Sony Bravia KDL-46NX723 review

For 3D, Sony’s TVs all use active shutter glasses and the NX723 is no exception, but because none are included, you’ll have to buy them separately for around £50 each from www.amazon.co.uk. Depth effects were very convincing in our tests, but we still experienced some screen dimming, a side effect of the 3D glasses technology. We prefer passive 3D for its more vibrant colours, even if passive sets have a lower resolution when viewing 3D due to interlacing.

As we expected, the external speaker stand was on a whole other level compared to the integrated speakers found on most TVs. Four internal speakers produce a clear mid-range and crisp, precise highs, while the tiny subwoofer at the back can create surprisingly powerful bass. If space is limited, there are few compact speaker systems that can compete with the SU-46NX1 speaker bar. However, if you’re spending over £1,000 on a TV, we would expect you’ll also want to connect it to a surround sound system.

If you’re after a living-room centrepiece, there are very few TVs that can compete with the NX723 – it looks even better when combined with its speaker stand, and the non-existent screen bezel and vibrant LED picture quality will certainly make it stand out in any room. However, the speaker can’t match the sound quality of a 5.1 system, particularly in films, so you could save yourself several hundred pounds by opting for a plasma TV such as the Panasonic Viera TX-P46GT30B and a separate set of speakers; Panasonic’s TV may not look as sleek but has the edge for image quality.