Sony KD-50X70L Google TV Review: Performance transcends the modest specs, but at a premium- Technology News, Firstpost

Ameya DalviJun 23, 2023 10:58:46 IST

Pros:
– Excellent colour reproduction and contrast
– Clean sound output
– Placement of side-facing ports is just right
– Google TV with standard UI
– Access to picture and sound adjustments on the fly
– Dual-band WiFi
– Works with Alexa-enabled smart devices too

Cons:
– Expensive; price needs to be more competitive
– No Dolby Vision or HDR10+ support
– Rear ports are hard to reach
– Only one USB port

Overall Rating: 3.8/5
Price: Rs 57,940

The new KD-50X70L TV from Sony is supposed to be one of their budget 4K Smart TVs. While its spec sheet tends to agree with that assessment, the pricing does not. When they say budget TV, of course, we are talking about Sony’s standards and not those of the popular budget brands plying their trade in this country. Enough of theoretical talk; time to put it through the paces and see how it actually performs.

Sony KD-50X70L Google TV – Design and connectivity: 7/10
Sony hasn’t bothered going bezel-less like most TVs these days and opted for a more classical design with narrow bezels on all four sides. Nothing bad about it, but feels a tad dated. The good part being, the minimally protruding chin below the bottom bezel with the company logo that hosts a power LED and IR receiver, makes the TV look very Sony. The TV can be wall-mounted or placed on a desk. The desktop stands to hold the TV firmly in place. The wall mount kit isn’t bundled but is provided by the company during installation if required.

A wireless remote control and a pair of AAA batteries to power it is present in the package. The side-facing connectivity ports are located near the left edge of the TV, rather than the centre, making them easy to access even after wall-mounting it. That is a smart and sensible design element. Having said that, certain ports are placed at the back of the TV, including the HDMI ARC port, all of which are hard to reach. That won’t get a pat on the back from us.

Speaking of ports, you get three HDMI ports – one of which supports ARC, just one USB 2.0 port, optical audio out, a 3.5 mm headphone jack, coaxial A/V inputs and a LAN port. Wireless connectivity options include Bluetooth 5.0 to connect wireless speakers/headphones and even a keyboard, mouse or gamepad to this TV. You also get dual-band WiFi with support for 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands and a/b/g/n/AC standards. We aren’t sure if this TV has the newer HDMI 2.1 ports, but it surely doesn’t have an eARC output.

Sony KD-50X70L Google TV – Features and specifications: 7.5/10
This TV has a 49.5-inch panel with a resolution of 3840 x 2160 pixels and a 50 Hz refresh rate. Neither the panel type nor peak brightness figures have been mentioned by the company, nor is there any information provided about the processing hardware and RAM. Strangely, system analytics software like AIDA64 was unavailable for this TV. It does support basic HDR formats like HDR10 and HLG but not Dolby Vision or HDR10+. It is powered by the Sony X1 4K processor found in some of their high-end TVs too.

You also get the 4K X-Reality PRO processing engine for colour management and Motionflow XR for smooth motion. Sound output is rated at 20 Watts RMS with support for Dolby Audio. Given that it is based on the Google TV platform, it has Chromecast built-in and you can cast content on it from compatible apps on your Android phone or tablet. It is also compliant with Apple AirPlay and HomeKit. This Sony TV works with Alexa-enabled smart devices too, and they can be controlled from here along with Google smart devices.

You get a wireless remote control that operates over IR and Bluetooth. I quite liked the remote here as it is well-built, compact and has just the right number of keys without missing out on anything important. It has quite a few hotkeys for popular OTT services like Netflix, Prime Video, Sony LIV, Disney+ Hotstar, YouTube and YouTube Music. The remote is voice-enabled, so you can bring up the Google Assistant by pressing the corresponding key and issuing voice commands.

Sony KD-50X70L Google TV – User interface: 8/10
The Sony KD-32W830K runs Google TV based on Android for TV. The UI is smooth, stutter-free and assigns a higher priority to content discovery over installed apps. It shows you suggested content from various OTT platforms which the AI believes would interest you. The recommendations get smarter as you watch more content on the TV. There’s Google Play Store that gives you access to a lot more apps.

Apps for a handful of popular OTT services come preinstalled on this TV. Their subscriptions need to be purchased separately though, and you have to log in to each service that you wish to watch. There is a dedicated settings button on the remote that gives you quick access to pictures, sound and other settings on the fly irrespective of the app or input in use. The UI is fairly simple to use, and even someone new to the platform will be able to adjust quickly.

Sony KD-50X70L Google TV – Picture quality: 8/10
The 50X70L does not support advanced HDR formats like Dolby Vision and HDR10+, and hence I had set my expectations accordingly. But I was pleasantly surprised. The picture quality of this TV is mighty impressive. The panel is bright and the colour reproduction is excellent as one would expect from a Sony TV. The picture is tuned very well out of the box, and I only had to make minor adjustments here and there; more out of habit than need. You do have ample scope for tweaking the picture further if you wish to.

The picture is on the softer side (not dull) which feels easy on the eyes. The colours feel close to natural and the contrast is excellent in SDR and HDR content both with impressive black levels. You can adjust the black levels further from the settings, an option I haven’t seen before in most LED TVs. Details in darker areas in our test videos were perfectly visible for most parts, and there was barely any flickering in high-contrast scenes. The HDR content looks lively and with good dynamic range despite the TV only going as high as HDR10 on paper.

Yes, this may not be the best HDR performance I have come across, but it certainly isn’t erratic. This is a great lesson for many brands that get caught up in making the spec sheet more impressive than the actual performance. Moving on, Motionflow XR does its job very well and the motion feels smooth and natural on this TV without any ghosting or artefacts. Things are smooth as long as you keep the motion settings to medium or low; don’t get too ambitious.

4K content looks great on this TV – SDR and HDR both. But what I liked more was the way this TV upscales lower-resolution content. Full HD videos look almost as good, and at times are hard to differentiate from their 4K counterparts. Even 720p videos look reasonably sharp though not in the same league as Full HD or higher. 480p content is also watchable on this TV. If you expect it to upscale anything lower, you are being unrealistic. The viewing angles are good with a bit of colour shift noticeable only from sharp angles.

Sony KD-50X70L Google TV – Audio quality: 7.5/10
This Sony TV delivers a warm and punchy sound output. You get a pair of bottom-firing speakers rated at 20 Watts RMS that deliver Dolby-certified audio. You do not get the fancier Dolby Atmos or Dolby Digital Plus certification here, but frankly, those standards hardly make a difference on most TV speakers. The audio output of this TV is loud enough for a mid-sized room. There is ample clarity in the vocals and more than a hint of bass to go with it.

The speakers are tuned well out of the box and I did not feel the need to tinker with the audio settings much. They are good enough for general audio needs like watching news, sports or the odd web series. The warmth in audio and focus on mids make listening to music enjoyable on these TV speakers too. If you crave extra thump in the audio, you have a handful of outputs on this TV like HDMI ARC, optical audio out, headphone jack and Bluetooth to plug in a soundbar or a speaker system.

Sony KD-50X70L Google TV – Overall performance: 8/10
When you switch on the TV from the mains, it starts to boot even in standby mode with the screen off. When you turn it on using the remote after a minute, you get straight to the Google TV home screen in a couple of seconds. That may make one believe that this is the fastest booting Google TV around. In reality, it takes around 35 to 40 seconds to boot up which is par for the course. This is a good approach nonetheless.

There is no noticeable lag in operation, be it the menus or when watching content. The Google voice assistant is also quite responsive and is ready as soon as you press the button on the remote. The default media player on this TV is decent, but you always have an option of using a better one like VLC or MX from the Google Play Store.

Sony KD-50X70L Google TV – Price and verdict
This is where things get a little tricky; not the first time I may have used these words for a Sony product. The Sony KD-50X70L launched at an MRP of Rs 74,900 but can be purchased for a much more agreeable price of Rs 57,940 online and offline. You get a one-year warranty on the product. While I say agreeable, the price needs to be more competitive; ideally under the psychological mark of Rs 50,000, if not lower. I understand this is a product from a premium brand and has the performance to show.

But I am not comparing it to other 50-inch 4K TVs that sell for close to 35K either. Sony does have a loyal following, but similar products from two of its key competitors, Samsung and LG, sell for a good 10K to 12K lower. Case in point, the 50-inch model from Samsung’s new Crystal iSmart 4K series also supports HDR10+. Yes, among the big three, only Sony offers TVs based on the Google TV platform, but WebOS and Tizen have come a long way too with a good apps ecosystem, if not as good as Google’s.

All said and done, the Sony KD-50X70L is a good product overall that may miss out on support for a couple of high-end HDR formats, but the overall performance is mighty impressive. Hopefully, Sony will make the price a bit more attractive in the coming months, and if you can spot it under 50K, feel free to go for it if you are looking for a high-quality Google TV.