Sony Just Revealed Its 2023 Bravia TVs — And We Got To Try Them

Sony is no stranger to making TVs that impressively simulate a theater experience (see: the A90J, which was our Deluxe pick for Best TV). Maybe that's why the company isn't making any drastic changes to its 2023 TV lineup, but instead tweaks the overall picture quality with smart tweaks while adding some long-awaited updates to gamers.

We recently had the chance to see Sony's 2023 Bravia XR range, including the X95L, X93L, X90L, A95L QD-OLED and A80L OLED, and it's not just a look at how the company's latest range improves on the models from last year. But you can see them side by side with the best competitors from LG and Samsung. And while this may not be an update year for everyone, we're certainly impressed with what we've seen.

Wondering if you should bring the 2023 Bravia into your living room when it launches this spring? Here are our first impressions.

Excellent upgrade to Mini LED and OLED

One of the first sets we saw was the X95L Mini LED, which played 'The Devil Wears Prada' alongside similar models from LG and Samsung, as well as a reference display from Sony showing the film in its purest form, accurately rendered. . Even though we were watching a 2006 movie, the X95L did a good job of upscaling the movie to 4K, keeping it crisp and modern, thanks to the upgraded XR Cognitive Processor inside. Compared to the LG and Samsung sets, Sony's Mini LED retained some details better, including (strangely) seeing Anne Hathaway's hair, which looked sharper on the reference screen than its more saturated competitors.

We also looked at Sony's A95L QD-OLED and Sony's A95L OLED, the latter based on the same technology we love in the excellent A90J (OLED TVs generally have deeper blacks and better contrast than the typical LED array) . . The TV's new, improved processor allows for better brightness and contrast, which we clearly noticed when we looked at a newer and older OLED model side-by-side. The new model has significantly less bloom (when a bright image scatters against a dark background, creating unpleasant blurring effects), resulting in deeper blacks that make your favorite weekly TV shows even more immersive.

While I love each of the different Bravia TVs, I'm really excited about this long-awaited new feature: a hands-on game mode. Competing TVs from LG and Samsung have had this feature for years, offering the ability to automatically detect your console or PC and quick access to settings to easily improve the look of your games. Now Sony is finally getting into the fun, with some new tricks.

Bravia's gaming menu is slick, simple, and similar to what I've seen on recent LG and Samsung TVs, with variable refresh rates to smooth games on modern consoles and PCs, a black equalizer to brighten very dark scenes, and a on-screen crossover this is trickier for aimed shooters. Sony takes it a step further with its adaptive screen size settings, which let you shrink the game to a small window that doesn't take up the entire TV. It's perfect for competitive gamers — after all, it's a lot easier to watch a hot game of Fortnite or Overwatch when the action is in your sights and not spilling onto a giant 65-inch screen. Like Samsung TVs, Sony's new A95L model has a multi-view mode that lets you play content from multiple sources in a single window. It can be useful to play games on one half of the screen while watching a YouTube tour on the other.

Sony's new gaming line borrows many of the software features we love from its Inzone gaming monitors, and should offer an even better plug-and-play experience for those using Bravia on PS5 or Xbox Series X, or using a high-end PC. game.

New advanced and smart sustainable options

Another important feature of Sony's new TVs is the Economy Dashboard, which provides an easy-to-use one-stop shop for activating various energy-saving settings that can help the environment (not to mention your electricity bill). This menu lets you toggle between things like power-saving mode and auto-shutdown settings, as well as a well-illustrated tree that grows as you enable greener modes. It's all part of Sony's plan to be completely carbon neutral by 2040, and while it seems like all the big brands are pushing sustainability buzzwords these days, those metrics also appear to be simple and convenient features to ensure that your TV is on and blazing in full brightness - when you really need it.

Of course, all of the new features come together with Sony's usual smarts, which could be part of the nifty Google TV software that powers every set. You can use the Google Assistant to control TVs hands-free and connect most smart home devices, even if they're from Apple or Amazon. Perhaps surprisingly, Sony movies look their best on this Sony TV, with a movie library available in the Bravia Core app that includes remastered versions of hits like 'Spider-Man: No Way Home' and 'Uncharted'. . Even better, Bravia Core gets Dolby Atmos support for launch. Finally, every model we've looked at features Acoustic Center Sync technology, which allows Sony's soundbar (yes, only Sony's soundbar works with this feature) to work with your TV's speakers to create a surround effect, which is revealed impressively when we saw James spend Bond on a bunch of villains in No Time To Die.

Sony's 2023 Bravia TVs are more impressive than ever, boasting excellent picture quality and a host of smart new quality-of-life improvements that will make them a welcome addition to any room. The game menu is a long-awaited addition for those who want the perfect TV for their PS5 or Xbox Series X, and the eco-sustainable dashboard looks like a push towards sustainability by helping consumers avoid unnecessary energy consumption.

And while these latest sets appear to offer only marginal upgrades for those who already own a Bravia, they should be on your radar if you're on the hunt for a new high-end 4K smart TV. Pricing and availability for Sony 2023 TVs will be announced this spring – we'll be putting new models through their paces as we get our hands on them, so stay tuned for more.