Most smart TV owners still use an external streaming device

[What Hi-Fi?]

Most people with a smart TV still use a streaming box or dongle, despite their TV offering the same features. But why?

Most smart TV owners still use an external streaming device : Read more

 

[Freddy]

I use a Fire Stick still.

 

[WayneKerr]

My pannie plasma went dumb so I had to invest in the cheapest option, a Fire Stick. All smart TVs go dumb eventually.

 

[Freddy]

My pannie plasma went dumb so I had to invest in the cheapest option, a Fire Stick. All smart TVs go dumb eventually.

Haha.

 

[drinking12many]

The simple answer for me was my newer smart tv (Vizio P series bought in 2021), chromecast, PS5 etc not supporting all formats/codecs. I got so tired of fighting various issues with FLAC not streaming through Plex (without transcoding), or Dolby Vision only working through some streaming apps but only working sometimes with Plex depending on Profile, not being able to do TrueHD passthrough to my AVR (x3500h) was another major WTF At first my PS5 and TV didn't get along so it down converted 4K UHD disks to 1080p (fixed with a TV firmware a bit back) I just finally gave up and got a Shield pro and literally all my major issues went away and just work now. Now if the PS5 just supported Vision so I didnt have to get another UHD player for that all would be golden. I miss the days you just plugged a TV in and everything just worked all the various codec/support issues make it a nightmare.

 

[Friesiansam]

We don't use a dedicated streaming device but, the streaming functions of our Freesat box. work better then the TV's.

 

[Hifiman]

We use different types of Fire Sticks on different TVs. The consistency of the interface just makes life easier. Also, you can take it on the road to, say, a hotel and just continue where you left off. With a fast VPN that applies abroad too. As an Amazon Music subscriber it can be used for that if necessary.

 

[Gerry01773]

I have the impression that my smart TV collects more personal information about me than my Firestick does. (Someone please reply if that’s wrong.) Also, I run all devices, Firestick, BlueRay, CD/DVD player, STB, tape deck, turntable, through my receiver, then to a single HDMI port on the TV. This simplifies device selection.

 

[WhiteKnight2020]

Shield pro here, DV profile support, HD audio passthrough on Plex. Also LG C8 streaming apps (iPlayer and C4 particularly) constantly buffer even on wired internet and no eArc.

 

[Scaadoo]

Sound quality on my Samsung smart TV for Spotify and BBC Sounds is just not good at all - for YouTube it's OK

So I bought a Bluesound Node and online music listening is great again

 

[Betamax_man]

I disconnected my smart TV from the Internet because I was sick and tired of the pop-ups that appeared from BBC iPlayer. Using a fire TV stick and turning off the TV WiFi gets rid of it. I can even control the fire TV stick with the TV remote. Plus, of cause, you can load whatever compatible Android app you like onto it. It's a no brained really.

 

[bemaniac]

Sony XD8599 - Too slow to even operate - Nvidia shield Pro
Sony XF9005 - Too slow for 4k from apps and usb - Roku UHD
LG Oled C9 - Just about hanging on with its processor for 4k hdr currently.

Stop putting rockchip and cheaper mediatek chips in tvs. We pay £1200-£1800 for all of them so why not just whack a £100 nvidia tegra in the models that sell over £1000?

 

[mjaggard]

This is exactly why TVs should not be smart. They take longer to start up than a non-smart one, they are out of date almost immediately, they ignore the principal of doing one thing and doing it well. Even if they put proper processors and software in they'd still get out of date and you need to be able to replace the processor long before you need a new screen where the technology is changing much slower.

 

[Movielad76]

Even my year old Sony Bravia KD-55XH90/P feels old now with Android TV. Sony wouldn't answer whether they would upgrade it to Google TV or how long security updates are going to be supplied for. Thank goodness I have a router which has vulnerability scanning and anti-malware which will hopefully offer some protection against any potential miscreant app or behaviour coming from it.

Which is why I heavily lean on the Apple TV (currently 2021, but have ordered the 2022) for most content because Apple updates regularly and adds new features pretty frequently too.

 

[dorch]

Apple TV 4K feeds receiver for sound and TV for image. Lower quality sound if TV feeds receiver

 

[GSV Ethics Gradient]

Amazon, Netflix and YouTube work better on my TV than previous external sources. And all codes on one remote. What's not to like?

 

[Hifiman]

I disconnected my smart TV from the Internet because I was sick and tired of the pop-ups that appeared from BBC iPlayer. Using a fire TV stick and turning off the TV WiFi gets rid of it. I can even control the fire TV stick with the TV remote. Plus, of cause, you can load whatever compatible Android app you like onto it. It's a no brained really.

I am with you regarding the intrusive BBC ‘green button’ pop ups every time you change to a BBC channel or a new programme comes on. However, despite this annoyance, I have kept iPlayer on the TV as well as the Firestick for one reason only: 4K HDR. For some reason this is still not available on the FS 4K iPlayer and since BBC programmes, such as Frozen Planet II, look (and somehow sound) so much better if in this format then the TV app is the only way for me to experience it.

 

[Soundria]

I own a TCL QLED Android TV, all available streaming is done from its apps, including music. It works flawlessly so far, even the stereo/multichannel sound using the HDMI passthrough settings. Not yet went dumb For own music and movies an OSMC Vero 4k player is used + KODI + a NAS server.

 

[Kerr]

You can upgrade a device rather easier than upgrade a still perfectly good TV instead. No brainer really

 

[DREADZONE]

We don't use a dedicated streaming device but, the streaming functions of our Freesat box. work better then the TV's.

I had not thought about this aspect before. Can you be more specific about which features work better?
[I do not stream much, but I seem to be able to access all streams from my SkyQ box; I thought the features were site specific.]

 

[Terry Webb]

I use a Ruko Express. Very happy with it.