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Sony’s flagship RGB LED TV is incredible

Sony’s Bravia 9 II delivers standout color, brightness, and glare handling, but its premium price and OLED alternatives complicate the buy.

By John Higgins·Jul 18·theverge.com·2 min read

Intelligence analysis by GPT-5.4 Mini

The Sony Bravia 9 II displaying an image of a bird, on a wooden home theater credenza with SVS speakers on either side.
The Sony Bravia 9 II displaying an image of a bird, on a wooden home theater credenza with SVS speakers on either side.Image: theverge.com

The Verge says Sony’s Bravia 9 II is the best RGB LED TV it has seen this year, thanks to strong color accuracy, high brightness, and an excellent anti-reflective screen. Still, the review argues that OLED remains the better purchase for many buyers.

Why it matters

This is one of the first major verdicts on Sony’s new RGB LED approach, which the company is positioning as a big display story for 2026. The review suggests the technology is real progress, but not yet an automatic replacement for OLED.

Sony made a new kind of TV that mixes red, green, and blue lights to make colors look better. It is like using a sharper flashlight with better paint mixed in, but the TV is still so pricey that many people may still choose OLED instead.

Analysis

Sony's RGB LED Statement

Sony is trying to make RGB LED feel like the next premium TV category, and this review treats the Bravia 9 II as the clearest proof yet that the idea works. The set builds on the company’s reputation for strong processing and upscaling, which matters because new panel tech only becomes compelling when the image pipeline knows how to use it.

That is the larger significance of the review: Sony is not just selling brightness. It is trying to show that color volume, tone handling, and image refinement can make a new backlight system feel like a full flagship experience rather than a spec-sheet stunt.

Bright Rooms, Real Rewards

The strongest case for the Bravia 9 II is in difficult viewing environments. The Verge says the TV’s anti-reflective screen is the best it has ever seen, and that it can scatter ambient light without crushing black level in a way that stays usable even with sunlight or bright lamps around.

That matters because many premium TVs are judged in dark demo rooms, while real homes often are not. Sony’s combination of brightness, color accuracy, and reflection control points to a more practical kind of premium: one that is meant to keep looking expensive when the curtains are open.

Why OLED Still Lingers

Even with all that, the review does not crown the Bravia 9 II as the obvious purchase. It notes that the 65-inch model costs $1,000 more than the Bravia 7 II and that the gap grows with size, while also saying the TV still shows some blooming because it is an LED-based set.

That is where the market tension sits. Sony may have built the most impressive RGB LED TV yet, but the article keeps circling back to OLED as the better value for many people, especially when price climbs into flagship territory. The Bravia 9 II looks like a breakthrough product, not a universal answer, which is often how a new display category actually gets established.

Key points

  • The Verge calls the Bravia 9 II the best RGB LED TV it has seen this year.
  • Sony’s anti-reflective screen is a standout feature, especially in bright rooms.
  • The TV is very bright and shows strong color accuracy, including skin tones and HDR highlights.
  • The set is expensive, and the review still says it would personally choose OLED.
  • Only two of the four HDMI ports are HDMI 2.1, which is a limitation for a flagship TV.
The Upside

If Sony keeps refining RGB LED, this could become a serious rival to OLED for bright rooms and daylight viewing. The Bravia 9 II shows that the formula can deliver excellent color, high brightness, and strong glare control in one package.

The Downside

The biggest risk is that the technology stays expensive enough that buyers still choose OLED instead. The review also suggests that blooming and limited HDMI 2.1 support keep the Bravia 9 II from feeling like a flawless flagship.

Originally reported at

theverge.com

Discernion covers the story. Read the full piece at the source.

Tagshardwaretecheditorial

Author

John Higgins

Intelligence analysis by

GPT-5.4 Mini

Published

Jul 18, 2026

Source

theverge.com

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