Due to popular demand, Sony has reconsidered its decision to reserve the smallest, 65-inch version of its new Bravia 9 Mini-LED TV for U.S. buyers, saying it will now launch in the U.K. and Europe as well.
The company said it is being receptive to a general outcry from Sony TV enthusiasts, who reacted with horror and scorn to its proposal to only ship the largest, 75-inch and 85-inch versions of the Bravia 9 to Europeans, many of whom have a preference for smaller televisions.
First announced in April, the Sony Bravia 9 is the Japanese company’s flagship TV for this year, and it made headlines at the time of its announcement, because it features a Mini-LED display, rather than the QD-OLED or WRGB OLED displays used in recent years’ flagship models.
Sony provided some good arguments for the switch back to Mini-LED as its primary display tech of choice, saying that it has been boosted by some significant advances and innovations that have an extremely positive impact in terms of image quality. For instance, its Mini-LED panel is now twice as bright as the one used in last year’s premium Mini-LED Sony TV, the X95L. In addition, it comes with a new 22-bit Mini-LED driver that helps to provide that higher brightness. Sony has also squeezed in many more local dimming zones, and debuted a new feature called High Peak Luminance that’s said to enable “OLED-level blacks” and superior contrast.
All told, the Sony Bravia 9 Mini-LED TV comes with 1,500 local dimming zones, which is slightly fewer than the number in the larger 75-inch and 85-inch models, though given the smaller size, it won’t have any negative effects on image quality.
The TV also boasts Sony’s most advanced 2nd Gen XR Processor, which first appeared in last year’s Sony A95L QD-OLED television, and it comes with an Acoustic Multi-Audio+ audio system with beam tweeters to support immersive Dolby Atmos sound. Other perks include Google TV, two HDMI 2.1 ports, Apple AirPlay 2, and the new Amazon Prime Video Calibrated mode.
Given the TVs awesome specifications, it didn’t come as a huge surprise to see Europeans disappointed that the company originally planned to reserve the 65-inch for American consumers only. That decision was somewhat puzzling, because U.S. consumers typically prefer to buy bigger screen sizes than Europeans, in part because the average U.S. living room is bigger than the ones found in Europe. Some Sony TV fans were so upset that they even started a petition on Change.org, begging the company to change its mind.
Fortunately for Sony fans, the company heard the complaints voiced on various forums and social media sites loud and clear, and has decided to reverse that decision.
"We have listened to customer and media feedback and are thrilled to expand the BRAVIA 9 range in Europe with an additional 65-inch screen size model in November," the company said in a statement to the press.
For budget-conscious consumers, the smaller display size means that they will be able to snap up the Bravia 9 for a lot less money than they had expected to pay. While Sony hasn’t yet confirmed European prices for the TV, we know that it retails for about $3,000 in the U.S. At current exchange rates, that should mean U.K. buyers might expect to pay around £2,500, give or take a few bob. In any case, it will almost certainly be much cheaper than the 75-inch Bravia 9 TV, which is priced at £4,499 in most U.K. stores.
Hopefully, we won’t have to wait, as Sony says the 65-inch Bravia 9 will go on sale in the U.K. and Europe sometime in November. In the meantime, you can check out HDTVTest reviewer Vincent Teoh’s video preview of the Sony Bravia 9, which outlines the reasons behind the decision to switch from QD-OLED to Mini-LED in more detail:
