Sony Bravia 8 II OLED TV Review: Strikingly Clear

If you’re looking for a premium 2025 TV, nan latest information of nan best OLEDs has you spoiled for choice. With LG and Panasonic utilizing LG’s caller breakthrough four-stack panel, and Samsung and Sony sharing Samsung’s astir precocious QD-OLED sheet yet, location are 4 tantalizing top-tier OLED TVs hitting stores this year, each 1 offering a notable brightness boost to spell on pinch OLED’s galore different talents.

What Sony has done pinch Samsung’s caller show is, successful a word, beautiful. The awkwardly named Bravia 8 II, which replaces 2023’s gorgeous A95L (9/10, WIRED Recommends), is brilliantly balanced pinch punchy brightness, expressive and earthy colors, and Sony’s saccharine image processing for a image truthful clear that immoderate images look almost three-dimensional.

For each its talents, nan Bravia 8 II has immoderate downsides compared to nan phenomenal LG G5 (9/10, WIRED Recommends) it replaced connected my console, including little highest brightness and a backdrop that’s much heavy charcoal than transportation black, starring to little impactful opposition and perceived image depth. For gaming, Sony continues to skimp connected connectivity pinch conscionable 2 HDMI 2.1 ports.

Persnickety arsenic these complaints sound, they’re elevated by pricing: nan 65-inch Bravia 8 II exemplary I reviewed lists arsenic precocious arsenic $700 much than nan G5 stateside astatine motorboat (though discounts already exist). Make nary mistake: This is still a fabulous TV for nan correct buyer, offering sights (and sounds) worthy of a front-row spot connected 2025’s stunning mantle of premium screens. As usual, if you want nan champion processing that money tin buy, this Sony is simply a clear winner.

On nan Wall

Unlike astir TVs successful its class, Sony’s apical OLED again opts for legs astatine nan panel’s acold sides alternatively of a pedestal stand. This tin beryllium adjuvant for soundbar placement wherever large pedestals origin trouble, but unless your console is 60 inches wide, you’ll request to wall-mount nan TV arsenic I did. The 8 II’s equine screws are placed alternatively low, meaning nan TV sat higher than I wanted, which is thing to statement if your equine is already successful place.

The TV is subtly stylish, pinch acquainted integrative checkers astatine nan backmost panel, and paper-thin bezels retired front. There’s immoderate recency bias here, but I couldn’t thief noticing really overmuch milkier nan sheet looks compared to nan LG G5’s achromatic void, which I kept noticing passim my evaluation. On nan agleam (or alternatively dark) side, nan TV’s reflection handling is among nan champion I’ve seen, diffusing astir everything but nonstop lighting, without nan afloat matte look of Samsung’s latest models.

Software setup is simply a comparative cinch pinch Google TV’s plug-and-go layout, letting you set astir parameters pinch your telephone and G Suite credentials. I’m a instrumentality of Google TV’s wide ride, particularly nan expertise to usage Google Photos arsenic surface savers, astir nan only clip I return to reminisce connected past adventures. Sony’s implementation has improved pinch each iteration, and isolated from Google’s overly zealous ads, I had virtually nary complaints complete weeks of soft streaming and navigation.

That includes zoomy transmission surfing done 50-odd channels via my HD antenna pinch nan Bravia 8 II’s compact remote. The distant is elemental but intuitive, particularly compared to nan oddly oriented G5 remote, though it would beryllium bully if it were backlit, considering that nan 8 II—like each OLEDs—does its champion activity successful little lighting.