I love the idea of smart TVs, but every single implementation I've seen in the last few years has been utter garbage. Everything they do is one step forward and like 3-30 steps back.
For example, I recently bought a low-end Samsung TV running Tizen, which meant I could return my set-top-box (ISP has a Tizen app), get rid of my barely-functioning miracast stick, bluetooth transmitter (native features) and media PC (apps for YouTube, Netflix and Spotify).
But then, the thing has so many dumb design choices that it constantly makes me want to go back my horrible old setup.
- Turning on the sleep timer takes 21 clicks and avg. 47 seconds if you know exactly how to do it (instead of having it in the quick menu).
- I have to manually switch between the speakers and my surround system, which takes 6 or so clicks and 30 seconds (instead of just always outputting to toslink).
- The TV can only boot to an input, not an app, so I have to manually open the TV app every time I turn it on.
- Even though the remote has like a billion buttons, only 30% of them actually do things in any given context.
- WHYYY is there a dedicated RokutenTV button on the remote that I can't remap??
- I can't use my phone to type text into text inputs (LGs can do this, badly) and why does it make me use arrow keys on an on-screen keyboard when I have a full number pad on the remote to do multi-tap/T9??
It looks like the entire industry seems to be entirely incompetent at creating software and is too stubborn to admit it and give us the tools to fix it for them.
My parents have a high end Samsung tv from about 5 years ago and somehow the thing has slowed down to unbearable levels. Just changing the volume and channel is difficult. A factory reset didn't fix it so I suspect the issue is software updates.
They're gonna make tvs like phones have become. I shouldn't have needed to upgrade my phone this year; the phone I'd bought in 2015 was still plenty powerful for what I used it for. But if I wanted security updates I had to upgrade to a newer android version, and as soon as I did that the phone became noticeably slower and battery life was cut in half. The android platform is fragmented across so many devices that no company is going to put in the effort to keep all of their devices updated and functioning well.
I'm pretty happy with my cheapo TCL tv with Roku built in. I think offloading the interface, at least to some degree, to Roku was a good choice. It's not the prettiest nor the most flexible, but it gets the job done better than all previous solutions I've had.
Yes, it has the permanent buttons for Netflix, Sling, and I think two others I can't recall off the top of my head. I don't really care.
I haven't tried it in a while, but the companion phone app that you can use as a remote was so flaky I quit using it all together. The remote works fine for everything except typing.
Honestly I have the opposite feedback for a Samsung TV. It’s a really nice aluminium remote, there are less than 8 buttons total, and yet I can use TV, Netflix and YouTube perfectly. My only gripe is that I can’t VPN with it to get US Netflix. Oh and the ads on the menu :(
Must be a higher-end thing, for whatever reason. Mine is literally the cheapest 43-inch 4K "HDR" model they sell (for a bit under 300€).
I got a plastic remote with a fair amount of buttons that are much closer to standard a dumb TV remote (and rather suspiciously similar to LG's...).
I also haven't found any ads in any menu, despite being connected to the Interned and logged into a Samsung account (by necessity).
I use IPTV and my provider's client app is in the Samsung app store, which requires an account to download things from. The Spotify app was also not pre-installed, so I needed the store for that too.
Haha I'm jealous. My tv can only boot to an app and not an input, but the operating system it came with is SO SLOW, that I have to use some kind of casting device.
For example, I recently bought a low-end Samsung TV running Tizen, which meant I could return my set-top-box (ISP has a Tizen app), get rid of my barely-functioning miracast stick, bluetooth transmitter (native features) and media PC (apps for YouTube, Netflix and Spotify).
But then, the thing has so many dumb design choices that it constantly makes me want to go back my horrible old setup. - Turning on the sleep timer takes 21 clicks and avg. 47 seconds if you know exactly how to do it (instead of having it in the quick menu). - I have to manually switch between the speakers and my surround system, which takes 6 or so clicks and 30 seconds (instead of just always outputting to toslink). - The TV can only boot to an input, not an app, so I have to manually open the TV app every time I turn it on. - Even though the remote has like a billion buttons, only 30% of them actually do things in any given context. - WHYYY is there a dedicated RokutenTV button on the remote that I can't remap?? - I can't use my phone to type text into text inputs (LGs can do this, badly) and why does it make me use arrow keys on an on-screen keyboard when I have a full number pad on the remote to do multi-tap/T9??
It looks like the entire industry seems to be entirely incompetent at creating software and is too stubborn to admit it and give us the tools to fix it for them.