Sony Bravia 85" 9 XR90 Series 84.6" 2024 Review

The Sony BRAVIA 9 is the new brightness king. It's brutally expensive, but delivers a picture so good it makes other TVs look broken.

If you're looking for the absolute best picture quality money can buy in a massive 85-inch screen, stop scrolling. The Sony BRAVIA 9 is it. This isn't just another high-end TV; it's Sony flexing its engineering muscles, and the result is a Mini-LED display so bright and controlled it makes you question if OLED is still the king. The one thing you need to know? This TV is built for movie purists who want jaw-dropping HDR impact in a bright room.

The numbers back up the hype. Our database shows its picture quality lands in the 93rd percentile, which is insane for an LCD-based TV. What surprised us was how it manages that without the usual LCD downsides. The thousands of Mini-LEDs and Sony's processing create a contrast punch that gets scarily close to OLED, but with a brightness ceiling that OLEDs can't touch. Gaming performance is still excellent at the 90th percentile, but honestly, that's the weakest link here—which tells you everything about how good the rest is.

Worth it? Only if picture quality is your non-negotiable top priority and budget isn't a concern. At around $4,000, it's a massive investment. But for that cash, you're getting arguably the best LCD picture ever made. There's no hedging here: if you want the best and can afford it, this is it.

This sits in a weird spot. It's going head-to-head with flagship OLEDs from LG and Samsung. The BRAVIA 9 destroys them in pure brightness and is better in well-lit rooms, but the LG C5 OLED will still have that perfect, infinite contrast in a dark home theater. Against other high-end Mini-LEDs like the TCL QM8 or Hisense U6, the Sony is in a different league of processing and build quality, but you pay dearly for it. The TCL gives you 90% of the performance for half the price.

If you're on any kind of budget or value hunt, this isn't it. Go get a TCL QM8 or Hisense U6 instead. Also, if you watch almost exclusively in a pitch-black room and crave perfect blacks, a high-end OLED like the LG C5 is still your move. This TV is for the person who wants the brightest, most impactful HDR showpiece possible, cost be damned.

We're giving a strong recommendation, but with a clear audience in mind. This is the ultimate TV for the home cinema enthusiast who watches with the lights on or has a sun-filled room. The picture is reference-grade. If your life is 50% movies and 50% gaming, a high-end OLED might be a more balanced choice. But for pure, unadulterated visual spectacle, the BRAVIA 9 is currently peerless.