Sony Bravia 8 II review: Sony's flagship OLED is a treat for the eyes

Unlike some TV brands, Sony doesn't refresh every model every year, instead deliberately rolling some TVs across a couple of years. Case in point, the company's former flagship OLED model – the Sony A95L – was announced in 2023, but wasn't replaced until the Bravia 8 II was launched in 2025.

What the Bravia 8 II doesn't do is replace the Bravia 8 from 2024, as this set uses a different display technology. More confusing is that all these TVs are still available to buy (the A95L catering for the 77-inch scale only), meaning you need to pay attention to where you're spending your money.

As an OLED TV, Sony uses the same panel as the excellent Samsung S95F, meaning boosted brightness and impressive colours, wrapping in Sony's Acoustic Surface Audio+ technology and settling down to rival the best OLED TVs out there. I've been living with the Bravia 8 II for weeks to see what it's made of.

How much is the Sony Bravia 8 II?

The Sony Bravia 8 II comes in 55-inch and 65-inch sizes, the smaller (on review here) retailing at £2,199 ($2,999 / AU$4,199) and the larger at £2,699 ($3,499 / AU$5,295).

At the time of writing, both models are discounted, which reflects the state of the TV industry: this model has only been on sale for a couple of months and it's already discounted.

That means you can pick up the Bravia 8 II for a price that matches the Samsung S95F. That's no coincidence – as these two TVs are firm rivals.

Sony Bravia 8 II: What's new?

• Latest QD-OLED panel
• Increased peak brightness
• Lower price compared to A95L

In 2024, Sony announced a simpler naming strategy, pushing Bravia as a brand once again. Divided into tiers, there's Bravia 9 at the top, running down to Bravia 3, with a mixture of TV technologies in play.

That Sony's Bravia 9 uses Mini-LED might tell you something about what Sony thinks is the superior technology, but until the advent of RGB Mini-LED tech, it's likely to be the Bravia 8 II's OLED tech that keeps opening buyers' wallets.

The Bravia 8 II has the latest generation of QD-OLED panel, meaning it's brighter than the A95L, while there's AI scene recognition to boost picture performance. These are the major changes from the previous generation, while much else remains the same.

The Bravia 8 II, however, has launched at a lower price than the A95L – a price correction, perhaps?

Compared to the Bravia 8, however, it's a completely different screen tech, with the Bravia 8 using W-OLED, different sound design, and with a different design.

A design that cuts both ways

• High and low stand positions
• Thicker design than some
• Awkward stand width

If you look at LG's approach to OLED TVs, it's very much a picture-on-glass sort of experience – an impressively thin screen through most of the TV, but with a box on the bottom where everything plugs in.

Sony approaches things slightly differently with its high-end TVs, where there's plenty of attention on the rear design – as though people might see the back.

If you live in an open-plan loft that might be the case, but for those putting the TV against the wall, the uniformly flat finish, with neat panels to hide the cables, might be wasted.

That includes covers for the four HDMI connectors. Only two of these connectors offer the full HDMI 2.1 bandwidth with support for 120Hz.

Gamers take note: the eARC is also on one of these, so if you're connecting one of the best soundbars, Xbox Series X and PS5, you might have to make a sacrifice.

There's no support for higher refresh rates for PC gamers, which is perhaps a little odd with other premium sets offering 144Hz or 165Hz.

But where the Bravia 8 II design lets itself down is with its feet. These feet attach at the very edge of the screen, so their width is the entire width of the TV. On the 55-inch model that's 1224mm, while on the 65-inch model it's 1443mm – and your furniture will need to be even wider to accommodate it, as the feet jut out.

The feet offer two heights, however, so the TV can be almost flush with the surface it's sitting on, or raised – with the idea being that you can slot a soundbar between them and underneath the screen. Admittedly, that's a neat solution which some central stand models might not allow.

Of course, wall-mounting remains possible, but you're not going to get the same effect as you will from the LG OLED G5 with its flush wall mount, or the Samsung S95F which slims down thanks to its One Connect Box – where all the wires go into a separate unit.

How good is the Bravia 8 II picture quality?

• 4K HDR QD-OLED
• No HDR10+ support
• Calibrated picture modes

Starting with the panel, Sony has moved to the latest generation of QD-OLED - the same as the Samsung S95F. This panel is different to those used by LG (in the LG OLED G5, the Panasonic Z95B or the Philips OLED+910, for example), as it uses a blue backlight instead of white.

The QD stands for Quantum Dot and the idea here is about increasing brightness and boosting colour volume. This is achieved while retaining the inherent light control that OLED offers, where each pixel can be shut off for absolute black, avoiding the bleed that you get from Mini-LED rivals with their system of dimming zones.

Mission accomplished: Sony says that you'll get 25% increased brightness out of the Bravia 8 II compared to the Sony A95L, close to 2000 nits peak brightness. That falls a little short of Samsung's peak brightness from the S95F despite using then same panel and that comes down to how the light is used.

Sony's message with its Bravia TVs is very much "from studio to living room". It's the only company that can claim an entire production pathway – and that leads into one of the things that cinephiles seek: accuracy. Out of the box, the Sony Bravia 8 II aims to give you a picture that's true to what the director intended.

This is achieved with various calibrated modes – Netflix and Prime Video both have calibrated modes you can use, while Sony's own Bravia Core service does too. That's on top of Dolby Vision support (albeit offered in bright and dark flavours), but there's no Filmmaker Mode, instead a Professional mode is in place to give that cinematic accuracy.

What the director intended and what you want to see might be different things, however, with lots of control options for picture tweaking. I'm not a huge fan of the Prime Video Calibrated mode because it locks off motion controls, so slow pans where there's a lot of contrast, like someone in a dark room moving in front of a bright window, can look very juddery. Prime's new show The Girlfriend's opening scenes benefit from the smoother look outside of Prime's calibration.

The other common criticism of seeking accuracy, is that it's often much darker than you might want to watch. While this preserves the subtle balance between light and dark in a scene, I'd forgive you for flipping to Cinema mode just to brighten things up, or Standard.

Vivid is also here, but I just find it pushes things too far and I struggle to watch it. Everything depends on the content and the source: Lego Batman's insanely vibrant opening scenes are blown out in Standard mode, but Professional restores the balance to show off detail you might otherwise miss.

With all those modes aside, Dolby Vision content really gets the most out of this TV to my eyes. Netflix's Wednesday is wonderfully dark, but the Dolby Vision handling gives greater contrast and richness, while the Netflix mode is just a little flat and lifeless. As they say, each to their own.

The Sony Bravia 8 II has an anti-glare finish that looks to dispel reflections. I don't think this can't compete with Samsung's matte finish, but I'd completely understand why you'd choose a glossy finish than the less conventional matte.

That makes the Bravia 8 II better suited to a room where you can control external light, but it still looks glorious with bright content in daylight – just don't go watching The Batman in bright sunlight, as you'll struggle to see what's going on.

Sony is known for its upscaling and spinning up Casino Royale on DVD made for an eminently watchable experience, from fast-paced action to the inherent grain throughout the whole film.

All put, the Sony Bravia 8 II offers stunning visuals, with enough control to get the type of viewing experience you want. It all feels effortless, too, with Sony's menus making tweaks easy.

How good does the Bravia 8 II sound?

• Acoustic Surface Audio+
• 4ch, 50W
• Dolby Atmos, DTS:X

The Sony Bravia 8 II might look like a normal television, but it's packed with Sony's Acoustic Surface Audio+ technology. This places actuators behind the screen to create the sound, rather than having downfiring speakers, like many other TVs. That's why the TV is a little thicker than some OLED models, but it's a compromise that pays off.

The sound performance from the Sony is excellent, but that needs to be taken in context: it's excellent compared to a normal TV. I tested the Bravia alongside the Panasonic Z95B with its built-in soundbar – and Panasonic's television offers substantially greater volume.

The long and short of it is that the Bravia 8 II's speaker arrangement will suit many normal TV watching experiences a lot of the time thanks to its 50W ouput, but when it comes to bigger performances where you want a little more drive, then you might find it falling short. It doesn't, for example, bring the gravity to Dune's soundtrack that you might desire, but I found that for music it was perfectly listenable.

There's support for Dolby Atmos and DTS:X, and while the soundstage is a little better from the Bravia 8 II than many TVs, you don't get the immersion that a bigger surround sound setup would offer. Connecting one of the best soundbars for a bigger cinematic experience is recommended.

What are the user interface and menus like?

• Google TV operating system
• Google Assistant voice
• YouView (UK only)

Sony is one of the big supporters of Google TV, which comes with a natural advantage for those already in the Google ecosystem. If you have passwords saved in Google then signing into streaming services is much faster.

Google TV is generally fairly smooth and fast, offering wider smart TV functions like connecting to Google Home devices for smart home control and supporting Google Cast. It also supports Apple AirPlay, so you won't feel left out if you're an iPhone user.

This also includes Google Assistant support, both through the remote and hands-free voice control on the TV itself, offering a simple route to finding content – as well as asking general questions – and controlling the TV, including changing channels or adjusting the volume.

There are plenty of apps and, in the UK, this TV uses YouView for the broadcast TV interface, with integrated access to the UK's catch-up services. It's not as convenient as Freely (which you'll find on a number of rival sets), the new service that will deliver terrestrial broadcasts over your home network. If nothing else, that means you don't need to connect an aerial to it.

Google TV is otherwise easy enough to use, with some suggestions for content from services you might not use. There are sensible suggestions and visible "continue watching" options from the best streaming services, as well as content pushed from Google's own store.

It's worth noting that Sony's picture controls are slightly more sophisticated here than they are on the Bravia 3, with more detailed menus. You don't have to rely on Google TV's menus either, as for picture and sound control these are replaced by Sony's offering.

If I had one criticism of the user interface, it's that Google TV just looks a little dull. This detracts from the glorious content you get elsewhere – and, if I was Sony, I'd be pushing Google to bring HDR brightness to the home screen to make things look a little more exciting.

Verdict

The Sony Bravia 8 II is an excellent OLED TV, offering excellent picture quality from a full range of sources.

While using one of the latest panels, Sony doesn't push brightness as the be-all and end-all, instead focusing on accuracy. Everything happens with balance, meaning you can get this TV out of the box and start watching, knowing that the experience is great.

There are enough controls to tweak things to your preferences and a couple of savvy decisions will make for an even better viewing experience.

That's backed up with a smooth user interface, considerately boosted with Sony's additional controls and benefitting from integration into Google's systems.

The sound performance is better than average for a TV of this type, but the stand position remains a bugbear for those wanting to place it on a piece of furniture.

Samsung might offer greater brightness and better tech for killing reflections, but it's hard not to look at the Bravia 8 II and not see this TV for what it is: simply excellent.

Also consider

The Samsung S95F is the natural rival to the Sony Bravia 8 II, using the same panel technology but squeezing out more brightness and being more adept at killing reflections, making it a better choice for brighter rooms. The Samsung interface is a little more fussy, however.

Across the aisle is the LG OLED G5, which is W-OLED, using Primary RGB Tandem OLED to boost the brightness. The results are stunningly cinematic and given its slim design, you'd be forgiven for choosing this as an alternative – especially for wall-mounters.

Both these TVs offer better connectivity, with a full run of HDMI 2.1, better for those connecting a lot of devices with demands for higher refresh rates. That is a sticking point of the Sony TV – and a surprise.