The Sony A95L is the best TV I've ever owned, and it's discounted for Amazon Prime Day – but you shouldn't buy it

The Sony A95L and Bravia 8 II QD-OLED TVs pictured side-by-side. On the screen is a still of Daniel Ricciardo from Drive to Survive.

(Image credit: What Hi-Fi? / Netflix (Drive to Survive))

I've been pining for the Sony A95L ever since I reviewed it back towards the tail end of 2023.

For me, that combination of Sony's awesome, authentic processing and the raw capabilities of QD-OLED was just irresistible.

Well, I had to be patient, but a couple of months ago, I finally got a 65-inch A95L as my living room TV.

It has not disappointed. It's a TV that is capable of absolutely dazzling you with its contrast and colours, but subtle and balanced enough to ensure that nothing ever feels exaggerated.

While it's not an Amazon deal, Amazon Prime Day has brought with it a fresh discount on the 65-inch A95L, so you can now pick it up for £2199 at Richer Sounds.

That makes the TV I live with and love cheaper than it has ever been – so why do I recommend that you don't buy it?

There are a couple of reasons that I suggest you avoid temptation and swerve this Sony A95L deal.

The first is that while this new discount is nice, you're still looking at £2199 for a TV that came out almost two years ago.

The 65-inch version of last year's LG G4, meanwhile, is available for just £1499 at Richer Sounds.

Now, personally, I prefer the A95L over the G4 overall; but enough to recommend spending an extra £700? Not on your life.

That's more than enough 'change' to buy a Sonos Arc (currently £599 at Richer Sounds). And while the A95L sounds great for a TV, it's trounced by the Arc.

Another reason not to buy the Sony A95L now is that I don't think it will be a terribly long time before its Bravia 8 II replacement drops to similar money.

The new model is currently £2999, but I can see it hitting £2499 before the end of the year.

I recently reviewed the Bravia 8 II and compared it side-by-side with my A95L (that's a picture of them together at the top of this page). And the new model is a surprisingly big step up in quality over the already excellent A95L.

The Bravia 8 II takes everything that the A95L does so well and adds extra brightness, greater contrast, better shadow detail and more three-dimensionality, to create an image that pops from the screen to a significantly larger degree.

I don't recommend buying the Bravia 8 II at full price, but when those discounts come, it will be well worth snapping up.

So, in summary, don't buy the best TV I have ever owned.

Instead, if you want a flagship-grade OLED TV right now, I suggest you go for the LG G4 (with a Sonos Arc) over the A95L. And if you're not in a hurry, I think it's worth waiting for the Bravia 8 II to drop in price.

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Tom Parsons has been writing about TV, AV and hi-fi products (not to mention plenty of other 'gadgets' and even cars) for over 15 years. He began his career as What Hi-Fi?'s Staff Writer and is now the TV and AV Editor. In between, he worked as Reviews Editor and then Deputy Editor at Stuff, and over the years has had his work featured in publications such as T3, The Telegraph and Louder. He's also appeared on BBC News, BBC World Service, BBC Radio 4 and Sky Swipe. In his spare time Tom is a runner and gamer.

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