Share your experience!
I thought I'd create a generic thread to cover off the issues being encountered on the 2015 Bravia Android TVs. I've listed my issues below with fixes / workarounds and responses from support. All comments and solutions welcome!
1) Hot Swap HDMI doesn't work - manifested by no input on HDMI channels 2, 3 and 4 on the KD-49X8305C. Workaround - reset the TV, either by holding down the remote power button for 5 seconds or by switching the TV off at the wall and then back on again. Further details on this thread: https://community.sony.co.uk/t5/televisions/kd-49x8305c-hdmi-2-3-4-inputs-not-working/td-p/1944435
2) HDD Recording doesn't work - error message states a system update is required but none is available when checking. Hopefully this will be fixed soon by a firmware update.
3) Netflix App doesn't work - this seems like the app has been deliberately disabled. So far a support case has only recommended that a factory reset be performed (took two days to get to that cracking piece of advice.....), with no improvement as a result. A temporary (albeit for advanced users only) workaround is provided by MikeLothian on this thread - https://community.sony.co.uk/t5/televisions/netflix-support-for-kd55x8509c-android-tv/td-p/1945360
4) Sound lag and performance issues after the TV (KD-49X8305C) has been on standby for a while - manifested for me as stuttering and sound / picture sync issues in all apps (youtube, amazon instant video etc) and HDMI sources (PS4, seperate YouView box etc). Hopefully this will be fixed in a firmware update, at the moment workarounds involve either changing channels to get the sync to work or in my case having to turn the TV off and then on again at the socket.
As stated previously, all comments welcome. Personally I'm willing to give Sony a couple of weeks to fix this, but if it's not done soon I'll be sending my new TV back for a refund as it's not really fit for purpose.
It seems a bit unfair to accuse someone of being a serial complainer here.
If it wasn't for the robust nature of the discussion about the problems, this thread would fade away because there's zero input from Sony in the form of bug requests and interim fixes to discuss.
Although I've caved in and bought a Sammy, I'm still interested to see what the outcome of this scenario is, as I like the AndroidTV concept and would consider buying one that works properly.
Having quite a bit of experience with early Android tablets, and resisting 'Smart TV' for years, based on my experience of their low CPU power and low RAM performance, I was surprised to say the least when I discovered that the Bravia had the processing power equivalent to a 2013 Aldi/Medion tablet. I should have researched better before trusting Sony to have produced an up to date platform for Android.
This is what made me decide to return the TV, as I'm not confident that it can cope with Android's background process load, especially at startup, and the low RAM available means that memory leaks are immediately obvious.
'Complaints', as they've been called, are the best way to analyse and discuss the problems and limitations with the TV, and a re a good way to decide whether the correct decisions have been made by the manufacturer when considering whether to buy another model of the same family of device.
IMHO
After taking legal advice, and sending a recommended-SOG-wording letter to John Lewis they have agreed to collect the TV and give me a full refund.
I am quite sad about how this Sony TV farce has played out. I love the picture when it's working. I love the sound quality when it's working and in sync with the picture. I just can't put up with the buggy slow irritating software or the variable lip sync.
I'm even more sad that there won't be a 2016 model I can buy with similar quality integrated speakers to the Sony KD55X9305 I'm having sent back.
Does anyone know of a high quality 55" smart TV with really good sound?
Just a thought:
Instead of calling for straight swaps of the TV for a 2016 model if the March update doesn't cut the mustard, maybe it would be technically possible, plus cheaper and saving face, for Sony to upgrade the hardware with either a piggyback board or a new 2016 equivalent motherboard.
From my own point of view, I'd probably still sooner have the Sony 55X8509 working up to its promise and potential, than the Sammy I replaced it with.
@royabrown wrote:
If anyone has worries about 2015 sets being left behind, the time to return them is sooner, rather than later, as once the 2015 software set is complete, or the 2016 sets are out with the same incomplete software, Sony will be no more inclined to swap last year's model for this year's than, say, Samsung would be.
I completely agree. I returned my TV in November because I was convinced Sony must be starting to shift their focus to the 2016 range, and I'd be stuck with a badly performing (never mind the missing HDD and PIP features) TV that would never work properly, and be like that for the next 5 years. If Sony were to release an update now that sorts it out then I can always buy the TV again.
If you have a TV that works ok and its only missing features then it might be worth the hanging on, but otherwise if you have sufficient grounds for the retailer to take it back, at this point in time I would be. I guess it depends on your attitude to risk, but as far as I was concerned Sony haven't done much to give me any confidence they will ever make these into stable TVs with the promised features.
@royabrown When the 2016 sets were launched at CES, the Spec was put up on the Sony website, this Spec made no mention of PAP or HDD REC.
Now for an interesting update on my set...
after the update on DEC 10th & a Factory reset, my set was still very unstable and prone to freezes, right up to the christmas holidays, which I spent away from home. Since then my set has been significantly more stable but has still required a reboot or two. Looking at the improvement, I wondered what had happened??
I had left the set unplugged for a week, and I did disable Youview via the settings-channel set up menu shortly after I returned. BUT I have since re-enabled Youview and it still seems reasonably OK. Something is starting to gel here... a few people are saying the sets are better with YouView disabled.... have they tried re-enabling YouView to see if they revert to the 'unstable' state. Just a thought, and might be a pointer for SONY SOFTWARE TEAM.
Quinnicus wrote:
adyjay33 wrote:Maybe your another Sony employee?
ROFLMAO - it seems everyone is a Sony employee according to some.
Are you a Samsung employee?
And here we go yet again....
There is, actually, very good reason to form the opinion that the more infantile among Sony's design and marketing teams have tried - and will try again - to deflect this thread from its (plainly embarassing to those departments ) truths, and project guilt onto those who are (quite rightly) outraged at being lumbered with paying for the 'pleasure' of doing Sony's basic product testing for them.
Notions that Sony employees are not 'allowed' to comment here are risible! - Whether directly or indirectly employed by Sony, it's entirely reasonable to form the opinion their minions ARE here!
The fact - not opinion but fact - is that these sets are every bit as bad as they are painted; to the extent they have not only fuelled the public complaints we see here but no doubt are leaving thousands of other less vocal (or able) consumers severely disappointed and out of pocket... The tip of an iceberg on might suspect.
Having personally spent all of December and half of January with one in my home I can confirm that life with one of these things - even trying to use it as just a basic TV - means multiple daily power-cycles, reboots, and fiddling with workarounds. They ARE bad! - So bad that even the display models in shops are to be found freezing and randomly rebooting! Therefore the evidence is that anyone who happens to have one that is stable has an exceptional unit rather than a typical one!The longer term? Sony cant or won't fix them; I suspect the former. And they are an ill-advised purchase for all except those who enjoy TV repair and/or computer hacking as a hobby!
It is, quite frankly, either stupid or dishonest to expect a 'fresh victim' to wade through what is now approaching 450 pages of public outcry to discover if their's is a 'stock fault'. The search facility on this forum is ( deliberately?) obfuscatious. And I'm sure it would be most convenient if the protests of those who have got rid of their sets were just 'buried'... Preferably in a sea of praise...
And I'm afraid that, very often, this is how the infants who manage social media 'professionally' (they get paid for it - but that's as credible as their professionalism gets) think. - They try to discredit those with genuine concerns in a style that would not be out of place in a primary school playground. It's not the first time it has happened in this thread... When I joined it, before the new year, there were people complaining that their negative reviews of were being censored for instance. And I beleive their concerns were well-founded.
In releasing these sets at all in this state Sony have acted shamefully. And really, they would be well advised to admit their guilt, SACK those responsible in their design and marketing departments, withdraw these abominations from the market and deal with the irate customers who are stuck with them!
Sony add to their shame by failing to steward and support this forum properly....
'Support' is left up to untrained, unqualified and apparently unpaid individuals who seem to seek aggrandisement and personal validation by wielding 'power' in a wannabe tech-support scenario... Occasionally someone 'official' comments; usually spewing forth some already-discounted 'solution' from the big book of party lines... But there is really no tech support nor credible supervision of this forum. And that's a serious problem where items that run on mains electricity are concerned...
All Sony are providing are promises that are broken time and time and time again - and even those are half-baked!
The reality is that many people will only happen upon this thread when their proud new purchase paid for with money that didn't come easily starts behaving like something bought off a barra at the local flea market... In which case they shouldn't have to wade through what's now approaching 450 pages to discover that the problems they're having are common and endemic...
Similarly, those not-yet fallen victim to this particular borro would be well advised not to touch one with a barge pole.
And if those pieces of advice are repeated far and wide and often that is all to the public good. - and it's the public good which is of concern here; not that of a huge multi-national.
These sets are not fit for the purpose of viewing television programmes in a normal domestic environment by dint of their inherant instability. - That's a professional opinion... Add to that the missing features and long list of more complex complaints that others have related and there is not one person out there without clear grounds to return their set.
Sony really need to 'fess up' and face the public with a strategy to redeem themselves... And get their 'so-shall meeja' bairns called indoors and put to their beds!
cozzykim wrote:Just a thought:
Instead of calling for straight swaps of the TV for a 2016 model if the March update doesn't cut the mustard, maybe it would be technically possible, plus cheaper and saving face, for Sony to upgrade the hardware with either a piggyback board or a new 2016 equivalent motherboard.
From my own point of view, I'd probably still sooner have the Sony 55X8509 working up to its promise and potential, than the Sammy I replaced it with.
I would have thought the more feasible solution would be to write a 'dumb' or 'semi-dumb' firmware to get the sets stable and operating properly... And then supply people with external boxes to provide the Android features.
As you say (or rather infer) in your other post; these sets were obsolete on release... The equivalent of a cheap 'toy' from one of the discount stores! -That was never going to be satisfactory! What's more that system is so deeply embedded in these sets that it cripples their basic operation as television sets. - And Sony offer us absolutely no choice in this!
Having personally spent all of December and half of January with one in my home I can confirm that life with one of these things - even trying to use it as just a basic TV - means multiple daily power-cycles, reboots, and fiddling with workarounds. They ARE bad! - So bad that even the display models in shops are to be found freezing and randomly rebooting! Therefore the evidence is that anyone who happens to have one that is stable has an exceptional unit rather than a typical one!The longer term? Sony cant or won't fix them; I suspect the former. And they are an ill-advised purchase for all except those who enjoy TV repair and/or computer hacking as a hobby!
Its rants like this that seriously distort the true situation.
OK you have serious problems with your set I accept that but the majority don't (read the JL and other reviews) were all those people posting positive reviews just lucky and got an exceptionaly good set or is it you are one of the few that got an exceptionally bad set?
Yes we know Sony is seriously at fault in not curing the problems and the sets don't have all the advertised features and are buggy and I have also experienced a few problems in the past but please don't presume to speak for me and others by stating I am lucky to get an exceptional unit rather than a typical one when it is obviously not the case.
Well said Calendonian 🙂
frogger38 wrote: a few people are saying the sets are better with YouView disabled.... have they tried re-enabling YouView to see if they revert to the 'unstable' state. Just a thought, and might be a pointer for SONY SOFTWARE TEAM.
Just for the record...
Mine never HAD YouView enabled... In fact only once did I try to access any of the 'smart' features and that was on the first day when I attempted to access YouTube which it baulked at. - I was unsurprised at this since we have a lousy internet connection. - After that I tried numerous things including a factory re-set with no improvement to stability. After day 1 I didn't even have mine connected to the network. - It was still unstable!
Curiously though (as an aside), the X90B with which my Android set was replaced, runs its YouTube app on the same lousy connection with no problem! iPlayer works well on it too... It switches on and off only when its asked. There are no audio problems with it. - And I'd say it produces a better picture too!