Why You Can Trust CNET Sony Bravia NX713 (KDL-46NX713) review: Sony Bravia NX713 (KDL-46NX713)
The 46-inch Sony Bravia KDL-46NX713 LED TV looks ace and offers top-class 2D pictures, as well as excellent Internet features. Just don't bother with its unimpressive 3D setting.
The Bravia KDL-46NX713 slots in towards the higher end of Sony's line-up of TVs, sitting just below the company's premium LX tellies, but above the HX and EX models. Its key selling points are its slim design, LED backlighting, and impressive Internet and networking features.
Sony Bravia NX713 (KDL-46NX713)
The Good
The Bad
The Bottom Line
Currently you can buy it online for around £900. This 46-inch, 1080p LCD set is also 3D-ready. The add-on 3D transmitter is available for around £50, with each pair of glasses costing an additional £100.
Design and connectivity
Whichever way you look at it, the KDL-46NX713 is a real beauty. The screen sits flush with the bezel so that the front appears to be made from a single sheet of glass. The telly's supremely thin too, measuring a mere 31mm deep.
As you'd expect from a TV in this price bracket, the NX713 isn't found wanting when it comes to ports. There are two HDMI sockets mounted on the side and another two on the rear. Along with these, there are component, Scart, VGA and composite sockets, although some of these connections have to be made via short adaptor cables.
Media-playback support and online connectivity is good too. The TV has a USB port for connecting up external hard drives, and an Ethernet socket for hooking it up to a wired network. There's also integrated Wi-Fi, so you don't have to run any unsightly cables to the TV if you don't have an Ethernet socket nearby.
The TV uses the older XrossMediaBar user interface, rather than the updated UI found on the likes of the KDL-40CX523. XrossMediaBar isn't exactly a bad system, but it can be a tad complex to navigate and it's not as speedy as the new user interface.
Online content
The KDL-46NX713 excels when it comes to online content. Along with the BBC's iPlayer service, the TV offers access to Demand 5, LoveFilm, and Sony's own Qriocity on-demand movie-rental service. You also get apps for social-media sites like Twitter and Facebook.
The set plays a range of different media formats, including MP3 music, JPEG pictures and Xvid and DivX video files. It didn't recognise the MKV files we had on our network-attached storage drive, though, which is a tad disappointing, as most LG TVs now support this format.
Freeview HD
The KDL-46NX713 has a Freeview HD tuner, so you can tune into the two BBC HD offerings, as well as the high-definition channels from ITV and Channel 4.
Sony's electronic programme guide is also rather nifty. It has a clean layout, and includes a handy video thumbnail of the currently selected channel in the top left-hand corner of the screen.
Image quality
The TV uses Sony's Bravia Engine and Motionflow 100Hz system for its picture-processing prowess. Upscaling of standard-definition material, such as movies on DVD and standard-definition channels on Freeview, is surprisingly good. The picture-processing tech manages to sharpen images up without introducing much extra noise.
The LED backlighting helps the set to produce really bright and punchy pictures. Colours look rich but also very natural. The deep black levels are impressive too, allowing the set to deliver images with bags of contrast -- something that's especially noticeable when watching good Blu-ray transfers.
We have a few minor quibbles, though. A smidgen of shimmering creeps in here and there when the TV is dealing with plenty of fast motion, and there's some ever-so-slight haloing from the backlight visible in very dark scenes.
3D performance
This model is primarily designed as a 2D performer, with 3D an optional extra. We wouldn't recommend it for 3D viewing.
For starters, the 3D transmitter looks rather ungainly perched on top or in front of the TV, and the active glasses are heavy and uncomfortable. The biggest problem, though, is the amount of crosstalk, or double images. This issue really is quite distracting, especially as it's not limited to just background parts of the image, but also rears its head in the middle and near distance at times. Put simply -- if you want 3D, there are much better options on the market.
Conclusion
If you can live without 3D -- and, let's face it, most people don't seem to give two hoots about the technology -- the Sony Bravia KDL-46NX713 is a good option, thanks to its excellent picture quality and great line-up of Internet features.
Edited by Charles Kloet