So, you’re looking at a 65 inch Sony smart TV.
You’ve probably seen the price tags. They’re high. Sometimes eye-wateringly high compared to the TCL or Hisense models sitting right next to them at Best Buy. And honestly, it’s easy to look at the spec sheet and think Sony is just charging a "brand tax." I mean, 4K is 4K, right?
Not really.
If you’ve spent any time in the AV forums lately, you know the 2026 lineup has changed the conversation again. We’re at a point where "smart" isn't just about having Netflix on your home screen; it’s about how much of the heavy lifting the processor does before the light even hits your eyes. Sony has basically bet the farm on the idea that you care more about how a pixel looks than how many of them there are.
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The Processing Myth: It's Not Just Marketing
Most people think a TV just takes a signal and displays it. But if you’re watching a 1080p YouTube video or even a "4K" stream from Netflix, that signal is compressed. It’s messy.
Sony uses something called the XR Processor. In the 2026 models, they’ve leaned even harder into "Cognitive Intelligence." Basically, the TV tries to figure out where your eye is actually looking on the screen. If there’s a main character in the foreground, the chip dedicates more processing power to making that person look sharp while letting the background stay naturally soft.
It sounds like sci-fi nonsense. I get it. But when you put a 65 inch Sony next to a budget brand, the difference in "depth" is wild. It doesn't look like a flat digital image; it feels sort of... three-dimensional.
The Mini-LED vs. OLED War
This is where people usually get stuck. For a long time, OLED was the undisputed king. If you wanted the best 65 inch Sony smart TV, you bought an OLED. Period.
But things changed with the Bravia 9.
Sony started pushing Mini-LED as their flagship tech. Why? Because OLEDs still struggle with super bright living rooms. If you’ve got floor-to-ceiling windows, an OLED can sometimes feel like a very expensive mirror during the day. The Mini-LED sets, especially with the XR Backlight Master Drive, can hit brightness levels that make HDR highlights—like a sun reflection off a car—actually make you squint.
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- OLED (like the Bravia 8 II): Best for movie nerds who watch in the dark. The blacks are "inky." There’s zero blooming (that weird glow around white text on a black background).
- Mini-LED (like the Bravia 9): Best for bright rooms and sports. It’s punchy. It’s vibrant. It won't "burn in" if you leave the news on for six hours a day.
Why Gamers Have a Love-Hate Relationship with Sony
If you’ve got a PS5 Pro, a Sony TV seems like a no-brainer. They have "Perfect for PlayStation" features like Auto HDR Tone Mapping. Basically, the console and the TV talk to each other to make sure the shadows aren't just black blobs.
But here’s the kicker: Sony is still stingy with HDMI 2.1 ports.
Most 65 inch Sony smart TVs only have two high-speed ports. If you have a PS5, an Xbox Series X, and a high-end soundbar, you're going to be playing musical chairs with your cables. It’s annoying. Rivals like LG have had four full-speed ports for years. Sony claims it's because their processor is so busy making the picture look good that it can't handle the bandwidth on all four ports.
Is that a fair trade? For most people, yeah. But if you’re a hardcore PC gamer wanting 144Hz across multiple devices, you might find yourself frustrated.
The "Gemini" Factor in 2026
Since these are Google TVs, they just got a massive "Gemini" AI glow-up. This is the "smart" part of the smart TV that actually matters now.
You can now literally tell your TV, "The dialogue is too quiet," and the AI adjusts the EQ settings on the fly. No more digging through three layers of menus while your movie is paused. It also does this weirdly cool (or creepy, depending on your vibe) thing where it can narrate "Deep Dives" into whatever you're watching. If you’re watching a historical drama, you can ask Gemini to explain the real history of the scene without leaving the app.
The Reality of the "Sony Tax"
Let's talk money. A 65-inch screen is the "goldilocks" size for most American living rooms. At this size, Sony is almost always $300 to $800 more expensive than the competition.
Is it worth it?
If you mostly watch low-quality cable or highly compressed streaming, Sony’s upscaling is objectively the best in the business. It makes "garbage" signals look decent. If you’re a film purist who wants to see exactly what the director intended—without the "soap opera effect" or weird digital artifacts—Sony is usually the winner.
However, if you just want a big screen for the kids to watch Cocomelon or to have the game on in the background while you cook, you’re probably overpaying. The nuance of the XR Processor is lost on a cartoon or a noisy sports broadcast.
Common Pitfalls to Watch Out For
- The Stand Design: Sony loves these wide-set feet. If you have a narrow TV stand, make sure the model you’re buying has "multi-position" feet that can be moved toward the center.
- The Remote: The high-end models (Bravia 9) get a nice backlit metal remote. The mid-range ones? Plastic. It feels a bit cheap for a $1,500+ purchase.
- Sound: Sony uses Acoustic Surface Audio on their OLEDs, where the actual screen vibrates to make sound. It’s the best built-in TV audio on the market. But on their LED models, they use "Acoustic Multi-Audio" (speakers in the frame). It's fine, but you’ll still want a soundbar.
Actionable Steps for Your Purchase
Don't just walk into a store and point at the brightest screen. Retailers put TVs in "Vivid Mode" to trick your brain.
First, measure your light. If your TV faces a window, skip the OLED and go for the Bravia 7 or 9. The anti-reflective coating on the 9 is genuinely impressive. Second, check your port needs. If you're a multi-console household, budget for an HDMI 2.1 switcher.
Lastly, wait for the seasonal cycles. Sony typically drops prices significantly around May (when new models arrive) and November. Buying a "last year" flagship is often a smarter move than buying this year's mid-range model. The tech doesn't move that fast.
If you’re ready to pull the trigger, focus on the XR70 (Bravia 7) for the best value-to-performance ratio in the 65-inch category. It gives you about 90% of the flagship performance for a lot less cash.