Review: Bravia 9 upgrades the picture

Mention the word Trinitron and you will find instant resonance with Millennials and Gen X-ers. For much of the late 1990s and even the early 2000s, when Sony bestrode the global consumer electronics world like a colossus, the Trinitron was the last word in televisions, albeit of the big and bulky cathode ray tube (CRT) variety.

But with the demise of the CRT TVs and the rise of first plasma, then LCD and LED, and now OLED flat screen TVs, the days when Sony ruled the global roost in televisions are long gone.

Or are they?

Enter the Bravia, Sony’s new age equivalent to the Trinitron. What the latter used to stand for in the days of the CRT TVs, the former now stands for in today’s world of large, thin flat screens – quality and excellence.

So when the very latest of Sony’s Bravia TVs was delivered to us for a test run recently, expectations were naturally high. And saying that the 75-inch Bravia 9 did not disappoint would be an understatement.

Over time, while reviewing several Sony products on these pages, we have often cited how Sony is rising again to global leadership after having fallen from that exalted position that it occupied for much of the latter half of the last century and in the first decade of this one. What caused this fall, in our estimation, is that being “Sony” got to their heads and the brand started doing things differently simply for the sake of doing things differently, and not for the sake of innovation.

But Sony has course corrected brilliantly and is now churning out product after excellent product. But old habits die hard, and when it comes to the new Bravia 9 TVs, Sony has gone against the grain again, but this time with stunning results.

So what has Sony done differently this time? The answer is Mini-LED. When the Samsungs, LGs, Panasonics, TCLs, Hisenses, et al of the world are swearing by OLED, Sony has sprung a surprise in its latest flagship TV models by going with Mini-LED technology for the display.

When we first got to know of Sony’s Mini-LED push this year, we were sceptical. When every other major brand is sticking to and refining OLEDs, would Sony’s gamble of going with a different technology in its flagship TV range succeed?

The ideal visual

But Sony knows a thing or two about making both TVs and content to be viewed on them, and one look at our Bravia 9 75-inch test mule had us hooked. This is no gamble; it is assured excellence. With the experience that Sony has in the production of films and content – think Sony Pictures – the company has refined its technologies to come up with the ideal cameras and mastering monitors to shoot and edit the Hollywood blockbusters that it regularly churns out. Using this expertise, couldn’t it surely produce the ideal screens to view the content it produces? The answer is a resounding “Yes”.

Sony has compared the Bravia 9 to the new mastering monitors it uses for its Hollywood film production, which have 4000 nits of brightness, and has said that the Mini-LED tech that both that monitor and this new Bravia use is the way forward in the evolution of TV panels. And when we played a bunch of content on the Bravia 9, we couldn’t help but agree.

Firstly, there is the brightness and vibrancy of the images, which sparkle like no other TV we have yet seen. Then there is the colour separation, the crispness of the outlines and the richness of the blacks, with no colour bleed that our eyes could detect.

Bollywood aficionados would be familiar with a new hit song and dance number from the current blockbuster movie Stree II that is doing the rounds. The song Aaj ki raat has a stunning picturisation that is challenging for any screen to depict well due to its contrasty colours and play on light and dark. When we viewed the song on the Bravia 9, the images leapt out at us like we were there in the thick of the action, every vibrant colour dazzling and every muted shade subtle and crisp. The interplay of light and shade that so characterises the mood of the song came out brilliantly, too, with the contrast brilliant.

This was also the case when viewing any movie in the Star Wars saga. Whether dusty Tatooine or the deep black of hyperspace with the stars and galaxies whizzing by the Millennium Falcon, every detail was rendered in spectacularly life-like contrast, colour, sharpness, brightness and clarity. Ditto when Harry Potter and his motley crew fight Voldemort’s deatheater army in the Deathly Hallows Part 2 – in the dark and sombre final fight scene, we saw details in the darkness that we had missed in umpteen viewing sessions before.

While the Bravia 9’s highlight is its picture quality, which is beyond theatre-like, the build quality does not lack either. It is amply clear that, with its sturdy structure, this TV will last. And there is also the ease of positioning, with two flat adjustable stands that can be placed either in a narrow or wide configuration and also positioned to two height levels, either a sleek, table-skimming, low or a raised position that provides space for a soundbar underneath.

Not quite pitch perfect

Speaking of the soundbar brings us to the one gripe one might have about the TV if nitpicking: the sound quality. While the Bravia 9 is available in only two large sizes – 75- and 85-inch – the theatre-like visuals are not matched by equally theatre-like sound. While the volume levels are way more than adequate, you’d expect a bit more thump in the bass given the screen sizes, as well as more clarity on the dialogues. However, this is not Sony’s fault; it is probably structurally impossible to provide depth in the bass department given how thin flat panel TVs are. Besides, who doesn’t use a soundbar these days when they set up large home theatre-style TVs?

Another great feature of the Bravia 9 is the ease of use, which is exemplified by the back-lit remote control. The buttons are laid out in Sony’s simple and functional array to easily access and control all features, and there is also a USB-C socket in the remote to charge the internal battery, along with a speaker for the “Find my remote” function as well as a microphone for interacting with the Google Assistant. Speaking of which, we also experienced seamless working of the smart features and apps, with easy pairing and lossless Wi-Fi connectivity.

Finally, among the best features of the Bravia 9 series is the price: the 75-incher is available for Dh21,999 and is on offer at the moment at Dh17,999, while the 85-inch one is priced at Dh29,999 and on offer for Dh25,999. This undercuts the competition’s comparable products by quite a bit while offering what we think is a winning picture quality. Pity that smaller sizes are not available for those of us who live in smaller apartments and have thinner pocketbooks! Despite that, the new Bravia 9 is a winner and proves that Sony’s Mini-LED gamble has indeed paid off.

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