Sony’s flagship RGB LED TV is incredible

The Sony Bravia 9 II is the astir anticipated caller TV successful years. It’s an astonishing RGB LED TV. I watched Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves connected the caller Bravia pinch my son, who has been getting into the roleplaying crippled but had ne'er seen the movie. The landscapes of Faerûn looked earthy and real, while the magic formed by the Red Wizards of Thay was vibrant and colorful. Specular highlights successful HDR really pop. I saw it pinch Xenk’s glowing beard arsenic he fought successful the Underdark successful Honor Among Thieves, but besides successful the explosions arsenic Furiosa flees crossed the godforsaken successful Mad Max: Fury Road and the sun reflecting disconnected the waves successful The Meg.

The Bravia 7 II I reviewed successful May was already an awesome RGB LED TV. The Bravia 9 II has much dimming zones and an anti-reflective screen, and it gets brighter than the 7 II, but the 65-inch 9 II is besides $1,000 much expensive, and the value quality increases arsenic surface size goes up. So, is Sony’s flagship Bravia 9 II worthy the other money?

Sony showed disconnected an early prototype of its RGB LED backlight technology astatine its Tokyo office backmost successful early 2025, and moreover astatine that stage, it was impressive. Every clip there’s a caller show technology, Sony’s flagship TVs thin to beryllium the best, acknowledgment successful portion to the company’s industry-leading processing and upscaling. The Bravia 8 II is the latest successful a drawstring of top-tier Sony QD-OLED TVs, and the original Bravia 9 was the best mini-LED erstwhile it launched successful 2024. So pinch RGB LED TVs the large TV communicative of 2026, expectations are precocious for the Bravia 9 II.

Like the Bravia 7 II (and a batch of the caller high-end TVs retired this year), the Bravia 9 II uses RGB LEDs for its backlight. Instead of the bluish backlight that LED TVs person been utilizing for years, it has clusters of individual red, green, and bluish LEDs that blend their ray to create a wider scope of colors than those bluish LED TVs were tin of.

The Bravia 9 II has the aforesaid processor arsenic the 7 II. They some person the aforesaid awesome lenticular guidelines — the coolest TV stands I’ve seen successful a agelong clip — and some person HDMI 2.1 connected conscionable 2 of their 4 ports. Maybe adjacent twelvemonth Sony will drawback up pinch the remainder of the precocious extremity and yet connection 4 HDMI 2.1 ports.

The Bravia 9 II is besides arsenic bully arsenic aliases amended than the 7 II successful grayscale and colour capacity (although it has the aforesaid rumor successful SDR mode pinch reds being oversaturated and not arsenic agleam arsenic they should be). In Professional mode, the TV’s gamma and EOTF search is moreover amended than the 7 II, truthful shadows are suitably elaborate and images person due depth. Colors for illustration entity blue, foliage, and particularly tegument tones each look wonderful. And while grayscale measures (and looks) a small blue, I wasn’t bothered by it successful thing I watched.

The Bravia 9 II tin get bright: I measured highlights successful HDR astatine 3,800 nits, and a full-field achromatic surface astatine 885. The Bravia 7 II maxed retired astatine 2,200 nits for highlights, though it has astir the aforesaid full-field brightness astatine 848 nits. So for everything but the brightest of specular highlights, the 2 Sony RGB LED TVs person akin real-world brightness. There are TVs that get brighter — specified arsenic the TCL X11L — but pinch the immense mostly of contented retired there, the 9 II is plentifulness agleam pinch some HDR and SDR (if you move it up from its default successful Professional mode, which is group for dark-room viewing, aliases alteration to the somewhat little meticulous Cinema mode).

The image processing algorithms besides power really good it uses its brightness and colour and thief to group Sony’s image value isolated from different TVs. With the curtains unfastened and sunlight beaming done the windows, I watched a fistful of World Cup games from an ATSC 3.0 antenna, and the Bravia 9 II’s image item was easy to see.

In summation to the image performance, a fewer features separate the Bravia 9 II from the 7 II.

The astir noticeable upgrade is the anti-reflection screen, which is the champion I’ve ever seen. Bright lamps aliases windows are reduced to a dim glow that’s incredibly difficult to spot erstwhile thing is playing connected the TV. Even erstwhile the TV is off, ray reflections connected the surface don’t tie my attention. The effect degrades the much disconnected perspective you get, but it wasn’t distracting until adjacent to 70 degrees disconnected axis, which is simply a beautiful terrible perspective to watch TV at, moreover pinch a large group of friends over.

It besides has much dimming zones than the 7 II. More dimming zones let for a finer power of backlight modulation from ray to acheronian parts of the screen, and usually lead to little blooming (where agleam ray bleeds into a acheronian conception adjacent to it). That is mostly existent connected the Bravia 9 II. From consecutive on, aliases somewhat disconnected angle, the 9 II handles blooming very well. There’s a flimsy glow astir subtitles aliases a very dim haze astir fireworks. The blooming was a spot much salient astatine the acold ends of my 8-foot couch, but it’s amended than the Bravia 7 II aliases different RGB LED TVs (although not amended than the TCL X11L mini-LED TV). It’s still an LED TV, and location will ever beryllium immoderate grade of blooming.

When I stood much disconnected perspective adjacent to my couch, though, the blooming sewage worse — and not conscionable astir subtitles. I noticed some achromatic and colour bleeding into neighboring colors. Apple TV has a Peanuts surface saver, which is mostly Snoopy doing things connected aliases astir his doghouse. From an disconnected angle, I could spot the achromatic from his assemblage widen into the yellowish background. I wouldn’t propose the Bravia 9 II chiefly for large groups, arsenic friends astatine 1 broadside will get a different viewing acquisition than those toward the middle. This isn’t thing I retrieve seeing connected the Bravia 7 II, and since the accentuated blooming happens disconnected axis, I wonderment if it’s related to the anti-reflective coating connected the screen.

Even pinch the insignificant off-angle issues, location isn’t immoderate mobility that the Sony Bravia 9 II is the champion RGB LED TV available. Its awesome colour accuracy, precocious ray output, and anti-reflective surface make it the champion bright-room TV available. But the 65-inch sample I had successful for review, which is the smallest disposable size, is $3,600, while the Bravia 7 II is $2,600 astatine 65 inches, and is disposable successful sizes arsenic mini arsenic 50 inches. Even the 65-inch Sony Bravia 8 II OLED is $3,000.

I loved my clip pinch the Sony Bravia 9 II, and I’m judge anyone would bask having 1 successful their house. Even so, location are different TVs I prefer, moreover wrong Sony’s ain merchandise line. The Bravia 8 II, which gets you the pixel-level power only an OLED tin deliver, would beryllium my first choice. Contrast is still king to our eyes, and OLED still leads successful that category. If you really want an RGB LED TV and don’t want to splurge connected the 9 II, the Bravia 7 II gets you astir of the measurement location (without the anti-reflective screen). The 1 usage lawsuit wherever the Bravia 9 II wins retired is successful a abstraction wherever reflections are a awesome concern. There’s nary denying the Bravia 9 II is simply a awesome accomplishment successful LED TV performance. But I’m still going to urge an OLED for astir people.

Photography by John Higgins / The Verge