The Sony Bravia 8 II might have missed out on a What Hi-Fi? Award this year, but as a 2025 Product of the Year, it's still an excellent buy.
And the Bravia 8 II's age means it's available much cheaper than many of our current Award winners – the 55-inch model is currently at a new low of £1549 at Smart Home Sounds, a whopping £950 off our 'tested at' price.
There are a few steps you need to go through to get this price, though – the code SHSTV150 brings the price down to £1649, and then you can claim £100 cashback from Sony. Full T&Cs are here.
We'd advise not updating the system software once it's out of the box, though – a recent Bravia TV software update has caused problems on several Sony TV models. The issue appears to be related to HDMI passthrough, with our very own TV & AV Editor, Tom Parsons, experiencing audio dropouts when using an external source and a sound system.
If you're not planning on connecting any HDMI-equipped sources in the short term or you're fine with holding fire on that update, you'll have a wonderfully cinematic TV on your hands.
When we first tested the Sony Bravia 8 II, we found it delivers an epic cinematic picture and backs it up with great sound quality.
"The Sony Bravia 8 II is a truly exceptional TV," our Sony Bravia 8 II review reads. "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."
Colours are vibrant, even in low-light areas, and there's far more shadow detail than any other Sony TV we've tested at the time of writing.
One of the Bravia 8 II’s greatest strengths is its presets, with no tinkering required to get a supremely authentic picture. We recommend Dolby Vision Dark for Dolby Vision content or Professional for everything else.
Sony's Acoustic Surface Audio+ setup also helps make the Bravia 8 II one of the best-sounding TVs we've ever heard. The sound is balanced, weighty and dynamic, and even manages to sound impressively spacious too.
Picture quality this good deserves a dedicated sound system if you have the funds, but this is very impressive audio by flatscreen TV standards.
Features are just as impressive as the audio and sound quality. Dolby Vision and Atmos are both on board, as well as HDR10 and HLG. The Bravia 8 II is also IMAX Enhanced certified for cinema-grade picture and sound.
Gamers can also enjoy 4K/120Hz, VRR and ALLM support, as well as a Dolby Vision Game mode. Beware that there are only two HDMI 2.1 sockets, one of which doubles as an eARC port, which may be an issue if you have multiple high-speed gaming consoles.
Current Award winner or not, the Sony Bravia 8 II remains one of the best value premium TVs out there right now. We'd advise against updating the system software right now, but otherwise £950 off at Smart Home Sounds is a phenomenal bargain.
MORE:
Read our full 55-inch Sony Bravia 8 II review
Sony has released new Bravia TV software, and it’s good news for some (but unfortunately not all)
Also consider reading our Samsung S99H review
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