Sony's A95L QD

Jul 19, 2023

In May, Sony announced the details of its 2023 TV lineup, with one very big exception — its flagship A95L Bravia XR TV based on QD-OLED display tech. Today, we have those details too. The A95L starts at $2,800 for the 55-inch model, $3,500 for the 65-inch model, and $5,000 for the largest 77-inch screen size. All three sizes will be available for preorder starting August 21, 2023. Sony hasn’t indicated when preorders will begin shipping to customers.

Sony’s prices, as expected, are higher than those of the Samsung S95C and S90C, the only other TVs that are currently based on Samsung Display’s QD-OLED panel technology. The 55-inch S95C, for example, is regularly priced at $2,500 — a $300 savings over the A95L — however, Samsung is currently selling all of its S95C models at a discount. With a sale price of $2,300 for the 55-inch S95C, the gap grows to $500.

Digital Trends hasn’t received an A95L Bravia XR for testing yet, but we expect that it will perform extremely well. The 2022 Sony A95K earned a perfect 10/10 score (as did the 2022 Samsung S95B). The Samsung S95C was no less impressive in terms of its display and picture quality, but our reviewer nonetheless deducted a mark for the TV’s less-than-stellar sound and its lack of Dolby Vision.

Sony has a reputation for excellent TV sound and its line of OLED TVs has always supported Dolby Vision, so these aren’t likely to be issues when we finally get hands-on with the A95L.

First shown off at CES 2023, the Sony A95L Bravia XR promises color brightness that’s up to 200% better than what you’ll get from a conventional OLED display, according to Sony.

The TV is powered by the Google TV smart TV operating system and includes voice commands via Google Assistant. You can use the Multi-View feature to split your screen and watch content from two different sources at the same time.

Sony has made the A95L a better companion for PlayStation 5 with Auto HDR Tone Mapping and Auto Genre Picture Mode for optimized picture quality while gaming and streaming. A new Game Menu, lets you manage gaming picture settings and assist features in a single interface.

Sony’s Acoustic Surface Audio+ uses actuators behind the TV, which vibrate to produce audio from the entire screen, which Sony says improves the perception of dialogue. There’s also an integrated subwoofer.

You can pair the TV with select Sony soundbars for Acoustic Center Sync, which synchronizes the center channel of both devices for even further enhances dialog.

Each A95L also comes equipped with a Sony Bravia Cam. When connected, this webcam enables Ambient Optimization Pro which automatically optimizes the picture and sound to where you’re sitting in the room. Video chats are also possible and Sony plans additional uses for the Bravia Cam in the future.