Sony Bravia 7 (K55XR70)

Sony's step-down Mini LED TV is a mid-range marvel

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The Bravia 7 is the second most high-end Mini LED TV in Sony's current (and ever-expanding) TV range. As such, it inevitably loses some of the eye-catching headline specifications of the flagship Bravia 9. For instance, it has fewer local dimming zones, isn't as bright, and has a less powerful sound system. It is also, though, substantially cheaper than the Bravia 9; and, as we'll see, it retains enough of Sony's Mini LED picture-quality mastery to make it arguably the best-value option yet from the brand's current range.

The Bravia 7 isn't as opulently well built as the Bravia 9, but it still retains plenty of the combination of subtle elegance and flexibility that seems to be built into Sony's current TV design DNA. For starters, the screen and its frame are both designed to finish on the same flush level, which instantly creates a premium impression. The frame is trim, too, and while the rear panel sticks out a little, it could still make for an effective wall-mounting option.

The Bravia 7 boasts a Sony XR Backlight Master Drive panel that combines a Mini LED lighting system with local dimming that in the case of the 55in model on test operates across more than 300 separate zones. This combination promises tight control over where the TV delivers its available light.

The Bravia 7 also boasts a Quantum Dot colour system, driven by Sony's Triluminos technology. This is part of the latest version of Sony's XR processor, which extends its tendrils into just about every aspect of picture quality - including delivering automatic HDR conversion of SDR with some of its picture presets, and subtly adjusting multiple picture facets to make the resulting images more closely resemble the three-dimensional way our eyes perceive the real world.