Sony KDL-26EX553

Available from £325.45

Fits in nicely if space is limited and only a small screen will do

For

• Attractive styling
• decent spread of smart features
• detailed picture
• handles motion well

At just 26in, the Sony KDL-26EX553 looks like it’s been shrunk in the wash. It perches on Sony’s new easel stand, which gives the impression of a floating screen. You can lean the set back by six degrees if the screen sits below eye level, but you can’t rotate it.
The LCD panel has a resolutions of only 1366 x 768-pixels, but this is hardly surprising – the cost of a Full HD screen at this size would hike the price significantly.

The specs are promising: there’s an edge-lit backlight and Sony’s X-Reality processing tech to start with. Built-in wi-fi is a boon and it’s good to see that Sony hasn’t stripped out too many smart features.
Connections include twin HDMI inputs and a single USB socket which is compatible with FAT-formatted hard drives, so you can use an external hard-drive as a PVR or play content through the TV.
Sony KDL-26EX553: Picture quality
Picture quality via the internal Freeview HD tuner is very good. Standard-def TV looks stable and detailed, and colours are nicely judged with natural hues preferred over more garish tones.
With some Olympic action in HD, even though the screen downscales the picture to match the panel’s lower resolution, the levels of sharpness and detail are excellent. Motion is handled well considering the set uses only the most basic version of Sony’s Motionflow tech, too.

Flip to the Star Trek Blu-ray and the Sony shows no sign of clouding or patchiness. Blacks are relatively deep and rich, although whites do lack punch. Textures display a fine sense of realism, though.
Sound quality is substandard even by the relatively low standards set by today’s TVs.
Sony KDL-26X553: Verdict
A bigger hindrance, though, is that it just doesn’t seem brilliant value, especially given the screen size you can enjoy if you spend a few pounds more. But this doesn’t take away the fact that, for a bedroom or kitchen, the Sony is a capable option.