HD PICTURE QUALITY. HD picture quality was very good. It did an excellent job displaying the finest detail of HD content. Edges of objects in the image stood out too much because of over-enhancement. Color accuracy was very good, with flesh tones in particular, looking natural. Color temperature was slightly on the warm side, lending images a reddish tone. Contrast--the difference between the darkest blacks and brightest whites--was good, so images had depth and dimension, typical of most models we test. The brightness level was good, making it a suitable choice for most rooms. Black level was generally good, though not as dark as better performers on the darkest scenes. There was visible banding (unnatural contours) on scenes with subtly shaded light-to-dark areas, such as a sky during sunset, rather than smooth transitions. The deinterlacing and film mode operations were excellent on HD content; there was little or no trace of jaggies on the edges of objects for video and film-based 1080i video content, such as from cable.
VIEWING ANGLE. This Sony has a wide viewing angle overall, better than that of most TVs. It will provide the same picture quality, with fewer problems than most TVs, for typical viewing conditions -- say, if your family is seated across a long sectional or in chairs off to the sides. The picture did show some dimming from the sides but not to any point we found distracting. With dark scenes this model didn't fare quite as well. When viewed from the sides, the depth of black levels varied depending on the vertical position of the viewer's head. As we moved closer to the screen this limitation became even more apparent, especially if seated on the floor looking upward where black levels brightened significantly.
MOTION BLUR. This Sony TV has only fair motion performance, with significant blurring on our motion tests. Though this model includes Sony's "LED Motion Mode", a feature designed to reduce motion blur; we found it limited the display's brightness so we turned the feature off. The visibility of blurring on typical program content is often subtle and may not bother most people, but keen-eyed viewers may detect some loss of texture and detail on scenes with movement.
SCREEN REFLECTIVITY. Though not as mirror-like as on some models, this screen surface is glossy and therefore susceptible to reflections from a nearby lamp or window. It does a good job reducing glare from ambient light and maintains contrast in a brighter room environment.
SOUND QUALITY. This model has fair sound quality with below average performance. It's acceptable for typical programming, but shortcomings become obvious with movie soundtracks and music. Bass was lacking, and treble was nicely detailed, while the overall sound was on the bright side a bit thin a bit closed in. The speakers produced a good volume range so this model should play sufficiently loud in typical room environments, but quality does degrade at the highest settings. Also, at higher volume, dynamic compression kept the sound from distorting, but also limited the clarity of peaks in loudness, which can be distracting on some audio content. If sound quality matters to you, you might want to add a soundbar or other external speaker system -- but if this smaller-screen set is a secondary TV, you might find its sound quality acceptable.
EASE OF USE. The dark labeling of the connectors on the TV console is very difficult to read.
INTERNET FEATURES. This TV provides basic Internet functionality with a limited selection of applications via its "All Apps" portal with access to a library of applications. Movie streaming services include Netflix, YouTube, Amazon Prime Video and Hulu. Includes built-in, a virtual assistant, which allows you to use natural speech to ask questions, launch applications, and search programming.
CONNECTIONS. This model has two HDMI inputs-- one supports ARC (Audio Return Channel), one "component/composite shared" input (which means you can only use one type or the other at a time). It also has two USB ports, an optical digital audio out, a headphone out, an Ethernet port, WiFi wireless networking; DLNA, to access files within your home network; Casting, which allows you to send streaming content from your mobile device to the TV via your home network; Screen mirroring, where the image on your smartphone or other compatible device can also appear on the TV. Analog connections are made via a special breakout cable adapter (included) that attaches to the TV as a single plug. That means you plug your component, composite, or stereo cables into a dangling "pigtail" rather than the back of the TV itself. This is actually a more convenient way to make the connections on slim-profile models, but if you lose that adapter you'll have no way to connect your cables directly to the TV. Note: HDMI and other cable connections made to the rear-facing panel will protrude beyond the panel's slim depth.
INCLUDED IN THE BOX. A printed user manual. A quick start guide. A remote control with batteries. Breakout cable adapters (one shared component and composite video breakout cable.).
