In 2025, the Sony X90L is still one of my favourite TVs. It was Sony’s flagship LED model back in 2023, featuring dimming zones. While the device launched at a premium price, it now sells for around Rs. 83,000 in India, which makes it a sweet deal if you’re shopping in the Rs. 80,000 range. But today, we have its successor, the Sony BRAVIA 5.
At the time of writing this review, the BRAVIA 5 is priced at Rs. 1,10,000 and comes with Mini LED backlighting and dimming zones, the key differentiating feature from its predecessor. So, the two questions we’ll try to answer are: is the BRAVIA 5 a worthy successor to the X90L, and does it offer good value at about Rs. 1,00,000?
Table of Contents
Nerd Specs, Served Fresh
- Panel Size: 55-inch (Available in 65, 75, 85 and 98-inch as well)
- Panel Type: VA
- Backlighting: Mini LED
- Dimming Zones: Yes
- Panel Resolution: 3840x2160p – 4K
- Panel Refresh Rate: 120Hz
- HDR10 Support: Yes
- HDR10+ Support: No
- HLG Support: Yes
- Dolby Vision Support: Yes
- Dolby Atmos Support: Yes
- HDMI Ports: 4 (HDMI 3 is eARC; HDMI 3 and 4 support HDMI 2.1)
- USB Ports: 2
- Bluetooth: Yes, 5.3
- Wi-Fi: Yes, Wi-Fi 6
- Ethernet: Yes
- Number of speakers: 4
- Sound Output: 40W
- Price: Rs. 1,09,990 for the 55-inch variant
Lights, Darks, and Everything in Between
While the Sony X90L was an LED TV with dimming zones, the BRAVIA 5 takes it a step further with Mini LED backlighting. The advantage of Mini LED is OLED-like control over dark sequences and blacks, while offering more dimming zones than a traditional LED TV. You also don’t have to worry about black crush, an issue that some OLEDs face.
Judging the TV on its own, performance is very good in both HDR and SDR. Starting with HDR, the TV supports HDR10, Dolby Vision, and HLG. Watching content like Top Gun: Maverick, Extraction, Ready Player One, and The Dark Knight trilogy was a treat, with bright specular highlights, excellent clarity and detail, and natural-looking colours. When consuming Dolby Vision content, you get three settings: Dolby Vision Bright, Dolby Vision Dark, and Dolby Vision Vivid. I left it on Bright for most of my usage, and it worked very well.
Even for HDR10 content, the experience was solid, whether on Prime Video or while gaming on the PS5, which doesn’t support Dolby Vision. For the best experience, I recommend sticking with the Movie preset, setting HDR gradation to Brightness Preferred, and switching off Motion Flow.
A hidden gem in Sony TVs is access to Sony Pictures Core (formerly BRAVIA Core): a lineup of Sony Pictures films streamed at the highest possible fidelity, with DTS:X and IMAX Enhanced support. Content here looks absolutely sublime.
There’s also a preset called “Calibrated,” which enables Sony Pictures Core Calibrated mode. This automatically tunes the picture settings for the content being played, sacrificing granular control for near-perfect results. For example, in Spider-Man: Homecoming, night action scenes showcased near-OLED blacks with punchy highlights. Daylight scenes, like the Washington Monument sequence, looked vibrant with neutral primary colours and natural skin tones. It was an awesome, immersive experience.
If you turn off Sony Pictures Core Calibrated, you can use the same HDR settings mentioned earlier. In this case, you may notice some elevation in black levels, especially if HDR gradation is set to Brightness Preferred, Peak Luminance to High, and Auto Local Dimming to anything other than High. This setup may work better for those watching in brightly lit rooms, but you’ll miss some shadow detail in darker sequences.
This level of control makes the BRAVIA 5 a joy for both well-lit and dark environments. In SDR, shows like Young Sheldon looked bright, crisp, and natural in the Cinema preset. The Standard preset, while decent, has a cooler tone. I preferred the warmer tone of the Movie preset for its more natural look. Even 1080p or lower-resolution content looks good thanks to Sony’s strong upscaling tech.
Earlier, I said “performance is very good in HDR and SDR”, but that’s because the Sony X90L is still available at about Rs. 80,000, and the performance of the two is almost similar. It highlights just how good the X90L still is. If you want a true upgrade, the BRAVIA 7 at Rs. 1,50,000 (55-inch) is in another league. Having said that, if you’re coming from a budget TV and want a Mini LED upgrade in the premium space, the BRAVIA 5 is a strong contender for both HDR and SDR.
Gaming Performance: Pixels and Power-ups
Let’s get the worst part out of the way first. The TV has only two HDMI ports with full HDMI 2.1 bandwidth, one of which is eARC. If you have a soundbar (without HDMI 2.1 passthrough), a PS5, and an Xbox Series X, one console will miss out on HDMI 2.1 benefits. This is disappointing, as other flagships offer all four ports with HDMI 2.1.
I played several titles on the PS5 and Series X, and the results were a blast. Games tested included:
- Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
- Dirt 5
- Astro Bot
- Gran Turismo 7
- Ghost of Tsushima
- Gears 5
- Ori and the Will of the Wisps
- Doom: The Dark Ages
When you connect the PS5, the TV auto-calibrates brightness and switches to Game mode, enabling HDMI 2.1 features. Dirt 5, mastered in HGiG, looks fantastic here, with strong highlights and preserved shadow detail.
In Ghost of Yotei, the diverse environments, snowy peaks, pitch-black nights, and crimson autumn leaves, all looked stunning, showcasing the TV’s excellent local dimming. Similarly, Spider-Man 2 showed off natural colours, with Spider-Man’s red and blue suit shining in the ray-traced cityscape.
Here’s the cool feature I mentioned. Like LG and Samsung, pressing the Menu button brings up a dedicated gaming UI. It lets you control presets, toggle VRR, enable a crosshair, and even see the current frame rate. You can also adjust the screen size, shrinking the active display area to simulate a smaller monitor for competitive gaming. For example, you can reduce it to a 27-inch view for Call of Duty: Warzone or Valorant, with the rest of the screen going black. It works surprisingly well.
On Xbox, Gears 5, Ori, and Doom all ran beautifully. The TV’s ALLM mode ensured quick response times, while Ori looked especially dazzling with its bright, glowing visuals against dark backgrounds. For Rs. 1,00,000, the BRAVIA 5 is absolutely a strong gaming TV option.
Does It Go Boom?
Okay, so “Big sound” is the first impression when you hear this TV. In a small 12×10 room, you likely won’t even need a soundbar as the 4-driver system (two full-range drivers and two tweeters) is more than enough. Of course, for a true cinema-like experience, a dedicated soundbar is recommended. But the TV’s audio is impressive on its own, with clear channel separation and dialogue clarity. Even in action-packed scenes with heavy background scores, voices remain easy to understand.
Movies like Top Gun: Maverick and Ready Player One handled layered audio very well, balancing high-octane effects, music, and dialogue seamlessly.
Brains and Buttons
The TV runs on Google TV, just like other BRAVIA models. The interface is smooth and functional, with easy access to picture presets and settings. A quick settings carousel at the bottom of the screen makes adjustments convenient.
The remote is the standard BRAVIA design: compact, with small buttons and a minimalist layout. I like it, but those who prefer larger buttons might find it less ideal.
Ports Galore (Or Not)?
The TV offers three HDMI ports, one of which supports eARC for a soundbar connection. You also get two USB ports, an Optical port, a 3.5mm audio jack, an Ethernet port, Bluetooth 5.3, and Wi-Fi 6.
Looks That Could Kill (Almost)
The TV features slim bezels on three sides, with a slightly thicker bottom bezel carrying the Sony logo. It’s fairly slim overall — not as thin as OLEDs, but slim enough given the hardware inside. The textured back adds a premium feel, even though it won’t be visible once wall-mounted. Connectivity ports are placed sideways for easy access, which is especially convenient if wall-mounting.
The TV comes with two centrally aligned metal feet. If you have a Sony soundbar, it sits flush with the feet for a seamless look. You can place the feet flush with the table or slightly elevated, depending on your needs.
Sony BRAVIA 5: Final Boss Level: Worth It?
There’s no doubt the BRAVIA 5 is an excellent TV. It offers immersive HDR and SDR performance, great upscaling, strong gaming features, and audio that’s more than sufficient for a bedroom setup. At Rs. 1,00,000, it’s easy to recommend. However, the Sony X90L is still very tempting at Rs. 80,000. That said, for Rs. 50,000 more, the BRAVIA 7 offers a much superior experience. So, unless your budget is capped at Rs. 1,00,000, it’s worth considering the BRAVIA 7. Either way, Sony has spoiled buyers for choice in the 55-inch segment.
Editor’s Rating: 9.3 / 10
Pros:
- Great HDR and SDR performance
- Great TV for gaming
- Very Good audio output
- Great upscaling of SD content
- Stylish design
- Only 2 HDMI 2.1 ports
