1. The list in brief
2. Best overall
3. Best premium
4. Best small
5. Best mid-size
6. Best mid-range
7. How to choose
8. FAQ
9. How we test
10. Recent updates
Sony has been a major player in the TV world since the days of the Trinitron, WEGA and Bravia, even developing the world's first OLED model in 2007, and releasing the first Google-powered TV in 2010 – and it continues to push the boundaries with its new telly tech.
Sony has been consistently impressing us with its TVs in recent months, excelling with everything from its Award-winning step-down OLED, its brilliant Mini LED powered models and even its next-generation QD-OLED, which has earned a place on this list.
In previous years, we've gritted our teeth at Sony's higher price tags compared to the competition, but in a welcome change, it has priced its recent TVs more aggressively. While they're still more expensive than the equivalent LGs, discounts have been much more noticeable, especially with the A80L which you'll find in the top spot on this list.
Sony revealed its 2024 range recently, which includes the Bravia 8, which will replace the A80L, and a new Mini LED flagship Bravia 9. While you won't find either on the list below until we've had the opportunity to fully test them, their imminent arrival is perhaps something to consider before taking the plunge on anything you find here.
If that doesn't faze you, though, there's something below to suit every space and budget.
The quick list
Best Sony TV overall
Combining the spectacular with cinematic subtlety, this is an all-rounder that’s hard to resist.
Best premium Sony TV
Sony's second-gen QD-OLED is bright, contrasty and colourful, while also remaining even-handed and authentic. Quite a feat.
Best small Sony TV
Sony’s first 42-inch OLED is every bit as good as you’d imagine, but it comes at a relatively high price.
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 mid-range Sony TV
If your budget won’t stretch to an OLED the X90L delivers an enjoyable picture at a good price.
Best Sony TV overall
Compared with the QD-OLED and MLA OLED TVs that are now available, the A80L, which is a standard OLED TV (a WOLED to those in the know), seems a little unexciting on paper. In testing, though, it quickly revealed itself to be a TV of very rare talent.
The key to the A80L's success is the delicate, accomplished processing at its core. This processing gently enhances everything you watch but without the enhancement itself ever being noticeable. This enables the TV to be spectacularly dynamic, detailed, sharp and solid while also delivering subtle shading, natural colours and smooth motion.
Sound is very good by TV standards, too. The Acoustic Surface Audio+ technology involves a trio of actuators that vibrate the actual screen in order to make sound, while a pair of more traditional woofers add bass. The actuator system means sound literally comes from the picture, which is great for directness, but the A80L also sends sound out far to the left, right and above the set, creating a soundstage that's very large and atmospheric, and with impressive placement of effects.
Other than a slight loss of shadow detail with SDR content and less bass depth than some rivals, the A80L is a consummate performer. It is also worth noting that it has fewer HDMI 2.1 sockets than LG's OLED TVs have, but that will only be of concern to hardcore gamers.
If it's a Sony TV that you're after, this is the one we'd recommend to most people, although it's worth bearing in mind that its successor the Bravia 8, which is yet to be fully reviewed, will be in shops before too long.
Read the full Sony A80L review
Best premium Sony TV
If money is no object, the A95L is the best Sony TV around, as was the case with its 2022 predecessor, the A95K. The second-gen QD-OLED screen offers more brightness and vibrancy, while also being more efficient to run.
Not only is it brighter than most rivals, it packs more detail too, so bright highlights contain delicate colour shading that most TVs will omit. The picture is bursting with texture too, especially within the shadow detail, and this helps give skin tones their realistic feel.
The superb contrast makes for a high degree of three-dimensionality, which, combined with the level of nuance on show, makes for a very solid image. Despite all its fireworks, it never looks anything but authentic – a rare skill in the TV world.
And on the audio side, it's very impressive. The A95K's actuator-based system has been tweaked slightly, but it still vibrates the screen to create sound, allowing effects to be precisely placed within the picture (so dialogue comes from characters' mouths). It's certainly direct, but it also extends the soundstage far beyond the confines of the TV, adding a very welcome sense of space. There's plenty of detail to the sound too, though it's a little light on bass.
Downsides? There are only two HDMI 2.1 ports, so gamers will have to do some port switching when changing between consoles. It also launched without UK terrestrial catch-up apps or Dolby Vision gaming, but both have since been added via updates.
All of which makes for not only the best Sony TV around, but one of the best TVs currently available from any manufacturer.
Read the full Sony A95L review
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 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. The screen has actuators that mean it doubles as a speaker, so while the 42A90K sounds better than most TVs of this size, it could still do with some assistance, with an eARC socket for the addition of a soundbar or AVR. Dolby Atmos is also onboard.
It supports the usual Dolby Vision, HDR10 and HLG formats of HDR, although as with all Sony TVs HDR10+ is absent, but the Cognitive Processor XR delivers a stunningly solid and deep image for a TV this size. It’s not quite as bright or punchy as LG’s C3, and the price is steeper, 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
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. 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 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 is a fantastic buy.
Read the full Sony XR-48A90K review
Best mid-range Sony TV
TV tech is progressing with such speed that ‘standard’ OLED and QLED TVs are starting to fade into the background as the limelight becomes dominated by QD-OLED and MLA models. But before you go feeling sorry for those plucky OLEDs and QLEDs, spare a thought for their even less glamorous siblings, the standard LCD TVs. No organic materials, no Quantum Dots and no Mini LEDs; surely a ‘traditional’ LCD TV stands no chance?
Sony’s X90L says otherwise. Just as it squeezed seemingly every last drop of performance out of standard OLED technology for its A80L, Sony appears to have squeezed much of the remaining potential out of standard LCD for its mid-range X90L, the latest in a long line of very popular X90 models.
It may not be a glamorous TV, but thanks to Sony’s excellent care and attention, the X90L is a TV that is a genuine pleasure to watch and to live with. If your budget won’t stretch to an OLED (most obviously the A80L), this is a superb option that delivers consistently cinematic and cinematically consistent results. An excellent buy.
Read our full Sony X90L review
How to choose the best Sony TV for you
Sony's LCD TVs tend to be affordable options. Pricier OLED models can be unbelievably slim, and tend to offer deep blacks and superb viewing angles. Sony has even dipped its toes in the QD-OLED waters – the A95L in this list is the firm's second effort using the tech.
You'll want 4K (Ultra HD) and HDR (High Dynamic Range) for a detailed picture. Sony's sets tend to support HDR10, HLG and Dolby Vision, but not HDR10+. The Japanese giant even offers 8K TVs, if you're ready to make the leap.
Sony sets tend to use the Android TV and Google TV operating systems, which support all the major streaming apps including Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+ and Apple TV+. The platform also brings voice controls.
If you want truly immersive sound, we'd recommend adding a soundbar. That said, Sony makes some of the best-sounding TVs around (look for models with Acoustic Surface Audio).
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 A95L, A80L and A90K 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 aforementioned 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.
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
- May 2024: Added an author block, FAQ section, and revised the 'How We Test' section.
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