Sections
- Page 1 Sony YouView Catch-Up TV System Review
- Page 2 Ease of Use, Performance and Conclusions Review
Sony YouView – Ease of use
YouView’s trick of integrating on-demand content with live broadcast content immediately makes it exceptionally easy to use by video streaming standards. It’s nice to see, too, how easy it is to access the YouView system on Sony’s TVs via three different routes – including just hitting the Guide button on the remote.
Some of the YouView menus – especially the EPG – are a little complex to navigate using just the up, down, left and right cursor controls. Happily, YouView lets you access some sub-menus via a single press of the Sony TV remote’s colour-coded buttons, and quickly shift backwards and forwards through entire days on the EPG using the remote’s fast-forward and rewind buttons.
Sony YouView – Performance
When we’re talking about the performance of smart TV systems, we’re essentially talking about how slick and responsive they are, and how prone they are to crashing or dropping links.
In this regard, the time that appears to have been taken to perfect the YouView app for Sony’s TVs has paid off handsomely. I suffered not one crash or lost link during two to three days of testing the system, and I also found that it responded speedily throughout the tests.
Here, again, YouView stands out against the Android system – which, although improved from its debut state, can still slow down or break down from time to time.
Should you buy a Sony YouView TV?
Focused and easy to use though it is, YouView isn’t in itself a reason to buy a Sony TV. Especially since there are other platforms out there – such as Panasonic’s Freeview Play – offering broadly the same functionality.
However, crucially, YouView does make Sony’s Android TVs far more desirable than they were before, by greatly increasing the amount of catch-up TV UK viewers can access and by making this content easy to find.
Verdict
Sony’s YouView app delivers a pretty transformative effect on the brand’s smart TV system by introducing key streaming features and a level of ease of use sorely missing from the previous Android-only system.
How we test televisions
We test every TV we review thoroughly over an extended period of time. We use industry standard tests to compare features properly. We’ll always tell you what we find. We never, ever, accept money to review a product.
Trusted Score
Score in detail
-
Features 8
-
Design 8
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Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
