Great TV for people who don’t have many desires – review

Anyone ready to buy a new TV has to make some choices before they can start looking. First you need to think about what size the screen should be. A larger TV is simply more pleasant to look at than a small one, but larger is of course also more expensive and not everyone can or wants to have a large TV in the living room.

Of course you want the best possible picture quality, but the best display technologies like OLED, QD-OLED, and LCD TVs have He falls-The backlight is logically more expensive than models with regular LCD displays. The TV in this review, the Sony X75WL, belongs to the Japanese brand’s entry-level segment and is equipped with a direct LED LCD screen. Like its more expensive brethren, it runs on Google’s Android TV 10.

appearance

If you look at the X75WL from a distance, it’s about the same as most more expensive models. The screen is surrounded by narrow bezels, there is a Sony logo at the bottom of the screen, and below it we see a narrow bulge that houses the LED status indicator and the infrared receiver. If you watch the TV from a closer distance, you will notice that savings have been made in materials used. Everything is made of plastic, and although the edges have a texture that’s supposed to resemble brushed metal, that’s clearly not the case.

Even when you lift the TV up, it’s noticeable that there’s little mass to the device and this clearly detracts from the ‘feel of quality’. The housing is supported by two feet attached on either side below the screen. If you do not have a TV cabinet wide enough for this TV, the legs can also be installed near the center. The base is also made of plastic, so it doesn’t really have a fancy look.

Links

The power cord has a stand IEC 60320 C7Plug makes it easy to replace if the included plug is not long enough. There is a designated place at the top right of the back where the CI+ module can be placed. Since the lock faces upward, a piece of plastic is included to prevent dust from getting into the connector when not in use. On the right side we find the rest of the communications. All connectors are placed at a ninety degree angle so that you can also access them when the TV is mounted on the wall. At the top there are two USB connections, one USB 2 and a USB 3 port, which nowadays we should call USB 3.1 Gen 1×1, which is intended for recording to the hard disk or SSD.

In addition, we find a Toslink optical digital audio output and an input for analogue composite video with stereo sound. It’s a 3.5mm connector, so you’ll need a separate cable if you want to use it. You may have to purchase this, as Sony does not provide it. Below there are four HDMI connectors, the third of which is equipped with one (Improved) Audio Return Channel. Below there is a network connection and at the bottom there is an f-connector for the satellite and an antenna connection also suitable for the cable.

Smart TV

The Sony X75WL runs Google’s Android TV. As with all TVs running on Android TV, a MediaTek SoC was used: MT5895. It is equipped with four Cortex-A73 CPU cores with a maximum frequency of 1.8 GHz and a Mali-G52 GPU. The look, feel, and operation of Android TV are (almost) identical across all models because Google gives manufacturers a little leeway to fine-tune the interface. Android TV has the largest selection of apps of any other operating system on TVs, but since most people only use a limited number of streaming services, this isn’t an advantage for everyone. The TV responds quickly to commands from the remote control and the interface looks smooth. Nice additions to Android TV are built-in Chromecast functionality and the ability to do Google Assistant voice searches.

Remote control unit

Unfortunately, Sony is joining the trend of putting fewer and fewer buttons on its TV remotes. The advantage of this is that it makes the remote control nice and clear; The disadvantage is that by removing the buttons you lose the buttons. Sony’s new remote deletes the numeric keypad and color-coded buttons, as well as the forward, back, and stop buttons for media control. In keeping with the current trend, the new remote has six dedicated buttons for Sony Bravia Core, Netflix, Disney+, Prime Video, YouTube and Crunchyroll. If you do not use one or more of these services, these buttons are provided at no charge. The remote also has a built-in microphone through which you can give voice commands. The microphone on the remote control is activated after pressing the button; So this is not always on.

Because Sony realizes that users sometimes like to use a numeric keypad, the X75WL comes with a second remote that has these buttons, but no microphone on board. The second remote also looks a bit dated in terms of design, doesn’t fit well in the hand and has spongy buttons. Additionally, there are quite a few buttons crammed into a small space, which reduces ease of use.