I have to be honest. My reaction when I first caught wind of Sony’s plans to launch the Sony Bravia 32W830 was of utter disbelief. In a country that is receiving its fair share of low-cost, full-HD TVs, the move by Sony to launch its newest Bravia model at Rs. 31,999 seemed odd to say the least. Sony, however, was quick to tell me that the TV was much more than what its headline numbers suggest. Try it out they said and so I did.
To my surprise, right at the outset, the 32W830 dispelled all the notions that I had created in my head. The Sony 32W830 is easily the best built 32-inch television out there. The plastics are of great quality, the construction is solid and feels way better than most other televisions even priced above it. The bezels are slim and the stand is sturdy unlike in many other models.
Just as the screen came to life, it was easy to see why Sony was making such a big deal about this 32-inch model. A number of players might have entered the TV space and turned it into a fight to the bottom as far as pricing is concerned, but I have not yet seen picture quality of the calibre that Sony is offering here. Sony says that it is an amalgam of a number of technologies that makes this possible. Its picture processing tech X-Reality Pro coupled with HDR 10 deliver vivid colours and make it hard for you to believe that this is not an HD-television. In fact, only the keen eyed could spot that it wasn’t which is testament to the quality on offer here. When viewing fast paced videos, the Motionflow XR 200 helped smoothen the action out and made for a better viewing experience especially when it came to streaming racing on the weekend.
The audio quality on offer here outperforms the competition as well. The 20-watt speakers are plenty loud and is tuned to be a little bass-heavy. We are told that the open baffle design of the speaker along with Dolby Audio helps with clearer and richer sound and I, for one, can attest to that. During the review period, I found it easy to listen to and follow movie dialogues at really low volumes. Now, it might not seem like much but it does make it far easier to binge content without turning the volume up to and uncomfortable level.
The 32W830 runs Android TV and as such the UI experience is nearly indistinguishable from other brands. But there is one thing that stands out. Sony seems to have packed the TV with enough processing power to make it rather sprightly. Most other TVs of this size, and even this price point, are downright sluggish when it comes to navigating the Android TV menus.
The 32W830 is the most affordable Bravia on sale today. And that says a lot about how Sony has gone about building this offering. The company could easily have given the expensive image processing tech a miss and offered something far more affordable. But they didn’t do that. The Bravia name here comes with much of what its far more expensive siblings bring to the table. This television might be on the pricier side but what it packs in makes it a great option for anyone looking to get an Android TV in 2021.