The Sony BRAVIA 3 is an entry-level model in Sony's 2024 TV lineup. It's a pretty basic 60Hz TV and doesn't have features like HDMI 2.1 bandwidth, VRR, and local dimming, but it still has some features like black frame insertion, auto low latency mode, and Dolby Vision. You also get access to the Sony Pictures Core streaming service, which promises high-quality streams that rival the picture quality you get from 4k Blu-rays. The TV is powered by Sony's 4K HDR Processor X1™ and runs the popular Google TV smart interface. It has a built-in 20W 2.0 channel speaker system and supports Dolby Atmos. We bought and tested the 75-inch model, but it's available in six sizes total: 43, 50, 55, 65, 75, and 85-inches.
Our Verdict
The Sony BRAVIA 3 is decent for mixed usage. It's not a very good option to pair with your modern gaming console or PC since it lacks modern gaming features; you're limited to 4k @ 60Hz without VRR. The TV's terrible contrast means blacks look gray when highlights are on screen, so it doesn't look good in a dark room whether you're watching SDR or HDR content. Fortunately, its wide viewing angle makes it suitable for use in a group setting. It also gets bright enough in SDR and has good enough reflection handling that you can use it in a room with some lights on without being distracted.
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Wide viewing angle means it's suitable for use in a group setting.
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Terrible contrast and no local dimming means blacks look gray when highlights are on the screen.
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Lacks the HDR brightness needed for impactful highlights.
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Reflection handling is only okay with lights placed directly opposite the screen.
The Sony BRAVIA 3 is very good for watching TV shows. The built-in Google TV interface is loaded with streaming apps, so it's very easy to find your favorite shows. It has great low-quality content smoothing and upscaling capabilities, so low-resolution content doesn't look too soft, and low-bitrate content is mostly free from artifacts. The TV has very good SDR brightness and good enough reflection handling for use in a room with some lights on, although it does struggle a bit with direct reflections like a lamp placed opposite the screen. Additionally, its wide viewing angle makes it suitable for watching shows with friends, as the image doesn't degrade much when viewed from the sides of the screen.
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Very good image processing for low-resolution and low-quality content.
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Wide viewing angle means it's suitable for use in a group setting.
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Reflection handling is only okay with lights placed directly opposite the screen.
The Sony BRAVIA 3 is good for watching sports. It has very good SDR brightness and decent reflection handling, so it overcomes glare in a room with some lights on, but you'll want to avoid placing a lamp opposite the screen. The TV has a wide viewing angle, so it's a good option for watching the game with a group of friends since the image doesn't drastically degrade when viewed from the sides of the screen. It also has very good gray uniformity with minimal dirty screen effect, so you aren't overly distracted when watching sports with large areas of uniform color, like football and hockey. Unfortunately, the TV's response time is only decent, so there's some noticeable blur behind quick-moving players and objects.
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Very good image processing for low-resolution and low-quality content.
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Wide viewing angle means it's suitable for use in a group setting.
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Reflection handling is only okay with lights placed directly opposite the screen.
The Sony BRAVIA 3 is okay for playing video games. Unfortunately, it doesn't have modern gaming features like HDMI 2.1 bandwidth, 4k @ 120Hz, and VRR, so it's not a good option if you're looking to get the most out of your PS5, Xbox Series X|S, or gaming PC. The TV's response time is only decent, so there's noticeable blur behind fast motion. Fortunately, the TV has incredibly low input lag, so you'll get a responsive gaming experience. It has very good SDR brightness and good enough reflection handling that you can game in a room with the lights on. However, it does struggle with direct reflections like a floor lamp placed in front of the screen. Finally, using Game Mode doesn't negatively impact the TV's image, so you don't have to worry about trading in picture quality for performance.
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Incredibly low input lag for a responsive experience.
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Limited to 60Hz refresh rate and no modern gaming features.
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Reflection handling is only okay with lights placed directly opposite the screen.
The Sony BRAVIA 3 is just alright for watching movies in a dark room. The TV has outstanding SDR pre-calibration accuracy, so movies in SDR stay true to the filmmaker's intent. It also automatically removes judder from 24Hz sources like a Blu-ray player or the TV's built-in apps, but it doesn't remove judder from 60Hz sources like a cable box. Even though the TV has okay HDR brightness, it has terrible contrast, so blacks are gray when highlights are also on screen, which means HDR movies aren't very impactful. Fortunately, it has a wide color gamut, so colors in HDR are vibrant and lifelike.
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Removes judder from 24Hz sources.
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Dolby Vision support.
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Terrible contrast and no local dimming means blacks look gray when highlights are on the screen.
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Lacks the HDR brightness needed for impactful highlights.
The Sony BRAVIA 3 is satisfactory for playing games in HDR. It has okay HDR brightness, but unfortunately, it has terrible contrast, so highlights don't stand out much at all in HDR games. The TV doesn't have HDMI 2.1 bandwidth, 4k @ 120Hz, and VRR, so you're limited to 4k @ 60Hz with noticeable screen-tearing. Its response time is only decent, so there's noticeable blur behind quick motion, but it does have incredibly low input lag, so it delivers a responsive gaming experience.
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Incredibly low input lag for a responsive experience.
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Dolby Vision support.
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Terrible contrast and no local dimming means blacks look gray when highlights are on the screen.
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Limited to 60Hz refresh rate and no modern gaming features.
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Lacks the HDR brightness needed for impactful highlights.
The Sony BRAVIA 3 is very good for use as a PC monitor. It has very good gray uniformity with minimal dirty screen effect, so you aren't distracted when looking at large areas of uniform color, like when browsing the web. The TV's wide viewing angle means that you can sit close to the screen, and the edges remain consistent with the center. Its very good SDR brightness and decent reflection handling means it overcomes some glare in a room with the lights on, but it does struggle a bit with direct reflections. The TV displays chroma 4:4:4 properly, and it uses an RGB subpixel layout, so the text is clear and easy to read. You also get a responsive desktop experience thanks to its incredibly low input lag. Unfortunately, it only has a decent response time, so there's noticeable blur behind quick cursor movements and other fast motion.
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Incredibly low input lag for a responsive experience.
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Wide viewing angle means it's suitable for use in a group setting.
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Reflection handling is only okay with lights placed directly opposite the screen.
- 7.2 Mixed Usage
- 7.8 TV Shows
- 7.7 Sports
- 6.8 Video Games
- 6.8 HDR Movies
- 7.2 HDR Gaming
- 7.8 PC Monitor
- Updated Aug 09, 2024: We added information on the types of panels used for the different sizes of the TV in the Differences Between Sizes and Variants and the Pixels section of this review.
- Updated Aug 02, 2024: Review published.
- Updated Jul 31, 2024: Early access published.
- Updated Jul 23, 2024: Our testers have started testing this product.
- Updated Jun 27, 2024: The product has arrived in our lab, and our testers will start evaluating it soon.
- Updated Jun 13, 2024: We've purchased the product and are waiting for it to arrive in our lab.
Differences Between Sizes And Variants
We bought and tested the 75-inch Sony BRAVIA 3, and the results are also valid for the 43-inch and 55-inch models. There are reports that the 50-inch, 65-inch, and 85-inch models use a VA panel, so we expect those to have better contrast and a worse viewing angle. The type of panel used may vary between regions, so this information is only valid for the North American models.
Costco has variants of the 55, 65, 75, and 85-inch sizes with slightly different model codes. These variants perform the same, but they come with an extended warranty, an extended trial for the Sony Pictures Core streaming service, and a backlit remote.
| Size | US Model | Costco Variant | Panel Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| 43" | K-43S30 | - | IPS |
| 50" | K-50S30 | - | VA |
| 55" | K-55S30 | K55S30CB | IPS |
| 65" | K-65S30 | K65S30CB | VA |
| 75" | K-75S30 | K75S30CB | IPS |
| 85" | K-85S30 | K85S30CB | VA |
Our unit was manufactured in April 2024, and you can see the label here.
Compared To Other TVs
The Sony BRAVIA 3 is a decent TV, but it doesn't do anything that separates it from the crowd of other entry-level models. It doesn't have a local dimming feature, and its native contrast is terrible, so blacks are gray most of the time, and HDR content isn't very impactful. Its SDR brightness is good enough to overcome some glare in a room with the lights on. However, its handling of direct reflections, such as from lights placed in front of the screen, limits its usefulness in a bright room. It's also very limited with modern gaming features, so it's not a good option if you're looking for a TV to pair with your modern console or gaming PC. If you don't need modern gaming features but still want a TV that looks good overall, you're better off buying a TV like the cheaper Hisense U6/U6N, as that TV has a local dimming feature that provides significantly better contrast. If you do need modern gaming features, you can even get the fully-featured Hisense U7N for around the same cost as the BRAVIA 3.
For more options, check out our recommendations for the best TVs under $1,000, the best 65-inch TVs, and the best TVs for gaming.
The LG C4 OLED is much better than the Sony BRAVIA 3. The LG displays significantly deeper blacks, so it looks much better in a dark room. The LG also gets brighter in HDR and has a wider color gamut, so highlights stand out a lot more, and colors are more vibrant in HDR content. The LG also has modern gaming features like HDMI 2.1 bandwidth, VRR, and up to 4k @ 144Hz, so it's a better option for modern gaming consoles or PCs. Additionally, the LG's much faster response time delivers fast motion with almost no blur.
The Sony X90L/X90CL is much better than the Sony BRAVIA 3. The X90L has a local dimming feature to improve its contrast, so blacks are much deeper and stay deep when highlights are also on screen. It's also the brighter TV overall, meaning it overcomes more glare in a bright room and provides a more impactful HDR experience. The X90L is also much better for gaming due to its HDMI 2.1 bandwidth, up to 4k @ 120Hz, VRR feature, and faster response time.
The Samsung Q60D QLED and the Sony BRAVIA 3 are very similar TVs that are better than each other in different ways. The Samsung has better contrast and black uniformity, so it displays deeper blacks in a dark room. On the other hand, the Sony is the more accurate TV in SDR and HDR, and it has better image processing. The Sony also has a wider viewing angle, so it's the better option for watching TV in a group setting.
The Sony BRAVIA 3 is a bit better than the Sony X80K/X80CK. The BRAVIA 3 is a bit brighter overall, so it fights more glare in a room with the lights on, and highlights stand out slightly more in HDR content. The BRAVIA 3 has better PQ EOTF tracking and pre-calibration accuracy, so it's more accurate in SDR and HDR. Finally, the BRAVIA 3 has significantly better low-quality content smoothing, so it does a better job at removing artifacts in low-bitrate content.
The Hisense U6/U6N is mostly better than the Sony BRAVIA 3. The Hisense has a local dimming feature that drastically improves the TV's contrast, so it delivers much deeper blacks in a dark room. The Hisense also has a faster response time, so there's less blur behind quick motion in sports and video games. Although both TVs don't have HDMI 2.1 bandwidth or support for 4k @ 120Hz, the Hisense supports VRR, and you can game in up to 1440p @ 120Hz, so it's the better option for gamers. However, the Sony does have better image processing; it does a slightly better job at upscaling and a significantly better job at removing artifacts from low-quality content.
Video
Test Results
The TV is very reminiscent of the Sony A80K/A80CK OLED, with a basic design that looks good overall.
The TV comes with two metal feet. They're set wide apart and can't be adjusted, so they take up a lot of space, and you'll need a large cabinet for the larger sizes. The feet lift the TV about 3.86 inches above the table, so most soundbars fit underneath without blocking the screen.
Footprint of the 75-inch model: 52.28" x 16.14".
The back of the TV is made entirely of plastic and has the familiar checkerboard pattern similar to many other Sony TVs. The inputs are on the far left side of the TV when facing the front, but they're in a recessed cutout, so they're a bit hard to reach if you have the TV mounted flush to the wall. Clips on the feet can be used to help with cable management.
The TV has decent build quality overall. It's mostly made of plastic, so it's light and feels a bit cheap, but the two metal feet hold the TV well enough that there are no major issues with stability. The build quality is nothing special, but there's no issue with quality control, which is great.
The Sony BRAVIA 3 has terrible contrast. Blacks are raised and look gray when highlights are also on the screen, and the TV lacks a local dimming feature to improve its contrast.
The TV doesn't have a local dimming feature, so there's no blooming around bright objects or subtitles during dark scenes.
This TV doesn't have a local dimming feature, so it can't adjust the backlight of individual areas to brighten up highlights without impacting the rest of the image. This means that there are no distracting flickers or brightness changes as bright highlights move across the screen.
Switching to Game Mode doesn't result in any noticeable difference in dark scene performance.
The Sony BRAVIA 3 has just okay HDR brightness. Some highlights stand out a bit in darker scenes, but the TV's HDR brightness isn't good enough to display brighter highlights with impact.
These measurements are after calibrating the HDR white point with the following settings:
- HDR Picture Mode: Professional
- Brightness: Max
- Contrast: Max
- Color Temperature: Expert 2
There's no noticeable difference in HDR brightness when the TV is set to Game Mode.
These measurements are after calibrating the HDR white point with the following settings:
- HDR Picture Mode: Game
- Brightness: Max
- Contrast: Max
- Color Temperature: Expert 2
The Sony BRAVIA 3 has excellent PQ EOTF tracking. Blacks and near-blacks are raised, but the TV follows the curve very closely until it approaches its peak brightness. The TV has the same gradual roll-off near its peak brightness for content mastered at all three nit levels to preserve some details in highlights.
The Sony BRAVIA 3 has very good SDR brightness, and it overcomes some glare in a room with the lights on.
These measurements are after calibration with the following settings:
- HDR Picture Mode: Professional
- Brightness: Max
- Contrast: 90
- Gamma: 0
- Color Temperature: Expert 1
The TV has a very good HDR color gamut. It has outstanding coverage of the commonly used DCI-P3 color space, but all colors are undersaturated and mostly off the mark. The TV has okay coverage of the wider Rec. 2020 color space, but colors are inaccurate and undersaturated.
The TV has satisfactory color volume, but it doesn't do a very good job of displaying dark saturated colors due to its terrible contrast. It also can't display most colors very brightly.
The Sony BRAVIA 3 has fantastic pre-calibration SDR accuracy. The TV's white balance is outstanding, with blues, reds, and greens just a bit underrepresented in shades of gray. The color temperature is exactly at 6500K, and it does an excellent job of displaying colors with accuracy, but there are still some minor inaccuracies with most colors. Gamma is close to our target of 2.2, but all scenes are displayed darker than intended.
The TV has remarkable SDR accuracy after calibration. There are no noticeable issues with white balance, and gamma is perfectly at our target of 2.2. There are still some minor inaccuracies with some colors, but these aren't noticeable to most people.
You can see our full calibration settings here.
The Sony BRAVIA 3 has very good gray uniformity, although the corners are darker than the rest of the screen, and there's some dirty screen effect towards the center. On a very dark or near-black screen, its uniformity is fantastic, with only the edges being slightly lighter than the rest of the screen.
The TV has decent black uniformity, but large areas of the screen are blueish and cloudy.
The TV has a very good viewing angle. Colors wash out, and there's some brightness loss the further you move off-center. However, the image remains mostly consistent when viewed from the sides of the screen. This makes it a good option for a wide seating arrangement.
The Sony BRAVIA 3 has satisfactory reflection handling. Its semi-gloss screen finish significantly reduces the intensity of indirect reflections, like when glare from a ceiling light isn't directly facing the screen. Unfortunately, the TV's handling of direct reflections is only alright, so reflections caused by something like a lamp positioned in front of the screen are distracting.
The TV has good HDR gradient handling. There's noticeable banding in dark grays and bright greens, but all other colors have minimal banding.
The Sony BRAVIA 3 has great low-quality content smoothing. It does an impressive job of smoothing out artifacts in low-bitrate content while still preserving details.
The TV does an impressive job with upscaling low-resolution content like DVDs, standard definition cable channels, and lower-resolution streams. Details are well-defined and clear enough, but very fine details are a bit hard to make out.
Sharpness processing was calibrated with no over-sharpening for low-resolution content, with the following settings:
- Sharpness: 60
- Reality Creation: Auto
The TV has an RGB sub-pixel layout, so it doesn't have any issues rendering text when used as a PC monitor.
Note that there are reports that the 50-inch, 65-inch, and 85-inch models use a VA panel with a BGR subpixel layout, which can affect text clarity.
The Sony BRAVIA 3 has an only decent response time, so there's some noticeable blur behind fast-moving objects.
The TV is flicker-free in all pictures modes and at all brightness levels, which is great.
The TV has an optional backlight strobing feature, commonly known as black frame insertion, to reduce persistence blur. It only flickers at 120Hz, which causes image duplications with 60 fps content.
The TV has an optional motion interpolation feature to improve the clarity of motion, but it doesn't work very well. Even slower-moving scenes have some noticeable artifacts. The TV really struggles in faster-moving scenes, and there are distracting artifacts and haloing, and at times, the TV stops interpolating altogether.
Due to the TV's slower response time, there's only some minor stutter when watching movies or TV shows, and it's only noticeable during slow panning shots.
The Sony BRAVIA 3 automatically removes judder from 24Hz sources like a Blu-ray player and the native apps. Unfortunately, it doesn't remove 24p judder from 60Hz sources like most cable TV boxes and older streaming devices that lack a Match Frame Rate feature.
This TV doesn't support VRR to reduce screen tearing.
This TV has incredibly low input lag when set to Game Mode and Graphics Mode, which ensures a very responsive gaming experience with very little delay between your actions on a controller or mouse and the action on-screen.
The Sony BRAVIA 3 supports almost all common resolutions up to 4k @ 60Hz, but it doesn't support 1440p. It displays chroma 4:4:4 properly with any signal as long as the TV is in Graphics Mode, which is important for reading clear text from a PC.
The Sony BRAVIA 3 is a 60Hz TV, so it only supports up to 4k @ 60Hz on the PS5. It has Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM), so it'll automatically switch to Game Mode when the TV detects a game console as its input device, which gives you the lowest possible input lag for games. The TV doesn't support 1440p.
The Sony BRAVIA 3 is a 60Hz TV, so it only supports up to 4k @ 60Hz on the Xbox Series X|S. It has Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM), so it'll automatically switch to Game Mode when the TV detects a game console as its input device, which gives you the lowest possible input lag for games. It also supports Dolby Vision for gaming, but it doesn't support 1440p.
The TV is limited to HDMI 2.0 bandwidth on all four ports. It supports Dolby Vision, and it has an ATSC 3.0 tuner, so you can watch 4k content over-the-air.
The TV has eARC support, which allows it to pass uncompressed high-quality audio from a connected source to your home theater system or soundbar. Unfortunately, it doesn't support any DTS formats commonly used on Blu-rays.
The TV has an alright frequency response. Like most TVs, there's almost no bass. Dialogue is clear at most listening levels, but the sound becomes quite unbalanced at the TV's maximum volume. Since the speakers don't get very loud, it's best suited for a quiet environment.
The TV's distortion performance is okay. The distortion increases as you raise the TV's volume, and it's very noticeable at the TV's maximum volume. You need to listen at lower volume levels for minimal distortion.
The Sony BRAVIA 3 uses version 12 of the popular Google TV operating system, and the interface is smooth and easy to use.
Unfortunately, like almost all TVs on the market, the smart interface contains ads, and you can't disable them.
The TV has a fantastic selection of apps, so finding your favorite content is easy. You can cast content from your phone using the built-in AirPlay 2 or Chromecast, and you can play videos directly from a USB stick.
The remote has a matte finish with blue speckles. Outside of that, it's identical to the remotes included with most of Sony's 2023 models. It has buttons for popular streaming services, and you can use the built-in microphone to switch inputs, change apps, search within apps, and ask for the weather and time.
