Sony TVs deliver amazing image quality but do they have easy and intuitive Smart TV software?
Today we have Sony Smart TVs on focus and we will answer the question - are they any good as Smart TVs, how intuitive are their menus and if they are easy to use in general.
Throughout the years we have tested many Sony LCD and LED televisions and actually owned quite a lot of them as well so this would be kind of personal consumer feedback and opinion.
Sony Smart TVs we have tested
For today's topic we have picked 3 very different Sony Smart TVs that we have reviewed previously and we have played with their menus and options quite a lot:
Sony KDL-32EX650
We have this one for over 10 years now and it is a fantastic TV. Unfortunately, some of its Smart TV features are no longer usable due to the weak hardware that supports these features. For example, YouTube support for the KDL-32EX650 stopped years ago once YouTube's hardware requirements went too high.
Other than that we have to admit that it wasn't the easiest task to get this Smart TV working. Setting up a wireless network was sometimes quite hard and it went too long. But back in the years this TV delivered really nice HD image quality for YouTube videos and it was worth getting used to the specific Sony menus and settings.
Sony Bravia KDL-40WD650
Few years later and the KDL-40WD650 was released, still not an Android TV but quite better in almost every aspect - tons of new features, faster connection and processing.
Streaming content from smartphones and other devices wirelessly is probably the biggest thing here. This is one of the most commonly used features on Smart TVs these days and Sony got it almost perfect. Testing with many different Android smartphones and we almost always managed to cast content on the KDL-40WD650. Again, setting up the network and the user interface could have been a bit more intuitive but Sony kept their tradition of having some things a bit too complicated.
Sony 43XG7005
Sony 43XG7005 is the newest from the bunch and it is the most intuitive and easy to use non-Android Sony Smart TV we have tested. Its menus are quick and responsive and it connects to external devices pretty fast and with the highest success rate.
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| Sony Smart TV network setup |
Still, it is not perfect but way better than the previous versions. Of course that is not only thanks to the improved user interface but also to the faster hardware support it gets for processing.
Having tested other Smart TVs from LG, Philips, Samsung and others we wouldn't confirm that Sony's systems are the fastest and easiest to use. In previous generations of their Smart TVs they were not as stable as we wished but definitely Sony are in the right direction in last couple of years and catching up to the competition pretty fast.
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