A new LG G series TV is always big news, so we were excited to get our hands on the LG G6 for review. It's a big moment for the range. Despite earning five stars in our review, last year's G5 was a little disappointing, finishing in last place in our big four OLED shootout. Hence we were keen to see how this year's model fared.

Of course we never test in isolation – throughout all our reviews, we keep the product's main rivals front of mind. So while the G6 impressed in our review, we're now pitting it against possibly its fiercest rival – the Award-winning Sony Bravia 8 II.

Game on.

LG G6 vs Sony Bravia 8 II: price

The good news is that both the LG G6 and Sony Bravia 8 II are cheaper than their predecessors. But for the new models, there's not much between them.

As you can see, there's no clear winner. At the only sizes in which both TVs are available (55 and 65 inches), the LG is cheaper or the same price in the UK and US, but the Sony is cheaper in Australia.

However, these are launch prices, and the Sony has been available for a few months already, whereas the LG is brand new. But in a further twist, LG's TVs usually see bigger discounts than most rivals, and sooner after launch. So we would expect the LG to be cheaper across the board pretty soon.

** Winner: Draw **

LG G6 vs Sony Bravia 8 II: design

Both TVs look very similar to their predecessors, but then no recent TV has been a massive departure in the design department.

The G6 is designed to be hung on a wall with the Zero Gap wall mount, though you can buy it with a stand as well. It does still look like a picture frame, and while it's something we've seen many times before, it is well made and unobtrusive.

The stand has two height options to accommodate a soundbar, but the remote could do with some updating: it's plasticky and lacks backlighting and USB-C recharging, both of which we expect at this level.

The Sony Bravia 8 II looks quite conventional, and while it's slim for a Sony, it is still thicker than a lot of its rivals. Though unlike them, it does have an actuator-based sound system built in, which creates some pretty great audio.

Its blade-style feet can only sit at the extremities of the TV's bottom edge, so you'll need a surface wide enough to accommodate the set. Measure up before you buy.

Like the G6, these feet can also extend to fit in a soundbar without obstructing the screen. Also like the G6, the Bravia 8 II's remote control also lacks a backlight and the ability to recharge. Disappointing.

** Winner: Draw **

LG G6 vs Sony Bravia 8 II: features

The G6 has the same Primary RGB Tandem OLED panel as its predecessor. This screen tech aims for higher brightness levels (both peak and overall) without sacrificing colour volume and accuracy even during low-light scenes. But this year's model promises to reduce reflections to less than 0.5 per cent, making for better viewing in sunny conditions.

LG's Alpha 11 Gen 3 AI processor brings some improvements, like 20 per cent higher peak brightness, along with better colour accuracy, upscaling, motion handling and tone mapping.

Audio processing has also been given a boost, and the TV has Dolby Atmos FlexConnect functionality for more advanced audio skills. Though there's no Dolby Vision 2 HDR tech (you do get Dolby Vision, HDR10 and HLG).

LG's webOS 26 platform supports all the major streaming services in their optimum versions, and the G6 continues LG's run as a maker of TVs with peerless gaming specs: you get four HDMI 2.1 inputs offering up to 4K/165Hz gameplay with VRR and ALLM, and Dolby Vision Gaming HDR supported.

There are also more game-streaming features to play with, including a new low-latency interface and a dedicated controller developed with Razer (though this costs extra).

Phew. So how does the Sony compare?

It has Sony's 'latest QD-OLED panel’ which helps the set outdo its predecessor by 25 per cent in terms of peak brightness. It also means higher colour volume and better dark gradation.

Sony's XR Processor uses AI to analyse the scene and optimise the picture accordingly, and it has bespoke calibrated modes for the Netflix, Prime Video and Sony Pictures Core streaming services.

You get the same roster of HDR formats as the G6 (with no Dolby Vision 2 or HDR10+), along with Atmos sound (though there's no Atmos FlexConnect). The Bravia 8 II is also certified as IMAX Enhanced, whereas the LG G6 is not.

Gamers get 4K/120Hz, VRR and ALLM, a Dolby Vision Game mode and the ‘Perfect for PlayStation 5’ functionality. But it only has two full-bandwidth HDMI 2.1 sockets, one of which doubles as the eARC port. Which could leave some gamers with a separate sound system and more than one console wanting.

Google TV goes toe-to-toe with webOS on the app front, though we do find LG's platform a little slicker. That and the extra gaming chops gives this round to LG.

** Winner: LG G6 **

LG G6 vs Sony Bravia 8 II: picture

Of course this what we really came to see: which TV has the better picture quality?

The G6 impresses from the off, with its bright colours and oodles of dark detail in the murkier bits of the picture.

"Running our tried and true Civil War 4K Blu-ray, the entire screen burns brighter than any previous OLED we've tested, with the American countryside scene offering palpably higher peaks and more vibrant colours," we wrote in our LG G6 review.

"Dark parts of the surrounding foliage offer more detail, too, with every leaf and twig looking sharper and clearly visible."

The image is brighter and more eye-catching, though not necessarily more lifelike. And it does have its issues. A helicopter's flight seems a little too smooth. The extra brightness comes at the expense of some richness, sacrificing some subtle colour gradients and flattening the image somewhat. Even Filmmaker Mode can't eliminate this last issue entirely. And some colour saturation remains, especially with the greens.

Watching Sinners, we see that skin tones have a slight green tinge to them, and we find that darkest parts of the image don't quite go dark enough – they tend to look slightly grey.

The Award-winning Bravia 8 II fares better, improving on its predecessor without introducing any new issues.

While we spent quite a while tinkering with the G6's settings to get it looking its best, the Bravia 8 II is far more easy-going. For authenticity, pick Dolby Vision Dark for Dolby Vision content. For everything else, opt for Professional.

You can tweak further, but it's a case of marginal gains, and most people won't think it worth the effort.

Its picture is superb. Watching Alien: Romulus in Dolby Vision, we see brighter peak highlights with more vibrancy in the colours. "Colours maintain their natural vibrancy in low-light areas, too, such as the bunk in which Cailee Spaeny’s Rain awakens for another glorious day in the employ of the Weyland Yutani corporation," we wrote in our Sony Bravia 8 II review.

The level of shadow detail is impressive, and these elements combine with Sony's AI processing to make the image more solid and three-dimensional. Sinners has none of the skin tone issues we see with the LG G6, and the darkest parts of the picture are dark enough to really have an impact.

Civil War might not look quite as bright as on the G6, but it still looks crisp and vibrant in HDR10 – its flawless reproduction brings out the finest details of skin textures, really adding to the viewing experience.

With the G6, you face a choice between the blackest blacks and a healthy level of dark detail. But the Bravia 8 II gets the balance just right.

** Winner: Sony Bravia 8 II **

LG G6 vs Sony Bravia 8 II: sound

LG's OLEDs haven't impressed us in the audio department, but the G6 is an improvement.

It's notably fuller and more robust-sounding than its predecessors, with plucked guitar strings from a scene in Sinners having some bass, while Preacher Boy's wailing vocals are "nicely audible and separate from background noise", we noted in our review.

There's a decent sense of directionality to the sound, but the low end lacks power, and there's not enough precision. This lack of low-end composure is more evident with Blade Runner 2049, whose synth soundtrack sounds more like a child blowing a raspberry.

The Bravia 8 II is in a different league when it comes to audio. Its Acoustic Surface Audio+ system uses two actuators and two subwoofers to vibrate the screen and place the sound relevant to the picture. It's precise, spacious, and ties in beautifully with what's on screen. To cap it all, it packs bags of detail too, and plenty of dynamic nuance.

It copes much better with Blade Runner 2049's soundtrack than the G6 does, going low and staying composed. It can't match one of the best soundbars for overall impact, but you'll have to spend a decent amount of money to hear a notable improvement on its own sonic skills.

** Winner: Sony Bravia 8 II **

LG G6 vs Sony Bravia 8 II: verdict

There's only one winner here. The Bravia 8 II has a more balanced, better executed picture and a more precise, more spacious sound. The G6 certainly isn't without its charms – its picture has plenty of pop, and it's still the best TV around for gamers. But cinephiles will be better served by the Sony Bravia 8 II.

** Overall winner: Sony Bravia 8 II **

MORE:

Check out the best TVs around

The best soundbars to pair them with

And the best surround sound systems worth your cash

This week, after over a year of waiting, we finally have a key bit of home cinema hardware in our viewing rooms, ready for testing.

Specifically, we’ve got the Hisense UR9, and are going to start our gruelling comparative testing process in mere hours.

Why’s that a big deal?

Hisense has a strong track record for delivering excellent-value hardware, and is responsible for some of the best UST and affordable projectors available right now. But its recent flagship TVs have generally been overshadowed by OLEDs and TCL-made rivals in the past year.

But, if you still don't get why we’re making such a big deal about the UR9, it's pretty simple This is the first TV we’ve got in for testing featuring RGB Mini LED panel technology.

This is a next-generation panel technology we first saw at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas last year. It’s set to be used by numerous companies, including Hisense (obviously), Sony, Samsung, Philips, TCL and more.

Though, annoyingly, they all have their own name for and a slightly different spin on the panel tech, the fundamental idea is a simple one: improve picture quality by creating colours using independent diodes made up of individual red, green and blue LEDs that feed directly into an optical lens behind the LCD panel.

This is a very different approach to Mini LED, which creates colours by passing blue LED light through a QDEF (Quantum Dot Enhancement Film) sitting between the backlight and LED panel.

The theory is that the changed approach will let RGB Mini LED offer better colour accuracy, wider gamut coverage, improved brightness (resulting in improved contrast) and more.

In fact, the companies betting on the tech are so confident that the words “OLED-killer” have been muttered numerous times at the various demos we’ve had. This includes our look at Sony’s latest prototype last month.

And with the UR9 costing the same as a flagship OLED, it’s clear Hisense really thinks it can go toe-to-toe with our current top dog for picture quality in the TV market. But, will it actually deliver in the real world? After all, we heard the same inflated boasts about base Mini LED when it first came out many moons ago.

We’re going to find out, as we’re set to run it head-to-head with our current Product of the Year winner in the What Hi-Fi? Awards TV category, the Sony Bravia 8 II – a set our TV and AV editor, Tom Parsons, openly described as “the best OLED he’s ever tested” when we reviewed it.

We’ll be doing all our standard checks to see if the new, ultimately still backlit, Hisense can actually deliver a five-star OLED-beating performance, using our ever-expanding suite of test discs to check everything from peak brightness and black level to colour accuracy.

But, as ever, we want to get you, our awesome cinephile readers, involved. Do you have any questions about the UR9 or RGB Mini LED in general? Let us know in the comments section of this page, and we’ll endeavour to answer them while we have the set in our viewing rooms.

MORE:

These are the best Mini LED TVs we’ve reviewed

Our picks of the best OLED TVs

We rank the best TVs money can buy

It’s no secret that we’re big fans of the Sony Bravia 8 II. It did, after all, take home the TV Product of the Year gong from the most recent What Hi-Fi? Awards.

To win that prize, Sony’s flagship OLED set had to defeat not only the Samsung S95F, with which it shares its QD-OLED panel, but also the LG G5 and Panasonic Z95B, which both feature cutting-edge Primary RGB Tandem OLED panel technology.

All four of those TVs are utterly awesome, so for the Bravia to come out on top was quite the achievement.

But there was one rival that didn’t make it in time for our Awards-deciding flagship OLED shootout – the Philips OLED910.

This features the same super-bright Primary RGB Tandem OLED panel tech as the LG G5 and Panasonic Z95B, but it combines it with super-sexy European styling, a B&W sound system, dazzling Ambilight and super-aggressive pricing.

So, is all of that enough to unseat our current Award-winner? We directly compared these two flagship sets over several days, using all of our favourite discs and streams, to find out.

Spoiler alert: it’s a mighty close contest.

Sony Bravia 8 II vs Philips OLED910: Pricing

Philips went super-aggressive with the OLED910’s launch pricing, releasing it to the market for £2199 at 65 inches and £3399 at 77 inches.

Even though rival sets, including the Bravia 8 II, had been on sale a while and been discounted, the OLED910 was cheaper out of the gate.

It’s dropped in price now, too, with the 65-inch model currently available for £1799, and the 77-inch version for £2799.

The Bravia 8 II has been further discounted, too, but the 65-inch model still currently costs £2199. There’s no 77-inch version, but unlike the Philips, there is a 55 incher, which is £1799 at the time of writing.

So, in the 65-inch size in which both sets are available (and which we directly compared), there’s a big £400 price difference. That’s extremely hard to ignore, and means the OLED910 takes first blood in this face-off.

WINNER: Philips OLED910

Sony Bravia 8 II vs Philips OLED910: Design

The Sony Bravia 8 II is a smart-looking TV, but it’s barely any different in appearance to the preceding A95L, which launched back in 2023. A design refresh to match the ambitious performance upgrade would have been nice.

Still, this is a very purposeful-looking, monolithic TV that looks particularly neat when the feet are installed at their default low–profile setting, which keeps the bottom edge of the TV within about a millimetre of the surface upon which it’s placed.

Those feet can alternatively be installed in a taller setting that creates a gap of a few centimetres between TV and furniture, into which you can slot a soundbar.

The Bravia 8 II does, of course, have an integrated sound system (a good one at that), but thanks to the technology it uses, it’s completely invisible from the front, contributing further to the stylishly clean appearance of the TV.

The Philips OLED910 is a very different aesthetic proposition. The integrated sound system includes front-facing speakers, but these are incorporated into a slim bar that’s wrapped in grey Kvadrat fabric and has nicely rounded corners, giving the set a softer, more appealing appearance.

Like the Sony, the Philips OLED910 has feet rather than a pedestal, but these feet are installed further towards the centre of the bottom edge of the TV, rather than the furthest points as they are on the Bravia 8 II. In other words, while the Sony can only be placed on top of furniture that’s at least as wide as the TV, the Philips will be happy on something narrower.

And, unlike the Sony, which has a fairly uniform thickness of about 3.4cm, the Philips combines its fairly chunky 5.6cm section with super-thin panel sections at the sides and top of the chassis. To our eyes, that makes it more visually striking, but beauty is, of course, in the eye of the beholder.

On that note, we have to mention Ambilight here. This is Philips’s unique bias lighting system, which features coloured LEDs around four sides of the OLED910’s rear. These can dynamically extend the on-screen image onto the wall around the TV in the form of coloured light.

Ambilight isn’t for everyone and isn’t a bonus for all content, but it does look spectacular, and for bright, colourful movies and games, it can really add something special.

All told, while the Bravia 8 II’s monolithic styling will certainly appeal to many, the OLED910’s softer, more living room-friendly appearance and (at least occasionally) thrilling Ambilight mean it wins this round.

WINNER: Philips OLED910

Sony Bravia 8 II vs Philips OLED910: Features

On paper, the Sony Bravia 8 II and Philips OLED910 take notably different approaches.

The Bravia 8 II uses Samsung Display’s latest QD-OLED panel, paired with a custom heatsink and the XR processor. Sony claims this enables a 25 per cent brightness increase over the preceding A95L and a 50 per cent uplift over the Bravia 8 W-OLED, alongside improved colour volume and better dark gradation.

Philips, meanwhile, has stuck with LG Display technology but upgraded from MLA to Primary RGB Tandem OLED. Philips quotes eye-catching brightness figures of up to 3700 nits for small highlights and 350 nits full-screen – numbers that should translate into a more dynamic image than the preceding OLED909, even in restrained picture modes.

Processing is a major talking point for both sets. Sony’s XR Processor introduces a new AI scene recognition system, which analyses content in real time and adjusts picture parameters for greater realism.

Philips counters with its 9th Gen P5 AI Engine – a powerful processor packed with features including Machine Learn Sharpness, AI Smart Bit Enhancement and AI Perfect Reality, all designed to optimise sharpness, colour and contrast depending on what’s on screen.

HDR support is one area where Philips holds a clear advantage.

The OLED910 supports all four HDR formats: HDR10, HLG, Dolby Vision and HDR10+. The Bravia 8 II, meanwhile, supports Dolby Vision, HDR10 and HLG, but, as ever with Sony, HDR10+ is not supported.

The Sony does, however, boast IMAX Enhanced certification, and leans heavily into its Studio Calibrated Modes, with dedicated Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Sony Pictures Core presets designed to present content as the creators intended.

On the subject of Sony Pictures Core, the Bravia 8 II also comes with credits that can be used to ‘buy’ movies from Sony’s exclusive streaming service, which delivers content in almost 4K Blu-ray quality.

Gaming support is broadly similar. Both TVs offer 4K/120Hz, VRR, ALLM and a Dolby Vision game mode, though the Philips also supports 4K/144Hz, which will appeal to hardcore PC gamers with super-serious rigs (current consoles can’t go beyond 120Hz).

Frustratingly, both sets are limited to two full-bandwidth HDMI 2.1 ports, one of which doubles as the eARC socket, potentially leaving just a single 4K/120Hz input once a soundbar is connected.

Sony adds its ‘Perfect for PlayStation 5’ features, but these are a little less grand than they sound – only the HDR Auto Tone Mapping does something beyond the capabilities of other sets, such as the OLED910, and while this is useful for getting a fairly accurate HDR performance out of most PS5 games, it isn’t quite 100 per cent accurate.

Both TVs use the Google TV smart platform, which is pretty good these days, but while Sony has sought to fill in Google TV’s terrestrial catch-up app gaps through the addition of YouView, the Philips OLED910 is missing BBC iPlayer.

We’re not going to factor the two different OLED panel technologies into the round, as it’s the actual picture performance that matters, and we’ll cover that in the next section. That leaves the two TVs fairly evenly matched on the features front: the Philips has HDR10+ and 4K/144Hz support, but the Sony has IMAX Enhanced, Sony Pictures Core, and the BBC iPlayer.

Ultimately, we’re calling this a draw, but you can call it a win for one or the other TV based on which of those feature differences matters to you.

WINNER: draw

Sony Bravia 8 II vs Philips OLED910: Picture quality

Both the Sony Bravia 8 II and Philips OLED910 deliver genuinely excellent pictures, but when viewed side by side, it becomes clear that they prioritise slightly different strengths.

The Bravia 8 II sets the benchmark for balance and effortlessness. Straight out of the box, its core presets – Dolby Vision Dark and Professional – deliver a beautifully judged image with no need for tweaking.

Peak highlights are brighter and more piercing than those of Sony’s previous OLEDs, colours are richer without exaggeration, and improvements to dark gradation reveal noticeably more shadow detail.

Crucially, all of this combines to create an image with exceptional solidity and three-dimensionality: objects have weight, people feel rounded and lifelike, and backgrounds possess genuine depth.

That sense of realism holds across all content types. HDR movies benefit from punchy highlights and immaculate tone mapping, animation bursts with colour without tipping into garishness, and even standard-definition material is upscaled with impressive cleanliness, sharpness and restraint.

Nothing ever feels forced or over-processed, and the Bravia 8 II consistently presents content in a way that feels authentic and natural.

The OLED910, by contrast, can take more work to get right, but rewards that effort with a thrilling, high-impact image.

Once switched into HDR Filmmaker Mode and properly dialled in, it delivers bright, punchy HDR with excellent sharpness, fluid motion and a strong sense of vibrancy.

OLED’s perfect blacks are paired with strong shadow detail and consistent colours in dark scenes, and motion handling is a particular highlight, striking a rare balance between smoothness and cinematic integrity. In fact, we’d go as far as to say it’s a match for the Sony in terms of motion processing – something we absolutely hadn’t anticipated.

Where the Philips falls slightly short of the Sony is in absolute accuracy and subtlety. Reds can occasionally appear a touch over-emphasised, particularly in skin tones, and while this is rarely obvious in isolation, it becomes more apparent when compared directly with the Bravia 8 II’s more natural colour handling.

In HDR10 content, the OLED910 gets impressively close to the Sony overall, but the Bravia has the edge in terms of contrast control, three-dimensionality and overall image cohesion.

Dolby Vision performance on the Philips is excellent in Filmmaker Mode, though blacks can appear slightly raised in very dark scenes – again, something that’s most noticeable next to the Sony.

SDR content, meanwhile, is significantly over-brightened in all picture modes. It looks great, with oodles of punch, but having at least one preset that tracks SDR brightness accurately would have been nice.

Ultimately, the OLED910 is a superb picture performer and one of the closest challengers to Sony’s flagship. But the Bravia 8 II remains the reference, delivering a more natural, solid and consistently cinematic image across all formats, with less effort required from the viewer.

WINNER: Sony Bravia 8 II

Sony Bravia 8 II vs Philips OLED910: Sound quality

Both the Sony Bravia 8 II and Philips OLED910 rank among the very best-sounding TVs available, but they go about their audio delivery in notably different ways – and in this case, the Philips ultimately comes out on top.

The Bravia 8 II uses Sony’s Acoustic Surface Audio+ system, with actuators vibrating the screen itself to produce sound, supported by twin subwoofers.

This creates an unusually strong sense of cohesion between picture and sound, with voices and effects locked precisely to their on-screen positions. Dialogue is clear, detailed and warm, and there’s enough dynamic subtlety to convey emotional nuance in performances, as well as enough punch to handle larger shifts without flattening out.

Spaciousness is also impressive by TV standards. Effects stretch well beyond the edges of the screen, creating a soundstage that feels wider and more immersive than most integrated systems can manage.

Bass depth isn’t class-leading, but it’s controlled and weighty enough to underpin action scenes convincingly, without unwanted distortion or boom. Overall tonal balance is excellent, making the Bravia 8 II one of those rare TVs that doesn’t immediately demand the addition of a budget soundbar.

The OLED910, though, raises the bar further. Its Bowers & Wilkins-tuned 3.1-channel system delivers a sound that’s bigger, weightier and more room-filling than the Sony’s, with excellent width, precise effect placement and impressive dynamic range.

Dolby Atmos soundtracks are handled with confidence, producing a convincing sense of scale and height, particularly when the Entertainment mode is engaged.

Low-level detail is a real strength, with subtle background sounds and musical elements placed clearly and naturally, while dialogue remains full-bodied and expressive. Dynamics are handled with assurance, too, from quiet conversational moments to louder, more demanding sequences.

Deep bass is a touch soft, but crucially remains clean and distortion-free – and there’s much more of it from the Philips than there is from the Sony. Compared directly, the Philips sounds more powerful, more immersive and more expansive than the Sony.

While both TVs will still benefit from the addition of a dedicated sound system, the OLED910 noses ahead if you’re determined not to go down that route. If you are prepared to add discrete sound, you need to be looking at something on the level of a Sonos Arc Ultra before you’ll hear a clearly worthwhile improvement on either TV.

In short, the Bravia 8 II delivers excellent, finely balanced sound with superb picture-to-audio cohesion, but the OLED910 sets a new benchmark for built-in TV audio at this level, edging ahead as the best-sounding TV of the two.

WINNER: Philips OLED910

Sony Bravia 8 II vs Philips OLED910: Verdict

This is one of the closest TV head-to-head battles we’ve seen in some time, and the fact that the Philips OLED910 gets so close to the Sony Bravia 8 II is a huge achievement – particularly given its lower price, more adventurous design and genuinely outstanding built-in sound.

The OLED910 wins convincingly on value, and edges the Sony on design flair and audio performance. It also delivers a thrilling, high-impact picture once properly set up.

If you want a premium OLED that looks and sounds spectacular, and you’re keen to avoid adding a separate sound system, the Philips makes a hugely compelling case.

But picture quality remains the deciding factor – and here, the Bravia 8 II still stands apart.

Its image is more natural, more consistent and more three-dimensional across all formats, with none of the small compromises that occasionally creep into the Philips’s delivery.

Just as importantly, it achieves this with less effort from the user, delivering reference-level results straight out of the box.

That combination of accuracy, balance and cinematic realism is why the Bravia 8 II earned its Product of the Year crown – and why it keeps it here.

The OLED910 pushes it harder than almost any rival we’ve tested, but when it comes to the overall best TV you can buy right now, Sony’s flagship remains the one to beat.

OVERALL WINNER: Sony Bravia 8 II

The Philips OLED910 really surprised me when I tested it right at the tail end of last year.

It's a TV that combines the latest and brightest Primary RGB Tandem OLED panel technology with a Bowers & Wilkins sound system, great styling, and delightful Ambilight.

It's the best-sounding TV you can buy right now, and it gets close to the awesome Sony Bravia 8 II for picture quality, all while costing a lot less.

In fact, not only did the OLED910 launch for significantly less than rivals such as the Bravia 8 II, LG G5 and Samsung S95F, but it's been discounted further, too, so you can now pick up the 65-inch model for just £1699 at Richer Sounds.

That's almost £300 less than the equivalent Bravia 8 II, which is currently £1979 at Richer Sounds.

Right out of the box, the OLED910 looks and feels like a high-end television: a slim, elegant screen framed by a clean, understated design, and finished off with Philips’ signature four-sided Ambilight.

This isn’t a gimmick – the ambient lighting genuinely enhances immersion, framing movies and games with dynamic light that dances with the action on screen. It's not necessary for all content, but with bright, colourful movies and games, it's stunning.

Under the hood, Philips has chosen a Primary RGB Tandem OLED panel (the same panel that's found in the LG G5 and Panasonic Z95B) and its P5 AI processor, giving you bright, vivid images with punchy highlights and rich shadow detail.

Unlike the LG G5, Samsung S95F and Sony Bravia 8 II, the OLED910 also supports all major HDR formats, including Dolby Vision and HDR10+, so you’re set up for the best possible streaming, disc and gaming content.

One of the OLED910’s standout features is its built-in Bowers & Wilkins 3.1-channel sound system. By TV standards, this is exceptional: full, detailed, and spacious enough to fill a room.

A premium soundbar such as the Sonos Arc Ultra will sound even better, but if you're determined to stick with your new TV's built-in speakers, the OLED910 is the best-sounding model you can buy right now.

There are a couple of small compromises – slightly raised blacks in Dolby Vision, over-brightened SDR and just two full-fat HDMI 2.1 ports – but these are minor caveats given the overall package.

At this price, you’re getting a super-premium OLED picture, class-leading integrated audio and a stylish, feature-rich package – making the OLED910 arguably the best performance-per-pound flagship OLED available right now.

MORE:

Read the full Philips OLED910 review

And here's our Sony Bravia 8 II review

These are all of the best TVs you can buy right now, and the best TV deals

2025 has been a bumper year for reviews.

I’ve crunched the numbers, and we published more than 200 over the last 12 months, roughly half of which were in the TV/AV category that I look after.

I was involved in pretty much all of those TV and home cinema reviews, either as the primary tester or as one of the ‘second-lookers’ (we test as a team, so every review involves several What Hi-Fi? staffers).

Of those 100 or so products, these are the five that rocked my world the most.

(This would have been a list of eight, but I decided to set myself a rule of just one highlight per brand)

Sony Bravia 8 II

Yes, I know I’ve written about this magical OLED TV a lot, but it would be disingenuous for me to start this list with any other product.

This has been an incredible year for OLED TVs, with a whole new panel technology (Primary RGB Tandem OLED) stealing the early headlines, and the QD-OLED camp raising its game to compete. The result has been the closest, most competitive flagship OLED TV battle I can remember.

What’s interesting is that the Sony Bravia 8 II is, in terms of pure numbers, arguably the least impressive TV of the bunch, but it’s the best in real terms. It doesn’t go quite as bright in outright terms as its LG or Samsung rivals, and it doesn’t use its innate Quantum Dot-enhanced vibrancy to dazzle you with colours.

Instead, it uses the bright and colourful potential of the latest-gen QD-OLED panel to deliver even more natural and cinematically authentic picture quality.

This is just the most all-round appealing TV I’ve ever tested, with a balance of technical innovation and processing mastery that I don’t think will be beaten for a while.

Hisense AX5125H

One of the best things about this job is, of course, getting to test the latest super-premium kit, but there’s also a genuine thrill to discovering an incredible bargain – and that’s exactly what this is.

The Hisense AX5125H was just £249 when we tested it, and it can now be bought for an even lower price of £199. That’s about half the price of most decent entry-level solo Dolby Atmos soundbars, yet this is a Dolby Atmos soundbar with a wireless subwoofer and two wireless surrounds.

I don’t mind admitting that my expectations for the sound quality weren’t high, but as soon as I set the system up and ran the first movie through it, I knew we’d stumbled upon a budget beauty.

Whenever I would take a break from testing, I’d convince myself that the Hisense couldn’t be as good as I thought, but then I would return to it, put on another movie and be impressed all over again.

Without a doubt, this is the home cinema bargain of the year.

Epson EH-LS9000

While not a bargain in the way of the Hisense soundbar system above, the Epson EH-LS9000 is fantastic value for money, essentially redefining projector expectations at its price.

That price is £2999 / $3999 / AU$7299, which certainly isn’t a snip, but the LS9000 fully justifies the outlay with specs that include 4K (via pixel-shifting), a claimed brightness of 2200 lumens, substantial HDR support, and 4K/120Hz gaming, plus a performance closer to models in the category above.

The crisp, colourful and three-dimensional-feeling picture is such a joy that we took time out of our busy testing schedule to watch more movies and play more games on the Epson just for fun.

KEF Q Concerto Meta 5.1 Speaker System

I could (some would say “should”) be writing about the incredibly impressive, boundary-pushing XIO soundbar here, but I’m an absolute sucker for ‘traditional’ home cinema, and I just loved listening to KEF’s Q Concerto Meta speaker package this year.

It probably helped that Senior Staff Writer Lewis Empson led this review, so he had to do all of the heavy lifting and calibrating, whereas I just got to enjoy the performance.

And what a performance it is: the combination of rich warmth and crisp punch is intoxicating, and the seamlessness with which effects are passed around the room is hugely immersive.

We put this system together by picking different speakers from KEF’s range, but it’s now being offered as a complete package for significantly less than the £3146 at which we tested it.

TCL 98C7K

If I had the space, I would have bought the 98-inch TCL C7K already.

The C7K had already impressed us in 65-inch form when we wrestled the 98-inch version out of its box, but I really didn’t think that TCL’s step-down Mini LED tech would effectively stretch to this gargantuan size.

Oh, how wrong I was.

This TV is an absolute joy to watch, delivering blacks, brightness and colours that projectors can only dream of. Like TCL’s other 2025 models, it’s nicely tuned, too, delivering a satisfyingly authentic home cinema experience.

It’s also now available for under £2000. That’s unbelievable value for money. If 100 inches was my limit, I would absolutely buy this TCL TV over a projector.

With any deal event, whether it’s Black Friday or Cyber Monday, our review team doesn’t just have a duty to point you towards the best tech deals, but also to steer you away from savings that look pretty tempting on paper, but deep down, we just know there’s a better alternative elsewhere.

It might be the same price, or, if you’re lucky, even cheaper. Or, it might also be a tiny bit more expensive but we’d still recommend spending a tiny bit extra to get the added performance benefits that the product brings.

This is what I’ve done below. There are still plenty of tech deals ongoing for Cyber Monday but I’ve highlighted a handful which we think are worth avoiding because we have tested something that gives you more than just a low price to admire.

Stick with these alternative recommendations, and you won’t go wrong…

Don't buy… Amazon Echo Dot Max

On paper, the Echo Dot Max looks like a good upgrade on the 5th Gen Dot – bigger, twin driver units, and a new verison of Alexa. However, in our Echo Dot Max review, we felt that the Bluetooth speaker missed its mark completely, especially when it comes to sound quality. And this is why we think you should skip this model and go for the cheaper, smaller and older Echo Dot.

Buy this instead… Amazon Echo Dot (5th Gen)

Don't buy… Samsung QE65S95F

In our Samsung S95F review, we described it as “the best Samsung OLED” money can buy. Now, that's high praise in itself, but we can go one better than that with a TV that boasts even better picture quality for an even better price. Movie fans need look no further than the all-conquering Sony Bravia 8 II 65-inch, which just edges out the Samsung on our wish list.

Buy this instead… Sony Bravia 8 II 65-inch

Don't buy… Technics SC-CX700

We love the convenience of all-in-one hi-fi systems like the Technics. They squeeze streaming smarts, a range of useful inputs and amplification into a pair of speakers. All you need to do is add power. However, in our Technics SC-CX700 review, we were left feeling slightly disappointed by the user experience and the lack of refinement in the sound quality department. Which is why we recommend the KEF alternative below.

Buy this instead… KEF LS50 Wireless II

Don't buy… Sony ULT Field 3

You'd think Sony would be able to mix it with the very best with its Bluetooth speakers, but we didn't think that was the case here. In our Sony ULT Field 3 review, we were left a little disappointed, concluding, "There’s nothing particularly offensive about how the Sony ULT Field 3 sounds, but by the same token, there’s nothing really memorable about it." For sound quality, it's easily trumped by this quality JBL alternative.

Buy this instead… JBL Charge 6

Don't buy… Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen)

For the past few years, we think Bose has been neck-and-neck with Sony when it comes to the performance of its flagship noise-cancelling headphones. But following our time spent testing its latest model, it would appear there's now some daylight between the two. Our Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen) review was generally positive, but this Sony alternative is clearly more musical-sounding and just provides a better overall experience. And they're cheaper.

Buy this instead… Sony WH-1000XM6

Black Friday has given way to Cyber Monday, and while most of the TV deals have stayed the same, the excellent Sony Bravia 8 has dropped in price even further.

Today, you can get the 55-inch Bravia 8 for £1258 at Amazon, the 65-inch model for £1499 at Peter Tyson, and the 77-inch version for £2429 at Richer Sounds.

• Check out all of the Black Friday Week deals at Amazon
• Richer Sounds Black Friday event
• Sevenoaks Black Friday deals
• Peter Tyson: Cyber Monday event

This is a superb, five-star, What Hi-Fi? Award-winning OLED TV, and it's never been cheaper than it is right now, but I don't recommend buying it.

Why? The reasons are two-fold:

First, Sony recently launched a new version of the Bravia 8 called the Bravia 8A. This has a non-backlit version of the Bravia 8's remote, and it comes with fewer credits for the Sony Pictures Core streaming service, but Sony says the performance is identical.

And, crucially, at most sizes, it's cheaper than the Bravia 8.

The second reason is that the LG C5 is newer and even better than the Bravia 8 – and loads cheaper than both of the Sony options for Cyber Monday.

So, while I'm a big fan of the Sony Bravia 8, it's definitely the LG C5 that I recommend buying right now.

I've included a handy table below with all of the best prices available right now for all three TVs, so you can instantly compare them.

Sony Bravia 8 vs Bravia 8A vs LG C5 price comparison

LG C5 deals

Why choose the C5 over the Bravia 8?

So, why do I prefer the LG C5 to the Sony Bravia 8? The current pricing has a lot to do with it, of course, but, honestly, I would choose the C5 over the Bravia 8 even if they were the same price.

The Bravia 8 was the best performance-per-pound TV of last year, when it defeated the last-gen LG C4. However, LG then made just enough improvements to this year's C5 to surpass the Bravia 8 in performance.

The C5 is a super-crisp OLED TV, with great colours, excellent motion handling and loads of detail. It has a better, more user-friendly operating system and smart platform, too.

The C5 is also a big step up for gamers, thanks to the presence of four full-fat HDMI 2.1 sockets that all support 4K/120Hz (4K/144Hz if you have a fancy PC), VRR and ALLM. The Sony has just two such sockets, and it doesn't go up to 144Hz.

An excellent HGiG mode makes it even easier to get excellent, accurate HDR from games with the C5, too.

There's one way in which the Bravia 8 thrashes the C5, and that's sound. That said, either TV should be partnered with a dedicated audio system (even if that's a fairly affordable soundbar), and the price difference means budgeting for such a thing should be easier if you go for the LG TV.

Black Friday and Cyber Monday quick links

• Amazon: browse all of today's best deals
• B&W speakers: save £200
• Bluetooth speaker: 48% off five-star JBL
• Bose QC Ultra Earbuds: save £100
• Bravia 8 TV: save 34% on 55in Sony TV
• Denon AV receiver: save £500
• Dolby Atmos soundbar: down to £299
• ELAC Debut 2: five-star speakers now £199
• Headphones: Sennheiser Momentum 4 now £169
• LG C5 55-inch: lowest-ever price at Richer Sounds
• JBL soundbar: now better than half price
• John Lewis: £500 off LG and Sony OLED TVs
• Richer Sounds: browse Black Friday deals
• Sevenoaks: £150 off Award-winning speakers
• Sony headphones: now just £29
• Stereo amplifier: Cambridge Audio now £299
• TVs, movies, home cinema: browse the best deals
• Vinyl: 3 for £66 at Amazon
• Wireless earbuds: Award winners now £75

We always maintain a reference system for our home cinema reviews. It combines a selection of Award-winning products that act as benchmarks, allowing us to accurately assess the performance of whatever we may be reviewing.

It's a collection of premium home cinema devices, with equally premium price tags to match, but if you want a reference system in your home that matches ours, then Black Friday is the best time to buy the components.

• Browse all the best deals on Amazon

Every part of our reference setup has been discounted for this savings event, meaning you can save a hefty chunk of change if you do want to replicate our system.

Now, ours is admittedly over the top (would you expect anything less?) as we always have multiple TVs and a projector set up at all times, as well as both a surround sound speaker package and a soundbar.

You may not need both a TV/soundbar and a projector/speaker system, so feel free to pick and choose what suits you best. Either way, you're guaranteed to experience the ultimate cinematic performance from these products and save a boatload of cash too.

Our projector: Sony VPL-XW5000ES

Sony's entry-level native 4K laser projector is on a What Hi-Fi? Award-winning streak, scoring its fourth Product of the Year title earlier this month.

It's still a pricey piece of kit, but this deal at Richer Sounds knocks £2000 off a supremely talented beamer that delivers seriously impressive contrast and black depths, sharp details, and rich yet balanced colours for an overall showstopping cinematic experience.

Our only gripe is the lack of motorised lens controls, but once you have the VPL-XW5000ES in place, you'll quickly forgive this minor shortcoming on account of its stellar picture.

Read our full Sony VPL-XW5000ES review

Our OLED TV: Sony Bravia 8 II

The Award-winning Sony Bravia 8 II has been the TV we've obsessed over this year, and for good reason, too.

It's served as a benchmark in our reviews for the Panasonic Z95B and Samsung S95F, beating both TVs in terms of sheer picture performance thanks to its deeply engaging and three-dimensional picture.

Sony's masterful picture processing paired with the QD-OLED panel technology makes this TV a sight to behold, and it's backed up by impressive built-in sound, a solid set of gaming features (HDMI 2.1, VRR and ALLM) and a sleek design.

Read our full Sony Bravia 8 II review

Our Mini LED TV: TCL C7K

For the times when we're not reviewing a pricey OLED TV, we find ourselves reaching for the TCL C7K.

This surprise hit of 2025 delivers a bright and punchy image when required, but it also has a trick up its sleeve to ensure it impresses during dark scenes too.

TCL's new Halo Control technology hugely mitigates blooming, and black depths are seriously impressive by backlit TV standards.

If you're not interested in OLED or want a TV that offers a stunning picture without a ludicrous price tag, then the C7K is for you.

Read our full TCL C7K review

Our AVR: Marantz Cinema 30

We've swooned over this AVR plenty of times, but we're here to do it once again.

The Marantz Cinema 30 is a handsome piece of home cinema kit, with a premium sculpted metal design, tasteful ambient accent lights, and even a gorgeous remote control; but in the grand scheme of things, none of that really matters, as we care most about sound quality.

The good news is that the Marantz Cinema 30 is a showstopper when it comes to delivering cinematic sound, with a rich, weighty and smooth performance that is guaranteed to immerse even the toughest audiophiles.

It's dynamic, can deliver huge scale sound, and features excellent connectivity; it really is the full package.

Read our full Marantz Cinema 30 review

Our speaker package: KEF Q Concerto Meta 5.1

The latest addition to our reference home cinema system, the KEF Q Concerto Meta 5.1 was the sleeper hit from this year's Awards testing process.

It won us over almost instantly with its rich, powerful and engaging sound, complete with a subwoofer that handles bass like a champion. It's accurate and agile, yet warm and inviting, which is a surprisingly difficult balance to strike.

We're also huge fans of its dashing good looks, and the fact that it's comprised entirely of standmounting speakers means it should take up slightly less room than an equivalent floorstanding setup.

It's become our new reference system for a reason, and we're already looking forward to the next time we can watch a movie using it.

Read our full KEF Q Concerto Meta 5.1 review

Our soundbar: Sonos Arc Ultra

Surround sound speaker packages will always be our favourite method of achieving cinematic sound, but we can't deny the convenience of a soundbar. And this soundbar happens to be pretty fantastic.

The Sonos Arc Ultra had massive shoes to fill, but it did so with ease, delivering the punchy, big-scale sound of its predecessor with added richness and height, as well as a whole lot more bass.

This all-in-one cinematic sound solution is a perfect accompaniment to the Sony Bravia 8 II, and it's primed to be made into a full system with the Sonos Sub 4 and a pair of Sonos Era 300 speakers.

Our 4K Blu-ray player: Panasonic DP-UB820

We tend to use the Oppo UDP 203 for a majority of our 4K disc spinning duties, but that player has been sadly discontinued.

Fret not, as the Panasonic DP-UB820 also has a permanent spot in our reference lineup, and considering it just took home yet another Product of the Year win, we don't see it leaving any time soon.

This easy-to-use 4K Blu-ray player delivers a vibrant, rich, and crisp 4K HDR image alongside powerful and spacious sound.

We've sung the praises of 4K Blu-rays over streaming countless times, and this player is one of the best ways to experience the benefits of physical media.

Read our full Panasonic DP-UB820 review

Black Friday quick links

• Amazon: browse all of today's best deals
• B&W speakers: save £200
• Bluetooth speaker: 48% off five-star JBL
• Bose QC Ultra Earbuds: save £100
• Bravia 8 TV: save 34% on 55in Sony TV
• Denon AV receiver: save £500
• Dolby Atmos soundbar: down to £299
• ELAC Debut 2: five-star speakers now £199
• Headphones: Sennheiser Momentum 4 now £169
• LG C5 55-inch: lowest-ever price at Richer Sounds
• JBL soundbar: now better than half price
• John Lewis: £500 off LG and Sony OLED TVs
• Richer Sounds: browse Black Friday deals
• Sevenoaks: £150 off Award-winning speakers
• Sony headphones: now just £29
• TVs, movies, home cinema: browse the best deals
• Vinyl: 3 for £66 at Amazon
• Wireless earbuds: Award winners now £75

Worried that you've missed out on all of the Black Friday deals? Don't be!

While Black Friday proper was yesterday, the best deals are still available and will likely remain so through to Cyber Monday – as long as stock lasts of course.

That means it's still possible to get my absolute favourite TV – the Sony Bravia 8 II – for its lowest ever price of £1699 from Amazon for the 55-inch model, and £1999 at Amazon for the 65 incher.

• Check out all of the Black Friday deals at Amazon
• Richer Sounds Black Friday event
• Sevenoaks Black Friday deals
• Peter Tyson: Black Friday event

I've been reviewing TVs for over 18 years, and the Bravia 8 II is quite simply the best I've ever tested.

It uses the latest and brightest QD-OLED panel from Samsung, and combines that with the latest version of Sony's legendary picture processing to produce a stunning yet cinematically accurate picture.

It's the best-sounding TV you can buy right now, too.

I've tested both versions of the Bravia 8 II, and I've compared them side-by-side with the Samsung S95F, LG G5 and Panasonic Z95B – plus the Sony A95L I use at home – and it's better than all of them.

Today's best Black Friday Sony Bravia 8 II deals

• 55-inch Sony Bravia 8 II: was £2499, now £1699 at Amazon
• 65-inch Sony Bravia 8 II: was £2999, now £1999 at Amazon

Why I love the Bravia 8 II

The Bravia 8 II is the follow-up to the excellent A95L – the very TV I rely on at home.

That alone probably tells you how much I love the A95L, but after spending time reviewing the Bravia 8 II side-by-side with it, I have to admit my own setup suddenly feels a touch less special.

Sony’s newer QD-OLED panel pushes brightness noticeably further than the previous generation. That extra luminance doesn’t just make highlights punchier; it also deepens contrast and expands colour volume in a way that immediately stands out.

This is a wonderfully vivid TV that absolutely sings with colourful films – the Spider-Verse series is a perfect example – yet it remains beautifully restrained when it needs to be, delivering that signature Sony balance and cinematic naturalism.

Sharpness is another area where the Bravia 8 II quietly excels. Sony’s AI-based processing selectively refines fine details, but you never catch it working – you just see a picture that looks exceptionally clean, precise and almost sculpted.

Low-light performance is superb, too. Sony has clearly put effort into dark gradation, resulting in rich, true OLED blacks supported by impressively nuanced shadow detail.

What I appreciate most is how little tweaking is required. As I mentioned in my full review:

"For a supremely authentic picture, simply pick Dolby Vision Dark for Dolby Vision content or Professional for everything else.

"Should you want a little more pop to proceedings, either because you’re watching in a room with ambient light or simply because you enjoy an even more thrilling delivery, simply switch to Dolby Vision Bright or the Cinema mode."

Sound quality is another of the Bravia 8 II’s surprises. Its Acoustic Surface Audio+ technology delivers clarity and directness, but also a level of spaciousness that's rare from a TV.

I still advise pairing it with a proper sound system (the Sonos Arc Ultra is a fantastic entry point for a TV this good), but if you insist on using built-in speakers, this is yet another advantage the Sony holds over options such as the LG G5, Samsung’s S95F, and even the Panasonic Z95B.

My only gripe is connectivity. You get two HDMI 2.1 ports (plus two standard HDMIs), and one of those 2.1 inputs doubles as the eARC port. LG and Samsung both offer four HDMI 2.1 sockets on their comparable models.

For my setup – a PS5, an Xbox Series X and a Dolby Atmos sound system – that limitation is mildly annoying. But if you’re only using one or two of those devices, it’s unlikely to matter much.

Black Friday quick links

• Amazon: browse all of today's best deals
• B&W speakers: save £200
• Bluetooth speaker: 48% off five-star JBL
• Bose QC Ultra Earbuds: save £100
• Bravia 8 TV: save 34% on 55in Sony TV
• Denon AV receiver: save £500
• Dolby Atmos soundbar: down to £299
• ELAC Debut 2: five-star speakers now £199
• Headphones: Sennheiser Momentum 4 now £169
• John Lewis: £500 off LG and Sony OLED TVs
• Richer Sounds: browse Black Friday deals
• Sevenoaks: £150 off Award-winning speakers
• TVs, movies, home cinema: browse the best deals

The Black Friday sales in Australia are well and truly underway, and we’ve already seen a number of fantastic discounts across headphones, speakers and even hi-fi components. For all the savings we’ve seen so far, however, they pale in comparison to the insane AU$1,552 discount we’ve found on the Product of the Year Sony Bravia 8 II QD-OLED TV.

It’s not often we see Sony screens receiving a discount, in Australia at least, so for such a huge saving to arrive during the current Black Friday sales period, and direct from the maker itself no less, is one to take notice of.

2025 has seen the release of a deluge of fantastic flagship TVs. The Sony on sale here, the LG G5 and Samsung S95F all received five-star reviews from us, so ultimately, no matter which screen you want to opt for (perhaps you’re loyal to a particular brand) you’ll be rewarded with an exemplary picture.

Choosing a TV Product of the Year at this year’s What Hi-Fi? Awards was no easy task then, and on paper, the Sony screen shouldn’t have won. It’s only available in two sizes – 55in and 65in – only has two HDMI 2.1 ports and it doesn’t go as bright as either of its competitors.

What sealed the deal for the Sony was the fact that it can still go very bright – bright enough for most scenarios – and it combines punch and dynamism with superb cinematic authenticity, by way of superb processing technology, and some very subtle sharpening that makes the image look more solid and three-dimensional than its rivals can match.

To get the full saving on this exemplary screen at the Sony Store, there are a couple of steps to go through. First, you’ll need to sign up for a My Sony membership to receive a unique discount code for AU$150 off. Apply that, and then also apply the code HOLIDAYSAVE at checkout for another AU$80 off. Plus, the good news is that right now Sony is offering free shipping on its TVs, removing the standard AU$49 fee in the process.

We can’t guarantee how long this deal will last, so if you want to get the best of the best in your home in time for Christmas, now’s the time to do it.

MORE:

• View all the What Hi-Fi? 2025 Award winners

• Lots of our readers contacted me to ask why I prefer the Sony Bravia 8 II to the LG G5 – this is what I told them

• All four of the best 2025 flagship OLED TVs are on sale, and I've ranked them so you know which to buy

In all my years of testing TVs (18 and counting), the Sony Bravia 8 II is one of my absolute favourites – and undeniably the best flagship OLED you can buy right now.

We tested it against the Samsung S95F (with which it shares its QD-OLED panel), the LG G5 and the Panasonic Z95B, and our reviews team unanimously decided the Bravia 8 II was the best TV overall.

That's why it went on to win the coveted TV Product Of The Year gong at the What Hi-Fi? Awards last November.

And, despite being the best of the best, the Bravia 8 II has been the recipient of lots of lovely discounts, which is what this page is all about.

But first, some more info to help you decide if this is the right TV for you.

What makes the Sony Bravia 8 II so good?

The Bravia 8 II is the (overdue) successor to the awesome A95L.

It features the latest-generation QD-OLED panel, Sony's latest and greatest picture processing, an innovative audio system that involves the whole screen vibrating to make sound, very good gaming specs and a smart design.

Unusually, the TV is available in just two sizes, 55 and 65 inches. We've tested both: our original review was based on the 55-inch version, but we then also sourced the 65-inch model for a flagship OLED shootout

The Bravia 8 II goes slightly less bright than those other next-gen OLED models mentioned above, but it's still a very bright TV, and it combines that punch and dynamism with superb cinematic authenticity and some very subtle sharpening that makes the image look more solid and three-dimensional than its rivals can match.

It's better-sounding than those other sets, too, though we do recommend adding a dedicated sound system if you're able. Picture quality this superb demands equally superb audio.

My only additional note is that the Bravia 8 II has just two HDMI 2.1 sockets that support 4K/120Hz gaming. For most people, that will be of no consequence, but for hardcore gamers with multiple machines, it could be frustrating. Just something to bear in mind.

Got all that? Then simply scroll down for the latest and lowest prices on my favourite TV of 2025.

The best Sony Bravia 8 II deals

Sony Bravia 8 II 55-inch (K55XR8M2)

Launch price: £2499 / $3500 / AU$4195

The 55-inch Bravia 8 II is the first one we tested, and the primary basis of our full Sony Bravia 8 II review.

It is, as should be clear by now, an exemplary TV, and by going for the 55-inch model rather than the 65 incher, you get increased pixel density, which means you get an even sharper picture.

Sony Bravia 8 II 65-inch (K65XR8M2)

Launch price: £2999 / $4000 / AU$5295

What you lose in pixel density by going for the larger Bravia 8 II, you more than gain in cinematic scale.

There really is no accounting for size when it comes to an immersive movie or game experience, so I almost always recommend going big to people who are torn between two sizes.

Do be aware, though, that the feet of the Bravia 8 II can only be placed at the furthest points of the TV's bottom edge, so you will need a piece of furniture at least as wide as the TV (144cm / 57 inches).

This obviously isn't an issue if you're wall-mounting the TV or are willing to buy a third-party universal stand for it.

• Our experts rate the best TVs we've tested

We have spent most of the year with our eyes glued to the latest and greatest OLED TVs – and we're certainly not complaining about it.

And in a rare occurrence, we've managed to line up the four biggest flagship models –from LG, Sony, Samsung and Panasonic – to assess which one comes out on top. The respective models – namely the G5, Bravia 8 II, S95F, and Z95B – all feature the latest advanced panel technology, including Primary RGB Tandem OLED, which made its debut this year, and the latest generation of QD-OLED.

You have probably seen our list of the best OLED TVs, so the model that has come out on top shouldn't surprise you. Yes, it's the Sony Bravia 8 II, a stunning television that offers a bright, sharp, and three-dimensional picture packed with contrast.

The Sony really is excellent, but the competition has been incredibly tough this year, meaning that while the Bravia 8 II is the agreed-upon winner among Team AV, it's not necessarily the one that we would each take home.

Each of the models mentioned above scored five stars in our reviews, and they all have something unique to bring to the table. This means that you're bound to get a sensational TV regardless of your preferences and priorities.

After a lengthy debate between Alastair Stevenson (What Hi-Fi?'s editor in chief), Tom Parsons (our TV and AV editor), and me (Lewis Empson, senior staff writer), we've agreed to come to a conclusion that appeases everyone. While we all agree that the Sony Bravia 8 II is the best of the bunch, we'd each take a different TV home.

Now, there are three of us and four TVs, so one TV must, of course, miss out. Unfortunately, that's going to be the LG G5. It is impressive in many ways, but ultimately we felt that it pushed the brightness capabilities of this new panel tech a little too far. Sorry LG, but it had to be someone.

With that out of the way, which TV would each of us choose to take the coveted spot in our respective living rooms?

Sony Bravia 8 II

We'll start with the Sony, which has been championed by Tom Parsons. It follows up on the brilliant Sony A95L, sporting a Samsung Display-derived QD-OLED panel, which it uses to boost brightness to great effect.

Pair that with some of the best picture processing on the market right now, and an effective built-in speaker system that is almost good enough to not require an external sound system, and the Sony Bravia 8 II just about edges out the competition.

Furthermore, the Bravia 8 II undercut the competition when it came to price at launch, and it continues to be the cheapest of the bunch, making it the best OLED of this roundup when it comes to that all-important performance-to-pound ratio.

That's ticking all of the boxes we look out for, so it's no wonder it's Tom's top pick. Here's what he has to say about the Bravia 8 II:

Tom Parsons, TV and AV editor

"While I most certainly want all of the picture enhancements that next-gen panel technology offers, I only want it when it’s in the service of delivering cinematically authentic movies (and TV shows and games, for that matter).

That’s why the Bravia 8 II is the clear winner for me.

It seems fair to say at this point that QD-OLED has the edge over Primary RGB Tandem, particularly where colours are concerned, and the Sony deploys this enhanced vibrancy not to turn everything up to 11, Spinal Tap-style, but to deliver more natural and consistent colours from the brightest highlights to the darkest shadows.

Add awesome contrast and Sony’s exceptional processing, which subtly sharpens specific picture elements to create a thrilling impression of three-dimensionality, and you’ve got a performance that perfectly balances dynamism and realism."

Panasonic Z95B

Now, there's no doubting that the Sony trumps the competition, especially as it undercuts the competition where price is concerned.

But it's not the best pick for everyone. Our editor in chief, for instance, prefers the Panasonic Z95B. And we couldn't possibly blame him; it's another stellar TV that delivers “rich and vibrant” colours and an overall “strikingly three-dimensional image”, as referenced in our full review.

We also find it to sound rather good, too, with its built-in Dolby Atmos sound system being tuned by legendary audio brand Technics.

But what really strikes us with this TV is how cinematically accurate it is, which is why it's Alastair's top choice. Read what he has to say about the Panasonic Z95B here:

Alastair Stevenson, editor in chief

“I’ve always valued an authentic, as the director intended, picture over one with lots of razzmatazz.

And while that sounds simple enough, in today’s market where TV makers seem hellbent on selling a high nit count as the primary metric for decent picture quality, that’s actually a pretty hard thing to find.

Which is why, for me personally, the Panasonic Z95B is the standout star of the show right now.

Sure, it doesn’t push its brightness-boosting Primary RGB Tandem OLED screen as hard as rivals, but its consistency and focus on control won me over during our group tests, letting me focus on the movie, not what it was doing, more than any other flagship OLED this year."

Samsung S95F

Rounding out our picks is the Samsung S95F, which we called the “very best all-round TV that Samsung has ever produced, and a strong candidate for TV of the year”. We complimented its “stunningly bright, vibrant and sharp” picture, and the overcooked colours of previous Samsung TVs have been reined in for a more natural look.

The Sony takes the edge where shadow detail is concerned, but the Samsung's feature-set is what makes it my favourite of the bunch. The gaming features are second to none on this TV, and Tizen is an extremely comprehensive operating system when it comes to app support.

We feel that the Samsung offers a picture performance that is characteristically very close to the Sony, and what it lacks in the picture department is made up for in the features; which is why it's my top pick.

Here's why I would take the Samsung S95F out of this crop of excellent OLED TVs:

Lewis Empson, senior staff writer

“After spending a considerable amount of time with the Panasonic and Sony sets, I was convinced that Samsung had to pull off some sort of miracle to take my personal top spot. Which is why I am both surprised yet very impressed to be writing exactly why I love this TV so much.

The S95F ticks all of the boxes for me. Its picture performance is truly brilliant, with a crisp and dazzlingly bright presentation that drew my eye during our side-by-side testing. Samsung has clearly taken a more mature approach with this TV, as it features a surprisingly natural and engaging picture, which puts it remarkably close to the Sony in pole position.

While it doesn't quite beat, or even match the Sony (which also uses a QD-OLED panel) in the picture department, it does crush the Sony where features are concerned.

As an avid gamer with multiple consoles and a Dolby Atmos soundbar hooked up to my TV, it's safe to say that HDMI 2.1 sockets are precious commodities. The S95F has four of them, all of which support VRR and ALLM – very nice indeed.

The only drawback is the lack of Dolby Vision, which is something I'd have to adjust to; but with HDR10+ being picked up by a raft of streaming services, it's a compromise that stings slightly less nowadays.”

MORE:

Check out our picks for the best OLED TV

And find the best OLED TV deals here

As well as our overall picks for the best TVs overall

The What Hi-Fi? Awards 2025 are fast approaching which means as well as our usual review testing, we’re also taking a fresh look at all the five star products we’ve currently reviewed that are still on sale.

Why? So we know the Best Buy winners we announce in October are actually the best, having run them head-to-head will their latest and greatest rivals in our dedicated viewing and listening rooms – rather than just relying on memory.

As a part of that, the process means I’ve spent the last few months with constant back pain, in and out of our windowless TV testing space, swapping a multitude of OLED TVs along with the rest of the home cinema team.

And while I’m very glad I’ve been granted a reprieve and allowed back upstairs into the daylight, one big benefit of the experience is that the team and I have identified three completely new OLED TVs worthy of a place in our best OLED TV buying guide.

Here’s what you need to know about them.

The Sony Bravia 8 II is the ultimate option for cinephiles

The flagship OLED TV market is a very interesting place right now, with LG Display’s new Primary RGB Tandem OLED replacing MLA as QD-OLED’s main rival.

Both of these have the same goal – boosting brightness levels while simultaneously improving colour volume and accuracy.

It’s also in a state of flux because a new top-end rival, in the shape of RGB Mini LED, is set to taking OLED on next year – and based on senior staff writer Lewis Empson’s experience looking at early prototypes and samples at the IFA tradeshow, that will be a very interesting fight…

But if you’re shopping right now, the Sony Bravia 8 II is our new recommended premium OLED. Featuring a QD-OLED panel, while its colours can very occasionally look a little cool for our liking, the set offered the best holistic performance of any of the top end sets we’ve tested.

In fact its stellar motion processing, incredible ability to retain dark detail lost on rival sets and punchy, but never overused, peak brightness let it offer one of the most immersive movie watching experiences we’ve had on an OLED, period. Hence our verdict:

“Several little improvements combine to make the Bravia 8 II significantly better than the awesome A95L, and that makes it one of the very best TVs that money can buy.”

The LG C5 continues the firm’s hot streak – at least at 55- and 65-inches

The LG C-series of OLEDs have been a common sight both in our best TV guide and yearly list of Award winners.

Last year alone the 42-inch LG C4 and 48-inch LG C4 picked up a total of three Awards in the TV category.

Which is why it’s kind of funny that this year it’s actually the larger 55- and 65-inch LG C5, not its smaller 48-inch LG C5 sibling, that impressed us the most.

The larger options offer the best mid-range performance for any step-down OLED we’ve tested this year.

Despite not having a heatsink, or an upgraded Primary RGB Tandem OLED panel, like the one sported on the LG G5, the 55-inch C5 we tested was noticeably brighter than its sibling and rivals.

But, despite this, it manages to offer warm, authentic colour temperatures, even during low light scenes – an area many modern OLEDs struggle with.

Add to this its stellar gaming specifications, which include four full-speed HDMI 2.1 inputs, excellent app and HDR support and competitive price, and it’s an easy five-star recommendation.

We have a new recommended small OLED TV

But why not the smaller LG C5? Cards on the table, it is a very impressive small-ish OLED – hence the reason we gave it a five-star rating.

But, as we’ve said before, smaller TVs, even ones from the same series, perform differently to larger ones. There are a lot of reasons for that, including pixel density, the size of the drivers used in the sound system and more.

And while the smaller C5 retains a lot of its larger siblings’ strengths, it also exacerbates a lot of its weaknesses.

Its colours aren’t quite as accurate and it was a little aggressive with its brightness during certain scenes when we tested it. These issues were particularly noticeable thanks to a key rival we tested it against, the 48-inch Panasonic Z90B.

Where the 48-inch LG C5, and to be fair to it 48-inch Samsung S90F we also tested recently, have an overt focus on going very bright, the Z90B goes in the other direction, valuing consistency and balance above all else.

This meant that, though it doesn’t have the oomph you find on rivals when it comes to certain test scenes, its colours always maintain a pleasing authenticity and it never distracts from what’s playing out on screen by aggressively raising its peak brightness, the way its rivals do.

This made it a fan favourite among every member of the test team helping review this year’s 48-inch sets. It’s also why the Panasonic Z90B is our new recommended small OLED and we reported in our review:

“Thanks to its ongoing focus on colour accuracy and delivering an 'as the director intended' experience rather than razzmatazz, the 48-inch Panasonic Z90B is the best TV at its size that we have tested.”

If you have any questions about any of the TVs mentioned in this feature drop them in the comments section below and one of our testers will do their best to answer them ASAP! Otherwise, happy OLED hunting!

MORE:

These are the best 65-inch TVs we’ve tested

We rate the best Dolby Atmos soundbars

Our picks of the best 40-inch TVs

In all my years of testing TVs (18 and counting), no single model has prompted as much correspondence from our readers as the Sony Bravia 8 II.

In fairness, that's probably got a lot to do with how much I keep banging on about how good Sony's latest QD-OLED model is.

But I think it's also because accepted wisdom tends to be that someone looking for a flagship-grade OLED TV should buy LG's latest G-series model.

And that is indeed what has formed the basis of the majority of emails I've received on the subject. To paraphrase, what most readers are asking me is, "Is the Sony Bravia 8 II really better than the LG G5?"

In my personal opinion, it is. And, having recently done some additional side-by-side testing of the two TVs (as well as two others, as you can see from the photo above) with my esteemed colleagues Alastair Stevenson and Lewis Empson, I can now confirm that's also the consensus of the What Hi-Fi? TV/AV team in general.

The LG G5 is a superb, five-star TV (now that its initial Dolby Vision posterisation issues have been fixed), and there are some ways in which it's better than the Sony Bravia 8 II.

It's capable of producing even brighter highlights, for one, thanks to its cutting-edge Primary RGB Tandem OLED panel.

It's a better TV for gamers, too, primarily thanks to its array of four HDMI 2.1 sockets.

This means there's none of the connection congestion that those with multiple gaming machines and possibly a Dolby Atmos sound system might have to contend with if they buy the Bravia 8 II, which has just two HDMI 2.1 inputs.

There's also a greater seamlessness to the G5's operating system, which is bespoke to LG's TVs.

Yes, there are more adverts than there should be on a TV costing thousands of pounds/dollars (many would argue there should be no adverts at all, and I'm inclined to agree), but there's a consistency to all of the pages and menus that the Sony lacks on account of its melding of Sony's own menus with the Google TV platform.

I expect the G5's design will appeal more to those going down the wall-mount route, too. The picture frame-style design really does look fab held flush against a wall by the bundled mount.

The Bravia 8 II advantages

But the Bravia 8 II is the better TV where it really counts – picture quality.

Yes, the G5 is capable of going outright brighter, but the Bravia 8 II is superbly bright in its own right, and it combines that brightness with a colour vibrancy and consistency that the G5 can't quite match.

The Bravia 8 II is better in the darkest parts of the picture, too

Sony has put a huge amount of effort into dark gradation, and it's really paid off: the Bravia 8 II can produce the perfect, inky blacks for which OLED is renowned, but it also digs up more shadow detail than other models, particularly the G5, which slightly crushes near-black picture elements.

Where the Bravia 8 II really stretches its lead, though, is in the sharpness, solidity and perceived depth of its image.

This is in part down to the strengths mentioned above, but also some exemplary processing that subtly sharpens some picture elements to make them appear more three-dimensional, all while adding nothing in the way of artificiality.

Watching the two TVs side-by-side, using a variety of our favourite test scenes, we all found the Bravia 8 II more appealing than the G5 overall.

The G5 is excellent, and its extra brightness can be dazzling, but the Bravia 8 II achieves a near-perfect combination of punch, vibrancy, crispness, consistency, authenticity and naturalism.

It also takes very little effort to get it looking that great, thanks to some excellently tuned presets: for ultimate accuracy, simply pick Dolby Vision Dark for Dolby Vision content and Professional for everything else.

If you want a bit more pop, either for daytime viewing or just for fun, switch to Dolby Vision Bright or the Cinema mode.

So, not only is the Bravia 8 II capable of being great, it can be great for everyone. The LG G5's presets are very good, but certainly not as good.

Then there's audio quality.

To me, that matters less, because any TV of this calibre (heck, any TV) really has to be partnered by a dedicated sound system, but if you're determined to use your TV's own speakers, there's just no contest: the Sony Bravia 8 II is one of the best-sounding TVs available, and the G5... isn't.

Don't forget that the G5 is still great

As I've said several times already, the LG G5 is still a great TV, and it will better suit some people than the Bravia 8 II will (the Sony only comes in 55- and 65-inch sizes, for starters), but for me and my colleagues, there's a fairly clear winner between these two new flagship OLEDs.

Does that make the Bravia 8 II the best premium TV you can buy right now? The Samsung S95F, which we're reviewing right now, might have something to say about that, but Sony has certainly set a very high bar for it.

MORE:

Read the full Sony Bravia 8 II review

Here's our complete Sony Bravia 8 II vs LG G5 comparison

These are the best TVs and best OLED TVs you can buy right now

It is finally July, which as well as a heatwave in our native shores, also brings a fresh entry into our regular Pick of the Month column.

Here, we once again detail all the products to earn five-star ratings from our team of hi-fi and home cinema experts over the past month.

It was another incredibly busy period for the team, which reviewed more products than they care to count including top-end TVs, affordable headphones, premium turntables and more.

But, in this frenzy of testing, only six products emerged with a five-star rating. Here’s everything you need to know about them.

1. BenQ W2720i

The home cinema in a box, or coffee table projector as it’s sometimes called, is a growing category. And while many home cinema aficionados still sniff at the idea of using one, favouring much more expensive long throw units paired with an AVR and proper surround-sound package, we found plenty to like about the BenQ W2720i.

Though our checks revealed its inbuilt sound system to be distinctly middling, the unit more than makes up for it with its stellar app support and excellent, all-round picture quality – which our reviewers described as more than good enough to power a “proper” home cinema experience.

Score: 5/5

Read our BenQ W2720i review

2. Ruark Audio R610

After weeks of testing, we’re pleased to report Ruark Audio’s latest R610 is a fantastic example why just-add-speakers systems are becoming such an enticing option for music fans.

Featuring the firm’s iconic retro, wooden design, the amp is otherwise a stellar piece of modern hi-fi with excellent connectivity, cutting edge streaming support and, most importantly, stellar sound quality.

We were especially delighted with how well it paired with its four-star Sabre-R bookshelf speaker siblings, which helped it deliver an engaging dynamic sound across every genre we threw at it.

Score: 5/5

Read our Ruark Audio R610 review

3. Sony Bravia 8 II (K55XR8M2)

The Sony Bravia 8 II is the Japanese tech giant’s latest flagship OLED. That means, despite the confusing naming, it’s actually a successor to the A95L, not the Award-winning original Bravia 8 sitting at the top of our best OLED TV buying guide.

Running the two models head-to-head, there’s no denying the Bravia 8 II is an incredible OLED. Brighter than its predecessor, but retaining wonderfully controlled colours and true-to-life three dimensionality the Bravia 8 II is one of the best flagships we’ve tested this year.

But be warned, with the Samsung S95F sneaking into our test rooms soon, that verdict may change in the not too distant future…

Score: 5/5

Read our Sony Bravia 8 II (K55XR8M2) review

4. PMC Prophecy 7

The PMC Prophecy 7 are a pair of surprisingly compact floorstanding speakers designed for enthusiasts who are short on space.

Despite their dimensions, PMC’s loaded the speakers with a number of impressive features. Highlights include the latest version of PMC’s Laminair vent, which aims to reduce harmonic distortion, and an atypical 55mm midrange dome that uses a petal-shaped waveguide to control dispersion.

As well as proving remarkably unfussy with their placement, during testing they delivered a solid performance. Matched with price appropriate hardware they offer music fans exceptional clarity and impressive low-end heft for their size.

Score: 5/5

Read our PMC Prophecy 7 review

5. Lindemann Limetree Bridge II

The Lindemann Limetree Bridge II is a bit of hi-fi from a category we don’t see in our listening rooms that often. Specifically, it is a network bridge, sometimes referred to as a streaming transport. This is a fancy term for a streamer that doesn’t have a DAC included.

Does that make it a niche product? Yes. But, after putting it through its paces we can confirm, for its target audience, it is a fantastic piece of hardware. Pairing it with a Chord Qutest DAC, the unit delivered stellar results, offering a precise, clean and crisp presentation regardless of what genre we threw at it.

Score: 5/5

Read our Lindemann Limetree Bridge II review

6. Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max (2nd Generation)

The Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max (2nd Generation) is a video streamer designed for buyers on a budget.

The idea behind is simple; plug the tiny stick into any screen with an HDMI and you’ll be able to access Fire OS, which includes pretty much every streaming service under the sun.

Based on our testing, while it won’t dethrone the Apple TV 4K as our recommended single box solution at the top end of the market, for its intended audience it’s a fantastic option thanks to its consistent picture quality and robust HDR support.

Score: 5/5

Read our Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max (2nd Generation) review

MORE:

These are the best floorstanding speakers we’ve reviewed

We rate the best TVs money can buy

Our picks of the best projectors

The Sony Bravia 8 II is one of – if not the – most exciting new TVs of the year. Not that you would know that from the name.

The TV is exciting because it’s the successor to the A95L QD-OLED, a model so good that it’s still one of the very best TVs you can currently buy, despite being nearly two years old.

But the name is weird. ‘Bravia 8 II’ suggests it’s the successor to the Bravia 8 W-OLED TV, but the Bravia 8 is continuing in the range, with the Bravia 8 II sitting above it.

Why not call the new model the ‘Bravia 9’? Because Sony’s flagship Mini LED model already takes that name. It can’t be called ‘Bravia 10’, either, as that would suggest it sits above the Bravia 9, which isn’t the case. Besides, that name is likely being saved for the company’s upcoming RGB LED TV.

What’s in a name? Well, the worry is that the name is rather confusing and possibly undersells this new Sony QD-OLED. And it would be a real shame if potential buyers were put off by it – because the Bravia 8 II, here reviewed in 55-inch form, is an extraordinarily good TV.

How much does the Bravia 8 II cost?

Sony promised that the Bravia 8 II would be ‘more affordable than the A95L’, by which it meant that the new model would launch for less than the outgoing model did.

That has turned out to be true for the UK and Australia, but unfortunately not for the US.

Here’s a full launch price comparison between the Bravia 8, Bravia 8 II and A95L:

Thankfully, discounts have come early for the US, so while the TV is still full price in the UK and Australia, it has already dropped to $2500 and $3000 in the US for the 55- and 65-inch versions respectively.

More important than how the Bravia 8 II's pricing compares with that of its fellow Sony TVs is how it compares with rivals such as the LG G5, Samsung S95F and Panasonic Z95B.

You can see the launch pricing for all four models here:

Of course, launch pricing is just the start of the story, and we always recommend waiting for discounts before making a purchase.

History suggests that the LG G5 will be the most heavily discounted model over time, closely followed by the Samsung S95F. Sony and Panasonic TVs, particularly flagship models, are usually less aggressively discounted.

That said, it feels as though we’re in a fairly unprecedented period of volatility, so there’s no guarantee that pricing history will repeat with these models.

What are the key design features of the Bravia 8 II?

The Bravia 8 II looks very similar to the A95L it replaces. One suspects that Sony decided to reuse as much of the chassis as possible to reduce costs so that it could sell the new model for less than its predecessor.

Compared with the flagship OLEDs that Sony produced before the A95L, the design is relatively conventional, but it is also quite smart and premium compared with many rivals.

Sony points to the Bravia 8 II as the slimmest TV in its lineup. At 3.4cm, though, it is the same thickness as the outgoing A95L and significantly thicker than rivals such as the Samsung S95F (1.1cm) and LG G5 (2.4cm). At least some of that comparative thickness is probably due, as with the A95L, to the actuator-based sound system and custom heatsink.

Like the A95L, the Bravia 8 II has blade-style feet that can be positioned only at the furthest extremes of the TV’s bottom edge. Sony claims that’s great for preventing reflections, but it also means the TV can’t be placed on furniture narrower than the set's width, which is 122cm (48 inches) for the 55-inch model and 145cm (64.5 inches) for the 65-inch version.

While the feet can’t be positioned closer to the centre of the chassis, they can be extended to lift the TV a few centimetres so that a soundbar can be positioned in front of the TV without obstructing the screen.

One big disappointment on the design front is that the remote control has been downgraded from the rechargeable, backlit number of the A95L, Bravia 9 and even the Bravia 8, to one that requires AAA batteries and doesn’t light up in the dark. That seems an odd decision.

What are the key features of the Bravia 8 II?

The big thing here, of course, is that the Bravia 8 II uses what Sony refers to as ‘the latest QD-OLED panel’. This, combined with Sony’s processing and custom heatsink, results in the new model apparently being able to go 25 per cent brighter than its A95L QD-OLED predecessor in terms of peak brightness, and 50 per cent brighter than the Bravia 8 W-OLED.

• Read more: W-OLED vs QD-OLED

With this increased brightness comes increased colour volume, and Sony claims to have also engineered big improvements to dark gradation (essentially very dark shading).

As you would expect, the Bravia 8 II is powered by Sony’s XR Processor which, like every rival TV processor right now, uses AI, most notably in what the brand refers to as ‘an AI scene recognition system’. This new, 2025 feature, which is exclusive to the Bravia 8 II and Bravia 5, apparently ‘detects and analyses data with flawless accuracy, then optimises the picture for ultimate realism’.

Sony has gone big in recent years on what it calls ‘Studio Calibrated Modes’. These, it says, deliver content from their respective streaming services as it was meant to be seen. So it’s no surprise to see the Netflix Adaptive Calibrated Mode, Prime Video Calibrated Mode and Sony Pictures Core Calibrated Mode all present on the Bravia 8 II.

The TV also supports Dolby Vision and Atmos, and is IMAX Enhanced certified. As with all previous Sony TVs, it does not support HDR10+, but the standard HDR10 and HLG HDR formats are, of course, on board.

Unfortunately, precious little has changed on the gaming front. Yes, the TV supports 4K/120Hz, VRR and ALLM, and it has a Dolby Vision Game mode. The ‘Perfect for PlayStation 5’ functionality remains, too, which means the TV will automatically dial in pretty accurate HDR settings when connected to a PlayStation 5.

The problem is that there are still just two full-bandwidth HDMI 2.1 sockets, and one of those doubles as the eARC port, so it will be taken up by your soundbar or other sound system, should you choose to add one. That will leave just one top-specification input for your console or gaming PC.

That’s fine if you have just one such device, but if you have more, you’re going to have to do some irritating cable swapping or accept the extras running at less than their full capabilities.

As expected, the Bravia 8 II features the Google TV platform, which is gradually gaining ground on LG’s slicker webOS.

The app selection is excellent, with no significant absentees. That includes all of the UK's catch-up services, which can be missing from some Google TV devices.

Every app delivers its content in the expected formats, too, and an initial issue we had with Netflix delivering content in 5.1 rather than Dolby Atmos has since sorted itself out.

How good is the Bravia 8 II's picture quality?

For our testing, we’ve lined the Bravia 8 II up against both its A95L predecessor and Bravia 8 sibling, feeding all sets a variety of content in 4K Dolby Vision, 4K HDR10, 1080p and standard-def.

This content includes Alien: Romulus, Sinners, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Alex Garland’s Civil War, Pan, The Fall Guys, and even an episode of Rowan Atkinson’s fairly forgotten The Thin Blue Line from 1995.

To cut to the chase, the Bravia 8 II is a significant upgrade on both models, and no flaws have been introduced. It’s all gain and no pain, and the results are glorious.

One of the Bravia 8 II’s greatest strengths is how easy it is to get looking its best. For a supremely authentic picture, simply pick Dolby Vision Dark for Dolby Vision content or Professional for everything else.

Should you want a little more pop to proceedings, either because you’re watching in a room with ambient light or simply because you enjoy an even more thrilling delivery, simply switch to Dolby Vision Bright or the Cinema mode.

We’re not saying that small tweaks won’t result in an even better picture, but the presets are so spot on, the vast majority of owners won’t deem that extra effort necessary.

We kick things off with Alien: Romulus in Dolby Vision, and the upgrades offered by the Bravia 8 II are clear and appreciable.

The first of these is predictably the noticeably brighter peak highlights, with the pin-prick stars glistening that little bit more piercingly against the foreboding blackness of deep space.

But there’s more to it than that. The Bravia 8 II’s bright colours are more vibrant than they are from the Bravia 8 and brighter than they are from the A95L, which makes the steadily illuminating orange and red buttons in the cockpit of the recovery craft all the more impressive.

Colours maintain their natural vibrancy in low-light areas, too, such as the bunk in which Cailee Spaeny’s Rain awakens for another glorious day in the employ of the Weyland Yutani corporation.

The work that Sony has done on dark gradation has really paid off as well, in that there’s far more shadow detail from the Bravia 8 II than either of the other sets.

All of the folds and wrinkles in Andy’s (David Jonsson) grey jacket are clear as he and Rain walk through the dystopian streets of the Jackson’s Star Mining Colony, whereas the finest elements are lost on the Bravia 8 and A95L.

But what’s most impressive is how all of these elements combine with Sony’s new AI processing to make the image look so much more solid and three-dimensional. There’s volume and roundedness to objects and people (Rain and Andy as they eat breakfast in front of a daylight-style window, for example), and backgrounds have depth and purpose (the street behind Rain as she talks through a window to a cold corporate shill).

These traits hold true when we switch to Sinners. The incredible, dramatic sunrise skies over the cotton fields have greater shading, depth and contrast from the Bravia 8 II, and you get the feeling you could put your hand through the TV and reach towards the horizon.

The bleached white church really pops against the azure blue skies and verdant green fields, and as the movie takes its dark turn, the improved presentation of shadow detail ensures that you never miss a gory effect or creepy facial expression.

Punchy animated movie Into The Spider-Verse absolutely pops from the Bravia 8 II, particularly in Dolby Vision Bright. The bright sun over Brooklyn sizzles, original Spidey’s red suit is super-vivid, and the dimension-melding action at the start of the film crackles with colour.

Civil War, meanwhile, is such a crisp and vibrant movie (somewhat ironic given the gritty subject matter), and it too looks utterly glorious in HDR10 from the Bravia 8 II.

The flawless colour reproduction brings out the red of the near-sunburnt skin of Wagner Moura’s Joel as he awakens with a hangover in the bright sunlight, and while Kirsten Dunst’s Lee looks a little too pale and shadowy from the Bravia 8 and A95L respectively, the Bravia 8 II reveals the small amount of colour left in her cheeks and the full anguish on her face.

Unsurprisingly, the bright tracer fire and explosions during the battle for Washington, D.C. leap from the screen, providing stunning contrast against the dimly lit streets.

As you would probably imagine, given that it’s mastered to a super-bright 4000 nits, Pan goes even further in illustrating the advantages of the Bravia 8 II over both the Bravia 8 and A95L.

Of course, even the new model can get nowhere near the 4000 nits of the source material, but the combination of greater brightness headroom and some exceptional tone mapping results in significantly more piercing highlights with precise detail and shading.

Once again, though, it’s the way that all of the Bravia 8 II’s individually small upgrades combine to make the image seem so much more solid and lifelike that is so impressive.

Right at the other end of the quality spectrum is our standard-def stream of The Thin Blue Line, and it’s certainly true that 576p material such as this benefits less from the Bravia 8 II’s upgrades than 4K HDR does, but the quality of the upscaling is still mightily impressive.

The image created by the Bravia 8 II is undeniably cleaner and smoother than the other sets can manage, but there’s also impressive sharpness and detail. It wouldn’t be too hard to convince someone that what they were watching was HD rather than SD. We do feel the need to switch from Professional to Cinema here, though, as the former looks a little too dark.

Overall, the key to the Bravia 8 II’s success is balance. The colours are so vibrant, highlights so bright and edges so sharp, but nothing feels exaggerated or incorrect, which means you never feel as though you’re getting anything other than the very best versions of your movies and TV shows.

How good is the Bravia 8 II's sound system?

The Bravia 8 II has the same Acoustic Surface Audio+ setup as the A95L. Said setup consists of two actuators and two subwoofers (the Bravia 8 features two lesser actuators and one sub) and, in the A95L, represents one of the best built-in TV sound systems currently available.

Sure enough, the Bravia 8 II sounds just as good.

The actuators vibrate the screen itself in order to make sound. This ties the audio and video spatially in a way that rival solutions can’t match. But, as with the A95L, the Bravia 8 II manages to combine this directness with very impressive (by TV standards) spaciousness, with effects stretching far beyond the edges of the screen in all directions.

There’s excellent detail, too, and enough dynamic nuance to convey the emotion in an actor’s performance. Bigger dynamic shifts are also handled well, with chapter two of Blade Runner 2049 building steadily where rival sets sound flat.

As with the A95L, the Bravia 8 II isn’t the last word in bass depth, but it’s weightier than many rivals and, more importantly, is very controlled in the low frequencies, with only the faintest hint of fuzz creeping into the uniquely deep notes of the soundtrack.

Tonal balance is very good overall, in fact, with the impressive lower midrange ensuring that there’s warmth and fullness to voices.

In short, the Bravia 8 II sounds very similar to the A95L, which means it’s one of the best-sounding TVs you can buy. We still believe that a picture as good as this demands to be partnered by a dedicated sound system, but this is one of those rare TVs that won’t instantly be improved through the addition of a cheap soundbar.

Think along the lines of the Sonos Arc Ultra as a starting point for appropriate sound quality.

Verdict: is the Sony Bravia 8 II worth buying?

The Sony Bravia 8 II is a truly exceptional TV. Its combination of sizzling brightness, vibrant colours through all degrees of light, terrific shadow detail and razor-like sharpness combine to produce an image with regularly astonishing dynamism, depth and realism.

In fact, it’s so good that it makes the awesome A95L look a bit flat in comparison.

We haven’t yet had the chance to run the Bravia 8 II side-by-side with the LG G5, but our previous experience with the G5 tells us that it will win for sheer brightness and spectacle, but that the Bravia 8 II should be more considered and consistent. We already know for a fact that the Sony sounds significantly better, too.

We will be doing that full comparison as part of our Awards judging process, and we’re predicting a tense battle. Until then, we can’t proclaim the Bravia 8 II to be the very best TV available right now – but it’s undeniably already one of the best.

SCORES:

• Picture 5
• Sound 5
• Features 4

MORE:

Also consider the LG G5, Samsung S95F and Panasonic Z95B

How about a different Sony model? Check out our Bravia 8 review and Bravia 9 review

These are the overall best OLED TVs you can buy right now

Sony's new 2025 TVs were announced in April. While the brand chose to keep the Bravia 9 Mini LED TV as its flagship set, it introduced the Bravia 8 II QD-OLED TV to sit below it.

We've now reviewed the new TV, and bestowed upon it a coveted five-star rating.

But how does it compare to the Mini LED range-topper? Join us as we explain the differences between the two TVs and help you decide which is right for you.

Sony Bravia 8 II vs Bravia 9: price

While the Bravia 9 officially sits at the top of Sony's current TV range, and is therefore nominally priced above the Bravia 8 II, its longer time on sale means it's actually currently the more affordable of the two TVs when buying a 65-inch model (the only size in which both TVs are available).

So, the 65-inch Bravia 9 is currently priced at £2599 / $2800 (this size isn't available in Australia), while the 65-inch Bravia 8 II is £2999 / $3300 / AU$5295.

The Bravia 8 II is also available in a 55-inch size, which is currently available for £2499 / $2600 / AU$4195.

The Bravia 9 doesn't come in a 55-inch variant, but there is a 75-inch version, which will currently set you back £2999 / $3198 / AU$5799, and an 85-inch model, which is currently priced £3799 / $4500 / AU$6799.

As ever, these prices will change, and we would expect the new set's price to drop over time, though Sony TVs aren't usually discounted as heavily as those from LG and Samsung.

You'll see the latest and greatest deals on both TVs sprinkled throughout this page, but based on the prices of the 65-inch models at the time of writing, this round has to go to the Bravia 9.

** Winner: Sony Bravia 9 **

Sony Bravia 8 II vs Bravia 9: design

The Bravia 8 II replaces the A95L, and it looks very similar to it.

That's no bad thing – it's a smart, premium-looking chassis that's the slimmest in Sony's current line-up (and 1.4cm slimmer than the Bravia 9).

It has similar blade-like feet to the Bravia 9, but they can only be positioned at the furthest extremes of the TV's bottom edge. That means the Bravia 8 II can't be placed on furniture narrower than the set's width – 122cm for the 55-inch model and 145cm for the 65-inch version.

The Bravia 9's feet can be positioned towards the centre of the TV to help it fit on a smaller cabinet. This makes it much more versatile in terms of positioning.

Both TVs' feet can be extended to raise the TV up and accommodate a soundbar.

** Winner: Sony Bravia 9 **

Sony Bravia 8 II vs Bravia 9: features

The main difference between these TVs is the panel technology they use. The Bravia 8 II uses a QD-OLED panel, while the Bravia 9 has a Mini LED display.

Sony claims the Bravia 8 II's screen can go 25 per cent brighter than its A95L QD-OLED predecessor in terms of peak brightness, and 50 per cent brighter than the Bravia 8.

This should also mean an increase in colour volume. Sony claims it has improved its dark shading too – read the next section to see if we agree.

The Bravia 9's Mini LED backlighting system has some impressive claims of its own. Its cutting-edge drivers allow for more granular control of the backlight compared with other Mini LED TVs. This makes it better able to combine very bright and very dark elements in one image.

Sony says the Bravia 9 has three times as many dimming zones as the outgoing X95L, and is 50 per cent brighter. And all while being 30 per cent more power efficient.

Both sets use Sony's XR processor, but the Bravia 8 II has a new AI scene recognition system. This optimises the picture to what's on screen for greater realism.

Both TVs have calibrated modes for Prime Video, Netflix and the Sony Pictures Core streaming services. These aim to deliver the respective content as the director intended.

Both support the same formats of HDR (Dolby Vision, HDR10 and HLG, but not HDR10+), plus IMAX Enhanced. And both have just two HDMI 2.1 sockets, meaning gamers with more than one modern console and a soundbar/surround system will probably have to do some socket switching to get the best performance.

But otherwise, gamers are well served by both TVs, with 4K/120Hz, VRR and ALLM on board.

The Bravia 9 has a 70W 2.2.2-channel speaker system, while the Bravia 8 II has the same 60W 2.2-channel set-up as the A95L. The latter features actuators that vibrate the screen – that's not possible on a backlit display, so the Bravia 9's speakers are situated around the edge of the screen instead.

The Bravia 9 not only has 10W more total power than the Bravia 8 II, it also has two up-firing tweeters built into the top edge to deliver Dolby Atmos height effects. Which could make for a more immersive sound.

** Winner: Sony Bravia 9 **

• What is QD-OLED? Everything you need to know
• Mini LED: all the details on OLED's rival

Sony Bravia 8 II vs Bravia 9: picture

The Bravia 8 II has one big advantage over the Bravia 9: it's much less fussy.

That's thanks to some expertly tuned presets. Just choose either Dolby Vision Dark (for Dolby Vision content) or Professional (for everything else), and you're pretty much guaranteed a fantastically authentic picture.

Dolby Vision Bright / Cinema mode will provide a bit more 'pop' (handy for bright days), or you can tweak the settings yourself, but the vast majority of viewers will be more than happy with the presets.

The Bravia 9, by contrast, requires a fair bit of time in the menus if you want it looking its best. But as we'll see, the results are worth it.

In terms of picture quality, the Bravia 8 II is a big upgrade on the A95L that it replaces. Its peak highlights are appreciably brighter, and colours are brighter overall. Colours don't lose their vibrancy in low light either, and there's buckets of shadow detail to enjoy.

Sony's AI processing makes the image much more solid, with more depth, and objects gaining a volume and roundedness that its predecessor lacked.

Watching Sinners, "The incredible, dramatic sunrise skies over the cotton fields have greater shading, depth and contrast from the Bravia 8 II, and you get the feeling you could put your hand through the TV and reach towards the horizon," we wrote in our review.

Animated movies pose the TV no problems, as evinced by watching Into The Spider-Verse. "The bright sun over Brooklyn sizzles, original Spidey’s red suit is super-vivid, and the dimension-melding action at the start of the film crackles with colour," we noted.

The Bravia 9 earned four stars in our review. As we said, the fussing is worth it.

Watching Pan, "the highlights seen as the ship descends through space and glides into a dreamlike floating ocean are exceptional, with rich, impactful orange hues and noticeable detail in the very centre of the sun – something that we do not see in the deliveries of the LG G4 or Bravia 8," we wrote in our review.

Its contrast abilities add a real sense of depth to proceedings, with sharp outlines provoking a three-dimensional effect. Blacks might not be quite at OLED levels – inevitable on a backlit set – but they're still very impressive.

Colours are well balanced, and while skin tones could use a little extra warmth, particularly in low-light areas, they are still generally natural. Motion handling is superb, too.

Although the Bravia 9 is capable of going brighter than any current OLED, thanks to its advanced Mini LED backlight, in a comparative test, we found it to be not quite as cinematic as the Bravia 8 II's little brother, the original Bravia 8. The latter is just more detailed, sharper and cleaner. Skin tones are richer, and neon signs more vibrant.

Considering the Bravia 8 II is a real step on from that model, there's no doubt that it delivers the more authentic, consistent and crisp viewing experience.

** Winner: Sony Bravia 8 II **

Sony Bravia 8 II vs Bravia 9: sound

The Bravia 8 II has the same sound system as the A95L, and puts in the same bravura performance.

It sounds direct but spacious, with an excellent level of detail. "Bigger dynamic shifts are also handled well, with chapter two of Blade Runner 2049 building steadily where rival sets sound flat," we wrote in our review.

It's not the last word in bass depth, but it's weightier than most rivals, and remains composed. It also has an impressive tonal balance, lending voices a satisfying warmth and fullness.

And the Bravia 9? Typically for a Sony, it sounds very good indeed, especially thanks to the new up-firing drivers, which really add a sense of height. They make the sound feel more spacious, too.

The sound has great directionality, and the TV projects very well into the room. We like the Voice Zoom 3 feature too, which enhances the dialogue to make it clearer without compromising the other audio effects.

Again, it is a little bass-light and lacking in punch. But the upside is that it stays within its limits, and so doesn't distort.

** Winner: Sony Bravia 9 **

Sony Bravia 8 II vs Bravia 9: verdict

So which of these super-premium Sony TVs should you buy?

The Bravia 9 is brighter, more versatile in terms of positioning and has up-firing speakers for a more convincing Dolby Atmos effect.

But the Bravia 8 II's picture is superior. Perfect blacks and pixel-level contrast control, plus even more advanced processing, result in an image with more pop, depth and consistency. It works better right out of the box, too.

So, both TVs are great, but assuming you're not after a TV bigger than 65 inches (or one for a super-bright room such as a conservatory), it's the Bravia 8 II we recommend.

MORE:

Read our Sony Bravia 8 II review

And our Sony Bravia 9 review

Sony 2025 TV lineup: everything you need to know

The best Sony TVs you can buy

If you ask me, the Sony A95L is still one of the very best TVs you can currently buy – even though it's been on sale for well over a year.

The combination of a QD-OLED panel with Sony's legendary processing and one of the most capable in-built TV sound systems around makes the A95L an all-rounder of rare talent.

Needless to say, then, I leapt at the chance to check out its successor, the Bravia 8 II, in person in Tokyo ahead of its 28th April US launch and June launch in the UK.

Is it everything I hoped it would be? Mostly yes, but also not entirely. Ahead of our full review, here are all of the things (so far) that I like about the Bravia 8 II, and the few things I'm not so keen on.

The good stuff

It can go much brighter and reproduce more colours than the A95L

The biggest improvement for the Bravia 8 II is that it features 'the latest QD-OLED' panel from Samsung Display.

The capabilities of this new panel vary somewhat depending on who you ask and, of course, the specific TV in which it's used, but Sony says the Bravia 8 II will be able to hit a peak brightness level 25 per cent greater than that of the A95L.

It will also be 50 per cent brighter than the Bravia 8, which features a W-OLED panel and will continue in Sony's 2025 TV lineup.

But alongside brighter highlights, this new panel also brings with it greater colour volume.

Sure enough, in the demos I saw, the Bravia 8 II was clearly brighter than the A95L, Samsung S95D and LG G4 – but it also had more detailed highlights and more vibrant colours, particularly in the brightest parts of the picture.

Picture processing has been improved, too

The panel is only one ingredient in the picture quality recipe, and one of the reasons that so many people are drawn to Sony TVs over their Samsung and LG rivals is the Japanese brand's much-lauded picture processing.

One thing that Sony has paid particular attention to with the Bravia 8 II is its low-light performance – essentially, how it handles black depth and shadow detail.

This was demonstrated to me using a clip from Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them, and the Bravia 8 II did a much better job than the S95D and G4 of revealing the details in the murky scene and maintaining natural colours.

Was the Bravia 8 II digging up details that the director intended to be hidden? The Sony BVM-3110 mastering monitor that was supplied for reference suggested not. In fact, even the Bravia 8 II was less revealing than the monitor.

Sony has also beefed up the AI chops of its XR processor, and the Bravia 8 II (and Bravia 5) will benefit from a new 'AI scene recognition system' that, according to Sony, "detects and analyses data with flawless accuracy, then optimises the picture for ultimate realism".

As good as Sony's processing generally is, terms such as 'flawless accuracy' and 'ultimate realism' seem a bit overly ambitious. Instead, I'm expecting a bit of an upgrade to the A95L's depth enhancement feature, which gently increases the three-dimensionality of an image without making it seem enhanced.

Useful tweaks to how the Professional and Cinema modes work

Sony has never boarded the Filmmaker Mode train, arguing that its Professional mode does a similar thing, and this year, that and Cinema mode are getting some useful tweaks.

The Professional preset is now designed to look more like the brand's BVM mastering monitor than ever before, with little to no active processing or enhancement.

In a dark room, the Cinema preset will look very similar to Professional, but the ambient light sensor will be switched on by default.

This means that when you turn the room lights on, the Bravia 8 II will compensate both in terms of colours and brightness so that you still get a perceptually accurate picture.

If done correctly (this wasn't demonstrated to me in Tokyo), this should work very similarly to how LG's current OLEDs do when you put them in Filmmaker Mode and enable their ambient light sensor.

In other words, for many people, it could be the only picture setting they ever need.

Unchanged audio system should still sound very good

The A95L is pretty much the only TV that I feel I could live with from an audio point of view. That isn't to say that it's not fairly easily beaten by a soundbar – but it's much more capable than the insipid sound systems of almost all of its rivals.

So, it's broadly good news (I'll get to the negative aspect shortly) that the Bravia 8 II sports the same sound system as the A95L.

That sound system features two actuators that vibrate the whole screen with two subwoofers to add weight and depth. The step-down Bravia 8, in comparison, has just one woofer, and its two actuators are smaller and less capable.

The key benefit of the actuator approach is that the sound literally comes from the screen, so the audio and visuals are tied together in a way that other TVs can't match.

But what's most impressive about the A95L is how this focus and directness combine with spaciousness and a sense of three-dimensionality to deliver a fairly impressive (by TV standards) Dolby Atmos delivery.

If the Bravia 8 II merely sounds as good as the A95L, it will still almost certainly be the best-sounding TV in its class – though the Panasonic Z95B might give it a run for its money.

More affordable than the A95L in the UK

Sony promised that the Bravia 8 II would be more affordable than the A95L was when it launched, but I had imagined we would be looking at a drop of something in the region of 10 per cent.

Well, the prices have now been announced, and in the UK (we'll get to the US prices later) the 55-inch Bravia 8 II is 17 per cent cheaper than the equivalent A95L was at launch, and the 65-inch model is 19 per cent cheaper than its equivalent.

That will make the Bravia 8 II much more competitive with its rivals than the A95L was. We don't yet have UK pricing for the Samsung S95F, but the LG G5 is, at launch, £100 cheaper than the Bravia 8 II at 55 inches, but £300 more expensive at 65 inches.

Here's a full comparison of the UK launch prices of the Sony Bravia 8, Bravia 8 II, A95l and the LG G5:

The feet can be extended to accommodate a soundbar

While the Bravia 8 II's feet aren't perfect (more on which below), they can be positioned either flush with the bottom of the TV or extended to create a space for a soundbar.

Because there is also a big distance between the feet, there's plenty of space for said soundbar and no awkward plate to get in the way.

The exclusive Sony Pictures Core app is still a great value-added treat

While not a new thing for the Bravia 8 II, the Sony Pictures Core app remains a compelling selling point for Sony's TVs.

For those not already in the know, Sony Pictures Core (formerly known as Bravia Core) is a streaming service that is exclusive to Sony TVs.

What's special about it is that it streams movies in much higher quality than rival services. We're talking about bitrates of up to 80Mbps, whereas Apple TV maxes out at around 40Mbps and Netflix and Prime Video are down at around 25Mbps.

The result is cleaner, crisper picture quality, particularly with the IMAX Enhanced content that is available.

Buyers of the Bravia 8 II will get 10 tokens that can be spent on premium movies, plus 24 months of streaming from the general catalogue.

The bad stuff

Much more expensive than the A95L (and the LG G5 and Samsung S95F) in the US

While the UK is getting the Bravia 8 II for much less than the launch price of the A95L, it's the opposite story in the US, where Sony appears to be factoring in the costs and potential costs of tariffs.

The 55-inch Bravia 8 II is a whopping 25 per cent more expensive than the A95L was at launch, while the 65-inch version is 14 per cent more expensive.

Inevitably, that means it's much more expensive than the launch prices of the LG G5 and Samsung S95F. Here's the full comparison:

Still only two HDMI 2.1 sockets

It seems almost unbelievable – and yet so wearily predictable – that Sony's flagship TV in 2025 still has just two HDMI 2.1 sockets.

LG has been producing models with four such ports since way back in 2019, for heaven's sake.

We know the reasoning, of course: while LG and Samsung produce their own HDMI boards, most other brands, including Sony, have been relying on MediaTek for their HDMI boards.

MediaTek does now produce an HDMI chipset with four HDMI 2.1 ports (the Pentonic 800), but that is in other ways a downgrade on the Pentonic 1000 found in many flagship TVs, including the A95L, Bravia 8 and Bravia 9, and it seems that Sony is reluctant to compromise in order to get those extra sockets.

Still, if feels as though Sony, in particular, should have found a way around this issue by now.

Of course, for many, two HDMI 2.1 sockets are plenty, but as someone with an Xbox Series X, PlayStation 5 and gaming PC, it's not enough for me.

No option to add a subwoofer

This is a bit of a niche one, and certainly isn't something that other TVs offer, but I really feel that Sony should have made it possible to connect one of its wireless subwoofers to the Bravia 8 II.

As great as the A95L sounds by TV standards, it's relatively lacking in terms of bass weight and depth. The addition of a subwoofer, though, would make it a real force to be reckoned with – and could in fact sound better than most soundbars.

Sony already produces three wireless subwoofers, and I imagine it wouldn't be too tricky to make them compatible directly with a TV.

I imagine Sony is simply too interested in selling soundbars such as the Bravia Theatre Bar 9 and systems such as the Bravia Quad to want to give people a less expensive alternative sonic route to go down.

I just think that's a bit of a shame.

There's no 77-inch model

As you may have spotted from the pricing graphs above, there is no 77-inch version of the Bravia 8 II. In fact, the 77-inch version of the A95L will continue in the Sony range instead.

This seems like an odd decision. We know that 77 inches is an increasingly popular screen size, and we know there's a 77-inch version of the latest QD-OLED panel, as it's being used in the 77-inch Samsung S95F.

It feels as though a lot of people will essentially be forced to go with that Samsung, the LG G5 or the Panasonic Z95B if they want a flagship 77-inch TV with the latest and greatest screen technology.

The feet are too far apart for a lot of furniture

As mentioned, the Bravia 8 II's feet can be extended to make room for a soundbar, which is great, but they can only be positioned at the very extremes of the set's bottom edge.

That means that the TV won't stand atop furniture any narrower than the TV's overall width, which is 122cm (48 inches) for the 55-inch model and 145cm (57 inches) for the 65-inch version. That's going to be a problem for some buyers.

Of course, it is possible to simply buy an inexpensive third-party stand that connects to the TV's VESA mounting points, but no one really wants the additional cost and hassle involved in that when they've just spent thousands on their fancy new TV.

You would expect the Bravia 8 II to be the follow-up to the Bravia 8, right? But no; it actually succeeds the A95L, one of the finest TVs of recent years.

Like its predecessor, the Bravia 8 II is a QD-OLED model (whereas the Bravia 8 is a W-OLED), but with several small yet notable improvements that make it an even better proposition.

But with the A95L currently discounted, could it prove the wiser buy? Let's find out more about these improvements…

Sony Bravia 8 II vs A95L: price

The Bravia 8 II has a lower launch price than the A95L. But given that the A95L has been out since 2023, its price has inevitably come down a fair bit. So it is still the cheaper of the two.

This table shows their launch prices only.

Whereas the below widget shows each TV's current retail price. At the time of writing, the A95L goes for around £1800 at 55 inches and £2750 at 65 inches – that's £700 cheaper than the Bravia 8 II at the smaller size, though only £150 cheaper at the bigger size.

The A95L price has fallen lower before, though – we have seen it at £2199 at 65 inches. Which makes your decision considerably tougher…

** Winner: Sony A95L **

Sony Bravia 8 II vs A95L: design

There's not a lot of difference in the two models' designs – Sony has effectively reused the A95L's chassis for the Bravia 8 II.

It has the same 3.4cm thickness as the A95L, which is actually quite chunky for a modern OLED TV. But then it does contain an actuator-based sound system (more on this later) and a custom heatsink.

The blade-style feet are back as well. They look undeniably cool, but they can only be positioned at the outer edges of the TV. Which means you'll need a pretty wide TV cabinet to accommodate it – at least 122cm (48 inches) for the 55-inch model and 145cm (64.5 inches) for the 65-inch version.

You can simply add a third-party universal TV stand with a narrower footprint, though this won't look as stylish as Sony's own solution.

The feet might not move inwards, but they can be made taller to accommodate a soundbar without it obstructing the screen.

There is one quirk of the design: the remote control. The Bravia 8 II's remote is a downgrade on the A95L's – it's powered by AAA batteries and isn't backlit, whereas the A95L's is rechargeable and lights up in the dark.

It might be splitting hairs, but with the rest of the design identical, this tips the round in the A95L's favour.

** Winner: Sony A95L **

Sony Bravia 8 II vs A95L: features

The A95L came out in 2023, so you would expect a few new features from the Bravia 8 II. And that's exactly what you get.

There's a new screen, for starters. Its 'latest QD-OLED' panel, combined with the heatsink and Sony's processing skills, makes it 25 per cent brighter than the A95L in terms of peak brightness, and 50 per cent brighter than the Bravia 8 W-OLED.

This brings with it an increase in colour volume, while Sony also claims big gains in terms of dark shading.

Sony's XR processor is on board, and this time it uses AI to detect and analyse scene information and optimise the picture accordingly.

The A95L uses Sony's Cognitive Processor XR, which is an earlier variant. It lacks the AI scene-recognition system of the Bravia 8 II, but does have XR Clear Image, which cleans up source material so it looks better on screen.

Otherwise, the feature sets are very similar. The Bravia 8 II has Studio Calibrated modes for Netflix, Sony Pictures Core and Prime Video, but the A95L is lacking the last of these. Both TVs have Dolby Atmos and Vision (alongside the HDR10 and HLG formats of HDR), as well as IMAX Enhanced certification.

They have the same gaming specifications, too, though these are bettered by TVs from other manufacturers. They both support 4K/120Hz, VRR and ALLM, have Dolby Vision gaming and the ‘Perfect for PlayStation 5’ functionality. But they each have only two HDMI 2.1 sockets, whereas four is standard with OLEDs from Samsung and LG.

Google TV comes on both TVs. While the A95L lacked UK terrestrial catch-up apps at launch, they arrived via a subsequent firmware update.

** Winner: Sony Bravia 8 II **

• HDR TV: what is HDR? How do you get it?

Sony Bravia 8 II vs A95L: picture

Our first impressions of the Bravia 8 II were very good indeed, and now that we have given it the full review treatment, we are happy to confirm that these were on the money. Its picture quality is fantastic.

It's a significant upgrade on the A95L, which, if you're aware of that set's quality, you'll know is really saying something.

Unlike some of the fussier TVs around, it's a doddle to get it looking its best – just pick Dolby Vision Dark for Dolby Vision content or Professional for everything else, and you are guaranteed a fantastically authentic picture.

Peak highlights are brighter, while colours keep their natural vibrancy in low-light areas. The extra shadow detail (what Sony refers to as "dark gradation") is plain to see.

"But what’s most impressive is how all of these elements combine with Sony’s new AI processing to make the image look so much more solid and three-dimensional," we say in our review.

"There’s volume and roundedness to objects and people… and backgrounds have depth and purpose."

But the A95L still holds its own against more modern TVs. That's because it was a little ahead of its time – its rivals have been playing catch-up ever since.

The A95L picks out plenty of detail within highlights, giving surfaces lots of shading and texture that rival TVs miss. But the black elements are just as impressive, with lots of depth and a similar abundance of detail.

"What's more," we add in our review, "the A95L also reproduces colours expertly in these darkest parts of the picture so that skin tones remain accurate and lifelike where other TVs allow them to go a bit pale.".

It all makes for a more solid and three-dimensional image.

** Winner: Sony Bravia 8 II **

Sony Bravia 8 II vs A95L: sound

The Bravia 8 II has the same actuator-based sound system as the A95L. Two actuators vibrate the screen in order to create sound that comes from the corresponding part of the picture. It's a remarkably effective way of tying the audio to the visual.

But its audio expands far beyond the confines of the screen, adding a nice degree of spaciousness to proceedings.

"There’s excellent detail, too, and enough dynamic nuance to convey the emotion in an actor’s performance," we say in our review. "Bigger dynamic shifts are also handled well, with chapter two of Blade Runner 2049 building steadily where rival sets sound flat."

We describe the A95L as sounding direct, detailed and dynamic. Its pseudo Atmos effect is quite impressive, though the lack of up-firing drivers preclude it from having true height channels.

Despite the two built-in subwoofers, both the A95L and Bravia 8 II are a bit bass light.

Like all TVs, they would benefit hugely from one of the best soundbars or best surround sound systems – but unlike most TVs, a budget soundbar won't provide a notable improvement. You'll need to spend a bit more for any appreciable difference.

** Winner: Draw **

Sony Bravia 8 II vs A95L: verdict

The Bravia 8 II is clearly the better TV. It is brighter, has more shadow detail and is an absolute cinch to get looking its best. Its processing is more advanced too, and the sound quality is just as brilliant as the A95L.

But, despite the Bravia 8 II's lower launch price, the A95L is still the cheaper set. And it's still a fantastic performer. Its price is only going to drop further now that it's being replaced. So you really have to weigh up how much these improvements are worth to you.

MORE:

Read our Sony Bravia 8 II review

And our Sony A95L review

Sony 2025 TV lineup: everything you need to know

The best Sony TVs you can buy

Sony has announced its 2025 TV range. And like all good Hollywood blockbusters, there's a surprising twist…

Sony is keeping its existing 2024 range on sale. That's right, instead of wiping the slate clean and replacing each model, Sony is using its 2025 offerings primarily to fill in the gaps in its existing range.

Its three new TVs – the Bravia 3, Bravia 5 and Bravia 8 II – will complement its existing TVs (which we have included below).

So if you want a new Sony TV, what are your options? We'll explain all…

What's new?

Existing models stay on sale

Sony's existing models will stay on sale for another year. That means you will still be able to buy the Bravia 9, Bravia 8, A90K, Bravia 7, X85L and W800.

The new models complement these.

The Bravia 3 launched in the US and Australia last year, but comes to the UK in 2025. It's an LED model that will sit above the W800.

The Bravia 5 Mini LED TV will sit below the Bravia 7 but above the X85L. It replaces the X90L, which was a standard LED TV.

The final new model is the Bravia 8 II QD-OLED TV, which sits above the Bravia 8.

Finally, a replacement for the A95L

Sony has finally replaced the A95L. This second-generation QD-OLED TV launched in 2023 to rave reviews – we gave it five stars, calling it "very special indeed".

We had expected the new model to be called the Bravia 10, but it's actually the Bravia 8 II.

This promises to be more affordable than the A95L, but with a peak brightness that is 25 per cent higher. It uses the latest generation of QD-OLED panel.

We've already seen this new model in action. Click here to read our Sony Bravia 8 II hands-on.

No new small OLEDs

Unfortunately, Sony hasn't launched any new small OLED TVs, which means its only OLED under 55 inches remains the A90K.

It's still a great TV – we called it "exceptionally good" in our five-star review – but given that it launched in 2022, it is getting on a bit, much to the dismay of our TV & AV Editor, Tom Parsons, who has likened the A90K to Mr Meeseeks from Rick and Morty.

It wasn't the brightest OLED TV when we tested it three years ago, and OLEDs have made big strides in this area since then. So next to today's rivals it might look a little drab.

RGB LED, but not until 2026

The only brand new TV technology that Sony has announced is RGB LED, but that won't arrive until 2026.

Still, it shows what a landmark technology it could be that Sony feels compelled to talk about it a full 12 months before it is implemented.

We have seen it in person in Sony's Tokyo headquarters – and we're impressed.

Consider it an evolution of Mini LED. It too uses shrunken LEDs grouped into zones that can be brightened or dimmed independently, but its LEDs are coloured rather than white.

With colour coming directly from the backlight, it produces brighter, more accurate colours without the ‘blooming’ issues associated with backlit TVs.

For more information, check out our first impressions of Sony's RGB Mini LED prototype.

• What is Mini LED TV? How does it differ?

Sony 2025 TV range breakdown

That's the broad brush changes explained. Now we'll dig into more detail on each model.

We will also include older Sony models that are staying on sale.

Sony Bravia 9 Mini LED TV (2024)

Sony's 2024 flagship model remains for 2025. Its Mini LED panel can go 50 per cent brighter than the X95L it replaced, with three times as many dimming zones.

And it's a very good TV – but not a brilliant one.

Its picture lacks the same solidity of an OLED model, while not exhibiting quite the same degree of 'pop'. The sound is a bit underwhelming, too, and the user interface can be sluggish.

All of which cost it a fifth star.

In terms of specification, we are looking at an advanced LED Acoustic Multi-Audio+ sound system, with a 70W 2.2.2 channel audio.

It includes drivers that vibrate the frame of the TV in order to create sound, which emulates the actuator-based system on Sony's OLED models which instead vibrate the screen itself.

There are four HDMI sockets, but only two are HDMI 2.1 which will be disappointing for hardcore gamers.

Those ports will support 4K/120Hz gaming, VRR and ALLM though – to be expected considering Sony also manufactures the PlayStation 5.

The Bravia 9 also features the Google TV operating system.

Read our Sony Bravia 9 review

• HDMI 2.1 explained: everything you need to know
• What is Google TV? Apps, features, compatible TVs...

Sony Bravia 8 II QD-OLED TV (2025)

A new model for 2025, the Bravia 8 II is Sony's latest flagship OLED TV.

It's a step up from the A95L QD-OLED, which it replaces. The Bravia 8 II sits between the flagship Bravia 9 and lower-tier Bravia 8 from 2024 (see below).

Sony says it has a peak brightness that is 25 per cent higher than the A95L, and 50 per cent higher than the Bravia 8.

It also promises to be more affordable than the A95L.

Coming in 55- and 65-inch sizes, it has a new design, which Sony refers to as the Slim One Slate. This fuses the screen and bezel into a single slate, making for a more consistent and seamless design.

It is also the slimmest of Sony's new TVs – but it's still thicker than rivals such as the Samsung S95F and LG G5.

Under the hood, Sony's XR Processor detects the scene and analyses it in order to optimise the TV's picture performance.

XR Triluminos Max improves the colour accuracy and vibrancy, while XR Contrast Booster enhances the difference between light and dark parts of the picture, creating greater depth.

Sony stresses the Bravia 8 II's wide colour spectrum, and puts a big focus on its dark gradation.

And on the audio side, Sony's excellent Acoustic Surface Audio + tech vibrates sections of the screen to create sound with pinpoint accuracy.

Its system comprises two actuators and two subwoofers (the same as the A95L), which is superior to the 2.1 system of the Bravia 8.

Read our Sony Bravia 8 II hands-on

Sony Bravia 8 OLED TV (2024)

The Bravia 8 remains on sale. Which is good news: it's an Award winner.

It is 10 per cent brighter than its predecessor the A80L, and features the same Bravia XR processor as the Bravia 9.

It also features the OLED Acoustic Surface Audio+ audio system, which vibrates the screen to create a lifelike centralised sound that comes directly from the centre of the screen.

One thing we are glad the Bravia 8 doesn't share with the 9 is the range of available sizes. This OLED set comes in a much more conventional range of screen sizes: 55-, 65- and 77-inch versions.

In our five-star review, we praised the Bravia 8's balanced, immersive picture, sublime motion handling and decent audio (for a TV).

Read our Sony Bravia 8 review

Sony A90K OLED TV (2022)

The Sony A90K launched back in 2022, but that hasn't stopped Sony from squeezing yet another year out of it.

This TV soldiers on in both the 42- and 48-inch sizes.

If you want a small Sony OLED TV, it remains your only choice for 2025.

It's a standard WOLED panel with a 4K resolution and 120Hz refresh rate on both sizes.

Once again there are four HDMI sockets, with two rated to support the full 48GB bandwidth of HDMI 2.1, one of which doubles as HDMI eARC.

Sound is achieved via the Acoustic Surface Audio+ system and we considered it to be a strong, if not game-changing performer in this regard.

What truly won us over with this TV is its excellent picture performance. It bears the usual marks of a Sony OLED TV, including crisp details and deep contrast that results in a stunningly natural image.

While competition from LG in the small OLED TV category is tough, this is still a solid TV, even if it is rather aged at this point.

Read our Sony XR-48A90K review

• 4K 120Hz: what is it? Why should you get it?

Sony Bravia 7 Mini LED TV (2024)

The Sony Bravia 7 is another carry-over from 2024.

It has a Mini LED panel with quantum dots – albeit not the same advanced backlight found on the Bravia 9.

It offers a 30 per cent higher brightness and eight times more dimming zones than the X90L.

And it has a similar Acoustic Multi Audio system to the Bravia 9, but without the upward-firing beam tweeters.

It also inherits an identical gaming specification as its more expensive siblings, with two HDMI 2.1 sockets with 4K/120Hz, VRR and ALLM gaming support.

• VRR explained: what is variable refresh rate?
• Everything you need to know about ALLM for gaming

Sony Bravia 5 Mini LED TV (2025)

Another new model for 2025, the Bravia 5 takes the place of the X90L.

It's a Mini LED set that offers up to six times the number of dimming zones of the X90L (though it depends on screen size).

It is less bright than the Bravia 7, and has fewer dimming zones than that model.

The XR Processor is once again on board, complete with XR Backlight Master Drive for precision backlighting control. The same core technology is used in Sony's professional monitors.

It will come in five sizes, ranging from 55 inches to 98 inches.

Read our Sony Bravia 5 hands-on

Sony X85L LED TV (2023)

This is a further step down in Sony's backlit lineup and a continuing model from 2023.

It earned five stars from us thanks to its excellent contrast and backlight control, balanced colours and excellent motion handling.

It's a winner in the picture category, despite the fact it uses a full-array LED backlight. It does feature local dimming which accounts for the enhanced contrast and HDR performance.

We find that the X85L plays it too safe with sound at times, but we appreciate that it knows its limitations to avoid distortion. It sounds clear, detailed and fairly well-refined for built-in TV speakers, although we wish it had a touch more bass.

That all being said, we find it to be a solid performer by TV-sound standards.

The X85L is also specified very similarly to the other TVs on this list, with two HDMI 2.1 sockets for 4K/120Hz gaming with VRR and ALLM. It also supports Dolby Vision HDR and Dolby Atmos immersive audio over HDMI eARC.

Read our full Sony XR-55X85L review

• Dolby Atmos: what is it? How can you get it?

Sony Bravia 3 LED TV (2025)

This LED model spans sizes from 43 to 85 inches. It's new for the UK in 2025, but launched in the US and Australia last year.

It takes the place of the X75WL, and offers 4K upscaling, Sony's Triluminos Pro tech, and audio courtesy of Dolby Atmos and DTS:X.

The Google TV operating system brings all the streaming apps you would expect, and PS Remote Play makes it ideal as a bedroom TV.

But as its panel is only 60Hz, and its HDMI sockets are only 2.0 certified (not 2.1), your games won't look or feel their best.

This also means it carries the basic ARC standard, and not the more advanced eARC; so audio quality over HDMI may not be as crisp as the other sets on this list.

• HDMI 2.1 explained: features, specification and more
• HDMI ARC and eARC: what's the difference? Why does it matter?

Sony W800 LED TV (2021)

This 32-incher is ancient. A mainstay of the Sony lineup since 2021, it's basically part of the Sony furniture.

It is the smallest TV in Sony's current lineup, and offers comparatively little in the way of features.

You get HDR support (HDR10 and HLG only), a 60Hz refresh rate and the Android TV operating system. But not much else.

It is currently not sold in the US or Australia.

Read our Sony W800 review

MORE:

Check out the full LG 2025 TV lineup

Should you buy a Hisense TV in 2025? Find out here

And our pick of the best TVs

There’s a new range of Philips OLED TVs on the horizon, and the brand’s mid-range OLED810 offering has caught our eye. It’s a direct rival to Sony’s own mid-range TV, the What Hi Fi? Award-winning Bravia 8, with both sets boasting AI smarts and promising bright, contrasty OLED picture quality.

We gave the Sony Bravia 8 five stars for its all-round excellent picture performance, saying in our review that it is “wonderfully sharp” with a good sense of depth. In our review, editor-in-chief Alastair Stevenson also found that it provided key upgrades that “cinephiles care about”, such as skin tones looking more realistic than from its rivals.

While we have not yet tested the Philips and will wait until we have done so before delivering our final verdict, we have seen it in action at the brand’s European launch event.

By taking a deep dive into the specifications and features of both TVs – as well as our experiences with each – we can get an idea of how the two TVs could compare.

Philips OLED810 vs Sony Bravia 8: price

The Sony Bravia 8 is available in three different sizes. It launched at a price of £2199 / $2000 / AU$3495 for the 55-inch model, £2699 / $2800 / AU$4495 for the 65-inch version, and £3999 / $3900 / AU$6995 for the range-topping 77-inch model.

However, having been on sale for around a year, it can now be picked up for much less. Here are the latest and lowest prices:

We don’t yet have pricing for the new Philips OLED810, but its predecessor, the Philips OLED809 launched for less than its contemporary rivals. At this stage, we can only hope that Philips takes the same approach this year.

Philips OLED810 vs Sony Bravia 8: design

The OLED810 has an "ultra-thin, black metal bezel" along with a metal 'pill' swivel stand in a satin chrome finish. We suspect that will make accessing the sockets at the back pretty easy. The 77-inch model has metal 'soap bar' arch feet in satin chrome instead.

Looking at the Sony Bravia 8, it is noticeably flatter than its predecessor, the Sony A80L. This lets it sit flush to the wall more easily when mounted. The feet are thin with a flat top. These can be positioned close together in the middle of the TV’s bottom edge or further away near the screen’s edges. You can also raise them to allow for the placement of a soundbar under the TV if you wish.

Philips OLED810 vs Sony Bravia 8: features

The two rivals both promise high levels of brightness, with the OLED810’s ‘higher output OLED_EX panel’ reportedly offering a peak brightness of 1500 nits for the 55-, 65- and 77-inch models.

Sony has also been pushing for a brighter and brighter picture with each new release. The Bravia 8’s WOLED panel is meant to be 10 per cent brighter than that of the A80L, but it still can’t reach the same levels as its flagship QD-OLED sibling, the Sony A95L.

Both the Philips OLED810 and Sony Bravia 8 use AI to boost performance. In terms of picture, the Bravia XR processor promises to use AI to improve the Bravia 8’s picture processing and let it deliver an even more authentic, natural-looking home cinema experience. There is also some AI wizardry at work when it comes to audio, as the chip uses its processing powers paired with Sony’s unique Acoustic Surface Audio+ hardware in an attempt to offer radically better virtual surround sound.

The OLED810 is utilising AI thanks to the 9th Gen P5 AI processing. Adaptive Intelligence (which classifies content into different categories using AI) can now learn from additional data such as trained in-frame analyses, META data, source info, full frame analysis and environment sensing, to optimise the final picture to match the content more seamlessly.

Another feature is its apparently improved colour reproduction, which is the result of a new AI Adaptive Gamut Enhancer feature. This extends colours to make them more vibrant but without affecting skin tones. It can also be set to different tastes, such as ‘natural’, ‘balanced’ and ‘vibrant’.

As is the norm for Sony, the Bravia 8 supports HDR10, Dolby Vision and HLG, but not HDR10+. There is, however, an IMAX Enhanced picture mode. There’s no mention of IMAX Enhanced support for the OLED810, but it does support HDR10+ as well as the three other HDR formats supported by the Sony.

In terms of gaming, both TVs have just two HDMI 2.1 inputs. They offer Dolby Vision Gaming, a welcome addition for Xbox users, as the latest X/S consoles support the standard. Both TVs also support 4K/120Hz gaming – though not the 4K/144Hz gaming that hardcore PC gamers with similarly hardcore rigs might desire. Outside of this, VRR and ALLM are also on board – two key features that help make games feel more fluid and reactive.

With the Philips OLED810, the game bar has been updated, and now has an auto-detection ability for the most popular titles. You can tweak custom settings under your own dedicated profile so they can be loaded automatically the next time you play.

Both TVs use Google TV and broadly support the same streaming services such as Netflix, Disney Plus, Apple TV+ and Amazon Prime Video. Some TVs with Google TV do not include UK catch-up apps (BBC iPlayer, Channel 4, My5, and ITV X). We know that the Bravia 8 does support them. As for the new Philips OLED810, we don’t know yet but the OLED809 did not include these so bear that in mind.

Philips’ unique offering is its three-sided Ambilight tech, which matches the colours on screen, spilling light onto the wall behind and making the picture more immersive. Depending on your preferences, this may be a big draw or a bit of an ick. The OLED810 also includes the new Moments App, which lets you share photos from your phone to the larger screen.

Philips OLED810 vs Sony Bravia 8: picture

All these AI improvements for the as yet untested OLED810 sound intriguing and, if it’s a step up from the OLED809, it has the promise to produce a top-notch image.

As we said in our review of the OLED809: "during bright scenes the levels of detail, colour accuracy and range the OLED809 offers match if not beat the best OLEDs we’ve tested at this price." We can only wait and see if the new model is even better.

The Sony Bravia 8 is one that we have been able to get in the testing room so we can say with certainty that when it comes to picture quality, it does not disappoint.

We said during a viewing of Oppenheimer: “Black and white scenes reveal exceptional levels of detail, with every stitch and weave on characters’ suits and ties remaining clearly visible. The picture is wonderfully sharp and doesn’t appear flattened, as it does on the flagship Bravia 9, with characters and objects holding a true sense of depth and separation from the scene’s background.”

One negative we did notice was its handling of SDR, where a bit of black crush occurs during particularly dark scenes. However, that was more of a nitpick, and overall the picture quality was deemed “balanced and immersive”.

Ultimately, we are going to have to test the two TVs side-by-side before we can deliver a verdict on their relative picture performance merits. We will update this page once we have done that.

Philips OLED810 vs Sony Bravia 8: sound

The OLED810 features an integrated 70W 2.1 sound system (though this is reduced to 50W for the 42-incher). A digital crossover controls the distribution to the two-way left and right speakers, plus a dedicated triple-ring, rear-facing bass driver – all supported by four passive radiators. It's a similar arrangement to its predecessor, which we described as "a capable performer". Once again, we haven’t had the chance to hear it for ourselves but when we do, you’ll be the first to know.

Sony’s sound set-up is a 50W system consisting of two actuators, two tweeters and a single bass driver, with Dolby Atmos and DTS:X support. In our review, we described the Bravia 8 as “one of the better-sounding OLED TVs we’ve tested, but [...] not a huge step forward for Sony.” Saying that, we found it was controlled and spacious. When watching Bladerunner 2049, Ryan Gosling’s character converses with a hologram and the voices are suitably differentiated from background noise and the scene’s soundtrack.

Again, we will need to test both TVs against each other to pass judgement, but we generally recommend investing in a soundbar to improve your overall experience and we don't expect that advice to alter here.

Philips OLED810 vs Sony Bravia 8: early verdict

As we’ve said, we can’t comment too much on a direct comparison between the two TVs as we have not had the chance to test out the Philips OLED810. However, the What Hi-Fi? Award-winning Sony Bravia 8 will be a hard one to trump with its top-notch picture quality and incredibly sharp image. Plus, its price has had a year to go down, so you’ll be able to get it for much less than the OLED810 when the latter launches.

Philips’ OLED809 is also a high performer, so the Sony could be up against a worthy rival in the OLED810. The specs on paper look promising, and plenty of people will be drawn by its Ambilight feature. Once we have had the chance to get up close with the OLED810, we will update this page.

MORE:

Here's our review of the Sony Bravia 8

Check out the best OLED TVs

And these are the best TVs on offer right now

In normal times, the Sony Bravia 8 is the best performance-per-pound TV around. That's why we proclaimed it the TV Product of the Year in the 2024 What Hi-Fi? Awards. It's been discounted for Cyber Monday, too, so you would imagine that it's pretty much a no-brainer of a purchase, right?

Umm, not for me, actually.

I love the Bravia 8. I was involved in the review and the decision to give it an Award. But it's still not the TV I would buy today. I would buy the LG C4, the 65-inch version of which is down to just £1495 at Amazon.

So why would I personally go against 'our' advice? Two reasons: price and gaming.

While the 65-inch LG C4 is £1495 right now, the best price for the 65-inch Sony Bravia 8 is currently £1799 at Sevenoaks. I could do a lot with that £304 of 'change'. If I didn't already have a Sony HT-A9 sound system, I could buy a Sonos Beam Gen 2, which is, by absolute coincidence, down to £304 at Amazon. A C4 and a Dolby Atmos soundbar for the same price as a solo Bravia 8 is really compelling.

And then there's the gaming bit. The Bravia 8 is a really good TV for gaming, but the C4 is better, not least because it has four HDMI 2.1 sockets to the Sony's two. As an owner of both the PS5 and Xbox Series X, plus a Dolby Atmos sound system that uses HDMI eARC, two HDMI 2.1 sockets simply isn't enough.

I really like the LG C4's HGiG mode, too, which makes it an absolute doddle to get greater accuracy with many HDR games.

And it's not as if the Bravia 8 absolutely smashes the C4 in other regards. The two TVs are pretty closely matched overall, with the Sony model just edging it in terms of picture quality. It's fair to say the Bravia 8 sounds quite a lot better, but if you're adding an external audio system, as I would be, this isn't really a consideration.

To reiterate, the Bravia 8 is a brilliant TV and a great pick for many people, but this Cyber Monday I would personally pick up the cheaper, more gaming-focused LG C4.

MORE:

Here are all of the best Cyber Monday deals

And these are the best Cyber Monday TV deals

If you're in the market for a new TV and are specifically looking to take the plunge into OLED, then you've come to the right place. The Sony Bravia 8, which was recently bestowed the Product of the Year title, is the best on the market if you're looking for cinematic excellence.

Available in three sizes – 55-, 65- and 77-inches – the Bravia 8 delivers a picture and sound performance that exceeds peers from LG, Samsung and Philips. This shouldn't be a surprise, as it carries forth the baton left by its equally impressive predecessor, the Sony A80L, which we also gave the same commendations to last year.

In a year where MLA-OLED and QD-OLED appeared to be truly hitting their stride, the Bravia 8 proved that there is plenty of life left in "traditional" OLED TVs. We praised its "balanced, immersive picture" as well as its excellent motion handling and "wonderfully natural" colours. It takes a slight bit of fiddling in the settings menu to get this TV to perform at the best of its ability, but when we do dial the TV exactly how we like it, we're treated to a spectacular show.

It even sounds great by TV standards, especially when compared with direct rivals such as the LG C4 or Philips OLED809. The Acoustic Surface Audio+ feature uses actuators behind the screen to create sound by vibrating the panel, which gives the Bravia 8 an advantage in placing audio in relation to subjects on the screen.

Features-wise, the Bravia 8 lags behind the LG C4 when it comes to gaming specs, as it only has two full bandwidth HDMI 2.1 sockets, as opposed to four on the C4. However, both ports support 4K/120Hz gaming with VRR and ALLM, as well as having some synergistic features with Sony's own PS5 console.

The Bravia 8 supports HDR in the HDR10, Dolby Vision and HLG formats, as well as Dolby Atmos immersive audio over the HDMI eARC socket. While it does excel at built-in audio, we would still recommend pairing a quality Dolby Atmos soundbar with this TV to get the best experience; might we suggest the Bravia Theatre Bar 9 which is also an Award-winner and pairs perfectly with its Sony sibling?

With that rundown of the Sony Bravia 8 complete, you should be clued up on why we like this TV so much, so what could possibly make it any better? A Black Friday deal that slashes hundreds on the price is the answer to that rhetorical question, and you can find the best deal for each size below:

Sony Bravia 8 (K55XR80PU)

Launch price: £2199 / $2000 / AU$3495

The smallest of the bunch, Sony's 55-inch Bravia 8 will likely appeal to most as it strikes the balance between not being too large for most living rooms and retaining cinematic scale. It's also the cheapest of the trio, which makes it an excellent entry point for those looking for an Award-winning picture performance at a slightly more wallet-friendly price.

We haven't tested the Bravia 8 at this size, though our findings from the five-star 65-inch model (see below) should carry across to its smaller counterpart.

We've seen it drop to just £1499 recently, which is a saving of £700 – certainly the lowest recorded price we've seen thus far.

Sony Bravia 8 65-inch (K65XR80PU)

Launch price: £2999 / $2600 / AU$3995

This is the model that we put through our paces in our AV testing room and is the size we personally recommend. Here is where we discovered the Bravia 8's detailed, engaging and nuanced picture performance.

It remains a subtle upgrade over the A80L, which certainly isn't a criticism, as we thoroughly approved that TV in equal measure. Improving on a Product of the Year-winning TV is no mean feat, which is why we felt the Bravia 8 was deserving of its accolades. If you're serious about picture performance and still want a "conventional" screen size, then the 65-inch Bravia 8 is the best model for you.

Sony Bravia 8 77-inch (K77XR80PU)

Launch price: £3999 / $3900 / AU$6995

If you've got space (and money) to spare, then the 77-inch Bravia 8 should scratch the cinematic itch. This huge OLED TV isn't cheap, but if you want the biggest and best, then this is the model to go for; and a Black Friday saving of £1160 might even be enough to tempt you to spring for this super-sized model.

We haven't tested this size, however we have it on good authority that performance should be indicative of the above 65-inch variant.

MORE:

Find the best deals on OLED TVs here

As well as the best overall TV deals

And read our full Sony Bravia 8 review

If you are a regular What Hi-Fi? reader you know that I and the wider team take a lot of pride in our TV testing – and for good reason.

We put every set through a series of comparative tests, directly against its rivals and step-up/down options.

During the process, multiple members of the home cinema team then compare notes to ensure our buying advice is based on how they actually perform against the competition – we never compare products relying on memory.

Which is why, after we unveiled the best TV category winners for the What Hi-Fi? Awards 2024 last week, you can rest assured every winner is in fact the top option you can get in its category. You may also justifiably be keen to pick one up as a result.

Here to help you do just that, I have taken the time to search all the major specialist and general TV/AV retailers to find the best price currently available on each What Hi-Fi? Awards 2024 TV winner!

1. 42-inch LG C4: the best small and gaming TV currently available

For the money you will get a fantastic small OLED that delivers punchy, but realistic picture quality, albeit with slightly cooler colours than its larger siblings. It also features four HDMI 2.1 inputs which is great if you have multiple consoles, a PC and Dolby Atmos soundbar to connect. Current generation consoles and PCs with a powerful graphics card require an HDMI 2.1 input to run at full speed. A Dolby Atmos soundbar requires an eARC input, which one of the HDMI 2.1’s doubles as.

Our only caveat, which is shared across all the TVs on this list but is particularly true of the 42-inch LG C4, is to make sure you do invest in a separate soundbar or speakers. No TV’s inbuilt speakers sound great, based on our testing, but thanks to its small dimensions the 42-inch LG C4’s sound system is particularly weak. So you 100 per cent will want a separate soundbar or system for a truly immersive experience when gaming or watching movies.

2. 48-inch LG C4: the top 48- / 50-inch model we’ve reviewed

Next up is the 48-inch LG C4, which sadly isn’t currently selling at quite as an impressive price as the 42-inch model; but there is still a deal. The 48-inch LG C4 currently sells on Amazon for £1199, a £300 saving on its RRP. The only reason we’re not recommending the deal quite as heartily as that for its smaller sibling is that it was £100 cheaper than this mere weeks ago.

The discount isn’t as impressive, but we still recommend the 48-inch LG C4 for buyers who can’t afford to wait for the price to come down and need a set that size. The TV shares all the same core features as its smaller siblings but with a few notable differences. The biggest – ba-boom-tsch – is that it is bigger. And as a result, while still at best average, its audio is slightly fuller. It also has a stand design, where its 42-inch sibling has feet. But, most importantly, its picture is slightly better, with warmer colours giving the image a more “alive” realistic feel.

3. Sony Bravia 8: the best 55-inch or larger TV

The Bravia 8 is the only new OLED by Japanese home-cinema giant Sony to arrive this year. It is also the successor to last year’s Product of the Year winner, the Sony A80L. Thankfully not only does it manage to refine and improve on its predecessor enough to earn a place as a 2024 Award-winner, the 55-inch Bravia 8 is also currently selling for £1599 on Amazon – that’s a huge £600 saving on its official price.

That’s a pretty fantastic deal as the TV is a wonderful choice for any serious movie fan who wants an authentic, natural film-watching experience. The set delivers warmer, more refined colours than its predecessor, so skin tones in particular look wonderfully realistic. Excellent light-control then gives the picture a truly three-dimensional quality that makes every part of the image naturally distinct and engaging.

Add to this its best in class motion handling and impressive maximum brightness levels, and the Bravia 8 is an easy recommendation, especially at this price.

4. Samsung QE75QN900D: our best 8K TV winner

The Samsung QE75QN900D is the only 8K TV on this list. While it still costs a premium on equivalent 4K options, there are some great deals currently doing the rounds. The best is running at John Lewis, where you can pick up a Samsung QE75QN900D for £3799 – a £1200 saving on its regular £4999 price.

We can really only recommend the deal to early adopters – but including it at all is a big deal as we are still on the fence about 8K for a couple of reasons. First because there is next to no content shot and mastered to the resolution, so you are basically paying a premium for futureproofing and upscaling. There are also very few TVs made to the resolution. The drought of good new 8K TVs is a key reason we don’t always run best 8K TV as a category during our Awards – if there isn't a set we can actually recommend, we won’t bother.

Which should tell you quite how impressed our reviewers are with the new Samsung QE75QN900D. It isn’t merely the best 8K TV currently available – it’s the best 8K TV we have ever tested. Key upgrades include vastly improved upscaling and general holistic improvements to picture quality that make it a fantastic choice for early adopters.

5. TCL 85C805K: the best budget 85-inch TV we’ve ever seen

Last, but by no means least, we have the TCL 85C805K which is this year’s best budget 85-inch TV. Sadly, there aren’t any amazing deals on the set, with it selling for £1498 at pretty much every retailer, including Amazon, at the moment.

So why is it still on this list? First because it’s an Award winner. Second, because at that price it’s still an amazing value option for people with cavernous living rooms. The TCL 85C805K is one of the first 85-inch sets for less than £2000 we have seen that meets our baseline for “good” picture quality.

Our testers went so far to describe it as “the home theatre bargain of the year” when they reviewed it, so any discount is worth considering if you want a set this size but don’t fancy paying multiple thousands of pounds.

MORE:
These are the best small TVs we have reviewed

Our picks of the best OLED TVs

We rate the best cheap TVs

It has been a good couple of years for Sony's TVs. Its step-down A80L OLED TV picked up Product of the Year at the 2023 What Hi-Fi? Awards, and its follow-up, the Bravia 8, has won a 2024 Award for the 'Best 55in and larger TV' category.

But what's this? Sony's latest flagship TV, the Bravia 9, eschews the OLED panel tech of the A80L and Bravia 8 in favour of Mini LED. Sony claims this backlit tech gets closer to the movie creator's original vision; but it's a gamble, no doubt about it.

How does it compare with the Bravia 8? And which TV would be better for you? Let's find out.

Sony Bravia 8 vs Bravia 9: price

Initially, the Bravia 9 launched at only 75- and 85-inch models in the UK and Australia, with just the US getting the more reasonably sized 65-inch model. But now Sony has seen sense, and is bringing the 65-inch model to the UK from November.

That's the only model that is the exact same size as the Bravia 8; being the flagship, it is more expensive (except in Australia), costing £2999 / $3299 / AU$2295 to the Bravia 8's £2699 / $2800 / AU$4495. The Bravia 9 also comes in 75- and 85-inch variants, costing £3499 / $4000 / AU$6995 and £4299 / $5500 / AU$7995 respectively.

The Bravia 8 comes in more modest sizes. The 55-inch Bravia 8 retails for £2199 / $2000 / AU$3495 and the largest 77-inch for £3999 / $3900 / AU$6995.

As ever, there are deals to be had; but seeing as these TVs are newer, discounts aren't as common or as big as with LG's C4 or G4.

** Winner: Sony Bravia 8 **

Sony Bravia 8 vs Bravia 9: design

The Bravia 8 looks very similar to its predecessor, the A80L, but there are some differences.

It's flatter, and so sits flush to a wall when mounted, while its feet now have a flat top, helping to accommodate a soundbar lying across the top of them.

Its feet can be positioned closer to the middle of the TV (for placing it on a smaller TV stand) or wider to allow a larger soundbar to sit between them beneath the screen. They can also be set higher to fit in a soundbar, or lower to keep the TV closer to the surface of the TV stand.

The Bravia 9's feet are just as versatile as those of its cheaper brethren, though the TV itself is a much chunkier affair. That's hardly surprising, given that it has to fit in a backlight, whereas OLED TVs don't.

The Bravia 8's remote control handset is made of plastic and feels cheap, whereas the Bravia 9's is made from more premium metal. The Bravia 9 also comes with a slimmed-down Eco Remote, made of recycled material. This has a USB-C port for charging it up, backlit buttons, a mic for controlling Google Assistant and a speaker built in for the 'find my' feature for when it inevitably finds its way down the back of the sofa.

** Winner: Sony Bravia 9 **

Sony Bravia 8 vs Bravia 9: features

The main difference in terms of features is that the Bravia 9 features a backlight, while the Bravia 8 doesn't. OLED and Mini LED technologies both have their strengths and weaknesses (OLED gives better black levels while Mini LED goes brighter), but how well it performs is ultimately down to how the tech is implemented on a particular TV. Which we will cover in depth in the next section.

The Bravia 8's WOLED panel is brighter than the A80L's before it, and the TV is powered by the same XR processor as the Bravia 9. This brings AI into play, improving the picture processing to deliver more natural images, while also promising to improve the audio. Sony's Acoustic Surface Audio+ hardware uses actuators under the screen to 'place' sounds around the room – it comprises three actuators and two bass drivers. Dolby Atmos and DTS:X are also onboard.

Both TVs run Google TV, with all the UK terrestrial apps present and correct (not all sets running Google TV have these). They all stream in their maximum quality formats (4K/HDR) too.

They also support all the usual suspects in terms of AV formats. These include the HDR10, Dolby Vision and HLG formats of HDR (only Samsung's own HDR10+ is missing). There's also an Amazon Prime Video Calibrated mode, which optimises the TV's settings depending on the type of content it is showing (along with the older 'calibrated' modes for Netflix and Sony Pictures Core).

Gamers are well catered for with both TVs, but serious gamers might be better off with an LG model. That's because, while both the Bravia 8 and 9 have four HDMI ports, only two of these on each TV are HDMI 2.1 compatible – and one of those doubles as an eARC connection for plugging in a soundbar. So if you wanted top performance from more than one games console (alongside a soundbar), you would need to do some port switching around the back of the TV.

The HDMI 2.1 ports run at 120Hz in 4K – not the 144Hz as seen on the LG C4. But given that consoles max out at 120Hz, it will only be gaming PC enthusiasts who miss out. Both Bravia TVs support VRR and ALLM gaming features, as well as Dolby Vision Gaming.

What's surprising is how sluggish the Bravia 9 can feel at times, despite all the processing power and AI smarts. There's no issue once you are watching content, it's only when navigating the menus that it's like riding a bike through treacle.

As you can see, there's not much difference in terms of features between the two TVs. But the Bravia 9 does have a more powerful 70W 2.2.2 channel speaker system. Instead of actuators vibrating the screen (this wouldn't work with a backlit TV), Sony has surrounded the screen with speakers, including two upward-firing 10W beam tweeters built into the top edge, which help deliver Dolby Atmos height effects. See how they fare in the sound section lower down this page.

** Winner: Sony Bravia 9 **

Sony Bravia 8 vs Bravia 9: picture

So then, from the specification sheet – and in terms of design – the Bravia 8 looks very similar to the A80L. But how does the picture quality stack up?

Once you have tweaked the settings a bit, it does very well indeed. Our preference is for the Professional mode (basically another name for Filmmaker mode) with Peak Luminance at medium and the least possible motion processing.

This results in wonderfully natural skin tones – with noticeably more levels of red in the spectrum than the A80L – butter-smooth motion handling, and plenty of dark detail. The picture has lots of depth and a lovely sense of three-dimensionality, with bags of texture to make the scene feel real.

It is slightly brighter than the A80L too, as Sony promised. But not as bright as the Bravia 9, whose backlit panel really comes into its own during a film such as Pan; here, bright highlights are exceptional, revealing detail where lesser TVs show only one solid block of colour.

The contrast is very impressive, with sharp outlines making objects stand out against the background. Its black levels aren't quite as dark as the Bravia 8's, but for a backlit TV they are very good. Skin tones also aren't quite as warm, though they do still look natural. Motion is typically excellent for a Sony set.

But there are a couple of issues. There are jumps in brightness within the local dimming feature that prove distracting. But turn local dimming off, and the picture becomes flat and lifeless. This seems like a software bug that could be fixed via a simple firmware update, but it's there all the same and worth being aware of.

It is also incredibly fussy. It feels as though, no matter how long you spend toying with the settings, you never quite get the best out of it. Each picture mode has quite significant compromises, which is not something you expect from a TV costing this much.

It's a shame, as when the Bravia 9 is good, it's really good. If Sony can fix these two problems, it would have a real five-star stunner on its hands.

** Winner: Sony Bravia 8 **

Sony Bravia 8 vs Bravia 9: sound

The Bravia 8 scored five out of five for sound in our review. That's largely down to Sony's consistently excellent Acoustic Surface Audio+ technology, which uses actuators to vibrate the whole screen to generate sound. It has been used for years, and is always one of the best built-in TV sound solutions.

But it's not all positive. The Bravia 8 is a little light on bass, but the upside to this is that there is no distortion. The TV remains in control at all times, never pushing itself too hard. The results are less impressive once you get north of 80 per cent volume, but you really shouldn't be watching at those levels anyway.

Films sing, thanks to the Cinema sound mode, which brings voices out from the rest of the soundtrack. Dialogue has decent projection too, and with sound effects coming from different parts of the screen, it's a more immersive experience than most TVs.

The Bravia 9 performs similarly to its predecessor, the X95L (that's a very good thing), but the new height speakers add a greater sense of space. Those in-frame tweeters make for better directionality, too.

Vocal clarity and low-level dynamics are excellent, by TV standards. It goes loud, and has a very good sense of projection. Even the Voice Zoom 3 dialogue-enhancing mode is pretty good (often they're not), bringing speech to the fore without elbowing the other sounds out of the way too much.

But, like the Bravia 8, it does play it a little safe, which means the bass is a bit underwhelming, with a lack of punch. Again, the upside is a lack of distortion.

The height channels are mighty impressive. The beam tweeters are automatically calibrated when the TV is set up, measuring the shape of the room and directing the sound towards the seating position. Then all you do is sit back and enjoy...

Though as ever, our advice remains to buy a soundbar. It will elevate even the best TVs to new levels of audio performance.

** Winner: Sony Bravia 9 **

Sony Bravia 8 vs Bravia 9: verdict

As the pricier TV, you would expect the Bravia 9 to be the more impressive. That's certainly true in the sound department, and it is definitely brighter than the Bravia 8. But the picture is marred by some annoying bugs that prevent it earning the full five stars.

Hopefully Sony will fix these via a firmware update; but until then, we have to say the Bravia 8 is the better buy, unless you are desperate for the bigger sizes, extra sound quality and brighter screen.

MORE:

Read our Sony Bravia 8 review

And the Sony Bravia 9 review

Sony Bravia 8 vs LG C4: which should you buy?

Sony Bravia 8 vs A80L: which Sony TV should you buy?

Check out the best Sony TVs

• Want more choice? Check out our long list of the best TVs

October is upon us, which not only means the imminent arrival of Amazon’s Big Deal Days sale event, but also a fresh entry into our Pick of the Month column.

With testing for the What Hi-Fi? Awards 2024 in full swing and our first raft of winners set to be announced on 9th October, it was a particularly busy month for our team of testers. It also means this is one of the longest Pick of the Month columns to date, with a staggering eight products earning perfect marks from our reviewers.

Every one was tested by our team in one of our dedicated viewing or listening rooms, where it was put through its paces in a series of comparative tests, directly against its closest rivals, so you know they’re good if they made the list!

Pro-Ject Debut Evo 2

The Pro-Ject Debut Evo 2 is an updated version of the five-star Debut Carbon Evo. It's a bit pricier than its outgoing predecessor, but the £599 / $699 / AU$1299 deck comes with a few key upgrades. These include a new heavy aluminium platter, as well as a new precision-milled aluminium block with a low-friction bearings mount for its tonearm. As a cherry on top, it also comes with a new Pick-It MM Evo cartridge.

Putting it through its paces paired with a variety of reference equipment, including Epos ES14N speakers and a PMC Cor amplifier with a Vertere Phono-1 MkII L phono preamp, the results were excellent. Across every track, be it bopping pop or thrashing 70s rock, the turntable delivered a lively, detailed and fluid sound. Hence our reviewers’ conclusion:

“Pro-Ject has taken a friendly, capable deck and furnished it with significant upgrades to make it a more sleek and engaging performer. There are those who will prefer Rega’s more mature and precise presentation at this level, but the Evo 2 is a capable and likeable alternative whose lively, fluid delivery and lovely way with voices might just win you over.”

Score: 5/5

Read our in-depth Pro-Ject Debut Evo 2 review

Rega Planar 2/Nd3

The Planar 2/Nd3 is the latest package from Rega that pairs its mid-range turntable with its new moving magnet cartridge.

The upgraded cartridge raises the turntable’s price up to £599 / $795 / AU$1299, a slight premium on the £499 / $775 / AU$999 you’ll have to pay to get the Planar 2 with the company’s standard factory-fitted Carbon MM cartridge. But based on our testing, it’s well worth considering the upgrade.

Paired with our reference system of the PMC Cor amplifier and Epos ES14N speakers, with a Vertere Phono-1 MkII L phono stage, the cartridge yielded solid sonic improvements. Whether it was Beethoven’s Symphony No.5 or Slipknot’s Wait And Bleed, the package delivered an authoritative and engaging sound that was wonderfully dynamic, rhythmically precise and agile. Hence our conclusion:

“An assured, subtle and rhythmically exciting deck with high build quality and fuss-free set-up – the Planar 2/Nd3 package is a strong performer at this level.”

Score: 5/5

Read our in-depth Rega Planar 2/Nd3 review

Sony WF-C510

The WF-C510 are the latest affordable wireless earbuds from audio heavyweight Sony. While many people’s attention may firmly be on the AirPods 4 with ANC, you’d be foolish to ignore the Sony WF-C510, based on our testing.

Putting them up against their five-star, Award-winning predecessors the Sony WFC500, we found they’re an incredibly accomplished set of earbuds considering their low £55 / $60 / AU$110 price tag.

For the money you’ll be treated to a stellar value pair of earbuds that deliver a wonderfully comfortable fit and solid, musical sound that you won’t get on anything else at this price. Hence our reviewers’ conclusion:

“At this level, it’s hard to pile on too much expectation, but Sony’s previous track record has us doing just that. And the WF-C510 don’t disappoint. They might look and feel cheaper than what has gone before them but we can’t really argue with the comfort, sense of fun and musicality that they convey. They’re brilliant buds with a bargain price tag.”

Score: 5/5

Read our in-depth Sony WF-C510 review

LG C4 (OLED42C4)

The OLED42C4 is the smallest option in LG’s middle-child C-series of OLED TVs. For the money you get the same core formula that made the larger 48-inch LG C4 and 65-inch LG C4 great, but in a smaller package. These include flawless gaming specs with four full-speed HDMI 2.1 inputs, with eARC, that will let you take full advantage of a PS5 or Xbox Series X/S's graphical grunt.

But, most importantly it also delivers an excellent movie watching experience. While we found the smallest model doesn’t offer quite as warm colours as its siblings, it’s still capable of delivering a wonderfully punchy but authentic picture. That’s why you’ll currently see the 42-inch LG C4 front and centre in both our best gaming TV and best OLED TV buying guides. As we said in our 42-inch LG C4 review:

“The 42-inch LG C4 is the best small OLED TV money can buy right now. Though its audio isn't the best, it delivers a wonderfully punchy, immersive viewing experience despite its small form factor, with noticeably higher peak brightness than its older rivals.”

Score: 5/5

Read our in-depth LG C4 (OLED42C4) review

Qobuz

When we first tested it we initially weren’t sold on hi-res service Qobuz. But after a wealth of improvements since we last fully reviewed it, we can confirm it has evolved into the best music streaming service for audiophiles.

The biggest and most appealing of those improvements are its stellar hi-res streaming powers, which now include a much wider range of tracks and artists. Add to this its clever pricing changes, which now put it roughly in line with direct rival Tidal, and it quickly became an easy recommendation among our experts during our joint testing sessions. Hence our updated conclusion:

“It’s clear Qobuz has really worked hard in recent years to bring its pricing, catalogue and user experience in line with the competition, while also keeping its niche for the audiophile user. Yes, other services offer high-res music, but Qobuz feels like it lives and breathes it.”

Score: 5/5

Read our in-depth Qobuz review

Audiovector Trapeze Reimagined

The Audiovector Trapeze Reimagined are a squat pair of floorstanding speakers that have been 45 years in the making. Having finally gotten them into our listening rooms our team of reviewers can thankfully confirm they are worth the wait. The speakers may have a wonderfully eye-catching, retro design, but under the hood they’re a modern marvel full of clever engineering.

Every one of the four drivers has been bespoke-crafted with painstaking attention to detail that takes inspiration from and improves on the designs of the original Trapeze speakers. The end result is a wonderfully unfussy pair of floorstanding speakers that delivered stellar results paired with our reference system. This includes a Naim ND555/555 PS DR music streamer, Technics SL-1000R/Kiseki Purpleheart MC and Burmester 088/911MkIII amplifier.

Whether it was Mahler’s 8th Symphony or Massive Attack’s Angel, the Trapeze Reimagined delivered a performance full of clarity, excellent dynamics and impressive bass power, agility and grip.

This makes them an easy recommendation and led our testers to conclude:

“There is always a danger with retro-inspired speakers that the sound quality takes a back seat to the nostalgia value. That isn’t the case here. The Trapeze Ri may resemble their famed ancestors, but in every other respect are thoroughly modern speakers that, at their considerable best, deliver a wonderfully spellbinding sound.”

Score: 5/5

Read our in-depth Audiovector Trapeze Reimagined review

Sony Bravia 8 (K65XR80)

The Sony Bravia 8 is the only new OLED TV from Sony this year. If that wasn’t enough pressure to put on the unit, it’s also the direct successor to the Sony A80L – a Product of the Year winner at last year’s What Hi-Fi? Awards.

Putting it through its paces directly against its predecessor in our viewing rooms last month, we can now confirm it is a stellar OLED TV that delivers a wealth of small but important improvements on last year’s model.

Highlights include a slightly higher maximum brightness, which makes bright scenes a smidgen more detailed and immersive than the outgoing, and still excellent, A80L, plus refinements to its colours. The latter adds a layer of warmth that makes skin tones in particular look more authentic and true to life.

Add to this its best in class motion handling and good, by TV standards, audio (though you’ll still want a soundbar for truly immersive viewing), and it easily earned a five-star rating. As we said in our review:

“The Bravia 8 is a refinement rather than a big step forward for Sony’s OLED TV offering – but it's still a great TV.”

Score: 5/5

Read our in-depth Sony Bravia 8 review

Dali Rubikore 2

The Rubikore 2 are our first taste of hi-fi house Dali’s new Kore-era speakers. This means they come with a number of engineering features we’ve not had in our listening rooms before.

Highlights include a brand-new hybrid tweeter design and a a 16.5cm mid/bass driver complete with Dali’s custom paper and wood-fibre ‘Clarity Cone’ and patented SMC (Soft Magnetic Compound) magnet material technology.

Pairing the standmount speakers with our reference hardware, while we found you will want to match them with a smoother-sounding amplifier, in our case the Arcam A15 and Naim Nait XS 3, they are capable of fantastic audio.

Once matched well, the Rubikore 2 delivered great audio full of class-leading levels of insight and rhythmic precision. Hence our conclusion:

“As entertaining as they are informative, the formidable Rubikore 2 deliver a good time, and then some.”

Score 5/5

Read our in-depth Dali Rubikore 2 review

MORE:

These are the best standmount speakers we’ve reviewed

We rate the best small TVs we’ve tested

Our picks of the best record players

The weekend may be over, but there is no need to get down, as we have a special start of the week treat for you – a fresh entry into our Rewind hi-fi and home cinema news digest.

Last week was particularly quiet at What Hi-Fi?’s home-base, with many of our team being on the ground in Germany, reporting live from the IFA 2024 trade show. The Berlin show brought with it a surprising amount of hi-fi and home cinema news. On top of that our reviewers also delivered their final verdict on some big name hi-fi and home cinema hardware.

Here’s what you need to know.

Technics unveiled two big surprises 

Japanese audio giant Technics chose IFA as the launchpad for two big pieces of new hi-fi. The first is a new SC-CX700 all-in-one speaker system which looks set to take on the five-star KEF LS50 Wireless II and KEF LSX II – the current top dogs in that category.

We didn’t get a chance to listen to the SC-CX700 at the show, but considering Technics' long history and pedigree with systems, having created the Award-winning SA-SC600, this is definitely one to watch. 

Backing this up, the company then unveiled a new Technics SL-1300G turntable at the show. The new model sits above the fourth-gen SL-1200GR2 we reviewed last year and features an improved direct-drive design. This will apparently let it deliver cleaner audio and “breathtaking performance".

Read the full story:

Technics surprises us with a KEF-rivalling wireless speaker system at IFA 2024

Technics SL-1300G turntable aims for "outstanding" rotational accuracy and "breathtaking performance"

Bang & Olufsen unveiled some uber expensive over-ears

Danish brand Bang & Olufsen unveiled what it describes as its “best pair of headphones” ever last week. Set to retail for a hefty £1299 / $1549, we hope there’s truth to that claim as that’s a lot of money to spend on a pair of wireless over-ear headphones by any stretch of the imagination. 

This is especially true as there are already two very strong players at that end of the wireless headphone market. Specifically, the Mark Levinson No. 5909 (tested at £999 / $999), and high-end T+A Solitaire T (tested at £1200 / $1600) which both earned perfect five star ratings from our reviewers.

Read the full story: Bang & Olufsen’s high-end Beoplay H100 are “the best pair of headphones” the brand has ever created

Sony’s only 2024 OLED TV is great

It was a good week for Sony. Not only did it unveil its new Bravia 8 and 9 projectors, but our team of TV experts also awarded its Bravia 8 OLED TV a perfect five-star rating. Comparing it directly against its predecessor, the Award-winning Sony A80L, we found the Bravia 8 is a small but welcome step forward, and fantastic for any movie fan.

Read our full Bravia 8 review

We had a first taste of Dali’s kore

As well as Sony’s OLED TV, our testers also finished reviewing the Dali Rubicore 2 speakers last week. These are a set of top-end standmount speakers targeting the same market as the Award-winning KEF R3 Meta. They’re also our first taste of Dali’s new “kore” engineering, which brings with it a number of exclusive, patented technologies. Putting them through their paces in our listening rooms, they proved to be a delight, delivering class-leading levels of insight and a fun, rhythmically precise sound.

Read our full Dali Rubicore 2 review

IFA turned 100

We all love new stuff, but with IFA in full swing and turning 100, our hi-fi and audio editor couldn’t resist taking some time to look at past highlights from the show. These include some pretty big milestones, ranging from the arrival of colour TVs and cassette players to epic format clashes.

Read the full story: IFA at 100: historic audio, TV and format highlights from one of the biggest and oldest tech shows

MORE:

These are the best record players we’ve reviewed

We rate the best OLED TVs

Our picks of the best wireless headphones

Introduction

The Sony Bravia 8 is one of 2024’s biggest TVs for a couple of reasons. First, because it’s the only new OLED TV from the Japanese home cinema giant to arrive this year. Second, because it is the follow-up to the Sony A80L, which picked up a Product of the Year accolade at the What Hi-Fi? Awards.

Does it live up to its predecessor’s legacy? After putting it through its paces, including side-by-side comparisons with arch-rivals and its predecessor, the answer is a firm yes, but only just.

Price

• In line with rivals at launch, but coming down in price every week.
• Only available in 55-inches and above.
• Performance-identical Bravia 8A model also now available.

The Bravia 8 is the second most expensive option in Sony’s 2024 range. Some deals have started doing the rounds, but most days you can get the 65-inch model being reviewed here for £2699 / $2800 / AU$4495. The smaller 55-inch Bravia 8 retails for £2199 / $2000 / AU$3495 and the largest 77-inch for £3999 / $3900 / AU$6995.

That puts the Bravia 8 roughly in line with most step-down OLED TVs this year. To put it in context, the 65-inch LG C4 launched costing £2700 / $2699 / AU$4299. But there are a couple of spanners in the works that complicate things.

The first of these is that the LG C4 and several other rivals that launched earlier this year have already started receiving hefty price drops. Right now you can grab the same 65-inch LG C4 for around £2250. There are also still stocks of the outgoing Sony A80L available at some retailers with the 65-inch model selling for a much cheaper £1899.

The second issue is that Sony isn’t offering the Bravia 8 in sizes below 55 inches. Instead, it has chosen to keep the two-year-old A90K on sale rather than release smaller versions of its new set.

This means that if you want to save money and get a smaller 42- or 48-inch OLED, or simply can’t fit something that big into your living room, you will have to look elsewhere – which is a shame considering how many of us, What Hi-Fi? reviewers included, love OLED but don’t want to have to sacrifice an entire room’s feng shui to get it.

As of October 2026, Sony has taken the unusual step of launching a variant of the Bravia 8, called the Bravia 8A.

The Bravia 8A comes with a non-backlit version of the Bravia 8's remote, and you get with it 5 credits and 12 months of streaming for Sony Pictures Core, rather than the 12 credits and 24 months of the Bravia 8.

The performance is identical, though, so this Bravia 8 review also applies to the Bravia 8A model which, once prices have settled, should be available for less.

Design

• Feet stand design.
• Tall enough to fit a soundbar under.

Out of the box, the Sony Bravia 8 looks a lot like its predecessor, the A80L. Standing one next to the other in our viewing rooms there are a few subtle differences, however.

At a superficial level, the rear, while still made of plastic, has a slightly different square textured pattern running along it. It’s also noticeably flatter than the A80L’s, which helps it sit flush on a wall when mounted.

But more important tweaks have been made to its stand and remote. The Bravia 8’s foot stands have been tweaked to have a flat top and be slightly thinner. The A80L’s look slightly chunky by comparison. This is an intentional tweak by Sony designed to make it easier to plonk a soundbar across the feet.

For those planning to use it on a larger stand, the TV retains two position options for the feet. One that places them close together in the middle of the Bravia 8’s bottom edge, and a second where they sit on the right and left corners – the latter allowing for a larger soundbar to sit underneath the TV without touching the foot stands.

On the off-chance you don’t want a soundbar, the feet can also be set to two heights, one placing the set incredibly close to your table stand, another raising it 10cm higher.

The configuration works well and means the TV can neatly sit on most standard-sized TV stands. The only slight issue is that, unlike many pedestal stands, there’s no pivot/swivel mechanism. This isn’t a deal breaker but we’re always fans of a hinge mechanism on a stand as it not only lets you quickly adjust the screen’s orientation on the fly, it also makes it easier to access the set’s HDMI inputs.

Our only other minor quibble is that Sony has made the Bravia 8’s remote a purely plastic, slightly cheap-feeling affair. Unlike with the A80L or Bravia 9, the remote’s top doesn’t have a metallic finish and it feels significantly cheaper as a result.

This is semi-forgivable as it is otherwise well stacked, featuring useful shortcut buttons to commonly used streaming services, plus a backlight – a key item missing on the remote of its arch-rival, the LG C4.

Features

• Only two HDMI 2.1 inputs.
• Powered by Google TV.

Despite having very few aesthetic changes to the Bravia 8, Sony’s made some important upgrades under the hood.

The headline stat is that the Bravia 8’s WOLED panel is quoted as being 10 per cent brighter than its predecessor. This makes it the latest in a long line of step-down OLED TVs to market higher maximum brightness as a key reason to upgrade this year.

LG made the same claim with the LG C4, and Philips followed suit with its OLED809, which passed through our viewing rooms just before the Bravia 8’s arrival.

However, while this means the Bravia 8 still won’t go as bright as its QD-OLED sibling, the Sony A95L or the MLA-equipped LG G4 – which can go up to 3000 nits’ peak brightness – this is still a bold claim by Sony. The A80L remains one of the brightest standard OLED TVs without MLA or QD-OLED, despite being over a year old.

The TV is powered by the same Bravia XR processor as the more expensive Bravia 9. The XR processor, like all the new TV chips we’ve seen this year, promises to leverage AI to improve the set’s picture processing and let it deliver an even more authentic, natural-looking home cinema experience – an achievement it largely manages, based on our testing, at least on the Bravia 8.

The AI-focused chip aims to do a similar thing with audio, using its processing chops paired with Sony’s unique Acoustic Surface Audio+ hardware in an attempt to offer radically better virtual surround sound.

The Acoustic Surface Audio+ tech has been a staple feature on Sony TVs for quite some time. It uses under-screen actuators to produce sound rather than traditional speakers. The idea here is to ensure the sound comes from the same place as the image, helping it lock on better.

The set-up on the Bravia 8 is identical to the A80L’s. Specifically, it’s a 50W system consisting of two actuators, two tweeters and a single bass drivers. Dolby Atmos and DTS:X support also make a return and round out the TV’s audio features.

Outside of this, the Bravia 8’s features remain largely unchanged from its predecessor. The set runs using the Google TV operating system, which is more than good enough for most people. All the heavy-hitting apps are supported including Netflix, Disney Plus, Apple TV+ and Amazon Prime Video.

Specialist Sony-owned apps including Sony Pictures Core and Crunchyroll (the best anime streaming service available in our opinion) are also present. In the UK, local streaming app support is also solid with BBC iPlayer, ITV X, Channel 4 and Channel 5 all included – many Google TVs are missing these. Having tried them all we can also confirm that all correctly stream in 4K / HDR where applicable.

In the same vein, all the usual formats are supported, the Bravia 8 working with HDR10, Dolby Vision and HLG. Like the Bravia 9 there’s also an IMAX Enhanced picture mode. The only ongoing omission is HDR10+. Normally, we’d be forgiving of this as Prime Video is the only mainstream service pushing the standard. But the presence of a new Prime Video Calibrated mode makes it feel slightly odd on the Bravia 8.

The new mode works in a similar way to the TV’s Netflix Calibrated Mode and Sony Pictures Core Calibrated Mode (previously known as Bravia Core Calibrated Mode). It aims to optimise the TV’s settings based on the type of content being played within the app. Taking it for a quick spin switching between sports and films, these 'optimisations' equate to minor picture adjustments to colours and brightness, rather than massive shifts.

For gamers, the Bravia 8 is in many ways excellent, but it again comes with a few omissions common to most of the non-LG or Samsung OLED TVs we test. The first is that only two of the set's four HDMI sockets meet the 2.1 standard, and one of those doubles as an eARC connection.

This is fine if you just want to connect one current generation games console and a Dolby Atmos soundbar. Current games consoles require an HDMI 2.1 input to run at full speed. To get Dolby Atmos you need to connect a compatible bar to the eARC input. So if you have a PS5 and Xbox Series X/S and Atmos soundbar, you will have to contend with a fair amount of cable swapping or make do with one of your consoles being more limited than it should be.

The inputs also only run at 120Hz in 4K, rather than the super-fast 144Hz seen on the rival LG C4. Though, as current consoles can only go up to 120Hz, this will only be an annoyance for PC gamers with supremely powerful rigs. Outside of this both the HDMI 2.1 inputs support VRR and ALLM – two key features that help make games feel more fluid and reactive.

Finally, Dolby Vision Gaming is present, which is another minor upgrade for the Bravia 9 on the A80L and a welcome addition for Xbox gamers, as the latest X/S consoles support the standard. This is a version of Dolby’s film and TV HDR standard optimised for games. It brings the same benefits, including better contrast and more accurate colours on compatible games mastered to the standard – of which there are roughly 100 available on Xbox.

Picture

• Incredibly bright and sharp image.
• Best in class motion handling.

If you think the technical upgrades detailed above sound small then you’d be right. But as we saw earlier this year reviewing the LG C4, specifications never tell the full story, and sometimes seemingly modest updates yield big improvements in the real world.

Is this the case with the Bravia 8? To find out, we put the Bravia 8 through its paces, comparing it directly with its predecessor, the A80L, in our viewing rooms. In this set-up we used an HDMI splitter so that both TVs were getting an identical signal and the Oppo UDP203 Blu-Ray player as the source, unless otherwise specified. The Blu-ray player and splitter were set up to send content to the TVs in its native format, so any upscaling or processing would be done by the TVs.

To start, there is some fandangling to be done to get the most out of the Bravia 8. Out of the box, playing a heated desert battle scene from our Dune Part 2 test disc, both TVs’ Standard mode is a little too heavy-handed for our liking, adding an artificiality to the picture and characters’ movements.

The Cinema mode acts as a middle ground for people who want 'pop' and a 'blow your socks off' experience that still retains some semblance of realism. But for purists who value an 'as the director intended' experience, there’s still a little too much going on. For example, the peak bright parts of the picture, including the desert sun, occasionally go too bright compared with the rest of the scene and lose detail, distracting us from the characters.

We get the best results moving to the Bravia 8’s 'Professional' mode. This is Sony’s equivalent to a Filmmaker mode, in that it aims to reduce processing to its absolute minimum and offer a picture that is as the director intended. Running the same Dune Part 2 test scene, our previous issues are largely fixed. Lost details and a wider, more natural-looking hue return to the desertscape and skin tones.

However, while the very minor but slightly distracting spikes in brightness disappear, some dynamism is lost. Rapid movements of a missile blasting towards an enemy flying machine have a very slight stutter. To get a happy medium and the best results we raise the Peak Luminance setting to Medium and motion processing to its lowest setting.

Once in these settings, the TV performs very well. The first and most immediate is how it handles colours, particularly skin tones. The Bravia 8’s picture is wonderfully natural, with characters' skin tones offering more reds than the A80L, which shifts more to the blue end of the spectrum. The same is true of the rebels’ desert suits, which have a browner, more realistic tone.

The trend continues with the opening scene of Blade Runner 2049. Watching Ryan Gosling’s character fly into a dusty protein farm, motion handling is beautiful and we don’t see any artefacts as his car zooms over the landscape and a recon drone examines the scene. Dark areas retain oodles of detail, with every crinkle in the sofa in Dave Bautista's home being apparent. The Bravia 8 offers warmer skin tones with Bautista's hulking character’s face having noticeably more life than the cooler A80L, creating, once again, a more natural picture.

To our surprise the Bravia 8’s light control has been refined, giving the picture even more depth and a wonderful three-dimensionality. Light leaking into the dark room reflecting off a kitchen counter oozes detail, showing the surface’s texture and offering a true sense of depth.

Moving to Oppenheimer, the Bravia 8 continues to impress. Black and white scenes reveal exceptional levels of detail, with every stitch and weave on characters’ suits and ties remaining clearly visible. The picture is wonderfully sharp and doesn’t appear flattened, as it does on the flagship Bravia 9, with characters and objects holding a true sense of depth and separation from the scene’s background.

But what about Sony’s 10 per cent higher peak brightness claims? Flipping things around with Pan, a terrible movie we often use to test peak brightness due to its atypical 4000 nits mastering, the Bravia 8 continues to impress. As the pirates’ flying ship sails through the sky, the Bravia 8 delivers immersive peak brights that retain a smidgen more detail than the A80L. The setting sun offers a slightly wider hue and tiny details around the clouds that are lost and displayed as pure white on the A80L.

It is the same story running Rogue One on Disney Plus, which we use to test Dolby Vision HDR performance. Dolby Vision Dark Mode makes the picture look a little dull, with the halo around planets and stars looking less impressive than we’d expect. Switching to Dolby Vision Bright mode, the Bravia 8 comes to life, offering significantly more punch, with distant stars twinkling and reflections in the sea glistening without the TV losing its sense of realism and authenticity.

So, all-in-all, the Bravia 8 is a fantastic TV that delivers great picture quality. But there are two small flies in the ointment.

The first relates to its handling of SDR, Full HD content, where the Bravia is good, but not best in class. Here we start by using our standard True Grit Blu-Ray test disc. This is a great movie for testing due to its grainy, dusty quality which properly stretches any TV’s upscaling powers. The film retains its natural grain, and appears wonderfully sharp – textures on the characters’ thickly spun cotton clothes ooze detail and skin tones look nicely sun-scorched. But some black crush does occur in particularly dark scenes.

There’s also the fact that, while the Bravia 8 is a great TV, the differences between it and the A80L are modest – we’re talking single-figure percentage improvements at best. This is particularly noticeable this year, where the difference between Sony’s OLED offering and key rivals has grown smaller.

The Philips OLED809 matches, and at times beats, the Bravia for blow-your-socks-off “this is bright” sections of the picture, and the LG C4 has come on leaps and bounds in this area too – we’re yet to get Panasonic’s range of Z-series OLEDs or the rival Samsung S90D in for review, which is why they’re not mentioned here.

This doesn’t make the Bravia 8 bad – remember the A80L is still excellent, so any improvements on its performance are still impressive.

Sound

• Can be beaten by a decent soundbar, easily.
• But makes the right call sacrificing "oomph" for control.

The Bravia 8 is one of the better-sounding OLED TVs we’ve tested, but again not a huge step forward for Sony.

Like all the brand’s flagships it uses Sony’s unique Acoustic Surface Audio+ technology, which involves actuators that vibrate the whole screen to generate sound.

Running our standard chapter two of Blade Runner 2049 stress test, the TV’s audio is slightly bass-light, even compared to rival sets. But it makes up for this with its control. The thumping, deep drum part doesn’t have the impact needed to get your heart truly beating, and the roaring synth underscoring it doesn’t dig deep enough to pull you into the scene the way even a moderately capable soundbar can.

But we don’t experience any distortion or loss of precision as we do on most TV speaker systems – at least until we raise the volume above 80 per cent. Once again, Sony has sacrificed direct impact for control with the Bravia 8’s sound.

The Cinema sound mode offers a nicely spacious, controlled experience. Watching Ryan Gosling’s Blade Runner 2049 character converse with a hologram moving around an apartment, the voices are suitably differentiated from background noise and the scene’s soundtrack. There’s also a sense of direction, with the hologram’s disembodied voice projecting and matching its movements on screen better than expected.

This is equally true when we switch to a car chase scene in The Batman. The Batmobile’s engines may not growl the way we want, but the sound follows the car’s movements with suitable accuracy to immerse us in the scene and make us feel like we’re in the midst of a fast-paced chase. There aren’t many TV in-built speaker systems around that can achieve the same results.

For us, this control and spaciousness are worth sacrificing some low-end heft for. Though, again, we’d still recommend investing in a soundbar or speaker package if you want the best experience possible.

Verdict

The Bravia 8 is not a massive step forward for Sony OLED TVs. It doesn’t have QD-OLED and it isn’t a night and day improvement on its predecessor the way the LG C4 is compared with the LG C3. But, you have to remember the A80L was a What Hi-Fi? Product of the Year award winner when it came out and to this day remains a stellar OLED TV.

This means that the very fact Sony has managed to improve it at all is impressive, especially as the upgrades target the key areas cinephiles care about. Skin tones are warmer and more realistic, and advances in its light control make the picture look wonderfully three-dimensional. Audio also remains a cut above the experience you’ll get on rival sets. So while the Bravia 8 may be a hard sell for people who only recently bought an OLED TV in the past few years, it is still an incredible set worth considering for everyone else.

First reviewed: September 2024. Updated review: November 2024.

SCORES

• Picture 5
• Sound 5
• Features 4

Also consider

FAQ

MORE:

Read our review of the LG C4

Also consider the Philips 809

Read our Sony A80L review

Best OLED TVs: the latest and greatest models, tested by our experts

It's a sad fact of life that even some of the best TVs have terrible sound quality. Some, but not all.

Because, thankfully, a few of them sound pretty good. Not as good as one of the best soundbars or best surround sound systems, certainly, but miles better than the competition.

They're not one-trick ponies, either. As well as sounding great, they look pretty stunning too, with excellent picture quality. Because what good is great sound quality if the picture is an insult to your eyes?

So if you don't want a separate sound system for reasons of space, budget, aesthetics or principle, check out the best-sounding TVs below. Your ears will thank you.

Sony Bravia 8 II

The Bravia 8 II has the same actuator-based sound system as the A95L, which is, in a word, fantastic.

It features two actuators that vibrate the screen in order to create sound, along with two subwoofers on bass duties. On set up, the Acoustic Calibration exercise helps make the sound more spacious, making it closer to a virtual surround sound effect.

Considering the sound is coming from the screen, the results are stunning. It's a proper room-filling sound, with the audio and picture linked in a way that rival systems can't match.

"There’s excellent detail, too, and enough dynamic nuance to convey the emotion in an actor's performance," we wrote in our review. "Bigger dynamic shifts are also handled well, with chapter two of Blade Runner 2049 building steadily where rival sets sound flat."

It's not the last word in bass, but it is sufficiently weighty and – crucially – remains composed where others flounder.

This is one of the few TVs that won't be improved by a cheap soundbar – you'll need to spend a bit more to better this set's audio.

Read the full Sony Bravia 8 II review

Philips OLED909

The 909 'only' scored four stars in our review, but for sound, it's a five from us.

Like the OLED908 before it, it has a sound system designed by British hi-fi stalwarts Bowers & Wilkins – a 3.1 channel 81W arrangement comprising a front-firing speaker bar arrangement and a subwoofer.

It supports a range of audio formats, too, including Dolby Atmos and DTS:X.

The results are a cut above most OLED TVs we review.

Sound is clear and punchy, with surprisingly solid dynamics. It verges on the lean side from time to time, but it's still impressive for a TV.

The bass is impressive too. While not on a par with a separate subwoofer as part of a surround sound system, it still provides pulsating low-end effects with ample depth.

The Dolby Atmos spatial effects also work. "It’s not as directional as an external sound system, but we can hear the B&W speakers attempt to shift the sound around in a fairly organic fashion in order to replicate a sense of space," we wrote in our review.

And the sound is pleasingly musical, as you would expect from B&W. Vocals are clear and timing is on point. Which can't be said of most TVs that grace our test rooms.

Read the full Philips OLED909 review

• Dolby Atmos: what is it? How can you get it?
• What is DTS:X? Which devices have it?

Panasonic Z95A

Panasonic's second-gen Micro Lens Array OLED TV is one of the best the brand has ever made, not just visually, but sonically too.

True, it has the same 5.1.2-channel 160W, speaker system as its predecessor, the MZ2000. But Panasonic promises improved audio thanks to Technics' '360 Soundscape Pro' tuning and the TV chip's enhanced processing.

There's also a Space Tune feature, which optimises the sound to your room.

It works a treat. Audio has plenty of attack, with low-end rumbles pleasingly free from distortion. The audio also provides a slight sense of height on occasions, though it's minimal compared to a decent Dolby Atmos soundbar.

It can lack directionality at times, somewhat compromising the spatial effect. Against a decent soundbar, it will struggle. But compared to most TVs? It's head and shoulders above.

Read the full Panasonic Z95A review

Panasonic Z95A vs MZ2000: how new and old flagship OLED TVs compare

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How to improve your TV's sound: options for better audio

Find out how to choose and set up a soundbar

The best Dolby Atmos soundbars

Sony's 2024 range has caused a considerable stir thanks to the company's unconventional approach. While nearly every other manufacturer reserves the top spot of their respective lineup for a flagship OLED TV, Sony is using that position to show off its advanced Mini LED backlighting system. 

In fact it is releasing only three new TVs (four if you live in the US or Australia) this year, with the remainder of its 2024 lineup comprising models carried across from last year. On paper, that sounds like an issue. Sony, however, enjoyed a practically flawless 2023 where TV reviews were concerned – so this risky strategy might well pay off.

That being said, 2024 has already been a strong year for Samsung and LG, while early looks at Philips and Panasonic sets promise strong competition to come. So can Sony fend off the competition to reign supreme for another year? 

What's new

Before we answer that question, we should look into what Sony has implemented across its 2024 TV line up.

Bravia is back

Sony's Bravia moniker is making a comeback for 2024; well, technically it never left, but this year it's becoming a lot more prominent. The naming convention for Sony TVs has been necessarily complex – you have to be fairly knowledgeable of TVs to differentiate your A95L from your X95L – so we are pleased to see that the new models are using a refined naming convention.

In the new range, we have the Bravia 9, Bravia 8 and Bravia 7, as well as the Bravia 3 which remains exclusive for the US and Australian markets. We'll dig a bit deeper into what each of those models includes later, but each will reportedly "bring the cinema home", according to Sony.

OLED takes a back seat for Mini LED

As we have already mentioned, Sony's big focus for this year is Mini LED. It has developed an advanced, more precise and brighter backlighting system which will reportedly deliver OLED-like blacks and vivid brightness. As a consequence, OLED has had to settle for second place on the lineup. 

In fact, there is only one new OLED TV in Sony's 2024 lineup:  the Bravia 8. This is a follow-up to the Product of the Year winning A80L, so expectations are high for this new model. The other OLED TVs on the lineup are the A95L and A90K; the former is no surprise, as it has been on the market for less than a year, but the latter is about to embark on its third year on sale. Surely it's time for a new small OLED TV Sony?

Nevertheless, the new Mini LED-powered Bravia 9 is shaping up to be a mighty interesting set, thanks to Sony's new backlighting system that promises to be more precise than any backlighting system to have come before it. Sony has taken inspiration from its mastering monitors found in Hollywood editing bays, calling this system the XR Master Backlight Drive. Claimed benefits include better local dimming and reduced risk of blooming on dark backgrounds.

Frustratingly, Sony will launch this set in the UK only at 75 inches upwards, meaning those who only have space for a 55- or 65-inch set will need to look elsewhere.

The new XR Processor runs the show

The new Bravia XR Processor is doing a lot of heavy lifting in this new lineup according to Sony. It's the brain behind the new XR Master Backlight Drive system, controlling the LED driver and Micro LEDs on the flagship Bravia 9 model, while delivering picture enhancements to the Bravia 8, 7 and 3 in various ways. 

The biggest news is a new picture-recognition engine that can recognise foliage and faces, and enhance them to look sharper and more detailed. Sony claims that the facial recognition system works on a variety of content including live-action and animated movies and TV shows.

Furthermore, Sony is expanding its relationships with content providers in order to create special calibration modes for a variety of streaming services. When watching content on Amazon Prime Video, Netflix or Sony Pictures Core, the TV will access picture information stored in the cloud and calibrate the picture automatically to best suit the content. This is reportedly coming to some older models including the A95L, but for the most part, it will be exclusive to the 2024 models to our knowledge. 

Sony 2024 TV lineup breakdown

Sony Bravia 9 Mini LED TV

In a shocking twist, the flagship model in Sony's 2024 lineup is not an OLED TV. Instead, Sony has developed an advanced Mini LED backlight instead, and it thinks it can take on the high standards set by its own A95L QD-OLED TV. It replaces the X95L from last year and will reportedly be 50 per cent brighter and feature more than three times the number of dimming zones, resulting in "OLED level blacks" according to Sony.

It's also set to include an advanced LED Acoustic Multi-Audio+ sound system, with a 70W 2.2.2 channel audio featuring on this TV. It includes drivers that vibrate the frame of the TV in order to create sound, which emulates the actuator-based system on Sony's OLED models which instead vibrate the screen. 

The set has four HDMI sockets in total, but only two are HDMI 2.1 which will be disappointing for hardcore gamers. Those ports will support 4K/120Hz gaming, VRR and ALLM though – to be expected considering Sony also manufactures the PlayStation 5. The Bravia 9 also features the Google TV operating system, meaning app compatibility shouldn't be an issue. 

We round things off with the most controversial aspect of this TV: the sizes. Sony is  bringing only two sizes of the Bravia 9 to the UK; 75- and 85-inches. That's quite large and, as a result, the Bravia 9 is expensive. A 65-inch version of this TV does exist, but it appears that it will launch only in the US.

Read our Sony Bravia 9 hands on review

Sony Bravia 8 OLED TV

Is this the most anticipated TV of 2024? This is the sequel to the Product of the Year Award-winning Sony A80L so it has astronomically big shoes to fill; no pressure…

This is the only new OLED TV from Sony this year (more on that later), and it is the regular WOLED flavour, not any sort of special QD-OLED or MLA OLED. That's not to discredit the Bravia 8, as underneath a mostly familiar exterior, there are a handful of reported upgrades.

Sony is claiming a nearly 10 per cent increase in brightness compared to the A80L, as well as the upgraded Bravia XR processor which can also be found on the Bravia 9. It also features the OLED Acoustic Surface Audio+ audio system, which vibrates the screen to create a lifelike centralised sound that comes directly from the centre of the screen. 

One thing we are glad the Bravia 8 doesn't share with the 9 is the range of available sizes. This OLED set comes in a much more conventional range of screen sizes. You'll be able to buy the Bravia 8 in 55-, 65- and 77-inch versions.

Read our Sony Bravia 8 hands on review

Sony Bravia 7 Mini LED TV

The Sony Bravia 7 is the cheapest new model from Sony if you live in the UK, and Sony considers it to be a spiritual successor to the X90L, which will confusingly also continue in Sony's lineup for the year. The big news is that this model is going from a full-array local dimming backlight to a Mini LED with quantum dots – albeit not the same advanced backlight found on the Bravia 9. 

Sony is attributing this upgrade in screen technology with a claimed 30 per cent increase in brightness and eight times more dimming zones. Paired with the XR Processor also found in the other two models, this should be a step up over the existing X90L in terms of picture quality. It also features a slightly trimmed-down version of the Bravia 9's Acoustic Multi Audio system that cuts out the upward-firing beam tweeters. 

It also inherits an identical gaming specification to its more expensive siblings, with two HDMI 2.1 sockets with 4K/120Hz, VRR and ALLM gaming support. 

Available in four screen sizes, the Bravia 7 is available in a wide selection of markets at the following prices:

Sony Bravia 3 LED TV

Sony's cheapest 2024 will unfortunately not be making its way to the UK. We have spotted it on US and Australian retail sites, and it looks to be a new entry-level option for Sony's new Bravia range. 

It appears to be fairly basic in design and functionality, with a 4K resolution, HDR support and a 60Hz panel. It has four HDMI 2.0 sockets, which rules out a majority of gaming features, meaning PS5 and Xbox Series X gamers may wish to steer clear. This also means it carries the basic ARC standard, and not the more advanced eARC standard; so audio quality over HDMI may not be as crisp as the other sets on this list. 

It does come in a wide range of sizes though, all with the following prices.

Sony A95L QD-OLED TV

Here we reach the familiar sets in Sony's unconventional lineup as, unlike LG and Samsung, it has decided to carry across a fair few of its older models into 2024, unless you live in Australia where this TV seems to have been unceremoniously axed. The A95L makes the most sense though, as it is less than a year old thanks to a delayed launch last year, meaning there is no real need to to replace it. 

It's still one of the best TVs that money can buy, in our opinion, thanks to its dazzling brightness and deep contrast, all while remaining both authentic and balanced in its presentation. In direct comparison with all of the major rivals last year including the LG G3, Samsung S95C and Panasonic MZ2000, the A95L stood head and shoulders above the competition, making it a clear picture champion in the TV realm.

It also happens to sound quite good, with an actuator-based 2.2-channel system which vibrates the screen, backed with two woofers that add a touch of bass. It's one of the very few TVs to earn the full five-star rating in the sound department, thanks to its spacious, crisp and impactful performance, while solid low-level dynamics ensure that voices have the necessary texture and nuance to dialogue. 

Features-wise, the A95L runs Google TV, as well as having the expected two HDMI 2.1 sockets (plus an additional two HDMI 2.0 sockets) for the full list of current gaming features. It also supports Dolby Vision HDR and Dolby Atmos for enhanced picture performance and immersive audio.

If there's one area in which we could critique the A95L, it would be the price. It was expensive when it launched last year, although that price looks to be dropping fairly consistently. 

Read our full Sony XR-65A95L review

Sony A90K OLED TV

The Sony A90K launched back in 2022, but that hasn't stopped Sony from squeezing yet another year out of it. This TV soldiers on for 2024 in both the 42- and 48-inch sizes, serving as Sony's "small" OLED TV for this year. 

It's a standard WOLED panel with a 4K resolution and 120Hz refresh rate on both sizes. Once again we have four total HDMI sockets, with two rated to support the full 48GB bandwidth of HDMI 2.1, one of which doubles as HDMI eARC. Sound is achieved via the Acoustic Surface Audio+ system and we considered it to be a strong, if not game-changing performer in this regard. 

What truly won us over with this TV is its excellent picture performance, as it bears the usual marks of a Sony OLED TV, including crisp details and deep contrast that results in a stunningly natural image. While competition from LG in the small OLED TV category is tough, this is still a solid TV, even if it is ageing at this point. 

Read our full Sony XR-48A90K review

Sony X90L LED TV

Another returning model is Sony's mid-range backlit TV from 2023 which will also serve in the 2024 lineup. It's another strong performer, so we don't have concerns with it sticking around for another year; it feels different enough from the Bravia 7 to justify its spot on the lineup.

We complimented its bright and impactful picture in our review, as well as its impressive balance and backlight control. It also scores an admirable four in the sound department thanks to its solid performance where dynamics, volume and spaciousness are concerned. 

We did have minor concerns regarding viewing angles and the inferior gaming specs compared with sets from Samsung and LG, but considering that this TV has dropped in price since it launched last year, it could be the one to go for if you are balancing value and performance. 

Read our full Sony XR-55X90L review

Sony X85L LED TV

This is a further step down in Sony's backlit lineup and a continuing model from 2023. We awarded it five stars last year thanks to its excellent contrast and backlight control, balanced colours and excellent motion handling. It's a winner in the picture category, despite the fact it uses a full array LED backlight. It does feature local dimming which accounts for the enhanced contrast and HDR performance. 

Sound-wise, we found that the X85L plays it too safe at times, but we appreciated that it knows its limitations to avoid distortion. It sounded clear, detailed and fairly well-refined for built-in TV speakers, although we wish it had a touch more bass. That all being said, we find it to be a solid performer by TV speaker standards. 

The X85L is also specified very similarly to the other TVs on this list, with two HDMI 2.1 sockets for 4K/120Hz gaming with VRR and ALLM. It also supports Dolby Vision HDR and Dolby Atmos immersive audio over HDMI eARC.

Read our full Sony XR-55X85L review

MORE:

Check out the full Samsung 2024 TV lineup

As well as the Hisense 2024 TV lineup

And our picks for the best TVs for 2024

LG's C-series models have long been the best step-down OLED TVs you can buy, until they weren't. Last year, a lack of significant improvements plus an on-form Sony led the Japanese giant's A80L to win Product of the Year at the What Hi-Fi? Awards. LG must have been fuming.

Now it's looking to win back its crown with the C4. On paper, it's again not a huge improvement on the previous model, but in practice it blew us away, earning the full five stars.

But Sony hasn't stood still either. Its Bravia 8 replaces the A80L, with a refined design, brighter image, new processor and better sound, scoring another perfect 5/5. It's going to be quite a fight...

Sony Bravia 8 vs LG C4: price

We've seen prices rise on all kinds of devices over the last couple of years, so it was a pleasant surprise when the C4 launched for a slightly lower price in the UK and Australia than the C3 did the year before. The US price was higher, but only just.

Even better news is that the discounts have been swift and substantial, so you can already pick up a C4 for much lower than the launch price. You can see the official launch prices below, followed by a live window of the best deals currently available, which you can filter by size.

• LG C4 42-inch: £1400 / $1499 / AU$2199
• LG C4 48-inch: £1500 / $1599 / AU$2499
• LG C4 55-inch: £1900 / $1999 / AU$3299
• LG C4 65-inch: £2700 / $2699 / AU$4299
• LG C4 77-inch: £3800 / $3699 / AU$5999
• LG C4 83-inch: £6000 / $5399 / AU$7999

The Bravia 8 also launched with lower prices than did its predecessor (the A80L), but those prices were a little higher than those of the C4. Like the C4, the Bravia 8 has already seen some good discounting, but it is generally a little more expensive than its LG rival. Previous experience with various models from both brands suggests that this will likely remain the case for much of the lives of these two TVs.

Below you will see the launch prices of the Bravia 8, followed by another live window that will show you the latest and greatest deals, which you can filter.

• Sony Bravia 8 55-inch: £2199 / $2000 / AU$3495
• Sony Bravia 8 65-inch: £2699 / $2800 / AU$4495
• Sony Bravia 8 77-inch: £3999 / $3900 / AU$6995

At face value, the LG undercuts the Sony for price, and we expect this to continue throughout the life cycle for both of these TVs. This is because LG tends to be more proficient at price cuts, while Sony sets tend to retain their value alongside the higher entry price.

** Winner: LG C4 **

Sony Bravia 8 vs LG C4: design

The 65-inch C4 looks a lot like the previous two C-series models – slim and attractive without being distracting. The chassis is only around half a centimetre slim, and at its thickest (the small section housing the connections, speakers and processing hardware), the TV is 4.7cm. That's thicker than the Bravia 8's 3.7cm, but the Sony is that thick all over, bar a recessed section for the ports.

The C4 is lighter than the Bravia 8 too, both with its stand (18.5kg to 23.2kg) and without it (16.6kg to 22.3kg). That makes it easier to manoeuvre (though you should only have to do it once, unless you move house) and to wall mount. Despite this relative lightness, it still feels solid and well made. 

That goes for the stand too, which never feels flimsy under the weight of the TV. The only downside is that it doesn't leave room for a typical soundbar. The LG USC9S fits seamlessly with it, but there are far better models available.

The Sony Bravia 8 looks a lot like its predecessor, the A80L, complete with the winklepicker feet and ultra-slim bezel. Its feet now have a flat top to more easily accommodate a soundbar across the top of them, and can still be placed either close to the centre (to fit on smaller TV cabinets) or wide. They also have the option of raising up higher to fit a soundbar without obscuring the screen.

It's a more premium design than the C4, but then the C4 is slimmer (for the most part) and lighter, which could be a dealbreaker.

** Winner: Draw **

Sony Bravia 8 vs LG C4: features

LG's C-series has long been the go-to for gamers unwilling – or unable – to shell out for a flagship TV, and that's still the case with the C4. Four HDMI 2.1 ports mean gamers with a soundbar plugged in can still get an uncompromised gaming experience from three consoles or gaming PCs hooked up at the same time, with no port switching required. The Bravia 8 only has two equivalent ports – that will be fine for most people, but owners of multiple consoles and/or gaming PCs who also have a soundbar will be better served by the C4.

The C4 has some new skills too, like full Nvidia G-Sync VRR certification (rather than a ‘G-Sync Compatible’ label) and support for refresh rates up to 144Hz (the C3 was only up to 120Hz) for the more hardcore gaming PCs. Dolby Vision gaming is also supported up to 144Hz, futureproofing it for when a games console is capable of outputting at such a high rate.

The C4 has an upgraded version of the Alpha 9 chip that powers the C3. This brings with it new processing features such as virtual 11.1.2 sound upmixing (up from the 9.1.2 of the C3) and enhanced voice remastering for greater dialogue clarity. It still doesn't support HDR10+, but seeing that it has the Dolby Vision, HLG and standard HDR10 formats of HDR, that's no biggie.

The Bravia 8 builds on the A80L's already stellar feature list. It has the same Cognitive Processor XR with XR Clear Image to improve 4K upscaling. Google TV is on board, with all the streaming apps you would expect in all their best audio-visual formats. You also get Sony's Bravia Core app for higher-bitrate streaming, along with 10 movie credits to spend on the service and 24 months' access.

Despite only having two HDMI 2.1 sockets, the Bravia 8 has some pretty good gaming specs, with 4K/120Hz, VRR and ALLM. It's also ‘Perfect for PlayStation’, so automatically calibrates HDR tone mapping for PS5 games, and it has a dedicated menu for quick access to gaming features.

The Bravia 8 supports Dolby Atmos audio, as well as the Dolby Vision, HDR10 and HLG formats of HDR – again, there's no HDR10+. New for this model is an updated Eco Dashboard (Eco Dashboard 2) which streamlines access to energy-saving features, and a rechargeable Eco Remote that's made from 80 per cent recycled material. This has a backlight too – the C4's doesn't – making it easier to use in cinema-style darkness.

** Winner: LG C4 **

Sony Bravia 8 vs LG C4: picture

The Bravia 8 is less of a step on from the A80L than the C4 is from the C3. But then the A80L already set the bar quite high – it did win a What Hi-Fi? Award, after all. And the Bravia 8 is a worthy follow-up.

Its picture is beautifully natural, with even skin tones and wonderfully smooth motion. There's a bunch of dark detail to enjoy, and lots of depth, giving the image a real three-dimensional feel (aided by the sharpness of the picture). Peak brightness is impressive (Sony says it's 10 per cent higher than the A80L, and we can believe it), with a wider hue and more detail within the brightest elements.

There is some black crush in dark scenes when upscaling SDR, Full HD content, but it's a minor flaw in what is an otherwise stellar performance. As we wrote in our review, "the Bravia 8 is a fantastic TV that delivers great picture quality".

When we reviewed the C4 earlier this year, we were bowled over. Part of that might have been relief after the relative disappointment of the C3, but either way, the C4 is a fantastic TV.

It's astonishingly good, even in a brightly-lit room, with significantly more pop than its predecessor. Colours are vibrant without being exaggerated, and even the brightest parts of the picture are packed with detail. It's noticeably sharper than the rather soft C3, with more natural skin tones. 

Turn off the lights, and it looks even better: it's sharper, more solid and has a lot more impact than the C3, and without any kind of unnatural processing. Detail is even more plentiful when viewed in these ideal conditions, and the overall image is warm and rich. The colours, while vibrant, remain balanced and natural, with subtly blended shades, and they retain their volume in dimly-lit areas. Motion is superb, too, with very little judder.

Ultimately, though, while the C4 is a superb TV and a big improvement on the C3, the Bravia 8 is better still, with even more punch, even better motion and a greater sense of three-dimensionality.

** Winner: Sony Bravia 8 **

Sony Bravia 8 vs LG C4: sound

In recent years, LG's OLEDs have sounded pretty poor, but the C4 is a big improvement. It's much punchier and more dynamic than the C3, which sounded just plain dull. It does crackle a little with deeper bass frequencies, but less so than most similarly-priced rivals.

The AI Sound mode is nowhere near as harsh as it was on LG's 2023 TVs. It's still a little fuzzy when pushed to high volumes, but you can avoid this by keeping it below the 75 volume setting (which is still quite loud).

Sonically as well as visually, the Bravia 8 isn't a huge step on from the A80L. But it's still one of the better-sounding OLED TVs we've tested. Sony's Acoustic Surface Audio+ technology uses actuators to vibrate the whole screen and generate sound. While it's a little light on bass, it remains composed throughout, with no distortion or lack of precision at most volumes (push it high and it starts to come undone). 

The Cinema sound mode adds a nice sense of space, and decent separation between the characters' voices, the film's soundtrack and background sounds. It also provides decent projection for dialogue purposes. It's better than most TVs' built-in audio systems at immersing you in the action, but a soundbar will still offer much improvement.

** Winner: Sony Bravia 8 **

Sony Bravia 8 vs LG C4: verdict

These step-down models prove you don't need to buy the most expensive TV around to get a fantastic experience. The C4 is the (slightly) more affordable of the two, and pips the Bravia 8 in terms of features, but the Bravia 8 is the better performer for picture and sound quality. In terms of design, they both have their strengths, but the Bravia 8 is a little more practical for adding a soundbar.

If your budget will stretch (or you see a great deal), the Bravia 8 is the better bet, but only just. And for those on a tighter budget, or wanting to save more to put towards a soundbar, the C4 won't disappoint.

** Overall winner: Sony Bravia 8 **

MORE:

Read our Sony Bravia 8 review

And our LG C4 review

LG C4 vs G4: how does it compare with LG's flagship TV?

Sony Bravia 8 vs A80L: which Sony TV should you buy?

Check out the best Sony TVs

Sony's Bravia 8 is the brand's only new OLED TV for 2024, but it looks like a corker. The follow-up to the A80L boasts a new processor, a new design and brighter performance, promising to take mid-range OLEDs to new heights.

But the A80L was one of the finest TVs of 2023, picking up a What Hi-Fi? Award for its trouble. Are the improvements enough to justify picking the new model over the old? Or would you be better off seeking out the A80L at a discount? That's what we're here to find out. 

Sony Bravia 8 vs A80L: price

We don't have pricing on the Bravia 8 yet, but given the fairly minimal improvements over the A80L, its launch price is likely to be similar.

The A80L launched at the following prices: 

• 55in: £2399 / $1899 / AU$2995
• 65in: £2999 / $2599 / AU$3995
• 77in: £4499 / $3599 / AU$6495
• 83in: £5499 / $5499 / AU$8795

But with the TV being nearly a year old now, these prices have tumbled, in the UK and US at least (Australian prices remain stubbornly high). You can now pick up the 55-inch A80L for £1399 / $1499, and the 65-incher for £1999 / $1999. Both of which are almost certain to undercut the Bravia 8 quite substantially. Looks like Sony's newcomer will have some work to do...

Sony Bravia 8 vs A80L: design

The Bravia 8 updates the A80L's design a little, but not a lot. Its feet are a little shorter than the A80L's, but just like its predecessor's, the set can rise higher using extenders to leave enough room for a soundbar. It retains a similarly slim bezel as the A80L.

The A80L was a bit uninspiring from a design perspective. There's nothing wrong with it – in fact, it's pleasingly minimalist. But it's quite similar to the A80K it replaces. It's also a fair bit thicker than some rivals in order to accommodate the actuators that vibrate the screen and generate sound. As we'll see in the sound section, this is a key skill, one we're happy to sacrifice a few extra millimetres for.

Sony Bravia 8 vs A80L: features

The Bravia 8 is very much like the A80L, but more so. It has a new processor and goes slightly brighter, but otherwise it's a very similar beast.

The A80L has Sony's Cognitive Processor XR with the XR Clear Image feature to improve 4K upscaling. Both TVs have the Google TV operating system, which is pretty good and getting better all the time. And it offers all the usual streaming big-hitters (Prime Video, Disney+, iPlayer, Apple TV and Netflix – though the latter is excluded from recommendations). All of these support the audio and video formats that they should, and you also get Sony's Bravia Core app for higher-bitrate streaming. Both TVs come with 10 Bravia Core movie credits and 24 months' access.

Dolby Atmos audio is supported, as well as Dolby Vision, HDR10 and HLG formats of HDR. But the A80L only has two HDMI 2.1 sockets – that's not really good enough, when even the relatively affordable LG B4 has four (we're still waiting to hear how many HDMI 2.1s the Bravia 8 has). These sockets offer a full suite of gaming features, including 4K/120Hz, VRR and ALLM, and the TV is ‘Perfect for PlayStation’, so automatically calibrates HDR tone mapping for PS5 games. There's also a dedicated menu for gaming features. 

The Bravia 8 brings an updated Eco Dashboard (Eco Dashboard 2) for tweaking energy saving features, along with a new Eco Remote that's made from 80 per cent recycled material and has a rechargeable battery. That's not a lot of extra features, but then the A80L was already quite feature packed.

Sony Bravia 8 vs A80L: picture

We haven't tested the Bravia 8 yet, so can't comment on its picture quality. But if it can improve on the A80L's, we should be in for an absolute treat...

The A80L won Product of the Year at the 2023 What Hi-Fi? Awards for a reason, and that was largely down to its superb picture quality. Custom, its least processed and most authentic picture preset, is wonderfully balanced, seamlessly combining the spectacular with the subtle. Skin tones and textural detail like tree bark are particularly impressive. Bright highlights pop from the screen, while blacks are as inky and cavernous as you would expect from an OLED. There's also an impressive amount of detail to both – shadows and shafts of sunlight alike reveal plenty of goings-on within them.

It all makes for a solid image with real depth. Add in Sony's trademark motion processing, and you've got a treat for the eyes.

A word of warning: standard Dolby Vision tends to look a bit dull, so opt for Dolby Vision Bright instead – it brings out far more detail and much punchier colours. It's a thrilling picture that never draws attention to itself, but is solely intent on conveying the content more accurately to make for a more immersive viewing experience. 

Our one niggle is that SDR content suffers from some black crush, costing it some dark detail. This is true for all three of the more authentic picture modes –Custom, IMAX Enhanced and Cinema. You can compensate by tweaking the Black Level setting, but it's tricky to get the right balance, and it's something you really shouldn't have to do. But in the grand scheme of things, it's a very minor complaint.

The Bravia 8 promises better scene recognition to realise what it's showing and adjust the colours accordingly – it can tell the difference between trees and green vegetables and react to that. Similarly, it can recognise faces in close-up, side-on, in crowd scenes, and can know if it's an animated face and not a real person, only apply processing where suitable.

It also promises to go brighter, with more dimming zones. Which should make for a vastly improved picture. But as we haven't tested it yet, we'll award this round to the fantastic A80L.

Sony Bravia 8 vs A80L: sound

Both the A80L and Bravia 8 feature Sony's actuator-based audio system in which the whole screen vibrates to create sound and position the effects precisely on the screen.

The A80L sounds a bit bass-light for our tastes, but on the upside the lower frequencies don't distort when it's pushed, instead remaining composed. This is a TV that knows its limits.

And otherwise it sounds very good indeed. The soundstage is spacious and extends far beyond the confines of the set, sounds are placed with pin-point precision, and it projects a decent way into the room. Voices have a nice warmth to them, too.

The Bravia 8 features an upgraded Acoustic Centre Sync feature, which better integrates audio from a soundbar. In this mode, the TV acts as the centre speaker, with the TV audio adjusted to work with the soundbar's output for a more harmonised performance. We'll report back once we've tested it.

Sony Bravia 8 vs A80L: early verdict

At this early stage we can't commit to a definitive verdict on the Bravia 8, but from what we've seen it certainly looks impressive. Brighter performance, upgraded sound performance, a tweaked design... music to our ears, all of it.

Whether these upgrades are enough to justify buying it over the older, cheaper but still excellent A80L is another question. To answer that, you'll have to wait until we've tested it thoroughly. Once we have, we'll update this article.

MORE:

Read our review of the Sony A80L

And here's our hands-on of the new Sony Bravia 8

Sony A80L vs LG C3: which step-down OLED TV should you buy?

Sony A80L vs A95L: which Sony 2023 OLED TV is for you?