Replacing 4K Sony - need options

Stubbsy

Stubbsy

Stubbsy

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Joined
8 Aug 2004
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156
Location
Sussex
Hi guys,

Had some limited success in the last couple of years with new TVs... we bought a fairly cheap and cheerful
"Hisense 49 - Inch Widescreen 4K Smart LED TV with Freeview HD" for £400 back in Oct 2016 when we moved house, and the picture was great, but the menus were really slow and over time they became more slow to the point where the TV guide basically didn't work. Thankfully after about 10 months the screen developed a dead pixel, and the retailer gave me a full refund (which I was amazed about).

So I thought, "Hisense, cheap brand... my mistake." Then we got a Sony KD-49X8305C (49 inch Smart 4K UltraHD TV (Android TV, 4K Processor X1, 4K X-Reality Pro)) and, while it was better, over the last 18 months it's slowly gotten worse and worse unto the point where trying to use the built in Freeview just isn't worth the effort. The menus are so slow to navigate.

So basically, I would like a 50+ inch 4K TV, with a nice picture and acceptable built in sound, with a menu that actually responds quickly when I press a button on the remote! Looking to spend up to £550. Please make some recommendations!
 
At that price range LG would be the way to go and their UI is one of the best out currently for speed and layout.
 
Glanza said:
At that price range LG would be the way to go and their UI is one of the best out currently for speed and layout.
Click to expand...

It's the first smart TV ui that has blown me away. And it's super nippy. Toggling between consoles, netflix, amazon, sky super quick - it's a new standard!
 
Can confirm, the LGs are great. I've had my OLED a few months now, the interface is very slick, quick to navigate, apps are very quick to load and switch between too and it's got all the major ones you could think of.

The only one that is a bit outdated is Demand5, which for some reason hasn't been updated to the newer My5 app yet.
 
Bought a LG 49UJ635V-ZF for £350 from a high street retailer (EOL model i believe as it's gone and replaced with all the AI stuff) very recently and I love it, Picture looks great, menu's load up smoothly and responsively, I've always been told LG are usually the best for budget stuff and I can agree.
 
Yep, another that would have to say with the others, in that price range LG is your best option, WebOS is very good and intuitive. You won't believe how much better it is than Android TV if you get one.
 
On your experience of the UI getting slower with your tvs, I just wanted to add I've got a 2016 LG tv which was one of the lower end models at the time and the UI is still just as fast
 
Buy a Chromecast for £30 and use your phone/tablet/computer as a remote control for watching TV and streaming services. Or maybe an Amazon fire stick if you want to use a dedicated remote control.

Job done!

I've found the built in "smart" TV interfaces are all rubbish since manufacturers never have any reason to update them once they've sold you theTV. I bought a new Samsung last month and its interface annoyed me so much that within a week I'd switched back to using my Chromecast !
 
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That depends on the brand really, some do and some don't. My parents bought a Panasonic 50" (one using Panasonic's own UI rather than the Firefox one they briefly used) in mid-2015 at the same time I bought a Samsung which was a 2014 model going cheap. The apps on their Panasonic are all out of date (e.g. their Netflix app still dispalys ratings with stars), whereas my Samsung was still being updated before I sold it a few months back.
 
sony have been continuing to update my 1080P tv constantly too.

it's hit and miss but I find LG have been updating constantly too.

must depend on the TV as I usually buy high end as possible within reason. i avoid the lower end models.
 
Hi guys,
So I was going to buy the LG 55UK6300PLB but I've noticed a few of the review comments say things like,
This TV has poor performance. It is slow to load up the menu and TV guide. It is not clear when it is in a type of standby mode or dormant and how to get it to wake.
Click to expand...
And
Very good sound for a TV.
Cons: Horrible OS
Click to expand...

Have these guys never experienced how bad a Sony can be, and therefore have unrealistic expectations, or is this genuinely an LG model to avoid?
 
silvagti said:
Buy a Chromecast for £30 and use your phone/tablet/computer as a remote control for watching TV and streaming services. Or maybe an Amazon fire stick if you want to use a dedicated remote control
Click to expand...

This is basically what we've resorted to doing, using the Fire TV all the time, which is fine but there are some times where you actually want to use the TV still, or perhaps you accidentally press a button on the TV remote and it takes 2 days to get back to the Fire TV, or you have old relatives staying and they simply don't understand how to put the news on using the Fire TV.
 
I've recently changed from a Sony Android TV set to an LG 8 series OLED and the UI of the LG is lightning quick.

I wouldn't touch a Sony TV with a bargepole, I can't believe they were happy with putting these Android TVs on the market with how slow and unstable they are.
 
Mekrel said:
I've recently changed from a Sony Android TV set to an LG 8 series OLED and the UI of the LG is lightning quick.

I wouldn't touch a Sony TV with a bargepole, I can't believe they were happy with putting these Android TVs on the market with how slow and unstable they are.
Click to expand...

I had one of the first Android TVs they released in 2015. Well, two of them actually, because the first one kept crashing and had awful backlight bleed. The second one also kept crashing and made an annoying 'tick' sound when it was turned on. It was a double-disappointment because the Sony TV I had before it (one of their first Internet TVs) was excellent and I'm a fan of Android too, but Sony build quality had seemingly taken a dive in that time.
 
Psycho Sonny said:
https://www.avforums.com/threads/my-best-value-tvs-2018-2019-edition.2199459/

read that it should be stickied on here
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Hi @Psycho Sonny , I appreciate you linking to that thread and it certainly has a lot of information in it, but I'm not sure it address my biggest gripe with the hisense and Sony units that I've had so far - the UI and built in tuner being incredibly slow to use. Given that in a shop the units are always in demo mode, and almost never connected to a receiver, it's very hard to go and test them anywhere, so I'm hoping for someone to testify as the suitability. So far everyone on this thread said LG are great for a quick UI, but then LG units barely get a mention in the thread you linked to :(
 
Stubbsy said:
Hi @Psycho Sonny , I appreciate you linking to that thread and it certainly has a lot of information in it, but I'm not sure it address my biggest gripe with the hisense and Sony units that I've had so far - the UI and built in tuner being incredibly slow to use. Given that in a shop the units are always in demo mode, and almost never connected to a receiver, it's very hard to go and test them anywhere, so I'm hoping for someone to testify as the suitability. So far everyone on this thread said LG are great for a quick UI, but then LG units barely get a mention in the thread you linked to :(
Click to expand...

because the absolute best LG's are 3 times your budget but they smash anything in that price range

just buy a lower end LG but it won't be true 4k or true HDR however i'm willing to bet you won't be able to notice the difference.
 
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