I have thought smart TVs were a silly gimmick ever since they came out. There are plenty of streaming media players, Smart Blu-ray players, and game consoles that have the same functionality as a smart TV, and that way, you can pick your apps seperatly from your TV. You can also connect a computer to most TVs.
What is the advantage to a smart TV? Last time I checked, they were $50-100 more than a comparable non-smart TV, and most streaming media players are within the same price range.
AFAIK, there is no exclusive content that can only be had by purchasing a smart TV.
The only “advantage” I can see is a few less wires connecting your TV to various devices. But since I’m not concerned with such trivialities, I’d rather spend the extra money on a larger/better dumb TV.
I have one and I can’t see any real advantages to them. The “smart” functions performed by the TV are more easily accomplished and far better implemented by other devices like a smart phone, tablet or desktop computer. That goes for smart disc players, too.
I didn’t buy my TV for any smart abilities - I was after the size and quality of the picture, but there was nothing “dumb” available with my requirements at the time.
No need for a streaming media player, blu-ray or console…
Personally, I think TVs shouldn’t come with speakers, much less apps, but I can see why people would want to reduce the number of components they need to use to watch a show.
If the smart TV is implemented well, it can significantly improve the usability of the package, compared to a separate dumb TV and tuner. For example, with a dumb TV and Roku player, a typical interaction might go like this:
Turn on TV.
Select the input on the TV that the Roku player is connected to.
Put down TV remote, pick up Roku remote.
Navigate to the Roku app you want and select a program.
Put down Roku remote, pick up TV remote, adjust volume.
With a Roku TV, there is only one remote. Furthermore, the TV tuning functionality is integrated into the user interface. The Roku TV remote does not even have numeric buttons. Tuning to TV channels is done by navigating the Roku menus. A universal remote can mitigate this somewhat, but it’s still essential for the user to understand that he’s controlling two separate devices.
This is all somewhat moot however; most TVs are smart and in a few years all of them will be. In fact, if you’re seeing dumb TVs in your search today, you must be looking at very small cheap TVs. TVs with larger screens are almost universally smart. It’s just a question of what kind of software you want in your TV.
That’s all it is. I have a smart TV, but all I use it as is a monitor. My TV can stream Netflix and has all kinds of apps, as well as my tuner and my blu-ray. However, I have a TiVo and do everything from that (and then some).
OTOH, my parents have exactly zero interest in all that. They turn on the TV and cable box and watch TV. Watching a DVD is a whole big thing for them and watching something on a VHS (yes, move on) requires changing out wires.
But, let’s step back a bit, they turn on the TV and the cable box and watch TV, that’s easy. Since the TV can stream Netflix, when they push the big red Netflix button the TV overrides anything else going on. No cycling through inputs, to find the Blu-ray or Roku, no wondering why the sound isn’t working etc. It just works.
People, like myself, that have pretty much forever, had the TV + Tuner/speakers have no problem with this setup. I can turn on my TV, wake up my Tivo and turn on my tuner in a matter of about 2 seconds without really thinking about it. Even my kid can do it.
Going back to my parents, they want nothing to do with that. I set it up for them once, years ago, and they were none to happy about turning off the TV and still being able to hear it*. Their new TV has stupid speakers that face backwards. They complain about the awful sound, but I told them that the solution is external speakers and a tuner and they’re not interested.
It is a lot of extra steps to people that don’t care that much…and most people don’t care that much and most people don’t understand why anyone else would care that much either. Try writing down the steps to turn everything on and off for a house/babysitter, you can see why most people don’t understand, even when you’re like ‘but just listen to the sound, it sounds so much better…I know, you’re not supposed to notice it, that means it’s setup correctly’.
Long story short, you can call it a gimmick, but it works very well for people that want a TV and want to be able to stream netflix and aren’t interested in having to figure out how to do it. Just push the red button and off you go. Nothing wrong with that. It’s no different than wanting a car that has XM built in. It’s a lot easier than streaming Pandora through the speakers.
*It’s so much nicer now with HDMI that turning off one thing (the TV in my case) shuts down everything.
Nm
It’s basically a Tablet- PC with a big screen, on which you can:
- stream Netflix directly via the TV, without the need of another device
- run things like Kodi
- play a few games like solitaire or PacMan type of games
But… it all depends how smart your smart TV is and how often the manufacturer releases updates or supports the product.
There isn’t much advantage at all. The problem is that the divisions of companies that make Smart TV’s don’t know much about software development. That includes Samsung that also makes tablets and other computers. There is little way to do it effectively today. I have a supplemental Samsung Smart TV in my bedroom that can be used to watch straight TV but the “smart” features are effectively useless because they are already out of date.
Smart TV’s last many years (at least the TV part) while apps only have a life expectancy of a couple of years. They are completely different design models. How are they supposed to know what the TV they sell you today is supposed to support in 2027 when many of them sold today will still be around?
It is better to use an external device like Google Chromecast or a Roku that can be replaced easily and cheaply when needed. I use a full-fledged desktop computer that can run just about anything but that is overkill for many people. Still, there is a fundamental design problem with devices that try to do everything by themselves.
They always have a weak link and software compatibility over time is a huge one. I personally only expect my large screen TV to display a decent picture. The computer can handle the streaming software and even a cheap dedicated sound system can provide better sound than almost any TV by itself. It isn’t complicated at all to set something like that up and let the individual systems do their own jobs.
Talking about smart TVs deserves a flashback to show just how far they’ve advanced:
(Bolding mine.) LA Times, February 1999.
I distinctly remember a large screen TV at Costco around 2001 (or so) going for $30,000. Today, Costco sells bigger smart ones for maybe $1,500.
That’s mostly true, but of course it doesn’t apply to Roku, which makes both streaming set top boxes and also TV software. Reviewers for the most part have agreed that Roku TVs have the best software of any smart TVs. And all Roku TVs get software updates with essentially the same schedule as their set top boxes.
But it’s a valid point that the integration of features is not an advantage for everyone. If a person is technically proficient and comfortable with separate components, that kind of setup is cheaper to update when they need or want to replace a single component.
Although the up-front cost of a TV plus external streamer and other components may be higher than that of an integrated smart TV, which is another consideration.
Yes true, but google is trying to help solve this. There is a specific build of android called “AndroidTV” which a few manufacturers are using now (note that just because your TV box is running android DOESN’T mean it’s “AndroidTV”, there is lots of cheap android boxes not using this version). I have a Sony Bravia late 2016 model with AndroidTV, it’s good. The menus are slick and easy to use and because it’s Android I know that it will keep getting updates.
Even though I have a PS4 connected to the Bravia I also find the built in Apps useful sometimes, but yeah there simply wasn’t a “dumb” tv available with the features I wanted (4K HDR).
And for JoeyP, why would you buy a tuner and speakers to use with a TV? All modern TV’s have a sound output, much easier to buy a set of powered speakers, no tuner needed. And yes you can get excellent sound quality with powered speakers if you buy something like Behringer Studio Monitors or BOSE, powered speakers doesn’t have to mean cheap computer speakers.
While that’s all true, it’s also possible that in 10 years the Chromecast plugged into your TV won’t be supported and whatever has replaced it may very well not use a HDMI port, but whatever has surpassed it. You’re also correct that software for TV tends to fall behind, but unlike hardware, at least there’s it might still work, and FWIW, when something in my system is wonky, I can still watch Netflix directly on my TV.
Which brings us to the next point…
That is one thing I really like about separate components. A crackly speaker doesn’t mean buying a new TV. Etc. Of course, every decade or so, I still end up starting over because things are so mismatched. The last time I did it, I replaced the TV, receiver and blu-ray to get everything up HDMI connections.
But, again, some people just don’t care for that. Case in point, I can’t convince one of my employees that a combo fax-scanner-printer-copier is a good idea. He doesn’t seem to understand that even though the space savings would be nice, I’m not interested in losing all of those things if something happens.
And to bring it back to the OP, most people just don’t care, most people don’t want all this equipment in their living room. They want a TV, maybe a DVR they got from their cable provider and they want a way to watch Netflix and that’s it. So they go to Best Buy and look for a TV that says “NETFLIX” on the box, which just so happens to mean it’s a smart TV.
I’m considering a smart TV; my 52" Samsung is dumb, although it does have HDMI ports. The new one will be for a different home. The smart TVs on the market seem to have a very kludgy browser interface, so which ones have the best interface? I use a laptop, iPhone, or Apple TV, (in that order of preference) to access the internet; my preference based on the interface.
Like others said, it’s just nice to have it all in one place and without extra components. I used to have the TV hooked up to a Wii pretty much just for Netflix and hooked up to a computer for other streaming video (we used the Wii for Netflix so we could use the remote). Now it’s one television that streams Netflix, Youtube, Kodi, etc via the one remote. It has internal storage in case I want to store movies directly on it or play them off a USB stick. I can view content from my tablet on the TV via Chromecast. Less used but still nifty is Pandora, the ability to play games and it even has a web browser which is clunky but has come in useful a couple times. Between the TV’s remote and a small Bluetooth keyboard I paired to it, everything is easy.
Necessary? Of course not. But it’s nice. It runs off AndroidTV so I have optimism for its continued functionality but, if three or four years from now I need to buy a Roku-style device then that’s no big deal either.
Honestly, it’s like most tech; I thought my smartphone was silly too the first time I upgraded to one and now it’s used all the time. I never bothered with a tablet until one fell into my lap for super-cheap and now it’s used daily. The SmartTV is, as previously noted, essentially a 50" tablet.
Define “smart”.
My Samsung TV was labelled as smart - all that means it that it is easier to connect up and control the players, sound bar and digital interface. Then Samsung bought out “SMART” TVs. These are the ones that the CIA are supposed to be interested in and they have a camera at the top of the screen. They are smart because you can give them verbal or visual instructions.
In this context, “Smart” generally means that the TV has additional capabilities via apps (like a smartphone) for things like streaming media. More advanced ones may also, as you mention, have voice controls or expanded app features, etc.
I haven’t noticed that. By in large, Netflix is Netflix is Netflix. The sole difference I’ve noticed between streaming stuff via my TV and streaming it via other devices is having to use the remote to enter text and I just paired a keyboard with the TV instead. But I’ll also admit that this may differ greatly based on what OS the TV is using and maybe some make it a chore.
Using a PC gives you endless possibilties. A TV with built in apps will show you the same Netflix, but you are stuck with the apps that the manufacturer put on there.
Our smart tv connects to the internet, which allows us to watch Netflix. While I gather there are other ways to accomplish that, we never figured out how. We watched Netflix on our iPads before we realized we could watch on our tv. (In the “old days” we got Netflix DVDs in the mail)