Sony BRAVIA 7 and 9: what they ship with and what can come off

The BRAVIA 7 and the BRAVIA 9 are the two Mini LED sets Sony covered 2024 with: one on the high step of backlight control and the other on the highest. They share this page because on the inside they have almost everything that matters here in common: the same Google TV, the same 32 GB, the same port layout and the same list of factory apps.

What changes is the panel and the speakers, and we get to that below. First, two things on their spec sheet that pay off more than any app cleanup.

The fast ports are 3 and 4#

Sony publishes it with the figures up front, on the United States spec sheet for both models: HDMI IN1, IN2 ports for 4K(up to 18Gbps) signal, HDMI IN3, IN4 port for 4K(up to 48Gbps) signal. And in the list of supported signals, a footnote that leaves no room for doubt: 120Hz is supported by HDMI IN 3 and IN 4.

The European sheet does not give the gigabits per second, but it gets to the same place another way: VRR appears as "Yes (for HDMI™3/4)" and ALLM as "Yes (for HDMI™1/2/3/4)". All four ports carry HDCP 2.3; only two run.

This is the opposite of what other brands do. On a Philips or a Panasonic the good ports are 1 and 2; here they are the last two. Plug in out of habit and you will get it wrong.

Where the eARC sits, Sony does not say. Its sheet confirms it has one (it is listed alongside 4K120, VRR, ALLM and SBTM) but the port number appears in none of the documents we were able to consult. You will have to read the lettering on the back panel. And if it lands on 3 or 4: with a soundbar plugged in you are left with a single fast port.

The microphone switch, and where it sits on each#

Both have a built-in microphone and both have a physical switch to turn it off, which is one of the few privacy items that does not depend on any menu. Sony even publishes where it is, and the two do not match: on the BRAVIA 7 the sheet says "Yes(Center)" and on the BRAVIA 9, "Yes(Left)".

If you are groping under the bezel and cannot find it, that is why: centre if you have the 7, over to the left if you have the 9.

What they are, in two lines#

Two 4K sets from 2024 with an LCD panel, Mini LED (QLED) backlight and local dimming, at a 120 Hz panel rate, with Sony's XR processor in charge. For storage, 32 GB, which is generous for a television. The RAM is not published anywhere, not on the European sheet nor on the American one.

For HDR they take HDR10, HLG and Dolby Vision. They do not support HDR10+: the word does not appear once on any of their official sheets. That is the same as the rest of the range.

The European references for the BRAVIA 7 are K-55XR70, K-65XR70, K-75XR70 and K-85XR70; for the BRAVIA 9, K-65XR90, K-75XR90 and K-85XR90. In the United States the same set is sold under a different code.

What separates the 7 from the 9#

Everything that tells them apart sits in the bottom half of the sheet, and none of it is touched from ADB:

The panel. The BRAVIA 9 declares a viewing angle and anti-reflection (X-Anti Reflection); on the BRAVIA 7 those two boxes are empty. The 9 also adds a row the 7 does not have, "High Peak Luminance", and lifts contrast enhancement from XR Contrast Booster 20 to 30. Sony publishes neither nit figures nor a dimming zone count for either of them.

The sound. Here the gap is wide. The BRAVIA 7 declares 10W + 10W + 10W + 10W (40 watts) with two full-range drivers and two tweeters. The BRAVIA 9 declares 10W + 10W + 10W + 10W + 10W + 10W + 5W + 5W (70 watts) with two tweeters, two mid-range drivers, two subwoofers and two beam tweeters.

Power and sizes. The 7 runs from 55 to 85 inches and declares between 64 and 83 kWh/1000 h; the 9 starts at 65 inches and declares between 80 and 99. Both sit at 0.50 W in standby.

"Android TV", with no number#

In the operating system field, the European sheet for both says "Android TV™", and nothing more. The smart TV field says "Google TV™". And the United States sheet, which on other Sony models does go as far as declaring a specific Android version, here puts "Google TV" in both fields.

Which means: no official source says which Android version they run. That is the figure that sets how long some apps will keep updating, and it is exactly the one the manufacturer does not publish.

Check yours: under Settings → System → About the version appears, and with ADB getprop ro.build.version.release gives it without walking through menus.

Before touching anything, if you have a PlayStation#

Both ship with features that only switch on with a PS5 connected (Sony lists automatic HDR tone mapping and the genre picture mode) and that depend on the television and the console talking over HDMI.

They are not an app you can list and remove, but they are a reason not to go disabling system packages blind here. Take apps off them (that part is safe) and leave alone anything you cannot name.

What ships on them#

The Google layer. The launcher (com.google.android.tvlauncher), the recommendation engine (com.google.android.tvrecommendations), voice search (com.google.android.katniss) and the services (com.google.android.gms). On a Sony this layer weighs proportionally more than on other brands, precisely because the manufacturer adds less.

The Sony layer. Less than you might expect: its own content apps (the sheet mentions SONY PICTURES CORE, with ten credits over twenty-four months) and a setup helper or two. The names change between firmware versions: list your own.

Third parties. Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+ and company arrive installed and, on many units, with their own button on the remote. The button stays even if you remove the app; it will simply stop leading anywhere.

What comes off without much thought#

The streaming apps you do not use. With 32 GB, space is not the problem, but the rest is: they update on their own, they show up in the recommendations row and they talk to their servers. If you subscribe to one tomorrow, it reinstalls from the store in two minutes. The free content channels that fill the home screen are the second clear case.

What is worth a look first#

The recommendation engine. Turning it off leaves the home screen clean, yes, but it also empties the "continue watching" row, which in a house with several people is missed more than you would think.

And before touching any package, go through the television's own privacy settings: on recent Sony sets there is a fair amount that can be cut back from there, with no ADB and no risk at all.

What not to touch#

Google Play services. They are the base of the store, of accounts and of a good part of the apps. Without them the television boots and little else.

The launcher, as long as you do not have another one installed and working. A television with no launcher comes on to a black screen, and fixing that with the remote alone is far harder than having thought about it beforehand.

Anything starting with com.android. that you cannot identify: com.android.systemui is the system interface and com.android.settings is the settings app itself.

And here, with more reason than elsewhere: anything to do with HDMI, with video input or with control of external devices. That is where the console, the eARC and the 120 Hz of the good ports pass through.

What you actually notice#

Because Sony adds less than other brands, the gain is more modest than on a television loaded with manufacturer apps: the home screen stops proposing series from services you do not have, and the content notifications go away.

What does not change: the panel, the processing, the 120 Hz or the watts of sound. All of that lives below the apps, and it is exactly what you paid for.

All of this is reversible#

Packages disabled from ADB come back with one command, and a factory reset returns the television to the state it left the box in. Nothing here touches the system: you are only telling the television not to load something that was already installed.

If you own one#

Two concrete figures are missing on these, and Sony does not publish either: which port the eARC is on and which Android version they run. Both can be read off the set itself in a minute. Tell us, and this page can close them, and the app list your television returns is what is missing for the rest.