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.

[Risc0n]

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@Quinnicus wrote:

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@frankie1g wrote:
But not same hardware


Sent from my Samsung device

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Correct - unless you invent the delorean 

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I honestly do not think the hardware is at fault, it is plenty powerful enough. The issue is the Sony engineers inability to integrate the Sony software with Android OS. Plus the fact that Android TV 5.1.1 clearly has some rater large memory leaks.

[royabrown]

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Quinnicus wrote:

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frankie1g wrote:
But not same hardware


Sent from my Samsung device

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Correct - unless you invent the delorean 

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We're close - these sets have insufficient capacity, and are in a state of flux 🙂

[Captain_WD]

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@mk1.golf.1983 wrote:

Our tv No.6 faulted yesterday morning with the same 6 red flashes of it's led. Last time the engineer came around he said that the power lead wasn't pushed fully into it's socket? Ha! He also carried out a factory reset,  so obviously neither of those fixed the problem. Add to that fault I also am experiencing a hdd fault where the tv will not reboot if the hdd is plugged in, it just hangs until both hdd and tv are unplugged and tv is powered on it's own, the drive is fairly new with little usage and shows as good with wd diag tool. The tv has also lost ethernet connection a dozen times since we purchased the original tv although it's been faultless the last few days. 

KDL43W755C

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Hey mk1.golf.1983,

I'd make sure the drive is at 100% health. Did you run both the quick and the extended tests with our WD DLG tool?
You could also get the raw values of the S.M.A.R.T. status of the drive and see a more detailed info on its condition. Feel free to post them here if you are not sure how to read them.
Also what's the drive's model?

Captain_WD.

[mk1.golf.1983]

@Captain_WD. The drive is a Samsung M3 500gb and I did only carry out the quick test. If the drive has died on us then I will not be happy as the drive has done much work apart from being plugged into our KDL43W755C, it was only the other day that somebody on here mentioned about constant power to the usb port on the tv, I have heard the drive spinning up countless times even when the tv is in standby. So if the drive is knackered then the tv also kills usb hdd's as well as all the other faults with these poor quality tv's 

[Captain_WD]

I would get a diagnostic tool from the manufacturer and see if the drive passes those tests.
If there are no requests from the TV towards the drive it should have its head parked and the drive shouldn't be spinning up since its firmware should keep it on a standby mode instead of off.

Captain_WD.

[dhanpal.panwar]

Hi guys,

I am following this forum to see the SW upgrade progress...how is the android tv looking after the recent SW update? I use SKY HD. Do you guys suggest its worth buying now or look for some other brand? Please advise

Cheers

dp123

[adyjay33]

IMHO... Look for another brand, these TV's will never be fully fixed, the hardware cant cope, its a dual core struggling to do the job a quad core can do easily and the implimentaion of the software with Android looks like it was written by a three year old as its rubbish. The support is terrible and all you will be asked is to keep factory resetting it thus losing all your custom setup.

You really need only to look at this forum to understand how poor these sets are and how Sony will in my opinion dump them as soon as they have the next generation TV out and anyone with a 2015 model will be stuffed and left to suffer with an unreliable and probably a dangerous TV as it also seems that there are hardware issues too related to the power supplies.

Imagine it coming on by itself as they do and it catches fire, goodbye home and everything because Sony cant build a safe TV.

Dont buy it... you have been warned.

[Garymjh]

Despite the android issues I would recommend buying one. The picture on a Sony 4k tv is unbeatable, simple as that. Especially the upscaling from 1080p. No other manufacturer comes close to the quality of Sony in my opinion. 

[adyjay33]

I agree on the picture quality, however just because a car looks good on the outside does not mean it has a good engine, in this case the TV is underpowered and the software is awful, its only a matter of time until something goes wrong and Sony will just say tough sort it yourself.

Still I guess if people want to buy what I consider to be a BETA version TV then so be it, but do not complain about it afterwards especially when you have been warned.

[John1950Hitchin]

KDL49X8309C is the best tv I have ever owned, of course you will get people saying don't buy they are the ones that were the guinea pigs we late buyers don't have any or minor ones not worth complaining about.

So yes, the best picture for the pound. I paid £749 from Currys not sure how much they were when first released? . I watch TV, Netflix, Plex and Kodi on the TV which has Virgin media Tivo 500gb M package, 1.2 M dish multi sat HD box  ( 16000 ch's ) and Blue ray player connected to it which all up scale giving a vivid pictures. So I have no need to connect a Hard drive to the TV so can't comment on that.

Just my views not trying to wind people up.