Sony's BRAVIA XR A95L OLED TV furthers the company's commitment to the QD-OLED category. This next-generation panel combines quantum dots and OLEDs to provide a premium viewing experience.

While last year's Sony Bravia XR A95K OLED TV proved to be practically flawless, the 2023 A95L model introduces several upgrades to challenge Samsung and LG's OLED TV products. Promising better brightness, a larger 77-inch configuration, and the long-awaited game-specific menu, the A95K also features a Bravia Cam. The Bravia Cam is an attachable webcam that automatically adjusts image and audio based on the viewer's position.

I had a chance to touch Sony's Bravia XR A95L OLED TV and get a quick feel for how it will be positioned compared to the best TVs of the year. Here are my first impressions regarding design, performance, and new features.

Sony has yet to announce a price and release date for the XR A95L OLED TV, but more details will be available in late spring. The company revealed its 2023 lineup about two months later than the other major TV manufacturers, so it makes sense that it will hit store shelves later than Samsung's 2023 TVs and LG's 2023 TVs.

The 55-inch A95K is priced at $2,499.99 and the 65-inch A95K at $2,999.99. We would be surprised if Sony deviates significantly from these prices, but as you might imagine, the new 77-inch configuration will be more expensive; the 77-inch Samsung S95C OLED TV is $4,449.99.

Sony's Bravia XR A95L OLED TV has all the looks of a premium TV, including a thin casing, almost non-existent bezels, and a backlit remote control that is almost non-existent these days.

Sony has changed the stand design of the A95L, replacing the large center leg with two legs that can be adjusted to your liking. This provides the option of placing the thinner soundbar under the TV.

As for port options, Sony is sticking with only two HDMI 2.1 ports this year, while its high-end competitors are offering a full array of four ports. This is perhaps the only source of initial disappointment, although it remains to be seen how much this will ultimately matter in long-term testing.

Compared to all TVs tested in 2022, the A95K received the highest overall rating. In other words, there wasn't much room for improvement, but Sony has stated that the 200% increase in peak brightness should upgrade the A95L's QD-OLED performance over rival LED TVs, including its new Sony X95K Mini LED TV.

QD-OLEDs promise all the advantages of OLEDs with the addition of quantum dots for brightness. In other words, it should provide nuanced black levels on a brighter panel than conventional OLEDs. This is because the high luminance levels do not use white phosphor sub-pixels that affect the volume of color. In a brief demonstration, the images were fearless, even in a bright room, with a refined range from full blacks to bright whites. Furthermore, the contrast between the two demonstrated the superior control of Sony's Bravia Cognitive Processor XR.

The A95K comes with a Bravia Cam, a webcam designed to mount on top of the TV. The Bravia Cam not only allows Zoom and Google Meet calls from the couch, but is also a proximity sensor. Based on the viewer's position in front of the TV, the Bravia Cam can automatically set optimal image and sound settings. It can also disable the TV if someone is sitting too close to the screen.

Like other Sony 2022 TVs, the Bravia XR A95L OLED TV has some interesting software upgrades. Sony stays true to the Google TV platform, but there are two new menus in the interface: the Eco Dashboard and the Game Menu. The Eco Dashboard provides easy access to all energy-saving settings in one dashboard, while the Game Menu is a gaming-specific settings toolbar that borrows features from Sony's InZone game monitor.

This TV can run VRR and Dolby Vision at 4K 120Hz simultaneously, which could make it a very good gaming TV for PS5 or other game consoles. Of course, before we can say for sure, we need to measure the lag time in the lab.

In any case, the A95L should be a versatile TV option thanks to its new multi-view option. This feature allows users to view content from multiple sources at once.

The Sony BRAVIA XR A95L OLED TV follows the current top TV, the Sony A95K. Given that Sony has set a high bar for itself, the new A95L upgrade will have to be impressive if it wants to be on top in 2023. That said, we won't make an official recommendation until we put this TV on the bench and run a full set of benchmarks.