Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

The TV hardware - great image for the price, acceptable sound but could use a soundbar/external speakers, brightness levels are good as well, could use a little more high end brightness but we did find it sufficient for very comfortable daytime viewing. The software - destroys the entire experience of owning this TV. Google has invaded Sony, and Sony has allowed it's products to be assimilated by the Droid. If you love Android and think that paying to have Google further invade your life and privacy is just peachy - SKIP reading the rest and just go buy this TV, I do like it's picture quality. If you feel as though paying for a product that facilitates invasive data gathering so that both Google and Sony can use you as a data collection tool to help them make even more money is a bad thing -- READ ON. Short version - don't buy a smart TV with an Android operating system. Long version: Sony and Google now have us paying for hardware that helps increase their profit margins, without paying us anything in return. Yup, they've found more ways to invade our once safe space - late evening, living room, cozy on the sofa with a good show. Not only that, but the software itself makes the TV's interface very slow and sluggish at times, even affecting video playback when menus (such as picture adjustment) are accessed during playback. The first think you'll notice when you turn the TV on is being bombarded with APP suggestions, they aren't even installed yet there they are in your face. Tom's Guide had to write a 24 section how to titled "Sony Bravia Android TV Settings Guide 2018: What to Enable, Disable and Tweak". I don't suggest this guide, I'd say it is required reading to properly operate this TV. In the guide he goes over how to get all the clutter out of your face, with one procedure requiring you to go into a system app's settings to turn off notifications just so you aren't bombarded with suggestions. Quick recap - you paid for the TV, and all the TV does in it's default mode is try to milk you for more money. BUY BUY BUY, this APP, that Movie, this Service, etc... If we're going to pay our hard to be advertised to, shouldn't some ethical committee exist to hold Sony and Google to some standard? We are being treated as cash milking cows. Not only are we being advertised to, but I'd say it will take folks between 2-6 hours to just get to know how this thing operates. By "folks" I mean modern, android-familiar, technologically comfortable people. I don't mean an older person or someone who fears smart phones and computers (yes, they still exist). I could not give this TV to my mother, for instance - she'd be terrified of it. The manual dexterity alone required to NOT push the wrong button on the remote could easily escape some of the more elderly, non-tech oriented people in this world. Dear Sony - it's a TV. One should be able to turn it on and see TV oriented stuff. Simple menus, fast processing, clear navigation. In 5 minutes, a person (any person) should be able to go from turning the TV on to using the TV. This thing has already stolen hours of my life. Why oh why is there a HOME button that takes you to a home page with APPS, and then an APPS button that takes you to a "Sony Select" page with yet MORE APPS on it? How do I get rid of those apps? WHY, why are those apps even there? If you end up buying this TV and got into this review, please see the Tom's Hardware Guide mentioned above. Also, BEWARE - you don't have to allow Sony and Google to have 100% of the data created by your new Advertising and Marketing Data Collection Tool (AMDCT for short). You can find info by Consumer Reports in an online piece titled "How to Turn Off Smart TV Snooping Features", which goes over the top "Smart" TV models and outlines how to reduce the data collected from your TV to the MINIMUM amount possible. There is no way to stop it completely unless you never connect your TV to the internet and only use the inputs for viewing any material. At some point, Sony and especially Google, should cut it's users in on a share of the profits they helped create for both companies.