Sony’s Latest Flagship TV: The Bravia 9 II

The Bravia 9 II is Sony’s most anticipated new TV in years, and for good reason. This RGB LED TV boasts game-changing features that make it a standout in the industry. As I watched the movie Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves on the new Bravia with my son, I was impressed by the natural and real landscapes of Faerûn, the vibrant and colorful magic cast by the Red Wizards of Thay, and the specular highlights in HDR that really pop. The TV’s ability to display such a wide range of colors is due to its use of RGB LEDs for its backlight, rather than the traditional blue backlight used in LED TVs.

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The Bravia 7 II, which I reviewed in May, was already an impressive RGB LED TV. However, the Bravia 9 II has more dimming zones and an anti-reflective screen, and it gets brighter than the 7 II. But the 65-inch 9 II is also $1,000 more expensive, and the price difference increases as screen size goes up. So, is Sony’s flagship Bravia 9 II worth the extra money?

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The Bravia 9 II has the same processor as the 7 II, and they both have the same awesome lenticular stand — the coolest TV stands I’ve seen in a long time — and both have HDMI 2.1 on just two of their four ports. Maybe next year Sony will catch up with the rest of the high end and finally offer four HDMI 2.1 ports.

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The Bravia 9 II is also as good as or better than the 7 II in grayscale and color performance (although it has the same issue in SDR mode with reds being oversaturated and not as bright as they should be). In Professional mode, the TV’s gamma and EOTF tracking is even better than the 7 II, so shadows are suitably detailed and images have proper depth. Colors like sky blue, foliage, and especially skin tones all look wonderful. And while grayscale measures (and looks) a little blue, I wasn’t bothered by it in anything I watched.

The Bravia 9 II can get bright: I measured highlights in HDR at 3,800 nits, and a full-field white screen at 885. The Bravia 7 II maxed out at 2,200 nits for highlights, although it has nearly the same full-field brightness at 848 nits. So for everything but the brightest of specular highlights, the two Sony RGB LED TVs have similar real-world brightness. There are TVs that get brighter — such as the TCL X11L — but with the vast majority of content out there, the 9 II is plenty bright with both HDR and SDR (if you turn it up from its default in Professional mode, which is set for dark-room viewing, or change to the slightly less accurate Cinema mode).

In addition to the picture performance, a few features distinguish the Bravia 9 II from the 7 II. The most noticeable upgrade is the anti-reflection screen, which is the best I’ve ever seen. Bright lamps or windows are reduced to a dim glow that’s incredibly difficult to see when anything is playing on the TV. Even when the TV is off, light reflections on the screen don’t draw my attention. The effect degrades the more off angle you get, but it wasn’t distracting until close to 70 degrees off axis, which is a pretty severe angle to watch TV at, even with a big group of friends over.

The Bravia 9 II also has more dimming zones than the 7 II. More dimming zones allow for a finer control of backlight transition from light to dark parts of the screen, and usually lead to less blooming (where bright light bleeds into a dark section next to it). That is mostly true on the Bravia 9 II. From straight on, or slightly off angle, the 9 II handles blooming very well. There’s a slight glow around subtitles or a very dim haze around fireworks. The blooming was a bit more prominent at the far ends of my 8-foot couch, but it’s better than the Bravia 7 II or other RGB LED TVs (although not better than the TCL X11L mini-LED TV). It’s still an LED TV, and there will always be some degree of blooming.

When I stood more off angle next to my couch, though, the blooming got worse — and not just around subtitles. I noticed both white and color bleeding into neighboring colors. Apple TV has a Peanuts screen saver, which is mostly Snoopy doing things on or around his doghouse. From an off angle, I could see the white from his body extend into the yellow background. I wouldn’t suggest the Bravia 9 II primarily for big groups, as friends at one side will get a different viewing experience than those toward the middle. This isn’t something I remember seeing on the Bravia 7 II, and since the accentuated blooming happens off axis, I wonder if it’s related to the anti-reflective coating on the screen.

Even with the minor off-angle issues, there isn’t any question that the Sony Bravia 9 II is the best RGB LED TV available. Its great color accuracy, high light output, and anti-reflective screen make it the best bright-room TV available. But the 65-inch sample I had in for review, which is the smallest available size, is $3,600, while the Bravia 7 II is $2,600 at 65 inches, and is available in sizes as small as 50 inches. Even the 65-inch Sony Bravia 8 II OLED is $3,000.

I loved my time with the Sony Bravia 9 II, and I’m sure anyone would enjoy having one in their house. Even so, there are other TVs I prefer, even within Sony’s own product line. The Bravia 8 II, which gets you the pixel-level control only an OLED can deliver, would be my first choice. Contrast is still king to our eyes, and OLED still leads in that category. If you really want an RGB LED TV and don’t want to splurge on the 9 II, the Bravia 7 II gets you most of the way there (without the anti-reflective screen). The one use case where the Bravia 9 II wins out is in a space where reflections are a major concern. There’s no denying the Bravia 9 II is a great achievement in LED TV performance. But I’m still going to recommend an OLED for most people.