How's the Android performance on recent Sony TVs?

by bluaki

I have a 2015 Sony Android TV (XBR49X830C) and, honestly, its "smart" features have been abysmal. I really liked Android TV on my Nexus Player and when trying out a Shield, but not the built-in system. The UI lags like crazy and it's wildly unstable with frequent kernel panics and reboots, especially since the Marshmallow update, that I can't even diagnose because I can't read its kernel logs without root, and factory resets haven't helped. Its built-in Cast Receiver is also way buggier than a standalone Chromecast.

I have some interest in getting a newer TV in the not-too-distant future because I want full array local dimming, HDR, and a bigger panel, but I'd rather stick to built-in smarts because HDMI ports are at a premium to me between multiple Nintendo and Sony game consoles, speakers, and a (non-DRM-compatible) HTPC while every switcher I've tried has CEC issues.

Have Android TV sets improved since 2015 on this front, and is there any indication they might improve much next year? Are there any sources that actually list the "smarts" specs for comparing different TV sets in the product lineup? My XBR49X830C for example has a MT5890 SoC with 2 ARMv7 cores, 1.5GB RAM, and 8GB /data partition. I'm not as interested in stuff like games as just having streaming apps that actually work.

flicter22

It's significantly better but only on the two super high end models that came out a month or two ago. Super fast soc with 4 gigs of RAM I believe.

If you want a mid ranger you are going to have to wait.

MaximumGrip

If you take the time to remove all the bloatware on say the x900 Bravia its actually pretty fast and stable. If left stock the main menu works but its choppy and laggy and just ick. I love everything about the tv and android but the bloatware is horrible.

BiggussDikkuss

The only decent Chipsets on Sony TV's are the upgraded 2018 MediaTek ones with a much more powerful GPU also included. It's the GPU that is the most important of the lot for Android TV, rendering all the Apps and Android TV interface elements.

The updated Mediatek chipset is found inside the new, expensive 2018 "Master Series", Sony 4K HDR TV's, that also runs Oreo.

Advice--> wait till they come down in price or that new Chipset is also included in lessor models of Sony TV's.

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I personally just want the imroved Video processing capabilities of the new X1 Ultimate Sony processor in the Master Series, don't care much for Android TV - especially on a any TV.

I would rather use a powerful Apple TV 4K - with is bigger suite of Apps and a Chromecast Ultra if I need bullet proof Googlecasting.

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LG have the fastest, most stable (Linux based) Smart TV - that being WebOS. Which also does HDR Youtube,

Add a NVIDIA Shield to that would be my current suggestion if you need Android TV.

tman152

I have the 43 inch version of your tv in my bedroom 43x830C and I just bought a 65x900f for the living rooms about a week ago for the exact reason you mentioned (local dimming)

I haven’t had any of the kernel panics, reboots, or issues with chromecasting that you’ve had but the interface doesn’t feel as smooth as the Apple TV I used to run my old living room tv, or the LG TVs I’ve run at my friend’s house.

Both TVs felt very slow and lagged a bit when navigating apps and menus out of the box.

On both TVs I disabled animations and limited background processes to 3. The interface still feels slow, but I think it has more to do with the remote not allowing the interface to feel as smooth as the apple’s touch surface method of navigating or the LG’s pointing interface.

In short both TVs feel very similar.

I think the top of the line Sony TVs are faster but it seems the only reason is because Android TV 8.0 has some performance improvements. Hopefully Sony updates both of these TVs to 8.0. Android TV 9.0 was also released recently and it’s supposed to have even more performance improvements. Unfortunately at the time that 9.0 was released most Sony TVs were still on 7.0 without an 8.0 update in sight.

Rtings.com has an interface section on their TV reviews. The newer reviews get a smoothness score, that might be helpful during your tv search.

Its_Tony_B

My old xd8305 was abysmal slow but my kd55a1 had been super slick since I disabled Sony shelf and did the most recent update