The Sony Bravia A95L makes a strong case for best premium TV

When it comes to TVs, you get what you pay for. The question is, how much is a great viewing experience worth to you?

Sony’s flagship Bravia XR A95L QD-OLED 4K HDR Google TV delivers a great picture with more whiz-bang features than you probably need. But, as the saying goes, if you have to ask how much it costs, you probably can’t afford it. (Spoiler: The 65-inch model lists for $3,500.)

It competes with Samsung’s S95C and LG’s G3 — both of which sell for much less — for supremacy among premium 4K OLED TVs. All three TVs will likely please your eyes, the A95L more so than the others. The right one for you depends on what features you value most.

What we liked about it

Beautiful, accurate picture

You will like the picture the A95L produces. Thanks to its quantum-dot OLED screen and high brightness, it has the best contrast I’ve seen. That makes it easy to see details in dark scenes, and it adds depth to more brightly lit ones. No TV better handled the attack of the Harkonnens in Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune,” with its dark night scenes alternating with bright fire, than the A95L.

The colors look natural and balanced. The TV easily rendered the underwater scenes in “Avatar: The Way of Water,” differentiating between the many hues of blue on the screen. Compared to the Samsung S95C, the reds, blues and greens don’t jump out as much but are likely more accurate. The Red Mothers’ red dresses in “Ahsoka” appeared more muted on the A95L but had more detail, thanks to the contrast. That’s one thing you’ll need to consider when choosing among the premium options: Do you prefer vividness or colors that are more accurate?

Power to spare

Sony is known for its image processing, and the A95L shows off what’s possible. Compared to other TVs, the A95L creates a picture that has more depth and detail. The processing is especially apparent when watching non-4K video; the upscaling makes it look almost as good as 4K. Of course, it reproduces actual 4K video sharply too.

Its processing power also makes using Google TV smooth. Google TV, a robust smart OS that lets you access the top streaming apps, watch live TV and quickly jump into shows, taxes many TVs and results in slow loading. Not so with the A95L: It’s downright zippy. There’s no need to add an external streaming device unless you don’t like the Google TV interface.

Wait, there’s much more

The A95L produces impressive sound for a TV. Voices are clear, and the sound spreads fairly widely for a 2.2-channel system; there’s even some bass. You can calibrate the sound to your room, which helps the system sound its best. You can also add to the sound system and take advantage of the TV’s sound by choosing a compatible Sony soundbar — it makes the TV the center channel in a surround sound setup.

All the aspects that make the TV shine when watching movies and shows translate to gaming, and the crisp details bring an extra element to gameplay. With a recent update, the A95L supports Dolby Vision in Game Mode. Playing Forza Horizon 5 on an Xbox, the screen handled the car going full throttle with no blurring and revealed plenty of details in the foreground and distance. Oddly, Sony only enabled HDMI 2.1 (which you’ll need for the best possible experience on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X) on two of the four ports; both the S95C and G3 have four ports that support the latest standard.

The A95L comes with a Bravia Cam, which is normally a $200 add-on. The camera attaches to the top of the TV and serves a few purposes. Most importantly, it allows the TV to adjust the picture and sound to your position. You can also use it as a webcam and enable gesture controls. Using the camera to adjust to you may be worth sticking the camera on top of the TV; I’m not sure gesture controls are useful unless you’ve lost the remote.

What we didn’t like about it

That price

While the A95L’s list price ($3,500 for the 65-inch version) isn’t that much more than the S95C ($3,300) or G3 ($3,500), you can easily find the Samsung and LG models for around $2,300. Not so with the Sony: The best current price is $3,500. If you prefer the Sony picture, you’ll have to decide if it’s worth the $1,000-plus difference, or if you’re willing to wait for a potential Black Friday sale.

Adjustments may be needed

To clarify what I said earlier, you will like the picture, but you may have to put in some work. If you don’t like the way the picture looks, you have a lot of picture modes to choose from (I preferred Cinema for non-Dolby Vision video), and each mode has many ways to further adjust what you see.

Even with its excellent image processing, I found that the motion smoothing was too much for my eyes. So I set forth to turn it off. With all the settings the A95L offers, it can be a challenge to decide what to turn down, up or off to get the best picture for your eyes. But the time spent is worth the effort.

How it compares

Bottom line

The Sony A95L delivers in all the ways that you want one of the best TVs to: a beautiful picture, good sound and the latest features.

If the price doesn’t scare you, there are a couple of reasons why you might choose another TV over the A95L. While the design looks refined, it doesn’t have “wow” thinness — the S95C is just 0.4 inches thick, and the G3 is 1 inch, while the A95L measures 1.4 inches.

As mentioned, the S95C’s color is more vivid than the A95L. I preferred the more balanced approach the A95L takes, but the S95C’s colors will make people react more. A differentiator in favor of the A95L: It supports Dolby Vision (as does the G3), while the S95C doesn’t.

Overall, the A95L is the TV to beat in 2023 if price is no object. If you choose to spend your money on it, you’re in for a premium viewing experience.