Thursday, March 28, 2024

Sony KD-43X75K Ultra-HD Android TV Review: High Performer!

In the last few years, big screen TVs have also become quite affordable. Still, some people prefer to take 43 inch size TV for small room of the house. There are many options available in this screen size, ranging from FullHD to Ultra HD resolution, but most of the options are available from smaller TV brands such as Xiaomi, OnePlus, and Realme. Their pricing is also according to their budget. That’s why people who want to buy a TV with a little more budget turn to big brands like Sony.

In 2022, the company has launched Sony X75K in the TV segment, in which TVs are available in sizes from 43 inches to 65 inches. Today I am going to review 43 inch variant of this series which is Sony KD-43X75K Ultra-HD LED Smart TV, Its price is Rs 53,190 which is listed on Sony’s own online store. Companies like Xiaomi and Realme provide 43 inch 4K TVs in the range of up to Rs 30,000, compared to them, the price of this TV from Sony seems quite high.

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However, this new Sony TV comes with the promise of better performance for its price and has been positioned as a premium option for customers who want to go a bit above the budget TV range. Is the Sony KD-43X75K that premium? Find out in this review.

Sony KD-43X75K Ultra-HD Android TV design and specifications

Sony X75K is the most affordable TV in the company’s Ultra HD TV series. But 43X75K is not as affordable as mentioned. Priced at Rs 53,910, it is quite expensive as compared to other companies and the price reaches up to Rs 1 lakh for its 65 inch size. All TVs in the company’s X75K range come with Ultra-HD (3840×2160 pixels) LED LCD display with support for High Dynamic Range, HLG and HDR10 formats.

When it comes to the design, the Sony KD-43X75K TV looks a bit better than the 43-inch TVs you usually get. The credit for this goes to the beautiful finish of the thin border around the screen. The Sony logo has been given in the front. The TV is about as thick as you can expect from an LED TV of this size. The TV has a slight slope at the bottom, which makes the bottom firing speakers appear to protrude slightly.

The TV can be table mounted or wall mounted, although only a table mount stand is available in the box. You can use any VESA compatible wall mount to mount it to the wall. Sony provides free technician service for installation, if you want wall mount then it is provided by the company through technician.

One set of ports and sockets is given on the back side of the TV while the other is given on the left side of the screen. Ports on the rear include an HDMI port (with ARC), video-in socket, Ethernet port for wired connectivity, digital audio out (TosLink) port, and power socket.

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All these ports are difficult to access when the TV is wall mounted, which can bend cables and plugs to such an extent that they become damaged. Before installing it on the wall, you have to make sure that all these connections are properly installed.

For side-facing connectivity, two HDMI ports, two USB Type-A ports, a 3.5mm headphone jack, and an antenna socket have been provided. They’re all easy to access, but I was disappointed that none of these HDMI ports offer Audio Return Channel (ARC) support. However, all HDMI ports support the latest HDCP 2.3 standard.

Talking about its other main specifications, it has a refresh rate of 50Hz, Sony MotionFlow XR200 interpolation algorithm, and 16GB of inbuilt storage for apps and app data. The TV has a 20W bottom firing, open baffle speaker system with support for Dolby Audio. Wireless connectivity includes Bluetooth 5 and dual-band Wi-Fi connectivity and wired Ethernet connectivity.

Sony KD-43X75K Ultra-HD Android TV remote and features

The company provides a large, fully functional remote with the TV. It has an infrared emitter and Bluetooth connectivity. Its infrared emitter is only used to turn the TV on or off when connected via Bluetooth. Apart from this, all other functions like voice commands from the microphone on the remote, etc. also use Bluetooth connectivity. For that you do not have to point the remote at the TV.

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For navigation on the remote, number pad, direction pad, back and home buttons have been given. There are also playback controls, and hot keys for Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, YouTube, and YouTube Music. There is also a dedicated button to activate Google Assistant. Apart from this, an information button has also been given in it which gives information about the resolution of streaming content, connection speed and many more. Remote looks great, works great.

The Sony KD-43X75K includes built-in Google Chromecast, Sony X1 4K processor, Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa and AirPlay 2, and comes with HDMI CEC support for controlling connected devices. You can also use the TV’s Bluetooth connectivity for wireless headphones and speakers.

All these features work as expected, but note that for Apple devices, you will need a separate app to create wireless connectivity to the TV. I used AirScreen for Android TV available on Google Play store and it worked well.

Sony KD-43X75K Ultra-HD Android TV software and interface

The Google TV user interface was launched in 2020 alongside Google TV with Chromecast. But most of the TV manufacturers are choosing to go with the pre-tested Android TV interface. Sony adopted the new user interface long back and the KD-43X75K runs on Android TV 11 with Google TV UI on top. It has Google Play Store for Android TV which has more than 5000 apps designed and optimized for use on TV. Apart from this, easy access to Google Assistant and Chromecast is also available.

However, the Google TV UI looks better than the stock Android, and has some useful features. For example, Google Play Movies is no longer available on the app but is provided in the user interface. This means you can search for, rent or buy movies and TV shows, and purchases are made directly from the UI.

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It also has an approved rating of Rotten Tomatoes in search and recommendation for several titles. The system recommends movies and TV shows from multiple streaming services such as Disney+ Hotstar, Apple TV+, Amazon Prime Video and Voot. Overall, the Google TV UI is a fresh and necessary change for Android TV and its rapid adoption by Sony gives competition to the competitors. Especially if you like to watch streaming content more. Everything worked fine for me, and I didn’t find any software issues while using the TV.

Sony KD-43X75K Ultra-HD Android TV performance

Many well-known brands in India offer 43 inch Ultra HD TVs in less than 30 thousand rupees. So the Sony KD-43X75K has to offer something different from the rest, which it does. The TV comes with a good design, useful and premium features and a great software experience that takes it a notch above the rest. The most measured of these is the performance … in which this Sony TV does not miss at all.

Support for Dolby Vision and HDR10+ in an affordable TV doesn’t sound very unusual now, but this Sony TV comes with support for HLG and HDR10 only, which might disappoint you. However, with the help of picture calibration and superior HDR, it also makes up for this to a great extent.

Brightness is not very bright with HDR content in TVs but the format makes the colors of the content sharper. For example, Our Great National Parks and Bullsh*t The Game Show on Netflix looked great in dark or dimly lit rooms. Even in the ambient light, the attention of the TV could not be diverted much.

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The colors of nature and the bright light of the game show looked very well on the TV. Skin tone was looking very good. Similarly, shades of blue and green were emerging in the forest with perfect accuracy. The Sony KD-43X75K delivers sharp pictures with decent colors and clean motion. Compared to other budget TVs with similar specifications of the same size, this Sony TV was able to give sharper and more detailed pictures.

This quality was well reflected in the dark scenes of Venom: Let There Be Carnage. Motion also looks great on TV which is possible due to its motion interpolation. The action sequences of Venom sequel were playing very smoothly. Even in the bright light of day, there was no significant effect on the TV screen. But, when the direct sunlight comes in the room, the screen does not look so reflective. According to the LED TV, its black levels were quite good. Apart from this, the contrast level was also being set well.

A 43-inch TV is best suited for close-up viewing, but the smaller size also has an advantage that even low-resolution content looks sharp and full of details, like 4K. The sharpness, clean motion and decent color levels of this Sony TV stand out in full HD content. The scenes in Kim’s Convenience and Pacific Rim looked great despite the low resolution.

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The Sony KD-43X75K’s sound quality is modest, but it’ll sound adequate even if you don’t use a sound bar or speaker system. The sound is heard well at high volume, the dialogues are heard clear and the background score is also good. But even at high volume, the TV does not sound that loud. Overall, its sound is enough to enjoy watching TV in the bedroom late at night.

I encountered some issues with 5GHz Wi-Fi connectivity. At times the TV was unable to connect to the 5GHz band of my home router, even though it was only a few meters away from the TV. In such a situation, streaming of high resolution content was hindered. It showed stable connectivity after switching to the 2.4GHz band.

Verdict

There are many mainstream Ultra HD 43 inch TVs available today. Among them, this TV from Sony stands out for its performance. The TV’s functional design, good specifications and software, HDR performance and general ability to play all kinds of content make it one of the TVs I have enjoyed reviewing. If we look at some of the shortcomings of the TV, then it becomes difficult to justify its price.

Sony KD-43X75K TV above 50 thousand rupees is more expensive than others by about 20 thousand rupees. If you want to buy it as a secondary TV, then it does not seem wise to spend so much money. If you want to use it as a primary TV, and you only want a TV of this size, then you can definitely buy it.

55-inch TVs like the Mi TV 5X are available for less than that, so Sony is only for those who want good performance and can pay a premium price for the 43-inch. It is way ahead of other market competitors of its size and will not disappoint the buyer if the buyer does not mind its price.

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