Sony’s new Bravia 7 II has a secret weapon that makes it so good

After six months of lab testing the year's newest TVs, it has become clear that the best TVs of 2026 are pushing brightness and color accuracy to new heights. Today’s flagship TVs from Hisense and TCL deliver good performance, thanks in large part to a backlight technology called Mini-RGB that’s changing the game for picture quality.

Yet Sony isn't sitting on the sidelines. Its new "True RGB" technology also promises independently controlled red, green, and blue LEDs under the display panel but, according to Sony, offers “purer color expression, improved light steering, and ultra-wide viewing angles.” The best part? You don’t need to empty your pockets to get a taste. Despite it being used in the flagship Bravia 9 II sibling, you can get it on the Bravia 7 II at a lower price.

But does Sony’s new tech actually live up to the hype? After putting the Sony Bravia 7 II through our rigorous lab testing workflow and spending two days watching real-world content, the results didn’t blow my expectations out of the water, but I’m still very impressed.

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Sony Bravia 7 II review: Pricing and availability

The Bravia 7 II is $300 more than the starting price of the 65-inch Sony Bravia 7 we reviewed in 2025. Pricing for the Sony Bravia 7 II starts at $1,600 / AU$2,699 for the 50-inch variant, and goes as high as $9,000 / AU$12,999 for the 98-inch model.

MSRPs / RRPs for the whole range are listed below:

• 50-inch: $1,599 / AU$2,699
• 55-inch: $2,099 / N/A
• 65-inch: $2,599 / AU$3,999
• 75-inch: $3,099 / AU$5,499
• 85-inch: $3,999 / AU$7,499
• 98-inch: $8,999 / AU$12,999

The 65-inch review unit we have comes in at $2,600 / AU$3,999. Sony’s flagship Bravia 9 II costs $3,600 / AU$5,999, so if you buy the Bravia 7 II, you can save an extra $1,000 / AU$2,000. Stepping down means sacrificing a handful of dimming zones, the anti-glare features, and slightly more premium audio features — but these compromises aren’t so bad given the price difference.

That said, the 7 II is venturing close to OLED pricing territory. The LG C6 OLED currently sits at $2,700, while the LG B6 costs roughly $2,000. TCL’s RGB offering, the QM8L, has a price tag of $3,000 for the 75-inch model while the Hisense UR9 costs $2,000 for a 65-inch screen after the nearly unheard of $1,500 discount it received immediately after launch.

Sony Bravia 7 II review: Design and ports

The Sony Bravia 7 II immediately felt different to me the moment I took it out of the box, largely due to its redesigned center-facing stand. As part of the setup, you slot a clear glass-like sheet into the front of the stand. Sony calls this the “Mirage Stand.” This helps hide the cables that might be behind the TV. It also helps light and color pass through.

The assembly was easy, involving building out both sides of the base, and then simply sliding the entire TV into place and fastening it with screws. Compared to my experience with setting up other TVs, the setup feels remarkably seamless. I wish other manufacturers would embrace this approach. The trade-off is that, on the sides, the Bravia 7 II is still slightly thick, similar to other RGB TVs in this class.

The other issue besides its thickness is that Sony skimped out on ports: On the left side of the TV, there are four HDMI ports, just like last year’s model, but two of them are the older HDMI 2.0b standard. (HDMI 1 and 2 are HDMI 2.0b, while HDMI 3 and 4 are HDMI 2.1.)

Those HDMI ports are all in addition to the two USB ports, optical audio out, S-Center speaker in, Ethernet, RS-232C remote, IR in, and a spot for a coaxial cable.

Finally, around the back, the non-detachable power cable is on the right rear. In that same area, Sony also gives you a spot to clip that cable to better help manage wires. The TV can be wall-mounted using the VESA holes on the back panel, should you prefer that.

My biggest gripe with the 7 II’s design is that, for this price, it should have HDMI 2.1 ports standard. If you own multiple game consoles like I do, you’ll only be able to fully enjoy them at 120Hz on two of this TV's four ports. It’s not a deal breaker, but it is a small disappointment.

How we test

Our TV review process at Tom's Guide for TVs is rigorous, but standardized. In our New York City test lab, my lab assistant and I test every TV across SDR and HDR benchmarks using the industry standard 10% window.

To ensure we are seeing the director's true vision, we switch the TV over to Filmmaker Mode which is typically the most color-accurate setting available. We also disable any AI features, Eco Mode, and any intrusive ambient light sensors that could impact readings.

We use the Jeti spectraval 1501-HiRes spectroradiometer to profile our Klein K10-A colorimeter. Once profiled, this high-end hardware works in tandem with a Murideo 8K-SIX-G Metal pattern generator and a custom workflow in Portrait Displays Calman Ultimate software to map out the TV’s performance.

For gaming performance, we use a Leo Bodnar 4K Video Signal Lag Tester to measure exactly how responsive the TV really is. Once technical lab testing is done, we put the TV through subjective testing using a curated selection of films and shows. For more on this process, read our “How we test TVs” guide.

Sony Bravia 7 II review: Performance and test results

HDR performance is where the Bravia 7 II comes into its own league, with the peak brightness reaching 2,077 nits with our 10% test window. This is far ahead of what we've seen on OLED TVs like LG C6 and nearly double that of the original Bravia 7 model. However, it’s overshadowed by the Hisense UR9 and TCL QM8L.

When watching scenes in HDR from “The Batman” on our lab’s Blu-ray player, I immediately noticed the highlights from headlights and explosions against the shadows of the night. Yet despite all of this, the black in Batman’s suit and the Batmobile remained true.

Streaming “Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan Ghost War” on Amazon Prime, my initial impressions were corroborated: The TV rendered some really deep blacks and precisely managed highlights, ensuring that the riverside lamps in the introductory sequence showed absolutely no blooming against a black dark sky. This carried over into the film's climactic final battle, where even in dark night scenes, I could not spot any light bleed around the vibrant orange muzzle flashes or the crisp white LED signs on a building set against the dark night.

For SDR performance, Bravia TVs come with conservative brightness settings out of the box. As a result, SDR brightness measured just 100 nits in our lab testing for the TV’s best picture mode. This is significantly lower than competitors like the Hisense UR9, TCL QM8L, LG C6, and Samsung QN90. However, I do want to be clear this is no fault of the TV — Sony has a long standard of prioritizing accuracy and a true-to-Hollywood look over pure brightness in its Professional mode. Targeting 100 nits of brightness isn’t a bug to Sony. It’s a feature.

That said, your mileage will vary on how much you enjoy Professional mode. I watched a nature video of Norway on YouTube and the whites in the water lacked intensity and weren’t as bright as I hoped. Playing around with the various options in Sony’s new My Cinema presets in the settings menu optimized the SDR brightness to better suit my eyes.

Additional presets can optimize content from Netflix or Amazon Prime, but I found that switching to the standard Cinema Mode improved brightness better, pushing peaks closer to 750 nits. To be fair, Sony gives you full control and explains the various picture modes out of the box during setup, so it’s easy to change things around if you aren’t happy with the out-of-the-box settings.

So where does it falter? We measured a Delta-E of 4.79, which suggests the Bravia 7 II isn’t the strongest performer in color accuracy compared to the LG C6 or Samsung QN90F. (We reached out to Sony for clarification on why it’s higher than average and are still awaiting a response.)

Lab numbers don't always account for what the human eye can perceive through Sony's image processing. This means that sometimes a TV can still look good; personally, I felt that the TV delivered natural, balanced tones that you actually look for in real world-viewing. In SDR content like a NYC subway walkthrough on YouTube, faces still appeared lifelike.

The Bravia 7 II did not give the faces a cooler, washed-out look many other TVs in its class might produce. Similarly, in “Blade Runner 2049” on Blu-ray, the Las Vegas sequence kept true to the film’s orange hue without oversaturating natural skin tones.

Side viewing angles on this TV were impressive across all the content I watched, thanks to Sony’s X-wide Angle Pro technology. After moving my seat to both sides of the TV and rewatching the same scenes I mentioned earlier from “Blade Runner 2049,” “The Batman,” and “Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan Ghost War,” picture quality remained consistently strong. I didn’t notice any bleed or loss in color or brightness. This is an area where many non-OLED displays typically struggle, but the Bravia 7 II held up well.

Sony Bravia 7 II review: Gaming

Gaming performance on the Bravia 7 II is a big jump from the Bravia 7: We measured input lag at 10.4ms, a huge step up from the 17.1ms from the Bravia 7 — and more in line with what we’ve seen with other 2026 TVs.

I played Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight on the PlayStation 5 and had no issues. Controls felt tight and responsive during fast-paced fights where Batman and Robin took on street-level crime. There was almost no noticeable delay between my inputs and what I saw on the screen.

Since this is a Sony TV, there are added benefits when you pair it with a PS5: Auto HDR Tone Mapping lets you skip the HDR optimization you usually have to go through in most games.

But just be careful about which port you choose. If you connect to either HDMI 2.1 port on the TV, the Bravia 7 II will give you that sweet and smooth 120Hz refresh rate, support for variable refresh rate (VRR), and auto low-latency mode (ALLM). Pairing it with one of the two aforementioned HDMI 2.0 ports could result in the loss of some of this functionality.

Sony Bravia 7 II review: Sound

The built-in speakers on the Bravia 7 II are surprisingly pleasing. With a side-firing design, all the speakers are at ear level across the screen. This means dialogue and effects project clearly into the room rather than feeling trapped on the TV’s stand.

In action content like “The Batman” and “Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan Ghost War,” voices in films and shows were easy to follow even during more chaotic scenes. Rain, gunfire, and the orchestral score never broke the immersion that I experienced.

Interestingly, a step during the TVs setup process allows you to optimize the acoustics for viewing. Sit in front of the TV with the remote, and the TV will measure the sound levels in the room. This feature is great if you want to get the most out of the TV’s sound.

Sony Bravia 7 II review: Smart TV and remote

The remote isn’t the only part of the TV with a built-in microphone — there’s one built right into the TV. I’ve always found voice remotes awkward, having to hold the whole remote to my face just to speak to the TV, so this always-ready mic made searching and getting recommendations feel more natural and hands-free. And don’t worry, it can be quickly muted using a physical slider on the bottom left of the TV for added privacy.

Tying the whole system together is the Google TV smart platform whose interface remains clean and easy to navigate. No matter what I asked it, Google’s Gemini integration helped surface content across all my streaming apps in the more conversational, “ask a friend” style that I wish Siri on my Apple TV at home could do a better job with. It’s one of the best streaming TV platforms for a reason.

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The remote design is largely unchanged from last year, still with its familiar plastic finish and blue-speckled detailing. Aside from swapping the arrangement of a few buttons, Sony has added a new favorites button that lets you quickly jump to a preferred streaming app and there’s also a handy remote-finder feature should you lose it. (Pressing the power button on the TV can trigger a buzzer on the remote if it gets lost.) This is a small — but genuinely useful — touch for those moments where your remote might get lost in the sofa.

Sony Bravia 7 II review: Verdict

Though it sits below the Bravia 9 II, the Sony Bravia 7 II still has solid HDR performance. It brings bright highlights, deep shadows, and impressively clean blacks with virtually no blooming thanks to its standout “True RGB” backlight. It also has a few upgrades from its predecessor — like the stand — that make it worth upgrading to if you own the original Bravia 7.

Its conservative SDR brightness can look dim in everyday viewing, however, and its higher-than-average pricing also pushes it close to more color-accurate OLED territory. Unless it’s Black Friday or Cyber Monday, you shouldn’t expect to see major discounts on it, either.

If the so-called “Sony Tax” is too steep for you, you might want to consider the often-on-sale LG C6 OLED or even last year’s C5 OLED, Tom’s Guide’s TV of the Year.

If you’re unfazed by the sticker price, the Bravia 7 II is a stand-out TV that I would recommend to folks who want an early look at an RGB TV’s benefits without shelling out for the Bravia 9 II.