Sony Bravia 9 TV Review: Can LED Screens Get Much Better?

The Bravia 9 besides offers caller “Calibration” modes for Amazon Prime and Netflix. The Amazon mentation makes immoderate absorbing changes for antithetic programming, though the Netflix mentation seemed to mostly conscionable reflector the dimmer Dolby Vision Dark representation mode successful the HDR contented I watched.

Mostly Solid Digs

The TV is beauteous good stocked connected the diagnostic front, starting with audio that rises supra the crowd. This is 1 of the fewer TVs wherever I don’t caput cutting my audio strategy (with the A95L being different premier example). Sound is mostly afloat and wide without getting ace tinny. There’s immoderate noticeable soundstage movement, and adjacent effects similar explosions travel retired each right.

I thought Sony’s caller Voice Zoom 3 dialog booster was mostly selling hype, but it works beauteous well. At 1 point, I passively heard the full communicative of a Sylvester Stallone anecdote successful Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2 which I’d missed successful astir 7,000 erstwhile viewings, including with soundbars and speakers. Dialog remained mostly wide and retired beforehand implicit respective days, adjacent erstwhile things got chaotic.

As expected, you'll get the latest gaming features, including enactment for ALLM (Auto Low Latency Mode) and VRR (Variable Refresh Rate) astatine up to 120 Hz via HDMI 2.1. There’s a dedicated gaming mode for speedy adjustments and PS5 optimization features similar Auto HDR Tone Mapping and Auto Genre Picture Mode. I’m nary competitory gamer, and immoderate person noted that the TV’s input effect is comparatively precocious for its price, but I adored playing my favourite RPGs. The shading, the colors, and the wide brightness brought the champion retired of games similar God of War Ragnarok.

It's frustrating that Sony continues to connection HDMI 2.1 enactment crossed lone 2 of the TV’s 4 inputs, dissimilar astir TVs astatine this level (and below)—especially since 1 of those is for eARC wherever you’ll apt link a soundbar oregon receiver. The TV's large dependable means immoderate whitethorn not adhd an audio device, but the imaginable request to swap cables for aggregate consoles is silly astatine this price.

The Bravia 9 besides omits 1 of the 2 main dynamic HDR formats, HDR10+, offering lone Dolby Vision. If you tin lone prime one, I’d instrumentality the much communal DV each clip but it’d beryllium bully to get some arsenic you’ll find successful midrange models from TCL and Hisense. That’s amazingly communal close now; LG and Panasonic TVs don't enactment HDR10+, portion Samsung won’t wage for Dolby Vision.

Sony is much inclusive connected the audio side, offering some DTS:X and Dolby Atmos support. Other notable Bravia 9 features see AirPlay 2 and Chromecast streaming, and Google Voice hunt via the remote’s built-in microphone.

Sensibly Surreal

The Bravia 9 is an unadulterated brightness powerhouse. Yet, with Sony’s measured manus astatine the wheel, it doles retired its powerfulness judiciously, providing subtlety wherever warranted and dazzlement erstwhile the infinitesimal strikes. Utilizing a caller proprietary strategy that dims its backlighting with awesome accuracy, this TV is little a blunt unit limb arsenic a mini LED laser beam, striking with white-hot precision. The effect is fabulous opposition mixed with next-gen brightness for superior thrills.

Training the Bravia 9’s occurrence connected 1 of my go-to trial films, Moana, felt similar impervious of conception for a backlighting strategy immoderate person clocked astatine astir 3,000 nits highest brightness (or astir treble galore OLED TVs). I’ve noted earlier however realistic the film’s Polynesian prima and surf tin look with the best TVs, but present things pushed into the surreal. The prima blazed to adjacent eye-squinting levels which, erstwhile mixed with the TV’s quantum dot colors and the stark clarity of Sony’s processing, gave maine an astir hallucinatory sensation that I was really astatine the formation with Moana and Maui. Other scenes similar the glittering aureate crab oregon the molten lava monster roseate to exhilarating caller heights arsenic the airy seemed to astir bore done the panel.