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.

[equinoximmure]

The manufacture date of my 43w807 is December 2015, and I have had very little problems so far other than remote locking up occasionally. I wouldn't be surprised if they've changed the hardware, it does seem to be that people with sets manufactured more recently are having nowhere near the problems encountered by early adopters of this set. My only annoyance is the slight clouding/dark patch towards the bottom of the screen above the Sony emblem (I've seen other posts mentioning this). Does anyone else have this problem? It's only slightly visible during rugby/field sports scanning shots.

[TheKillingBean]

I have the same problem, the time is always not correct. I think this happend after the last update.

[adyjay33]

My set says Oct 2015 when it was made.

I do think the screen bleed is not great on it, when its supposed to be black I do get patches of white which although does not show up very often on normal TV with a bright picture, on dark images its noticable.

Just put me right off Sony products in general now sad to say. Japanese used to produce the best electronics devices in the world, now its playing catchup to the Koreans that have basically killed the Japanese market with decent innovation and quality products.

Sad to say I think Sony are on the slide now and if they cant make a TV work properly, then I dont see a future for them, they should stick to making the Playstations.

[Risc0n]

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@andygoz wrote:

Purchased my android Bravia  tv 4 weeks ago and I have to say I haven't used every feature on the to but  for the things I have used it for  youview, YouTube, Netflix, Amazon, play store movies, Google cast its been excellent thus far. 

I am at a loss to explain why there are over 500 pages of issues. Maybe because I'm late to the party of getting one of these tv's they have ironed out some of the issues 

One slight annoyance is not is not being able to delete some of the pre installed apps to free up space. 

Are there any of the system settings/ bloat  that are essentially pointless that can be deleted? Not familiar with android so don't wanna go deleting just anything however I'm sure Google Japanese keyboard for example isn't relevant or necessary. 

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I suggest you read every single on of those 500 pages before making a ridiculous statement like that. I have owned the TV since May and still not all the features it was advertised with have been implemented. The TV's are more stable now as people have been postin bugs for the last 500 bloody pages.

Its great you like you TV but don't make posts that essentially belittle and dismiss the people who have owned it before the software became more stable!!!!!! This does not mean it is fixed and the TV if used with features as it was sold with needs a reboot every few days or it becomes slow.

[chbjerg]

Calm down man. He actually writes that it's probably becuase of him not being an early adopter, that he's not had many problems. Nobody is belittling your problems, by stating that they don't have any. Sony will not read his one post, and suspend all bugfixing

I've had my set for 2 months now, and have no problems at all. It turned it self on once, when I had a Pi connected to usb. It has never been factory reset, I never pull the power, and I use Netflix, Digital TV, with HDD and Plex on a daily basis, and my tv is anything but slow. I appreciate that I'm very lucky compared to a lot of people in this thread, but there's really no need to generalise

[bunkum100]

Clock keeps losing time for me too

[oodles2do]

We bought the TV from John Lewis in September, and it's been better than others but still has a lot of problems. I'm getting worried about the lifespan of support from Sony, once 18 months is up they usually drop support for their devices, or massively prioritise newer ones. Considering this TV is nearly 12 months old and still in need of a huge amount of improvements I'm not sure I'm prepared to take the risk.

Has anyone returned their TV to John Lewis successfully? I can't imagine John Lewis refusing, their customer service is usually fantastic. Also, a lot of people suggesting various Panasonic models, how good is the picture on the 50 inch 4k Panasonic? My parents have had an older Panasonic for years and that had a good picture, limited by only 50Hz refresh rate, but I've always hated the interface ( I think it's changed to Firefox OS now?)

EDIT: Just looked at some of the Panasonic models, there's also the 55inch which is closer to the price we paid for the Sony, so I'd try and get it replaced with that one rather than the 50inch.

[adyjay33]

I looked at several Panosonics and imho the Samsungs beat them hands down on the picture quality.

I agree that some people probably wont have had the same issues as others, its I think down to hardware changes, maybe they have upped the CPU in the newers ones to cope with the issues of lag etc...

Unfortunatly as Sony are totally rubbish at talking to anyone and looking at peoples opinions of when they worked there "Arrogant, not listening, too many managers, unable to make a decision" etc... I am not surprised we dont see them on here if thats how the workers think of the company, due to this percieved  opinion of Sony by others, we will probably never know why some sets work and others dont, even after a factory reset mine is flaky, so loading stuff on makes it even worse which suggests a lack of memory and cpu power.

Whatever the cause, these TV's should have never been released like they are, you dont sell a car with only 2 cyclinders out of 4 working and say that they will work at some point but just say keep on turning the car engine off and on it might work one day.

[oodles2do]

@adyjay33

Thanks for the reply, I've never been impressed with any Samsung models that I've seen. I've not seen any of their newer TV, but I have experience with 1080p models not that long ago and really didn't like their picture. I find their phones push out colours too much too, making things look unrealistic 😕

[UKPiglet]

@oodles2do yes, I've successfully returned my set. I have great respect for John Lewis' principles but their front line support staff don't understand John Lewis's own return policy nor have enough guidance about how consumer law applies to be able to handle a return.

I was given incorrect and misleading information, (for example that returns could only be accepted for 30 days) and cut to the chase by sending them details of the problems in the sets software and a notice of intention to take the matter to the small claims court if I didn't get an appropriate response within 7 days. That got it very swiftly escalated to someone who had both the knowledge and authority. I got a call with an apology (for previous interactions with the support team) and an agreement for them to refund after collecting the set.

I'm now monitoring this thread to see if the problems have been fixed...while trying to decide what to buy instead.