This Award-winning Sony projector is still very expensive, but this Black Friday deal should soften the blow

Sony Bravia Projector 8 home cinema projector

(Image credit: What Hi-Fi?)

Sony's 4K laser projectors are a double-edged sword; on one hand, we love the deeply cinematic images they tend to produce, but on the other hand, they are flipping expensive pieces of kit.

Even so, we think they are worth the money if your pockets are deep enough, and with this Black Friday saving your pockets needn't be quite as deep as expected.

Richer Sounds currently has the Award-winning Bravia Projector 8 (also known as the VPL-XW6100ES) down to £11,999, which is a £4000 saving from the price we reviewed it at.

We recently gave the Sony Bravia Projector 8 a What Hi-Fi? Award for being a worthy successor to the previous Award-winning VPL-XW7000ES, delivering the ultimate home cinema performance.

It boasts exceptional contrast, sharp details, and improved HDMI 2.1 specification, as well as being a formidable and more affordable step-down alternative to the Sony Bravia Projector 9.

And what you get for your money is a blend of the picture pedigree of its predecessor alongside a handful of new impressive features and enhancements derived from its Bravia TV cousins.

More compact and lighter than its main competitors, such as the JVC DLA-NZ800, it weighs in at just 14kg (as opposed to JVC's 23kg) and measures up at 21 x 46 x 52cm.

And alongside a sleek build, you also get an incredibly functional remote that features shortcut buttons to access crucial settings such as lens adjustments and picture modes, as well as including a backlight for operating the projector in dark environments (like a home cinema room, if you're lucky enough to have one).

Feature-wise, it's packed out. Specifically, the new processor is a modified version of the Bravia XR processor found in the Award-winning Bravia 8 OLED TV and four-star Bravia 9 Mini LED TV.

And with it comes XR Dynamic Tone Mapping, XR Deep Black, XR Triluminous Pro, XR Clear Image and Motionflow, expanding colour volume and enhancing accuracy of the laser output.

Plus, it boasts two HDMI 2.1 sockets with support of 4K/120Hz signals with Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM), which will appease PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and gaming PC owners who want to game on the big screen. Sony also claims an input lag of 12ms with 4K/120Hz sources.

For its pictures, our expert testers had high praise to give, stating that it "delivers excellent black levels by projector standards" as well as praising the detail levels, colour rendition and crisp and detailed resolution.

All-in-all, Sony has delivered yet another blockbuster projector worthy of your home cinema. And while it isn't cheap, a £4000 saving at Richer Sounds will surely soften the blow, as will the crisp picture with rich colours and supreme contrast you'll get to enjoy.

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Lewis Empson is a Senior Staff Writer on What Hi-Fi?. He was previously Gaming and Digital editor for Cardiff University's 'Quench Magazine', Lewis graduated in 2021 and has since worked on a selection of lifestyle magazines and regional newspapers. Outside of work, he enjoys gaming, gigs and regular cinema trips.

With contributions from