Sony KD-49X8309C review
Review: September 2015 | ||
![]() Rating: In a nutshell: Sony's X83C series provides an affordable entry point into the company's UHD (4K) TV range, and the KD-49X8309C is an attractive and nicely-sized option for family viewing. It comes with the benefit of Android TV, and offers excellent connectivity options. Upscaling from HD content to UHD is excellent, and viewing angles are nice and wide, making this a good choice for family viewing. However, picture quality isn't the best we've seen in 2015, and this model is quite pricey for an entry-level UHD TV. |
Summary
The Sony KD-49X8309C is almost identical to the KD-49X8305C, except that it has a lighter chrome stand and a better Motionflow rating of 1000Hz, compared with 800Hz for the X8305C. The X8309C is exclusive to Currys / PC World.
Read our detailed review of the KD-49X8305C for more information, as these two models are basically the same.
Sony KD-49X8309C features include:
- 49 inch UHD LED-backlit screen
- 3840 x 2160 resolution
- 4K X-Reality PRO processing engine
- Advanced Contrast Enhancer
- Motionflow XR 1000 Hz
- Dynamic backlight control
- 24p True Cinema
- Game Mode
- Freeview HD / Freesat HD twin tuners
- Android 5.0 TV
- Audio: Clear Phase speaker, Dolby Digital Plus / Dolby Pulse, 10W x 2 power output
- Connectivity: Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Direct, Ethernet (LAN) x 1, screen mirroring, HDMI x 4, USB x 3, headphone/subwoofer output x 1, component in (Y/Pb/Pr), composite in (AV) x 2, digital audio out x 1, Audio In x 2, HDMI PC in x 1, Scart x 1, RF In (Terrestrial / Cable input) x 1, MHL, CI+ slot
- RMT-TX100D remote control
- Energy efficiency class: A
- Typical power consumption: 84W - 177W
- Size without stand (WxHxD): 1093 x 643 x 60 mm
- Size with stand (WxHxD): 1093 x 679 x 201 mm
User questions
Sorry - questions and comments on this page are now closed.
Dose this tv support Alexa?
Asked by Mel
from England
on 30th Dec 2017
Does anyone know What is the difference between the 8305 and the 8309C?
Asked by
Peter
from Ireland
on 25th Nov 2017
I know the 8305 now has the alexa app for voice control, youd think
that the higher the model number is the newer the TV is however it
would appear that the 8305 is a newer model than the 8309C.
Is the 8309 Sony ultra hd better then the 8305?
Asked by Charlotte
from UK
on 23rd Nov 2017
Do you recommend the 8309 model or the 8305 model.
Reply by peter
from ireland
on 25th Nov 2017
From what I can gather the 8305 is a newer model than the 8309,
strange I know but the 8305 supports Alexa whereas the 8309 as yet
does not, hope this helps.
Sony KD-49X8309C user reviews
Sorry - reviews and comments on this page are now closed.
Average rating from 16 reviews:
Reviewed by michael_scott
from uk
on 10th Aug 2017
This Sony (in the 43" KD-43X8309C version) is a lovely
television:after correctly installing the (latest) firmware
(july/august 2017)it has no satellite access at all through the
setting menu whatever options are chosen.
I wonder whether Sony
firmware designers check ALL functions after a firmware change......?
Very frustrating.
The settings menu(s) are not user friendly as
much as other high quality TV manufacturers,such a pity!
Rating:
Reviewed by Ross
from Uk
on 30th Dec 2016
Had this tv for 6 months its very good. Only thing is its abit slow at
first but after that its brilliant.
Rating:
Reviewed by Jim Davies
from U.K.
on 14th Dec 2016
Had this tv for 12 months. Excellent quality picture and sound best of
TVs without using a sounbar. However, would no longer recommend Sony
as I have had this set changed due to software continually rebooting
at least twice a week on average going back to android reboot.
Also in-built Youview very slow to change channels and reduces quality
of picture.
Changed to Sony from Panasonic due to "screechy"
sound on Panasonic.
Rating:
Reviewed by Colin Birks
from United Kingdom
on 15th Nov 2016
Hated it! The software is rubbish. Bought a Samsung 8 series a week
later.
Rating:
Reviewed by Tillee
from UK
on 11th Nov 2016
I have this television - had it just over a year and have had no
problems at all. It is connected to Internet and Sky TV. Updates run
exactly as they should, you get asked if you want to run the update
"now or later, as the TV cannot be used during the update time". You
need a sound bar to get a higher volume of sound though.
Rating:
Reviewed by Tim
from UK
on 8th Oct 2016
Can't get satellite tuner to work.
If I select "preferred
satellite" from the inputs menu then select channel search, the
satellite search option is unavailable.
Rating:
Reviewed by Rob
from UK
on 19th Aug 2016
DONT BUY THIS TV!!, ours has been updating for 7 days now. Sony sent
out usb stick to plug in and it didn't make a difference. Sony IT
don't work weekends so I've been told today Friday the 7th day without
a TV we will get a call back in 24 - 48 hrs!! Very poor service and
will be 10 days without TV come Monday.
Rating:
Reviewed by joe quinn
from n.ireland
on 20th Jun 2016
Having just bought one of these tvs, I would like to know how to get
freeview on it. When I
bought this, I was told that it had
freeview and Saorview(for Irish Channels) installed. Having checked
with Saorview ltd, i found that they are not on this tv at all.
Rating:
Reviewed by Michael Campbell
from Uk
on 4th Jun 2016
TV is slow at doing anything can't change channel most the to and when
you finely think it's going change channel it don't and then it
freezing.
Rating:
Reviewed by Don
from UK
on 31st May 2016
I like this TV the picture is superb. However it would be nice to have
a user manual that covered most of the options! A manual can be
downloaded from the Sony site- 102 pages but it still looks a bit
sparse.
Rating:
Reviewed by Jim Suttie
from United Kingdom
on 12th Mar 2016
Worst TV I have ever had, very poor support manual is not helpful does
not provide enough detail on problems, the TV is not used often as in
a sun room, however when switched it defaults to no picture / audio
only. It is difficult to amend the picture status and the remote
control is very slow to respond. Finally reset all the settings on
advice from PC World help desk and this has not resolved the issue,
back to using my old Sharp TV which provides a picture on power up.
Would not buy another Sony product which is a shame as my main TV is a
Sony Bravia around 3 years old and it is excellent.
Please note
that I am not someone who is not technical, I am an electronic
engineer.
Rating:
Reviewed by Ashley
from England
on 27th Feb 2016
Just returned this Sony to Currys, TV would not boot up so was left
with a blank screen after 3 hours of trying, in shop they had another
so asked to see it working before I took it home, no prizes for
guessing this one was exactly the same a total piece of junk, will try
a Samsung or the new Panasonics due out soon, no faith in Sony
anymore.
Rating:
Reviewed by Mike Hobbs
from UK
on 3rd Jan 2016
I purchased this TV on new year's eve with particular interest on
seeing the fireworks in upscaled HD. I personally find the picture
fantastic and haven't experienced any of the issues described below.
Colours are superb and images sharp with HD upscaling. The 5 year
guarantee gives confidence too. The only let down is the sound
quality. The guy in the store (curry's) told me it would be very poor
so advised me to buy a £250 sound bar and sub-woofer as there
are no phono outs (that would enable me to wire to my hifi. Being
naturally sceptical I told him I'd see how I got on with it. On
setting it up I found the sound is very tinny to be fair and I decided
I would wire it through the hifi via the headphone 3.5mm socket. The
sound is actually good, but I've decided to order an adaptor for the
optical output to phono connections which should make the sound great.
Other than that I think the TV is great and can't wait
until 4K is available. At £699 I think it's a fair price for a
4K TV and would recommend it.
Rating:
Reviewed by Pippa
from UK
on 22nd Dec 2015
I have just returned this TV after 1 week of constant trouble.
Pixilating picture, constantly needed re-tuning, freezes in the menus
and difficult to set up at certain stages. Screen sometimes went blank
and froze in catch up TV quite a lot. Basically a week of stress.
Luckily Curry's let me bring it in for checking and it performed badly
for them too so I got a full refund. Word of warning, you need to
prove to Currys that there is a fault before any returns or refunds
are granted if it is unpacked. I will be going back to a Samsung
now.
Rating:
Reviewed by George
from uk
on 3rd Dec 2015
I Exchanged this model for the KD43X8309CBU I had purchased three
weeks before and did not expect that this the 49" would end up having
the same problem?
The remote when you want to change channels,
fail to work you can operate other functions on the remote.
You
end up having to turn it off at the mains socket and restart the TV,
happened quite a lot, you can turn it off with the remote & but
you are left with the sound of the channel you had been watching and a
blank screen. have now returned it to store.
Rating:
Reviewed by Tom
from UK
on 6th Nov 2015
Looks great on paper and when I first bought it I liked it although it
didn't have a number of catch up services. Recently they have added
itv player, all4 and five on demand. But the biggest gripe is the
android OS which is simply not good enough. Constant freezes,
unresponsive menus and weird things such as TV being off but sound
continuing to play. I will probably have to return it based on this
because it's unusable.
Rating: