony’s PlayStation pedigree.
Smarts are provided by Google TV, and along with the major streaming apps such as Disney+ and Netflix, all the UK catch up services are available as separate apps.
Google TV is easy to use and offers plenty of entertainment apps. It’s content recommendations aren’t the best.
If you want to spare no expense and want the best picture and sound of any Sony TV, the Bravia 8 II is the TV to pour your savings into.
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Spectacularly bright, colourful pictures
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Groundbreaking backlight controls
-
Powerful multi-channel sound
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Blooming becomes more noticeable when viewing off axis
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No HDR10+ playback
-
Only two fully features HDMI 2.1 ports
Sony’s Bravia 9 means business in the Mini LED TV market, and it offers sensational picture quality.
The impact of the Bravia 9’s brightness is noticeable from the off. Our reviewer found the colours to be spectacularly punchy, delivering bright and intense highlights along with deep black levels that rival that of the best OLED TVs.
The Mini LED backlight also helps reveal subtle colour shades, unlocking a high level of detail and sharpness
It upscales HD content to 4K resolution brilliantly, and converts SDR into HDR very impressively as well. There is still some noticeable backlight blooming but the Bravia 9’s backlight is one of the best we’ve tested.
Google TV provides all the main streaming apps, while the TV ships with two remotes, which includes a smart one that offers a more simpler means of control.
Input lag is nippy at 10.1ms, while there’s support for ALLM and VRR through Sony’s Perfect for PS5 features. There’s not much for PC gamers though, and like the rest of the TVs on this list, there are only two HDMI inputs that support HDMI 2.1 features such as VRR and eARC (for high quality audio).
The sound is impressively wide with a well-balanced sound with sharp but not harsh treble and bass that’s punchy and controlled for most of the time.
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Natural, immersive picture quality
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Good value for what’s on offer
-
Clean, detailed sound
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One or two colour quirks
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No HDR10+ support
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rt Only two game-friendly HDMI inputs
The Bravia 5 is (for Sony at least) one of its more affordable Mini LED TVs at £1399. That does sound more expensive when compared against the likes of Hisense and TCL, but what you get with the Bravia 5 is a quality picture from top to bottom.
It’s a brilliantly watchable image with black levels that are consistently deep for an LCD backlight, with blooming reduced (halos around objects). For an LCD TV, it offers strong contrast, even though it’s not as bright as others, Sony’s processing works wonders.
The colour performance is superlative, vivid and expressive, though we find that using the TV’s Vivid mode causes some colours to ‘glow’ a little too much.
Its upscaling skills are good, avoiding any smearing and suppressing noise well. For gaming, it’s similar to other Sony TVs in its support for PlayStation 5 and 4K/120Hz, and respectable input lag of 13.3ms.
The Bravia 5 is positioned as more of a home cinema TV, collecting movie modes in IMAX Enhanced, Netflix Calibrated, Prime Video Calibrated and of course, Dolby Vision. On the audio side it supports Dolby Atmos and DTS:X.
While the Bravia 9 is Sony’s most spectactular Mini LED TV to date, the Bravia 5 is best suited for most people. At a more affordable price while still offering a fantastic image quality, movie nights on this TV will look fantastic.
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Expressive and natural picture quality
-
Engaging Google TV smarts
-
Convenient design
-
Dolby and DTS support
-
Less bright than the competition
-
Sounds tamer than previous models
The Sony Bravia 8 replaced the Sony A80L, but you could more or less say it’s the same TV.
There are a few differences in terms of picture quality, with the Bravia 8 OLED reaching higher levels of peak brightness in some modes (Professional, Vivid) but less so in others (Cinema Standard).
There are slight improvements over the A80L with the Bravia 8 offering a richer, bolder HDR performance that looks lovely when paired with colourful films and TV series.
Motion processing is again excellent with very few issues noted, while contrast is strong for an OLED TV although we did notice some crushing (loss) of detail in its black levels.
We’d love for Sony to push the brightness out more for this OLED, but for those who want a brighter HDR performance, the Bravia 8 II offers a better picture.
If, however, the premium price the Bravia 8 II goes for isn’t within your budget, the Bravia 8 is a fine mid-range TV, and it offers up the same level of gaming performance too.
It includes Auto Genre Picture mode that automatically switches the TV in and out of its game-ready state, along with Auto HDR Tone Mapping enhances the HDR performance for best brightness and contrast.
Dolby Vision Gaming is supported and the TV does includes 4K/120Hz and variable refresh rates (VRR) across two HDMI 2.1 inputs (one of which is shared with the eARC port). We measured input lag at 12.7ms, which is just behind the Bravia 9 in terms of speediness.
The sound quality is fine though not as dynamic or as loud as we’ve heard on previous OLED TVs, such as the A80L.
We’d recommend you consider adding a soundbar or sound system, and Sony has plenty including its Bravia Theatre Bar 8 and the Theatre Sound System 6 to choose from.
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Colourful, expressive picture
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Excellent processing
-
Competitive smarts and features for the money
-
Dolby and DTS audio
-
Suffers with dark scenes
-
Tepid bass performance
-
Some clipping with HDR content
The Sony X85L first launched in 2023 but it has stuck around in 2026, and can still be bought for around £999.
That’s not exactly cheap, especially for three year-old tech, but this is Sony (who charge a bit more than others), and this is a TV that for budding home cinema fans, we rate very highly.
It has a Full Array Local Dimming backlight that offers more precise black levels and brightness than a standard LCD TV, although like many a Sony TV, we noticed it’s not the brightest out of the box.
Our measurements clocked it at 738 nits in Standard HDR mode but for a TV that’s less than £1000, it is bright for a HDR TV.
What really appeals is its colour performance. It describes colours with terrific variety, producing a vibrant but still natural-looking image.
Upscaling with HD and SD content is solid, and although there is some noise the X85L manages it well. Its motion processing is very good to the point where we didn’t even notice that it was on.
Sound quality is ok. It produces a crisp tone with voices but lacks bass. We’d suggest getting a soundbar to go with the X85L.
Gamers looking for a premium experience can count on ALLM, VRR, and HFR, while input lag is a solid 14.5ms. This TV plays nicely with a PS5 with its custom features that includes optimising the HDR performance for the best image quality.
For smarts, Google TV delivers all the streaming apps you’ll need, and we found the interface to be quick and responsive to use. The design is customisable, as the stand can be put together in two ways to allow for a soundbar or if you want to place it on a small surface.
Test Data
| Sony Bravia 8 II | Sony Bravia 9 | Sony Bravia 5 | Sony Bravia 8 | Sony KD-55X85L | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Input lag (ms) | 16.4 ms | 10.1 ms | 13.2 ms | 12.7 ms | 14.5 ms |
| Peak brightness (nits) 5% | 962 nits | – | – | 463 nits | 742 nits |
| Peak brightness (nits) 2% | 977 nits | 2500 nits | 710 nits | 462 nits | 738 nits |
| Peak brightness (nits) 10% | 868 nits | 2700 nits | 800 nits | 430 nits | 743 nits |
| Peak brightness (nits) 100% | 263 nits | 880 nits | 592 nits | 121 nits | 614 nits |
| Set up TV (timed) | 98 Seconds | 350 Seconds | 720 Seconds | 69 Seconds | – |
Full Specs
| Sony Bravia 8 II Review | Sony Bravia 9 Review | Sony Bravia 5 Review | Sony Bravia 8 Review | Sony KD-55X85L Review | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK RRP | £2499 | £2999 | £1399 | £2199 | £1399 |
| USA RRP | – | $3000 | $1499 | – | – |
| CA RRP | – | – | CA$2099 | – | – |
| AUD RRP | – | – | AU$1999 | – | – |
| Manufacturer | Sony | Sony | Sony | Sony | Sony |
| Screen Size | 64.5 inches | 64.5 inches | 64.5 inches | 54.6 inches | 54.6 inches |
| Size (Dimensions) | 1443 x 339 x 905 MM | 1443 x 349 x 908 MM | 1447 x 345 x 862 MM | 1223 x 248 x 786 MM | 1228 x 56 x 709 MM |
| Size (Dimensions without stand) | 830 x 1443 x 34 MM | 835 x 1443 x 48 MM | 832 x 1447 x 58 MM | 706 x 1223 x 37 MM | 784 x 1228 x 336 MM |
| Weight | 24.2 KG | 34.8 KG | 24.9 KG | 18 KG | 17.4 KG |
| ASIN | B0DYK7Y2YB | B0DJDDR25R | B0F29KYPN4 | B0CZTZTQXJ | B0BX6N4BYP |
| Operating System | Google TV | Google TV | Google TV | Google TV | Google TV |
| Release Date | 2025 | 2024 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 |
| Model Number | – | K-65XR90 | – | K55XR80 | KD-55X95L |
| Model Variants | – | Bravia 7, Bravia 8 | – | – | – |
| Resolution | 3840 x 2160 | 3840 x 2160 | 3840 x 2160 | 3840 x 2160 | 3840 x 2160 |
| HDR | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Types of HDR | Dolby Vision, HDR10, HLG | HDR10, HLG, Dolby Vision | HDR10, HLG, Dolby Vision | HDR10, HLG, Dolby Vision | HDR10, HLG, Dolby Vision |
| Refresh Rate TVs | 48 – 120 Hz | 40 – 120 Hz | 48 – 120 Hz | 40 – 120 Hz | 40 – 120 Hz |
| Ports | Four HDMI, Ethernet, two USB, digital audio out, RF terrestrial, two RF satellite | Four HDMI, digital audio out, two USB ports, Ethernet, two satellite, RF terrestrial | Four HDMI (two with full HDMI 2.1 features), 2 x USB, Ethernet, RF input, optical digital audio output | Four HDMI, digital audio out, two USB ports, Ethernet, two satellite, RF terrestrial | Two HDMI 2.0, two HDMI 2.1, Ethernet, two USB, composite video input, digital audio output, terrestrial/satellite inputs |
| HDMI (2.1) | 4K/120, eARC, ALLM, VRR | eARC, ALLM, VRR, HFR, SBTM | eARC, VRR, ALLM, 4K/120Hz | eARC, ALLM, VRR, HFR, SBTM | ALLM, eARC, VRR, 4K/120Hz |
| Audio (Power output) | 50 W | 70 W | 40 W | 50 W | 20 W |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.3, Google Cast, AirPlay 2 | Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.3, AirPlay 2, Google Cast | Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.3, Apple Airplay 2, Google Cast | Wi-Fi, AirPlay 2, Google Cast, Bluetooth 5.3 | Bluetooth 4.2, Wi-Fi, AirPlay 2, Chromecast |
| Colours | Black | – | – | – | – |
| Display Technology | OLED, QLED | LCD, Mini LED, QLED | Mini LED, VA | OLED | LCD, Direct-LED (Full Array Local Dimming) |
Stephan is the sports journalist for the Maple Grove Report.
