Sony Bravia 9 review: mini-LED that finally worries OLED
Near-OLED contrast at brightness levels OLED cannot touch, and Sony’s processing does the rest. Our score: 9 / 10 The backlight got serious The Bravia 9 pairs a much denser mini-LED backlight with Sony’s XR processing, and the result holds deep blacks while going far brighter than any OLED for HDR highlights. In a bright room, it is the best picture money buys. Where OLED still wins In a fully dark room, a good OLED still edges it on absolute black levels and off-angle viewing, and there is a little blooming around bright objects on dark backgrounds. For most rooms, the brightness advantage more than compensates. The good and the bad What works Far brighter than any OLED Deep blacks for a mini-LED Superb Sony processing and upscaling Great for bright rooms What doesn’t Some blooming in dark scenes Off-angle viewing trails OLED Expensive Who it’s for Buy it if your room has a lot of light and you want the most impactful HDR picture. Skip it if you watch mostly in the dark and want the absolute best black levels. Alternatives worth a look LG OLED G4, perfect blacks, less peak brightness. Samsung QN90D, another strong mini-LED option. The verdict: The mini-LED that makes the OLED-versus-LCD debate genuinely close again. Sources Sony