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Thought Black Friday was over? The best TV I've ever tested is still cheaper than ever

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There's no better TV than the Sony Bravia 8 II QD-OLED – and its Black Friday deal is still available

The 55-inch Sony Bravia 8 II QD-OLED TV photographed on a white table. On the screen is a nature documentary.
(Image credit: What Hi-Fi? / Netflix (Our Great National Parks))
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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.

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

Sony Bravia 8 II 55-inch
Five stars
Save £800
Sony Bravia 8 II 55-inch: was £2,499 now £1,699 at Amazon

Lowest-ever price: £1699
The Sony Bravia 8 II is a truly exceptional performer and a real all-rounder. It combines stunning brightness, colour vibrancy and sharpness with balance and naturalism, and it performs brilliantly right out of the box. Add excellent sound (by TV standards), an app-packed operating system and very good gaming specs, and you've got an awesome package.

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Sony Bravia 8 II 65-inch
Save 33%
Sony Bravia 8 II 65-inch: was £2,999 now £1,999 at Amazon

Lowest-ever price: £1999
The 65-inch version of the Bravia 8 II performs just like the 55-inch model, but with a small loss of sharpness (due to the same number of pixels being stretched over a larger area) and a fairly big increase in cinematic epicness. It also sounds even better, thanks to the larger size. If you're umming and ahing over whether to go for the 55- or 65-inch model, I recommend going for the bigger one.

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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.

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Tom Parsons
Tom Parsons

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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