While we don't generally recommend limiting yourself to just one brand when buying your new TV, if you are going to do so, you could do much worse than Sony.
The Japanese giant has been on an exceptional run of form of late, having produced stellar Mini LED and OLED models from the mid-range and up in recent years. It's little wonder that Sony features prominently in our overall list of the best TVs.
But once you've decided you want a Sony TV, how do you work out which one is right for you?
That's where we come in. Our team of experts has been reviewing Sony TVs since the 1990s, with every major model having passed through our dedicated test rooms.
The most recent one to have done so is the Bravia 3, which is a rare Sony TV that we don't recommend, hence its absence from this list, where we only highlight the very best models.
You can get a detailed breakdown of how we test Sony TVs at the bottom of this page, but the short version is that every TV we review goes through a rigorous, comparative testing process in one of our dedicated rooms.
A team of reviewers tests each TV in all the key areas important to serious home cinema (and gaming) fans, including picture and audio quality, app support, usability, features and value for money.
If you're not, in fact, determined to buy a Sony as your next TV, do check out our guides to the best OLED TVs and best TVs overall. Otherwise, scroll down to find your perfect Sony TV.
The quick list
Best Sony TV overall
Sony’s Bravia 8 II is a sensational QD-OLED TV that combines dazzling brightness, rich cinematic colour and top-tier sound, all delivered with effortless out-of-the-box performance.
Best step-down Sony TV
The Bravia 8 is a previous TV Product of the Year and still a great TV to buy right now if you can't stretch to the Bravia 8 II
Best small Sony TV
Sony’s only 42-inch OLED is every bit as good as you’d imagine, but it comes at a high price compared with rivals from other brands.
Best mid-size Sony TV
It's not as bright as the best big OLEDs on the market, but this flagship 48-inch TV from Sony is still exceptionally good.
Best Mini LED Sony TV
The Bravia 7 is a superb Mini LED TV that combines punchy brightness, refined picture quality and impressive sound in a flexible, well-built package.
Best Sony TV overall
The Sony Bravia 8 II is the brand’s latest flagship QD-OLED TV, building on the success of its acclaimed Sony A95L predecessor. It does such a good job, in fact, that it's not only the best Sony TV overall – it's also the What Hi-Fi? Awards TV Product of the Year.
Where to start? It offers a dazzlingly bright, vibrant and three-dimensional picture that looks stunning right out of the box – no calibration required. This is a TV that feels finely tuned from the get-go, with presets such as Dolby Vision Dark and Cinema delivering beautifully natural, authentic images.
The Bravia 8 II is great with dark content, too. Its QD-OLED panel produces perfect blacks combined with excellent shadow detail, with contrast and sharpness that add a real sense of depth and solidity to the image.
Colours are rich and vibrant without ever tipping into oversaturation, and there’s a remarkable level of nuance and balance to every scene. Bright highlights pop with confidence, but never at the expense of subtlety – and dark scenes maintain clarity without losing detail. The effect is consistently engaging and consistently cinematic.
Motion handling is another strength, with the Bravia 8 II offering a clean, confident picture across fast action and sweeping camera movements alike. It’s the sort of performance that lets you sink into whatever you’re watching. The Bravia 8 II simply gets on with the job, and does it superbly well.
Sound performance is just as impressive. Sony’s Acoustic Surface Audio+ technology uses two actuators and two subwoofers positioned behind the screen to generate sound directly from the panel. The result is a spacious, layered audio performance with clear dialogue and a surprising amount of body and presence.
Effects feel placed and natural, and the sense of immersion is far better than you’d expect from a TV’s built-in speakers. It’s one of the few TVs where the sound doesn’t feel like an afterthought.
That isn't to say that you couldn't upgrade the sound through the addition of a soundbar, but for a TV, the Bravia 8 II sounds very good indeed.
For gamers, the Bravia 8 II covers the essentials, including 4K/120Hz, VRR and ALLM. It also has a dedicated Dolby Vision Game Mode.
Only two of the four HDMI ports support 4K/120Hz, though, which could be limiting if you have multiple high-bandwidth devices, but it will be enough for most setups.
One area where Sony has stepped back slightly is the remote – it no longer features backlighting or USB-C charging, relying instead on AAA batteries. It’s a downgrade from the A95L’s remote, and feels a little out of place on such a premium product.
Still, the Bravia 8 II is a truly exceptional television. It combines vivid, lifelike visuals with impressive sound and an effortlessly cinematic tone – all delivered without the need for endless tweaking. If you’re looking for a high-end OLED that’s ready to perform the moment you turn it on, this is one of the finest options available.
Read the full Sony Bravia 8 II review
Attributes |
Notes |
Rating |
|---|---|---|
Picture |
Bright, vibrant and cinematic, with perfect blacks and great shadow detail |
★★★★★ |
Sound |
Spacious, layered audio from the screen itself, with clear dialogue |
★★★★★ |
Features |
Google TV is well-stocked with apps, and gaming features are plentiful, but two HDMI 2.1 ports may not be enough for some |
★★★★☆ |
Best step-down Sony TV
The Sony Bravia 8 is the firm’s step down OLED, which puts it in direct competition with big names including the LG C5.
While it launched in 2024, the Bravia 8 is still in the Sony range, and it's just as compelling now as it was when it first came out.
During testing, we found it offers the best picture quality available on any TV in its price range, with its standard OLED panel going brighter than expected while retaining a pleasing sense of authenticity.
If that wasn’t enough to tempt you, it also has the best in-built audio of any set at its level, thanks to the use of Sony’s clever Acoustic Surface Audio+ tech. This works using under-screen actuators rather than traditional speakers to create sound, and it lets the Bravia 8 deliver a pleasingly clean and controlled audio experience – though you could (and should) improve upon it through the addition of a soundbar.
This is why we continue to heap praise on it and stand by our conclusion:
“Skin tones are warmer and more realistic, and advances in its light control make the picture look wonderfully three-dimensional. Audio also remains a cut above the experience you’ll get on rival sets.”
The only minor downside is that – as with every other premium Sony TV – the Bravia 8 only has two HDMI 2.1 inputs, one of which doubles as the eARC port.
This means that if you have a Dolby Atmos soundbar and two current-generation games consoles, you’ll have to contend with a fair amount of cable swapping or accept one of your machines running without its most advanced features active.
The Bravia 8 is still a great gaming TV in its own right, but if you have lots of gaming machines, an LG C5 might suit you better.
Read the full Sony Bravia 8 review
Attributes |
Notes |
Rating |
|---|---|---|
Picture |
Sharp and dynamic, yet subtle and authentic |
★★★★★ |
Sound |
Atmospheric, but could be bassier |
★★★★☆ |
Features |
Just two HDMI 2.1 sockets costs it the fifth star |
★★★★☆ |
Best small Sony TV
Buying a sub-50-inch TV used to mean losing out on the kind of top-end features that would adorn the bigger models, but the likes of Sony, LG and Samsung all now sell smaller versions of their flagship sets – and the 42-inch A90K doesn’t disappoint.
Despite its relatively small screen size, you still get four HDMI ports, including two that support 4K/120Hz signals, so you can get the most out of a PS5 or Xbox Series X.
As with Sony's other OLED models, the audio system consists of actuators that vibrate the whole screen in order to make sound, which ties the audio to the on-screen action in a way that rival sets simply can't match.
That said, while the A90K sounds much better than most TVs of this size, we recommend connecting a soundbar to the eARC port for even better audio.
It supports the usual Dolby Vision, HDR10 and HLG formats of HDR, but as with all Sony TVs, HDR10+ is absent. The Cognitive Processor XR delivers a stunningly solid and deep image for a TV this size.
The A90K is rather long in the tooth now, having launched way back in 2022, and it's not as bright or gamer-friendly as newer models such as the Award-winning LG C5, but if you’re a Sony loyalist with limited space, the stylish XR-42A90K is the ideal way to fill it.
Read the full Sony XR-42A90K review
Attributes |
Notes |
Rating |
|---|---|---|
Picture |
Amazingly sharp and detailed with superb motion |
★★★★★ |
Sound |
Nicely spacious, but struggles with bass |
★★★★☆ |
Features |
Very good, but only two HDMI 2.1 sockets |
★★★★☆ |
Best mid-size Sony TV
Design-wise, Sony has set out to keep the 48-inch A90K as compact as possible. The display itself is surrounded by a black bezel that’s just 8mm thick at the top and about 12mm on the sides and bottom. The low-profile stand is just 50cm wide and 23cm deep, making it easy to find furniture with the necessary surface area for the TV.
Picture quality is near-flawless. In that regard, this is undoubtedly one of the best 48-inch TVs we've tested – even though it's now almost three years old.
The Acoustic Surface Audio+ technology means the A90K sounds good by the standards of relatively small TVs, but we still recommend that you add a soundbar.
Hardcore gamers may rue the lack of an HGiG mode, but the PS5-specific Auto HDR Tone Mapping does mean that gamers on Sony’s console will automatically get a fairly accurate picture performance.
All in all, the Sony XR-48A90K remains a great buy – though those not wedded to Sony should also consider the 48-inch LG C5.
Read the full Sony XR-48A90K review
Attributes |
Notes |
Rating |
|---|---|---|
Picture |
Sharp, detailed and effortlessly natural |
★★★★★ |
Sound |
Clear and detailed, if a little thin at times |
★★★★☆ |
Features |
Gamers will be disappointed by only two HDMI 2.1 sockets |
★★★★☆ |
Best Mini LED Sony TV
The Sony Bravia 7 features trickle-down Mini LED technology from the cutting-edge Bravia 9, and it shows. It delivers a picture that’s bright, punchy and impressively refined, making it an excellent choice for those after a premium picture performance without stepping into OLED pricing.
With Sony’s XR Backlight Master Drive and XR Processor working together, the Bravia 7 achieves precisely controlled brightness, black levels and contrast that outclass most Mini LED rivals. Crucially, it also brings a level of cinematic subtlety and polish that’s rare for an LED-backlit display.
Picture quality is consistently strong across all content. The Bravia 7 handles HDR brilliantly, producing intense highlights without tipping over into harshness or overexposure.
Instead, the image feels measured and controlled, with vibrant colours, crisp whites and deep, detailed shadows. There’s very little sign of blooming or haloing around bright objects – a common issue with LED TVs – and black levels are unusually deep for a non-OLED panel.
The result is a vibrant, dynamic picture that still manages to feel grounded and natural, whether you’re watching Dolby Vision blockbusters or lower-res streaming content.
Sony’s XR Processor plays a key role in maintaining this balance. It enhances motion, texture and fine detail without making the image look processed or artificial. Upscaling is particularly impressive, with HD content appearing clean and noise-free.
While the Bravia 7 doesn’t use the Acoustic Surface Audio system found on Sony’s OLED models, its performance is still surprisingly strong for built-in TV sound.
The soundstage is large and layered, with good separation and detail. Dialogue is clean and easy to follow, and there’s enough low-end presence to avoid the usual thinness of flatscreen audio. A dedicated sound system will always be better, but the Bravia 7’s speakers are more than good enough for everyday viewing.
Design-wise, Sony’s three-position stand is a particularly welcome feature, giving users the flexibility to choose between wide, narrow and raised setups – ideal for a range of furniture or for slotting a soundbar underneath. The build quality feels premium, and everything about the design serves to keep your focus on the screen itself.
For gamers, the Bravia 7 ticks most of the right boxes. It supports 4K/120Hz, VRR and ALLM, and performance in practice is slick and responsive. As is the case with all premium Sony’s TVs, only two of the four HDMI ports support the full HDMI 2.1 spec, which may be a minor frustration if you have multiple next-gen consoles or devices – though it won’t be a deal breaker for most people.
All told, the Bravia 7 is a brilliant Mini LED TV that manages to combine eye-popping brightness with real cinematic sophistication. It may not deliver the same absolute black levels as OLED, but its carefully balanced picture and impressive sound make it one of the finest TVs in Sony’s current line-up.
Read our full Sony Bravia 7 review
Attributes |
Notes |
Rating |
|---|---|---|
Picture |
Bright, punchy and refined, with deep blacks and minimal blooming |
★★★★★ |
Sound |
Surprisingly full and spacious, with a wide, clearly layered soundstage |
★★★★☆ |
Features |
Strong gaming support and a versatile three-position stand, though only two HDMI 2.1 ports |
★★★★☆ |
Also consider
Sony Bravia 9
Technically, the Bravia 9 is Sony's flagship TV, sitting above the Bravia 8 and Bravia 8 II in the current range, but while its next-gen Mini LED technology is deeply impressive, especially in terms of brightness, those OLED models deliver an even better and more consistent picture overall. Still well worth consdering if you want a super-premium Sony that isn't an OLED.
Sony Bravia 5
The Bravia 5 is a great option if you can't stretch to the Bravia 7 or Bravia 8, delivering a really considered and cinematically authentic picture, with Sony's legendary picture processing, for less than those other options.
How to choose the best Sony TV for you
Budget and size
Regardless of brand, when choosing your next TV, the very first things you need to decide are how much you are prepared to spend and how big you want to go.
The size of the TV you want will be largely dictated by how much space you have and how 'cinematic' you want your viewing experience to be. We have a handy guide to which TV screen size is best for you, but if you're torn between two sizes, we generally recommend going for the larger one – we regularly hear from people who regret going too small with their new TV, but rarely from people who feel they went too big.
Only you can decide the budget you have available, but that will have a big bearing on this next bit...
Panel technology
Sony produces TVs using various panel technologies, from basic LCD models with edge LED backlighting, to Full Array Local Dimming (FALD) LED models, Mini LED sets, 'standard' OLEDs and QD-OLEDs.
Broadly speaking, that's the performance and cost hierarchy, but it is worth noting that Sony's current flagship TV (the Bravia 9) is a Mini LED model that sits above its A95L QD-OLED model. We think the A95L is actually the better TV, but you should certainly consider the Bravia 9, too.
In fact, we generally recommend that you go for an OLED or QD-OLED model if you can afford it, but the Mini LED models that sit below those in Sony's range also have their strengths, particularly if you do most of your TV-watching in a very bright room.
Audio
Sony's OLED TVs feature a unique sound technology called Acoustic Surface Audio, which involves actuators that imperceptibly vibrate the whole screen to produce sound. This results in excellent spatial synchronisation between the picture and audio.
This sort of thing isn't possible with backlit TVs, but Sony's top backlit TVs feature Acoustic Multi-Audio, which is designed to achieve similar results through the use of various speakers built into the frame of the TV.
Sony's premium TVs are among the best-sounding available from any brand, but they can all be improved through the addition of a dedicated sound system, so we recommend you budget extra for at least a soundbar (or, even better, an AV receiver and Dolby Atmos speaker system) if you're able to.
If you opt for one of the best Sony soundbars (which are among the best soundbars you can buy), you will likely be able to take advantage of an array of synergistic features via your Sony TV, including Acoustic Centre Sync, which allows the speakers of the TV and sound system to work in harmony.
Gaming
All of Sony's current premium TVs have two HDMI 2.1 sockets that support advanced gaming features such as 4K/120Hz, VRR and ALLM. The best LG TVs are even better for gaming, thanks largely to the fact that they have four HDMI 2.1 sockets, but Sony's TVs are still very good for gaming – as you would hope, given it's the company that produces the PS5.
There are still some entry-level Sony TVs floating about that have no HDMI 2.1 sockets, but they can still handle gaming via their HDMI 2.0 sockets and generally do a good job as long as you don't mind being limited to 60Hz.
FAQ
Why aren’t there any 43-inch TVs on the list?
OLED TVs are always 42 inches rather than 43, hence the lack of the latter on our list, which makes the A90K the best option if you’re looking for a Sony OLED but don’t have a lot of room to play with. Sony does make some 43-inch LCD TVs but these are lower-end and we haven’t tested them directly so can’t vouch for their performance.
What is the best Sony TV for gaming?
You’ve got a few options here. The A95L, A80L and A90K all have the kind of features you should look for when buying a TV for gaming – 4K/120Hz, VRR, and ALLM – so you can just make your choice based on budget and any size constraints.
What is worth remembering, though, is that none of these Sony TVs have more than two HDMI 2.1 ports, one of which doubles as the eARC socket and might need to be taken up by your sound system, so if you own multiple fancy games machines you might be better off with an LG or Samsung.
What is the best Sony TV for my PS5?
Considering Sony also makes the PS5 it should come as no surprise that the brand's top TVs are all also designated ‘Perfect for PlayStation 5’, which means the console will automatically adjust certain settings for the specific model it’s plugged into. Coupled with the support for 4K/120Hz, VRR, and ALLM, it’s just down to whichever one suits your space and bank balance.
What is the best Sony TV for sound?
Skinny TVs often sound bad because there’s no space for the speakers, so Sony developed a system that creates sound by vibrating the whole screen instead. The best example of this is the A95L, which has two actuators and a pair of regular woofers, making it one of the few TVs that you can get away with not adding a separate sound system to – though we do still recommend adding a dedicated sound system if you have the budget and space.
How we test TVs
When a new Sony TV arrives at What Hi-Fi? HQ it goes through a long and complex testing process. Modern televisions are truly all-in-one devices, so as well as the fundamentals of picture quality and audio performance, there’s also a full smart TV platform (complete with a whole bunch of apps) that needs testing thoroughly.
Once we have a new TV set up in one of our state-of-the-art testing rooms we begin feeding it various sources, both physical and digital, in a whole range of resolutions, from standard-def to 4K HDR (and, if the panel can handle it, 8K). We’ll also test its built-in speakers with a broad selection of soundtracks, from bombastic blockbusters to more dialogue-driven dramas.
We don’t just accept the settings as they are when we take the TV out of the box either. There’s no professional calibration involved in our testing process, but we will tinker with the menus and modes extensively to make sure we’re squeezing every last drop of quality out of the screen and speakers. This is done using both test patterns and everyday video content to make sure a TV isn’t giving an artificial impression of its capabilities.
No matter which operating system a TV runs on, we also fully check all of its apps to ensure they’re capable of outputting the audio and video formats they claim to, including Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos where applicable.
When it comes to testing gaming prowess, we’ll hook up both a PS5 and Xbox Series X to determine how well a TV copes with the latest titles. Can it handle 4K at 120Hz? Does it have VRR or a HGiG preset for better HDR performance? And on how many of the HDMI ports are these features supported? That all-important Input lag is also measured using a Leo Bodnar device.
All of these tests take place at the hands of our team of experienced reviewers, in our world-class facilities in London, Reading and Bath. While each review is written by one individual, every verdict is the result of a collaborative process, which helps to remove any personal preferences creeping in and ensure consistency. All products are also compared to similarly priced rivals, meaning we can identify the ones that are truly best-in-class. You can read more about the process here.
Only the very best products are picked for our Best Buy lists, which means you can take the plunge on one of these Sony TVs and know for sure that you’re getting a television with our experts’ seal of approval.
Recent updates
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13th January 2026
Re-jigged the list and made the Bravia 8 II the best option overall. Also added an Also Consider section and moved the Bravia 9 to that from the main list. -
19th August 2025
The Sony Bravia 8 II has replaced the Sony A95L as the Best Premium Sony TV, while the Bravia 7 has knocked off the Sony X90L to take the Best Premium Mini LED crown. -
10th March 2025
The introduction, author information and 'how to choose' section have been completely rewritten, and all of the reviews have been updated to reflect our most recent recommendations. -
17th January 2025
We updated this guide by adding the Award-winning Bravia 8 and four-star Bravia 9 after fully reviewing the new TVs. -
August 2024
Intro and entries updated following our review of the Bravia 9, which changed our buying advice. -
May 2024
Added an author block, FAQ section, and revised the 'How We Test' section.
