Sony Bravia KDL32WE613 (32-Inch) 1080p HD Ready HDR Smart TV (X-Reality PRO, Slim and streamlined design) - Black, 2017

I'm reviewing this TV just after it failed after five years with a six red dot error, seemingly quite common with this model and Sony TV's. The TV has performed well, the picture and sound quality are very good. The remote control layout is a little confusing with a lot of buttons and none of them being very intuitive. Iplayer and other integration is easy to navigate and the menus work quick and well. It has one Scart socket which is why we ordered this model as my father has both a DVD player and a VHS player which only have these connections. The only negative is I feel the feet are a little flimsy if this is stood. We ended up buying a strap to fit to the read to anchor it to the unit we have it on for a bit more peace of mind. It is dissapointing this only lasted five years, more so given we have a fifteen year old budget brand television which is still working fine, but this seems to be common with these Sony TVs and I suppose for the price of this one we had okay value from it for the amount it was used.

I compared many brands for their operation and picture quality, this was the best. BEZEL : The materials and construction feel solid, tight, and reassuringly weighty. STAND : looks good, solid and stable, not too wide (can be placed on Blu-Ray players etc), does the job very well with no fuss or showing-off. INTERFACE : the TV guide works really well, 12 channels shown vertically on the screen, all within a clear grid, font size very readable, works very well as a guide (unlike Samsung M5520, which I sent back, where only half the screen contained the guide, had tiny fonts and info was spread over a white area not in a clear timed grid). Moving up/down between tuned channels is slow though. The screen goes black, then 2 seconds goes by, then next channel appears. It’s slower than my Sony 26” which is 12 years old. Possibly this is due to the channels being fed via FreeView Play - which needs to pass more data on channel status than just FreeView. Annoying that’s things are getting slower not faster! SCREEN : very reflective, not quite as mirror-like as some TVs, but smooth & glossy. When the picture goes black you will see your partner lounging next to you on the sofa! - which will stresses your eyes in terms of distance refocusing. This level of reflectivity would normally dissuade me from buying a TV, but all the pro’s of this TV outweigh this ‘issue’. It does mean the picture maybe slightly ‘clearer’ than if totally matte, but for normal TV content you wouldn’t notice much difference and so this is a (/the only) negative of this TV. PICTURE QUALITY : great! Maybe not what you’d get from top-notch cutting-edge technology in a larger TV, but far far better than the Samsung, Clear, detailed, no weird digital artefacts and colours as good as I’ve seen in this range. I always set the white balance to Warm (as that’s the ambient light in my room in the evening, other settings - whatever TV brand - look too blue to me). Pale pastel colours, mainly highlights on skin colours are very well controlled, staying natural (Samsung M5520 had an issue here) and shows Sony’s attention and skill at colour rendition. Colour transitions are very smooth - no noticeable banding of gradients. Also no compression blocking noticeable in dark areas. Overall very good indeed. View angle is ok, though the black-level does brighten after about 30 degrees either side of the perpendicular. These days to get better you’d have to get a much larger screen with IPS technology or similar. SOUND : is ok for a TV, nothing special, rather ‘grey’ sounding (‘Clear Audio’ must be turned on), voice range is quite clear (with ‘Voice Zoom’ turned up). Bass presence is lacking, though personally for just watching TV I prefer it that way. You may want to add a simple sound-bar. Anyway the sound is not bad (like some say) - it’s ok - does the job for a TV, but not as full as the Samsung M5520 (or as a good sound-bar). I doubt I’ll get a sound-bar as I prefer the simplicity of just a TV, no other black boxes, other plugs or on/off switches etc. SMART APPS : this is only one of a few Sony TV that has FreeView Play - which includes the the ITV Player app (along with iPlayer, 4OD, My5, Amazon Prime, & Netflix, Youtube etc. REMOTE CONTROL : is ok (much better than the Samsung), though I prefer using my previous larger silver Sony remote control (works perfectly) which has buttons more spaced out and of different sizes and shapes - more classic Sony design (there are new ‘third-party’ versions of this silver RM-ED005 control).

Easy to set up. I guess my only gripe is that the Apps downloaded once you're on Wifi (which explains why some people might feel like there's no Amazon Prime Video... there is... just leave it plugged in for a while to download). I love the way the Remote works directly against the Apple TV I have plugged into it as well. Picture quality is okay. Nothing to write home about, but certainly suitable for the price range of the product. Sound quality is quite tinny - but that again is normal for a screen this size. Either way, this TV is "Smart".

So difficult to find a decent 32 inch tv these days - it's no coincidence that this model is actually a 2017 vintage (when it was rather more expensive) but presumably still in limited production and compared to the current competition it is an absolute joy. First things first - it's not a smart tv which to some of us is actually a positive ! ( you can make it smartish by plugging in all the usual suspects such as amazon fire stick, chromecast, roku, apple tv etc) but most importantly the picture qulaity is very good and the way it copes with motion (I'm looking at you sports fans) is an absolute triumph compared to anything else around in this class/price range/size currently, none of the usual 'blurzville' one has become used to in the cheaper end of the market. It would also be rude not to mention how easy the stand is to assemble considering how many brands are managing to turn that in to a challenge currently and it's actually level after you've installed it unlike some I could mention. All in all, in aspects that I can review (inevitably I have no idea of reliability yet) this is an absolute stand out at the price and puts to shame some of the rubbish even other big names are currently selling in this now (ridiculously) considered smaller sets market.

Better TV than I thought. Image is not bad, the reds are a tat strong and the other colours are 'on your face'. If I were to make an analogy, this TV feels like if I was looking at life through a good photograph, the other TV's I have make you feel you are looking at things through a window; the colours are more subtle, gentler. What makes this TV special for me is -for lack of a better term- its technical wizardry. Things like turning the screen off whilst keeping the sound on is just a couple of clicks away as opposed to 5 or more clicks away with my other sets -except the large Blaupunkt that has a dedicated button on the remote, but then again with the Sony I can change the volume without the screen coming back on, with the Blaupunkt the screen will come on again after any changes. The self timer for the TV to turn itself off is also good, it has 2 different options just a couple of clicks away, with some other TV's I have to navigate through few menus before the option appears. The remote control in the Sony is just OK, it has too many buttons I'll never use like a large Netflix button right in the centre, teletext, fast forward, rewind, etc. This has always been the case with my Sony TVs, one remote to do it all. It has a Smart facility which is a pain to navigate, but is good to have just in case. The sound is good. Its loud and clear.

Truly an exceptional TV for how much I paid in the offer, £204 but even for 300 it would still be worth it. Originally bought a Toshiba from amazon which was only marginally cheaper by about 20-£30 but returned it for this and glad I did, difference is vast. Superior picture quality for the price and even sound, build which is much heavier, only downside is I wish it would have 3 hdmi ports as opposed to 2 and if the connections at the back rather than the side, as my firestick sticks out a little. These quibbles are minor considering the overall quality of the picture, build and functionality. An absolute steal for the price, I really don't understand what the negative reviews are all about.

Excellent TV for the money, its not an Android TV so you cant download apps but had all the catch up and on demand TV that I wanted at a very good price, picture quality is surprisingly good for 720p.. OK its not 1080p and some profile product descriptions say its a LCD (like Amazon) some others say its a LED (like Sony) I have actually spoken to Sony about this they claim that while the TV screen is LCD it has a LED backlight which most so called LED TV's have, its this that gives the TV a much better contrast and detail in shadow areas that old LCD TV's with LCD backlight couldn't achieve and more economical to run, That's what Sony says? and picture is good enough for me, only slight gripe is TV guide is a little sluggish in switching from picture to TV guide,...but I can live with that, as is a perfect bedroom TV that wont break the bank!

Good sound and picture quality as you’d expect and know of Sony. Also looks good with a slim sleek frame and base. Super easy to assemble. Interface software could be better though... maybe it’s just this particular 32 inch model as reviews of larger models appear much better from what I’ve seen in YouTube. Thus Not as smart as you’d expect though, actually not that many apps available with this model and Amazon prime movies is a nightmare to navigate around with lots of lagging, pausing and that’s just in the menu navigation screen. Otherwise all other apps inc the all important Netflix, YouTube etc very good. Some big apps missing though including NowTV which wasn’t pleasingly during the last season of GOT, we needed to buy an additional player/stick for that! Worth checking if software is updated or see larger model if you’re after full smart tv capability. Internet browser is very cumbersome to use.