Sony Bravia 5 TV (98-inch)
ZDNET’s key takeaways
- Enhanced color, contrast, and clarity make this TV live up to its hype.
- It handily delivers upscaled HDR content and high-speed footage.
- A soundbar will complement its size, and its off-angle viewing can be less than perfect.
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Sony recently sent us the 2025 Bravia 5 TV, this one with a 98-inch screen and weighing in at 158 pounds. It goes without saying that this TV is a beast — an expensive one. And the Bravia 5 is not even considered the company’s flagship model (you can look to the Bravia 8 II for that). But this TV is impressive, and after testing it for a week, I’ll explain why.
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The Bravia 5 is a Google TV, so setting up the UI was fairly easy using the remote and the Google Home app on my phone. But be prepared for a series of screens requiring you to check boxes for privacy disclaimers. The era of streaming content has become very complicated.
Otherwise, the interface is intuitive, offering quick access to a vast selection of streaming services, apps, and voice control capabilities via Google Assistant. The personalization features are also a plus for helping you discover new content.
This behemoth of a display comes with a relatively small remote control. It’s slender and lightweight, and if you have fat fingers like me, you might accidentally press enter when you meant to press a navigation button.
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I appreciate the downsizing of remotes across most brands these days. Yet despite all the streamlining, Sony (and most others) insist on including dedicated app buttons. You know, for Netflix, YouTube, Disney+, and whatever other platforms the manufacturer contracts with. These buttons take up a lot of real estate and make the remote seem almost “disposable” because brands get bought, sold, and sometimes change names.
For example, I have a Roku TV with a Vudu button. Who or what is Vudu? That platform still exists, but it’s now known as Fandango Media (a joint venture between NBC Universal and Warner Bros.).
I don’t mean to make an example of Sony; its engineers are simply abiding by the current trend. Yet, I haven’t met anyone who says they use these dedicated app buttons. When you have a smartly designed home screen, you don’t need them.
That is one of my two peevish critiques of the Sony Bravia 5. Second is the fact that this remote is not backlit. Come on, Sony. If I’m buying a $6,000 TV, I envision a home cinema experience in the dark (just like in a movie theatre). This means I don’t want to turn on my phone to aim a light source at the “magic wand” just so I can pause the thing when my DoorDash order arrives. To me, backlighting on remotes seems like a simple ask for anything above a budget model television.
Apologies for my digressionary rant on remote control design. Despite these minor gripes, it became clear to me that the Bravia 5 has plenty to shout about.
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For one thing, Sony’s prowess in display technology is impressive. Its proprietary Cognitive Processor XR upscales images beautifully, ensuring motion is slippery smooth with minimal blur. From fast-paced action scenes in the 2023 Mission: Impossible rendition to 2025 NBA highlights, the Bravia 5 delivered 4K resolution with exceptional clarity, vibrant colors, and impressive contrast. HDR content truly pops, showcasing deep blacks and brilliant highlights.
While 4K content looks phenomenal, lower-resolution content (like older cable broadcasts) tends to reveal imperfections more noticeably on such a large screen, even with the XR processor’s excellent upscaling.
The Sony Bravia 5 can display up to a 120Hz refresh rate with VRR and ALLM enabled, which means the TV dynamically adjusts to match the frame rate of the content being displayed. This is especially good news for gamers. With those kinds of specs, playing Fortnite on a display of this size is an electrifying experience. The Bravia 5 showed no sign of screen tearing, with exquisitely responsive gameplay.
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Already impressed by the images on this behemoth TV, I ran a few tests at the lab for dirty screen effect, burn-in, and blooming. I clocked no degradation, even close to the edges. The color test was consistent; the subtitle test yielded no visible blooming, and the scrolling text motion was liquid.
Having said that, viewing the Bravia 5 from side angles was not the best. It’s fair to assume that, with the same build and technology in a smaller Bravia 5, this would also be the case. With a 98-inch screen, though, you probably won’t get many complaints from someone sitting on the far edge of your couch. And while Sony TVs generally handle reflections well, a screen this large can still be susceptible to glare in brightly lit rooms, so strategic placement and light control are important factors. (You might consider getting some blackout curtains.)
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This Mini LED TV bears a peak brightness of around 800 nits. That isn’t eye-popping OLED-level brightness, but in a dark room, you might want to lower the brightness on a Bravia 5 to prevent eye strain. Trust me, the TV is plenty bright, and it can accommodate seating from any conceivable home theater.
What about sound? This tech is not unique to Sony, but its Acoustic Multi-Audio system deserves props. It uses actuators to vibrate the screen itself to produce sound. This cohesion between audio and visual elements appears to emanate directly from the action on screen, making any scene from DC or Marvel movies hyperrealistic and immersive.
For the ultimate audio experience, though, the Sony Bravia 5 could use a companion soundbar to round things out. Again, if you’re investing this much in a giant screen, then your budget might not be too far stretched to install a comprehensive surround sound system as well.
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The Bravia 5 has an impressive array of connectivity options, including Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3 on the wireless side, and several physical ports. I really like how Sony included an infographic panel (of sorts) right next to each port to make it clear which cables go where. It comes with four HDMI ports — one of them eARC (for that soundbar you should buy), another being 4K at 120Hz (for your online gaming needs).
ZDNET’s buying advice
The 98-inch Sony Bravia 5 is a formidable piece of home entertainment technology. Its stunning picture quality, immersive scale, and excellent smart features make it a dream display for any cinephile or gaming enthusiast.
Grand proportions notwithstanding, Sony’s quality will shine through on any smaller-sized Bravia 5 screen. This one runs for about $5,999, whereas you can get an 85-inch Bravia 5 for less than half that price or a 75-inch for one-third the cost.
Even if it’s not about the money, not every home can accommodate a colossal 98-inch panel. So, if your home’s parameters aren’t suitable for something this big, you’ll arguably be getting a better value by downsizing a step or two on screen size.
If you have the budget and space, the Bravia 5 delivers on its promise of a magnificent viewing experience. And if you’re seeking the ultimate home cinema experience, pair this TV with a high-end soundbar to match the visual grandeur with equally powerful and nuanced audio.
How we test TVs
While testing and researching the TVs featured on this list, I and other ZDNET experts kept these criteria in mind:
- Price: Not all budgets are created equal. And if you’re working with a limited budget, that shouldn’t mean you have to settle for a sub-par TV.
- Screen size: The most important factor to consider, after price, when shopping for a new TV is whether or not it will fit into your space.
- Picture and audio quality: A new TV doesn’t mean much, even if it costs an arm and a leg, if it doesn’t provide a great picture and clear audio. The best TVs we test have often been ensured to support various HDR codecs, including HDR10+ and Dolby Vision, as well as enhanced audio software like Dolby Atmos, Dolby Digital Plus, and object-tracking sound.
For a more detailed look, check out our extensive TV testing methodology.
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