Following Bowie's death in 2016, "Sound and Vision" has been ranked one of Bowie's best songs by numerous publications. "Rolling Stone" writers later ranked "Sound and Vision" as one of Bowie's 30 essential songs, writing that although "Low" garnered mixed reception on release, releasing "Sound and Vision" as the lead single was "genius" due to the song's "clever bait-and-switch". In 2018, readers of "NME" voted "Sound and Vision" Bowie's 19th best song, while staff-writer Emily Barker voted it Bowie's second best song, behind "Heroes". In 2020, Tom Eames of Smooth Radio ranked it Bowie's tenth best song, while Alexis Petridis of "The Guardian" considered "Sound and Vision" to be Bowie's greatest song, calling it "both a fantastic pop song and an act of artistic daring." Petridis states that with the contrasting quality of the music and lyrics, Bowie created a song that "transcends time". He concludes his review writing: "Completely original, nothing about its sound tethers it to the mid-70s. Its magic seems to sum Bowie up." In 2021, writers of "The Telegraph" voted "Sound and Vision" as Bowie's 12th greatest song, writing: "A punch of a song at the start of "Low", it showed Bowie entering a new, dispassionate style which would divide his listeners but, with its liberal use of synthesisers, also cement his status as a trailblazer of the electronica."