00:00Hey guys, welcome back to Buy or Skip, and this is a very special TV review today because we're
00:05not in our studio. We're here in my apartment with a TV that has actually pretty permanently
00:11established itself here in my own living room. In this Sony Bravia 9 review, I'll go over my
00:17pros and cons after living with this TV for a couple of months, how this mini LED compares to
00:22Sony's OLED offerings, and just so you know, I do have a deal on the Bravia 9 linked in the
00:28description in case you want to check it out at any point during this video.
00:34So we're looking at the 75-inch Sony Bravia 9. It also comes in 65 and 85-inch sizes, so
00:41primarily
00:42large screens. This is Sony's flagship mini LED after all. For context, the next step down in the
00:49mini LED area is Bravia 5. That actually comes in 98 inches. Did a video about that last year as
00:55well
00:55as 55 inches, so a bit bigger selection at lower prices. But back to my Bravia 9, I have it
01:02mounted
01:02on a 300x300 VESA mount. Sony does actually sell a special flush mount for the Bravia 9, but it costs
01:10several hundred dollars on top of this already being a rather expensive TV. So instead, I just
01:16got a well-rated one on Amazon for like $85. It's worked out great, but more importantly, it's fully
01:22articulating and I'll explain why that actually matters for this TV specifically a little later
01:28on. One last thing, I do have this mounted, clearly, but something great about the Bravia 9 is that if
01:34you do stand it on its feet, there are options for wide or narrow configurations. That means it
01:39actually could fit on a smaller piece of furniture like my little locker here, and I just always
01:44appreciate that flexibility. Per Sony's usual, only two of the HDMI ports support the more powerful
01:50HDMI 2.1 standard, which enables 4K at 120Hz and a bunch of other handy features. Sony has been pretty
01:58fiercely committed to limiting the number of HDMI 2.1 ports, even though LG and Samsung now typically
02:05offer 2.1 on every HDMI port. But in my experience, it hasn't really mattered. I use a Philips Hue
02:12Play HDMI
02:13in my sync box, so I've got that on a 2.1. Then my Apple TV, PS5, Switch 2 all
02:18feed into the
02:19sync box so I can enjoy immersive lighting around my living room. I mean, hey, if you'd want to
02:23see a full video about my Philips Hue setup, let me know. Now that I've got some logistics
02:29of my Bravia 9 setup out of the way, let's talk performance. TV brands have claimed that
02:35their best LED TVs look as good as OLED. And honestly, the Bravia 9 is the first time I've watched
02:42an LED set and thought, okay, this actually does get pretty close. Sony's processing and
02:48backlight control are doing serious work here. Sony actually designed an entirely new backlight
02:53drive specifically for the Bravia 9. The result is super deep blacks, but then it can still
02:58crank brightness all the way up when a scene calls for it. So HDR movies just have this huge
03:04dynamic range between shadows and highlights. Black and white scenes have tons of depth, colorful
03:09moments pop. Animated films look insanely vivid exactly how you want them to feel. Brightness
03:16is a big reason why. This thing pushes over 2,700 nits in HDR, which puts it right near the
03:22top
03:22of the LED TV world. And at that level, I get plenty of punch for watching even during daytime
03:29where my Bravia 9 is competing with this big window over here. Color performance also very strong. It doesn't
03:36win in every single lab measurement, but real movies and shows colors look rich and accurate. Nothing
03:41feels dull or muted. Really, the one compromise here is the viewing angles. If you move too far
03:48up to the side, I did start to lose some contrast compared to sitting dead center, but easy fix. Get
03:55a fully articulating mount. Then if you're watching from the kitchen or sprawled somewhere else in the living
04:00room, you can just rotate the screen towards you and you're back in the sweet spot. Going back to
04:06what I said about the gap closing, so to speak, between OLED and LED, I think if you happen to
04:12be
04:12shopping Sony TVs, you'll probably end up deciding between the Bravia 9 and Bravia 8 Mark II. I do think
04:18the Bravia 8 Mark II is a very impressive TV. The design is a little more sleek overall, ridiculously good
04:25black levels, and it even keeps up Sony's great reputation for powerful sounding TVs, even for
04:32OLED. But it is still OLED, so the lighting conditions in here will still cause a lot of glare. The
04:39TV
04:39isn't as bright either, so that's why I went with Bravia 9. I generally think if your living room looks
04:45more like this, you should too. Okay, there are a couple of other things I should probably mention
04:51before we wrap this up. This is a Google TV. Sony doesn't have its own platform. I generally do
04:57like Google TV though, especially on TCL and high sensets, but personally I've actually been using an
05:03Apple TV 4K. That's just my preference. Similarly, this TV does have very powerful native sound. There
05:11are upward firing speakers here, and if you get a compatible Sony soundbar, you can really take
05:16advantage of syncing the external speakers with the TV's internal speakers. But again,
05:21this is my setup. I opted for a pair of HomePods, plays really nice with my Apple TV 4K, plays
05:27nice
05:27with my Hue lights and Apple Home devices. I do expect to get new devices in for testing and switch
05:32this up over time, but honestly, it's worked out great for me so far. Because I use the Apple TV
05:384K,
05:38I use the Apple TV remote like 90% of the time, but I'll show you Sony's remote as well
05:43because I do
05:44happen to think it is just so beautifully laid out with a tight collection of well-organized buttons and
05:50shortcuts. And that's not even the best part. It has a touch-activated backlight that makes the
05:55remote easier to use in the dark. A backlight remote is truly the key to my heart for all you
06:01TV
06:01manufacturers watching this video.
06:05So that is my review of the Sony Bravia 9 after actually living with it in my own space for
06:10a
06:11couple of months. For me, this has absolutely been a buy, especially if you want a big,
06:16bright TV that holds up in a real living room and still gets impressively close to OLED-level picture
06:22quality. If you want to check out current pricing or the deal I mentioned, I've got that linked down
06:26below. And of course, let me know in the comments what you'd like to see next on the channel. More
06:32at-home reviews like this, a full breakdown of my Hue lighting setup, or really anything else you're
06:37curious about. If you found this helpful, don't forget to like, subscribe, and hit that bell so you
06:42don't miss the next episode of buy or skip. Thanks for watching. I will catch you next time.
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