Sony has announced US pricing for its new high-end Sony Bravia 8 II OLED TV – but unlike in the UK, where the pricing is highly competitive with the LG G5, Sony’s US prices are far higher than the G5’s.
Indeed, they’re also much higher than the recently unveiled price of the Samsung S95F, which uses the same QD-OLED panel.
When I spoke to Sony at the UK launch of the Bravia 8 II I was told the price of the new TV would be lower than that of the Sony A95L, the company’s previous high-end OLED. That appears to have only applied to the UK, though, because the Bravia 8 II is priced higher than the A95L was at launch in the US.
|
Size |
Sony Bravia 8 II |
LG G5 |
Samsung S95F |
|---|---|---|---|
|
55-inch |
$3,499 |
$2,499 |
$2,499 |
|
65-inch |
$3,999 |
$3,399 |
$3,399 |
|
77-inch |
Sony A95L 77-inch still available: $4,999 |
$4,499 |
$4,499 |
What we don’t know is whether this price factors in expected tariff costs or not – it may be that Sony has included them, and that LG and Samsung will soon have to raise prices.
However, Sony has a history of its TV and audio products coming with a relatively high price tag for US customers, so these may be the originally planned prices, and they may go up further in the near future, though we don’t yet know what the full effect of tariffs on prices will be.
Sony hasn’t announced a release date for the TV yet either, though it’s due for an early-June release in the UK.
Sony also released pricing for its new Bravia 5 mini-LED mid-range TV, and its budget Bravia 2 II (yes, that’s Bravia 2 mark II, a horrible naming decision) TV.
|
Size |
Bravia 5 |
Bravia 2 II |
|
55-inch |
$1,699 |
$699 |
|
65-inch |
$1,799 |
$799 |
|
75-inch |
$2,399 |
$1,099 |
|
85-inch |
$2,999 |
N/A |
|
98-inch |
$6,499 |
N/A |
The Bravia 2 II is a direct-led LED TV, and includes Sony’s X1 processor, which used to be in its flagship TVs – although with no local backlight dimming, don’t expect amazing contrast.
The Bravia 5 is a very interesting TV at its larger sizes, in particular. I’ve seen it in real life, though only briefly, and it’s bright, and a decent mini-LED backlight should ensure solid contrast. But at larger sizes, Sony’s excellent processing should help make sure you don’t see the imperfections in streaming or HD video when viewing on a blown-up 4K screen.
Another uphill battle for Sony?
In the UK, the pricing of the Bravia 8 II is really exciting – the 65-inch Sony is slightly less expensive than the LG G5, which could really shake up our rankings of the best OLED TVs there, because it means the choice is heavily down to image quality, and Sony gets rated really highly there.
But in the US, if the Bravia 8 II stays at $600-$1,000 more than LG’s and Samsung’s equivalents, it’s going to have a very tough time breaking through. Yes, the Sony almost certainly has better built-in sound, but that’s not going to matter if you can buy a great soundbar for less than the price difference between them.
And I said that the Bravia 8 II looks like it’ll have some of the best picture quality on the planet from my early demo, but will the difference be large enough to justify that kind of price gap? I’m having trouble believing it, though we’ll be testing the LG G5, Samsung S95F, and Sony Bravia 8 II side by side when they’ve all launch to decide which is the best TV, so watch this space.
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