Currently the reigning champion among Black Friday TV deals, in terms of saving the most money (both total dollars and as a percentage), Sony’s 85-inch Bravia 9 has dipped by more than $1,000, to around $3,798 at major retailers such as Amazon. That’s roughly 21% off a flagship Mini LED set for big-screen cinephiles and serious gamers, and it propels this model onto the top of our list of value buys among premium 85-inch TVs.
If you’ve been hoping to go wall-to-wall without sacrificing picture quality, this deal makes one of 2024’s best LED/LCD sets a splurge that can be justified.
The Bravia 9 pairs Sony’s mastering-grade processing with a tightly packed mini-LED backlight for searing HDR brightness, tight blooming control and beautifully natural color.
Why This Black Friday Deal Is So Unusual
Shopping for a big-screen TV does typically reward patience, but deep cuts on top-of-the-line 85-inch models are few and far between. Market watchers at Omdia point out that shipments of 75-inch-and-larger TVs are still increasing while average selling prices remain stubbornly high. In that universe, to find a flagship dip below the $4,000 price point is actually quite an anomalous occurrence — and the very brand of window-shopping opportunity that Black Friday garners its reputation for.
Over history, Sony’s top-of-the-line 85-inch sets tended to hold value longer than rivals due to the consistent processing of pictures and strong perception for reliability. Owner satisfaction surveys from Consumer Reports consistently rank Sony toward the top of major TV brands, so it makes sense why a deal like this would be generating so much interest.
Picture Quality Tech Inside the Sony Bravia 9
What’s powering the Bravia 9 is a dense grid of Mini LEDs controlled by Sony’s Backlight Master Drive. The system focuses light on still smaller zones than regular local dimming, so even subtitles and specular highlights create less of a halo; yet deep blacks in letterbox bars stay deeper.
Independent reviewers like RTINGS and AVForums have measured peak HDR brightness in the thousands of nits, a practical advantage for sunlit living rooms but also the key to rendering sparkling high dynamic range films with accuracy and punch. Sony’s XR Triluminos Pro color system can map a very wide gamut, and the XR Processor conducts an analysis of every scene in real time to improve contrast further, reduce banding (however subtly), while still maintaining texture without settling into that over-sharpened look so much TV over-delivers.
Motion handling — a longstanding Sony strength — continues to shine here. Fast sports and panning images remain steady with fewer artifacts, thanks to Sony’s motion interpolation control options that can be adjusted or turned off according to personal preference. On the audio front, Acoustic Multi-Audio adds frame-integrated tweeters to keep spoken words coming directly from the screen, while eARC enables you to pass lossless Dolby Atmos to a soundbar or AVR for complete theater-quality reproduction.
Gaming and Smart Features on the Sony Bravia 9
Specs for gamers: two HDMI 2.1 inputs with support for 4K at 120Hz, Variable Refresh Rate and Auto Low Latency Mode. Sony’s PS5-friendly extras — Auto HDR Tone Mapping and Auto Genre Picture Mode — make setup a breeze, so you’re not drilling into menus mid-match. Input lag, as measured in a number of lab tests, falls appealingly into the single-digit to low-teens range for Game mode, which is responsive enough for shooters and racing games alike.
As a platform, Google TV is up there with the best in terms of a polished interface and deep app support for Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+, Apple TV and YouTube. The Bravia 9 has AirPlay 2 and Chromecast built in, too. For purists, Netflix Adaptive Calibrated Mode and Prime Video Calibrated Mode hit creator intent, while Sony Pictures Core (the studio’s own service) loads in IMAX Enhanced titles that let the set do its thing with brightness and contrast.
How the Bravia 9’s Value Compares Against Rivals
Samsung’s Neo QLED options and LG’s best Mini LED picks are strong competitors, but equivalent 85-inch models tend to sit higher up the price scale this season. At the opposite end, price leaders such as TCL’s QM8 series or Hisense’s U8 generally do beat everyone at the game of low-$$$ but trade a few punches back and forth on processing finesse, motion and blooming control — all areas where Sony still tends to win more than lose in head-to-head testing.
When you’re looking for the most balanced picture — loud enough to do HDR showpieces proud, restrained enough not to muddy up dark-room letterbox scenes — the Bravia falters on price point more than it does on features, at least compared with most premium 85-inch kickers on sale right now.
Practical Buying Advice for an 85-Inch Home Theater
Size-wise: THX recommends a 40-degree field of view for movie immersion, which means an 85-inch screen is in the sweet spot at about 7 to 10 feet. SMPTE’s 30-degree recommendation expands that to roughly 11 feet without any loss of detail. If your couch sits within that range, this size will add a good amount of “theater” without being too overwhelming.
Measure the footprint of your stand or wall mount — the legs on large sets can be wide — and make sure your mount’s weight rating is up to the task. Consider white-glove delivery — where someone else sets it up, which is particularly desirable now for safety’s sake — and keep the box through testing with streaming, gaming and cable sources. For picture settings, begin with Custom or Cinema modes with high-motion smoothing turned off for movies and local dimming on High for the cleanest HDR. If you’re hooking up audio, eARC will let a compatible soundbar or receiver unlock lossless formats.
Is Now a Good Time to Buy the Sony Bravia 9 85-Inch?
For shoppers who crave a genuine theater-size screen with none of the compromises associated with entry-level dimming systems, this is the Black Friday TV deal to beat. About $1,000 off, this set delivers elite HDR brightness and blooming control, great motion and gamer-ready HDMI 2.1 in an 85-inch TV that combines huge size, impressive quality and a price that need not be too enormous.