2015 Bravia Android TV Issues

[NickCo1979]

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.

[Tarzion]

From what I understand the YouView sluggishness has nothing to do with the app itself but the underlying software and /or hardware.

If you go directly into the channel setup, the remote starts to become sluggish until it reaches a point where it almost stops responding.

The logic is simple, the dual core cannot handle the current flavour of Android efficiently. So unless the OS is optimised people are going to face problems.

The new 2016 TV's are Quad core for a reason.

[Caledonian_TV]

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@continentalgt187 wrote:

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.

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Classic deflection and projection...  And in such big letters too!

No rant... Cold hard facts...

I produce (among other things) corporate video programmes for a living; have done for almost 30 years...  And I know fine-well how social media is manipulated by 'PR' types; I work with these 'sorts' often...  And those who know me understand that I have no fear of calling out the naked Emperors...  

So I take 'reviews' such as those promoted by the stores with great piles of salt!  - There is, as I say, evidence of that negative reviews were/are being censored on various platforms; and that has only been tempered by the fact people have 'called out' the practice... As for the rest?  The 'so-shall meeja' industry is mainly known for bolstering 'views', 'likes', 'reviews', and general traffic stats via hoardes of poor buglers working out of hell-holes in the backside of asia where they're paid about 10p an hour to sit and trawl through these things...  

I'm also ( sorry to those who have heard this) a trained and qualified broadcast technician - former lecturer in the subject in fact - so I do know what I'm talking about from a technical standpoint. And I for one would be happy to stand up in court and testify to the fact that these sets are unfit for the purpose for which they are sold...  That's NO distortion... No 'uninformed' or random opinion... 

As I've said elsewhere... I walked into the Curry's store in Livingston on Saturday. - A set identical to the one I'd just had picked up the day before was sitting 'frozen' just as mine often did, whilst as I was walking round another from the range just randomly re-booted itself as mine would often do!  And I suspect if we totalled the so-called 'serial moaners' here they would far outweigh the 'fanboys' writing 'positive' reviews...  In case you hadn't noticed we're now approaching four-and-a-half-thousand posts here; mainly  from people who are furious at being sold a pup by - of all people - Sony!

- A few exceptionally bad sets?   - You can fool some of the people all of the time I suppose!

[adyjay33]

Well I guess you TV must be a good one then.

However what you and many others dont know is how many sets have been returned back to the place they were purchased from so some good reviews on the JL site does not mean that all the sets they have sold have been perfect as many on here have returned them back to JL.

The reviews also may have been written after only a few days of purchase so might not reflect the true situation and I wonder how many of those sets were returned.

Look on Amazon and you will see bad reviews of them too, infact look all around and you will see that fact too.

Guess its easier to have go at someone on here than actually understand the true positions about these sets. 

[continentalgt187]

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@Caledonian_TV wrote:

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@continentalgt187 wrote:

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.

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Classic deflection and projection...  And in such big letters too!

No rant... Cold hard facts...

I produce (among other things) corporate video programmes for a living; have done for almost 30 years...  And I know fine-well how social media is manipulated by 'PR' types; I work with these 'sorts' often...  And those who know me understand that I have no fear of calling out the naked Emperors...  

So I take 'reviews' such as those promoted by the stores with great piles of salt!  - There is, as I say, evidence of that negative reviews were/are being censored on various platforms; and that has only been tempered by the fact people have 'called out' the practice... As for the rest?  The 'so-shall meeja' industry is mainly known for bolstering 'views', 'likes', 'reviews', and general traffic stats via hoardes of poor buglers working out of hell-holes in the backside of asia where they're paid about 10p an hour to sit and trawl through these things...  

I'm also ( sorry to those who have heard this) a trained and qualified broadcast technician - former lecturer in the subject in fact - so I do know what I'm talking about from a technical standpoint. And I for one would be happy to stand up in court and testify to the fact that these sets are unfit for the purpose for which they are sold...  That's NO distortion... No 'uninformed' or random opinion... 

As I've said elsewhere... I walked into the Curry's store in Livingston on Saturday. - A set identical to the one I'd just had picked up the day before was sitting 'frozen' just as mine often did, whilst as I was walking round another from the range just randomly re-booted itself as mine would often do!  And I suspect if we totalled the so-called 'serial moaners' here they would far outweigh the 'fanboys' writing 'positive' reviews...  In case you hadn't noticed we're now approaching four-and-a-half-thousand posts here; mainly  from people who are furious at being sold a pup by - of all people - Sony!

- A few exceptionally bad sets?   - You can fool some of the people all of the time I suppose!

 I originally posted a 2 star review with JL, it was posted exactly as written warts and all, you need to get outside of your own bubble together with the few others here that distort the situation.

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[darrenj11]

Well I have read the reviews from a number of sites and furthermore I have used the set for streaming and viewing Digital Terrestrial for many hours. X93. 

Yes there has been a few lockups on 4OD which results in a hard reboot needed and sometimes it goes a little slower. 

But nothing of the impact you are referring to.

I also do not spend my time in channel set up menus so maybe thats why Im missing the issues.

[frogger38]

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@Tarzion wrote:

If you go directly into the channel setup, the remote starts to become sluggish until it reaches a point where it almost stops responding.

.

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Can you be more specific... I'd like to try & replicate your issue ?

[darrenj11]

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@frogger38 wrote:

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@Tarzion wrote:

If you go directly into the channel setup, the remote starts to become sluggish until it reaches a point where it almost stops responding.

.

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Can you be more specific... I'd like to try & replicate your issue ?

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are you bored?

[Caledonian_TV]

Curiouser and curiouser...

I took the time to look through the John Lewis site to read some of these glowing reviews of the sets that were spoken of.... In fact, the majority of those reviews are 'cherry picked' from Sony.com! - Go figure! 

This one from someone calling themselves 'Continentalgt' caught my eye though...  It's on the KD49X83...  By a curious co-incidence pretty much the same set I asked Sony to take back because of its instability... An example of which was available in its frozen state for public viewing in Curry's Livingston store last Saturday...

__________________________________________________

Continentalgt

Age:55-64

Location:Devon

This TV has many serious problems and many of the features on it's spec sheet don't work such as hard disk record & PIP/PAP.
We have had random rebooting, locking up where the remote control does nothing and then requiring a re-boot, starting up on its own at various times of the day and night, random messages appearing, start up with sound but no picture and probably many other things I've forgotten.
We are told a software update at the end of March 2016 will address the problems however earlier updates were supposed to do the same and didn't.
I have been an avid Sony supporter for many years but I'm afraid that view is changing rapidly.
A television to the majority of people is an important item that we tend to take for granted and expect to just switch on and view.
This TV is certainly not that, it is temperamental and at times very infuriating.
Unlike the majority of people I can usually work around the problems but my wife cant so when it goes wrong (usually when Coronation Street is on) and I'm not there the domestic harmony in the entire household gets strained to say the least.
This sets saving grace is it's beautiful picture but it comes at a great cost.
Sony should never have released a television with an operating system so badly flawed.

__________________________________________________

http://www.johnlewis.com/sony-bravia-kd49x83-4k-ultra-hd-android-tv-49-with-freeview-hd-youview-buil...

__________________________________________________

From later postings I understand his 'neutered' set has worked for a few weeks now... Very fortunate I should say. 

You sir, with your ridiculously large fonts and accusations of ranting, seem to be the one living in a bubble; and again are indulging in classic deflection and projection...

It would appear your set is 'in remission'. And that is only the result of your (your own words) 'neutering it!  For how long?  Factually your 2-star review of the set was published AFTER allegations surfaced of negative reviews being censored. And the bulk of the positive reviews across the Android range are, as I say, cherry-picked from Sony.com

I can fully understand that, having bought and paid for a thing one simply wants to sit down and enjoy it rather than go into battle with either a retailer or Sony themselves (though in my case the latter have proved themselves remarkably helpful). - And that equally well there might be domestic 'pressures' that might make one resistant to losing face...  

The fact these sets are popping off like flies in November!  So duff ones - your own included -are by no means the exception!

And as you say yourself "Sony should never have released a television with an operating system so badly flawed."

Bubble you say?  

[Risc0n]

The consumer rights law allows us to take effectively a class action style lawsuit against Sony. 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-34402483

[stuhall11]

I'm unsubscribing from this thread. Reasons:

1. The ratio of useful technical information to noise is far too low. Just constant repetition and ranting.
2. Certain individuals seem hell-bent on shouting the rest of the community down with their own agenda, including unfounded accusations of corporate shilling
3. People asking genuine technical questions are just getting knocked back or drowned in the noise
4. The whole thread has now become utterly pointless, akin to standing in the corner of the playground screaming at the top of your voice because you don't want to do PE. It has no constructive value whatsoever.

To the most vocal individuals, you are clearly unhappy. Take your bloody TV back to the shop and buy one that you like instead. You have many options to do this (SoGA, talking to your retailer, contacting Sony direct) and simply moaning on here is an utterly pointless exercise. You have rights - be an adult and exercise them or stop moaning!

To those who find their TV works mostly ok but want to chat about it, I hope that you find your technical discussion elsewhere in a more constructive atmosphere. That place is not here.

*unsubscribes*