The Sony KLV-32R512 is a 32-inch LED TV that’s geared towards us, the masses but it’s not just another LED TV. It is priced aggressively to be attractive as well. It’s only an HD-ready display, which might turn you off, but it has some of the smart TV features that we’ve expected from TVs priced quite a bit higher up the order. We explore the TV to see how these features work and if it’s worth spending that little more on a smart TV than just a simple model.
Design
The Sony 32R512C sports a pretty simple design, something that resembles most of Sony’s offerings in the R series of TVs, which are geared more towards the value consumer. The bezel is really slim, comparable to that of larger, premium TVs and it’s definitely as thin as it gets for models in this sort of price category. The slim bezel and design is all thanks to the edge-lit LED setup that’s used on TVs very commonly these days.
There is a small green coloured power indicator at the bottom of the TV. The back of the TV is pretty thin too, for the most part. There is a thicker block that houses all of the connectors you will use to connect your sources to the TV. The rear of the TV is made of plastic, but it’s of a sturdy variety that doesn’t flex or creak under pressure. The thin bezel also means that the speakers can’t be lined up at the front, so they’re down-firing. The frame has been broadened in a manner that there is enough space for the large speakers to be mounted easily. The remote control is compact, has few buttons, is easy to use and has a nice little depression at the back to place your finger on.
Features
When it comes to specifications, the KLV-32R512C is like most other TVs. This model has a 32-inch screen, running a HD-ready resolution (1366x768). The R512C is a new model launched in 2015. It has a refresh rate of 100Hz. The speaker setup is simple; it’s a 30W setup, with the two speakers rated at 8W each and the woofer unit at 14W. Connectivity options are pretty good too. The TV has two HDMI ports, one on the side, and the other at the back. MHL is supported too, so you can connect a compatible mobile phone and do a wired screen mirroring on it. HDMI-CEC is another feature that is rarely spoken about TVs, but this one has it too. This feature is specifically useful if you have a compatible source connected to your TV. It lets you use the TV remote to control the other devices as well.
Both the USB ports are positioned on the side, so you can easily reach to the back of the TV to plug in USB pen and hard drives. We tried connecting a 500GB hard drive, which is ran pretty well. The Sony 32R512C has some smart TV features, so WiFi comes built into the TV and you also get a wired RJ45 Ethernet port if you have a router close by. The most important smart feature is the Youtube streaming, which quite frankly, is the most important one can have in a smart TV. It allows you to stream practically unlimited amounts of quality video content from the web on a variety of topics. All you need to have is a decent internet connection. The TV has WiFi support, it includes WiFi Direct which can be used for a number of things. The most obvious application is the ability to do wireless screen mirroring. Some of the other options are the ability to stream photos from the TV to the phone. There’s also FM radio support for those who like listening to it from time to time.
Performance
The Sony KLV-32R512C is quick to start up. Unlike other smart TVs that have huge, bulky interfaces, this one is quick. The interface reacts nearly instantly to the remote inputs and there are no long, boring pauses between screens. The only time you notice some kind of slowdown is when you connect a hard drive and wait for thumbnails to load. This can take quite some time if you have a lot of content. Thankfully, you don’t have to wait for every thumbnail to load and the interface continues to respond actively.
Despite being an HD-ready display that runs a resolution of 1366x768, the 32R512C has a rather pleasant picture quality. We tried a selection of clips ranging from documentaries to movies. All of them had good detail, as long as you view them from at least 2-3ft away. There’s no pixilation that you can notice from this distance. Colours are very natural and the UI lends itself well to tweaking the picture quality to your liking. Not much has changed from the previous generation of models. We initially used the Standard mode with some tweaks to review the panel. We bumped up the colour saturation and the backlight just a few notches. The sound is pretty loud, but nothing spectacular. There is a small vent facing the rear, while is used by the woofer. It handles the sound fine, as long as you keep it under the 60-70% mark.
Verdict
The Sony KLV-32R512C is a good TV for its price. It’s a great TV if you purely want a good picture quality, but don’t care about the full HD spec tag on it. You can buy it from our stores for roughly around Rs. 33,000 price range. In addition to the pretty picture quality, you get the ability to do smart TV features such as screen mirroring, but more importantly, stream Youtube.
