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Why don't people like their Smart TVs? I've had a 4k smart TV for years and love it. Being able to stream without needing my phone is great. It seems ironic th

Why don't people like their Smart TVs? I've had a 4k smart TV for years and love it. Being able to stream without needing my phone is great. It seems ironic that people are complaining about smart TV ads while the [2] link in the OP has an absolutely MASSIVE video ad that takes up 2/3s of the screen. And it's not like you're not being tracked when you stream from a Roku stick / Chromecast. Edit: I have a 4k Samsung that isn't laggy and in general is a very good experience.

DiabloD3 5y ago
Always-on spyware that can brick your TV at any moment due to discontinued services you didn't consent. None of this hardware is useful for 90+% of TV purchasers, they're plugging it into an existing device and never using any self-hosted features, so it is just an added cost that only benefits advertisers and state sponsored actors.
ptmcc 5y ago
Many/most of the built-in interfaces of smart TVs are slow, buggy, and ad/tracker-ridden and have a limited upgrade path, if any. Since there are effectively no dumb TVs on the market anymore, I bought a fancy Sony TV with AndroidTV built-in, hoping that'd it'd be decent enough to use out of the box. Nope. Slow, laggy, and some of the big name streaming apps from the app store just plain don't work. Also when the TV updated itself it broke HDMI-CEC for a good couple months before another update fixed it. Screw that. Bought an AppleTV and it's been great. Unplugged the SmartTV from the network and treat it as a dumb TV now. Yes I know AppleTV is tracking me, too, but at least the user experience is great with no ads.
- yupper32 5y ago
  > Many/most of the built-in interfaces of smart TVs are slow, buggy, and ad/tracker-ridden and have a limited upgrade path, if any. And many of the cheap dumb TVs have shitty audio and often break or burn in after short enough periods of time. If you buy a cheap smart TV I don't expect it to be a great experience, just like I don't expect a cheap dumb TV to provide a good experience. With smart or dumb TVs, you get what you pay for like anything else. I've had a mid-range Samsung for years without issue.
- illegalsmile 5y ago
  I recently bought the latest Sony OLED and find that AndroidTV works just fine for netflix/hulu/hbo/apple/etc...
egberts1 5y ago
Let me Google That For Ya! https://lmgtfy.app/?q=smart+tv+spying+in+you https://lmgtfy.app/?q=smart+tv+spying+in+you
ff317 5y ago
Because it's cheap to replace a roku/chromecast as technology evolves, but TVs tend to be longer-term investments. Hating smart TVs is akin to hating cars that have built-in factory navigation systems. Content streaming devices/services (and mapping/navigation/music for cars) regularly evolve/change with the fast pace of technology and the Internet, while TVs and Cars are hardware you hang onto for a long period of years. You don't want outdated tech baked into your hardware forever, especially tech built in by companies that don't specialize in that stuff to begin with.
- basch 5y ago
  If you want to buy a Google or Roku anyway, why wouldnt you buy the appropriate tv with it built in, and THEN upgrade in 3-5 years when the smarts arent as bright anymore? Are people really expecting a 4 year end of life software upgrade to disable the hdmi ports? You might be able to find a one off freak occurrence, but thats not regular practice. Everyone buying a Spectre/Insignia to avoid smarts is getting a considerably worse picture quality (which I would think is almost number one TV criteria after size) in exchange for nothing. People could look at TV OS as a differentiating factor, not a burden. Make picking your OS your first choice, and find the best panel at budget within that category.
- treesknees 5y ago
  One thing you're forgetting is that smart TVs are much cheaper because the cost is subsidized by the apps, software, and ads. This is why many of these "dumb TVs" aren't hundreds of dollars cheaper than their smart cousins. In my opinion it doesn't matter if outdated software is "baked into your hardware forever" because all I have to do is disable the Internet settings, and plug in a roku/chromecast just like you would on your dumb TV. Difference is my subsidized TV cost way less. In terms of value over time (which is what I assume you meant by calling it an investment) a smart TV makes way more sense even if you don't use the smart features.
justizin 5y ago
Soo.. [1] Having an ad on a web page about concerns with Smart TVs is not the same as the TV manufacturer selling ads on your TV. For one, it's just one more opportunity for the TV to fail. My smart TV won't load its' UI enough for me to select an HDMI input if it can't connect to the internet. [2] Again, there are levels of tracking. I don't know about Roku, but I imagine when you use one, you have tracking from Netflix while watching Netflix, Hulu while watching Hulu, etc.. At least, this is my expectation of my Apple TV. If you're streaming to a Chromecast, you can limit what it sends to Google. [2] None of this has to do with the fact that a manufacturer can apparently brick your TV remotely, and while this is meant as an anti-theft measure, it's pretty easy for them to accidentally include your valid serial # in a CSV or whatever. I'd imagine un-bricking it is very difficult, if even practically possible. All in all, over several years of having Smart TVs, I've still not ditched my Apple TV or Chromecast, and I find that both tend to give me higher quality, though I expected the inverse by avoiding dependence on an HDMI cable. Smart TVs are also amongst the most notoriously poorly updated smart devices, and over time this becomes a risk to your entire home network.
wiskinator 5y ago
I mean, I think the why is answered in [1]. I think a lot of people like being in control of what goes on their network. For those who care about personal network security I imagine there's a big desire to not have a blob of closed source code sitting on (or anywhere near) their home network, or for that matter, their corporate network. Also smart features on most TVs feel like they are fairly slow and seem to get in the way of using the TV as a device driven by a media stick etc. If I've decided that I only want to use an Apple TV (or Roku, or FireTV or my L33z plex client running on a Raspberry Pi), then I don't want to have to wait for my TV to load and boot its own network stack and pile of applications.
bee_rider 5y ago
Sure, but the hypothetical effortful version of myself that actually puts his money where his mouth is would play content he owns from a Linux machine. If that guy ever shows up, it'd be cool to have a TV he could use.
mindslight 5y ago
Even running the site's proprietary software (javascript) on that [2] link, I still don't see this "MASSIVE video ad that takes up 2/3s of the screen". Likely because everything else in my computing environment is Free software, which fosters user-representing extensions such as ad blocking that do their best to remove such hostile garbage. If I'm spending ~thousand dollars on a TV display, the last thing I want is it being locked to some proprietary environment where user-representing functionality has been discouraged or even outright prohibited.
mrweasel 5y ago
Ideally your right, but major stream platforms aren’t available on many smart TVs. Apps aren’t updated. The TV is slow, like really slow. Press the Netflix button on my two year old Philips TV and prepare to wait. Other than being slow, the apps are just worse. The AppleTV is the minimum I accept, and non of the TV make are able to produce anything that comes close. We hate Smart TVs because the manufactures make shitty software.
- yupper32 5y ago
  > Ideally your right, but major stream platforms aren’t available on many smart TVs. The TV is slow, like really slow. Press the Netflix button on my two year old Philips TV and prepare to wait. Other than being slow, the apps are just worse. Besides ads and tracking, there seems to be a trend: People on here are buying shitty TVs and complaining that they're shitty. If you buy a cheap TV, you can't expect it to be good. Dumb or smart.
tomc1985 5y ago
Who says I'm using a Roku? My defanged smart TV has a computer (and a Shield that only runs Kodi) attached to it. Many of us still have large personal media libraries. Samrt TVs do nothing for that.
- yupper32 5y ago
  > Many of us still have large personal media libraries. You are a massively small minority if you're mostly using personal media libraries as your entertainment on your TV.
  - tomc1985 5y ago
    Most anyone in their mid-thirties or older who were computer literate 10-15 years ago cultivated some kind of media library. To say nothing of (ongoing) iTunes/Amazon/Beatport/Junodownload/Bandcamp/etc purchases delivered as mp3 or losslessly, or all the random bootlegs on Soundcloud or blogs, or piracy. Minority, sure. But "massively"? Like, who is your demographic? Gen Z?
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
caconym_ 5y ago
> And it's not like you're not being tracked when you stream from a Roku stick / Chromecast. Believe it or not, there are ways to deliver content to a display that don't involve Roku, Chromecast, or any other instrumented "platform". From the baseline of a society already saturated with ads, I don't think there's anything unusually evil about giving people the choice to share analytics/see ads in exchange for lower hardware prices. But when that choice is obfuscated or taken away entirely, and it becomes difficult or impossible to buy hardware that doesn't spy on you and/or hijack your attention, I see that as a big problem. It's one more step along the road to a world where consumers simply don't have access to general-purpose computer technology.
deeviant 5y ago
> Why don't people like their Smart TVs? The reason why people don't like smart TV's is in literally every other comment on this post: we don't like ads and other data collection activities TV manufacturers are pushing on us. Is that not obvious? > It seems ironic that people are complaining about smart TV ads while the [2] link in the OP has an absolutely MASSIVE video ad that takes up 2/3s of the screen. For the life of me I can't understand why I should dismiss my TV automatically downloading uninstallable apps and unmovable icons in prime UI real estate, serving ads and generally being a menace because there are ads in one dudes link on the internet.

DiabloD3 5y ago

Always-on spyware that can brick your TV at any moment due to discontinued services you didn't consent. None of this hardware is useful for 90+% of TV purchasers, they're plugging it into an existing device and never using any self-hosted features, so it is just an added cost that only benefits advertisers and state sponsored actors.

ptmcc 5y ago

Many/most of the built-in interfaces of smart TVs are slow, buggy, and ad/tracker-ridden and have a limited upgrade path, if any. Since there are effectively no dumb TVs on the market anymore, I bought a fancy Sony TV with AndroidTV built-in, hoping that'd it'd be decent enough to use out of the box. Nope. Slow, laggy, and some of the big name streaming apps from the app store just plain don't work. Also when the TV updated itself it broke HDMI-CEC for a good couple months before another update fixed it. Screw that. Bought an AppleTV and it's been great. Unplugged the SmartTV from the network and treat it as a dumb TV now. Yes I know AppleTV is tracking me, too, but at least the user experience is great with no ads.

yupper32 5y ago
> Many/most of the built-in interfaces of smart TVs are slow, buggy, and ad/tracker-ridden and have a limited upgrade path, if any. And many of the cheap dumb TVs have shitty audio and often break or burn in after short enough periods of time. If you buy a cheap smart TV I don't expect it to be a great experience, just like I don't expect a cheap dumb TV to provide a good experience. With smart or dumb TVs, you get what you pay for like anything else. I've had a mid-range Samsung for years without issue.
illegalsmile 5y ago
I recently bought the latest Sony OLED and find that AndroidTV works just fine for netflix/hulu/hbo/apple/etc...

egberts1 5y ago

Let me Google That For Ya! https://lmgtfy.app/?q=smart+tv+spying+in+you https://lmgtfy.app/?q=smart+tv+spying+in+you

ff317 5y ago

Because it's cheap to replace a roku/chromecast as technology evolves, but TVs tend to be longer-term investments. Hating smart TVs is akin to hating cars that have built-in factory navigation systems. Content streaming devices/services (and mapping/navigation/music for cars) regularly evolve/change with the fast pace of technology and the Internet, while TVs and Cars are hardware you hang onto for a long period of years. You don't want outdated tech baked into your hardware forever, especially tech built in by companies that don't specialize in that stuff to begin with.

basch 5y ago
If you want to buy a Google or Roku anyway, why wouldnt you buy the appropriate tv with it built in, and THEN upgrade in 3-5 years when the smarts arent as bright anymore? Are people really expecting a 4 year end of life software upgrade to disable the hdmi ports? You might be able to find a one off freak occurrence, but thats not regular practice. Everyone buying a Spectre/Insignia to avoid smarts is getting a considerably worse picture quality (which I would think is almost number one TV criteria after size) in exchange for nothing. People could look at TV OS as a differentiating factor, not a burden. Make picking your OS your first choice, and find the best panel at budget within that category.
treesknees 5y ago
One thing you're forgetting is that smart TVs are much cheaper because the cost is subsidized by the apps, software, and ads. This is why many of these "dumb TVs" aren't hundreds of dollars cheaper than their smart cousins. In my opinion it doesn't matter if outdated software is "baked into your hardware forever" because all I have to do is disable the Internet settings, and plug in a roku/chromecast just like you would on your dumb TV. Difference is my subsidized TV cost way less. In terms of value over time (which is what I assume you meant by calling it an investment) a smart TV makes way more sense even if you don't use the smart features.

justizin 5y ago

Soo.. [1] Having an ad on a web page about concerns with Smart TVs is not the same as the TV manufacturer selling ads on your TV. For one, it's just one more opportunity for the TV to fail. My smart TV won't load its' UI enough for me to select an HDMI input if it can't connect to the internet. [2] Again, there are levels of tracking. I don't know about Roku, but I imagine when you use one, you have tracking from Netflix while watching Netflix, Hulu while watching Hulu, etc.. At least, this is my expectation of my Apple TV. If you're streaming to a Chromecast, you can limit what it sends to Google. [2] None of this has to do with the fact that a manufacturer can apparently brick your TV remotely, and while this is meant as an anti-theft measure, it's pretty easy for them to accidentally include your valid serial # in a CSV or whatever. I'd imagine un-bricking it is very difficult, if even practically possible. All in all, over several years of having Smart TVs, I've still not ditched my Apple TV or Chromecast, and I find that both tend to give me higher quality, though I expected the inverse by avoiding dependence on an HDMI cable. Smart TVs are also amongst the most notoriously poorly updated smart devices, and over time this becomes a risk to your entire home network.

wiskinator 5y ago

I mean, I think the why is answered in [1]. I think a lot of people like being in control of what goes on their network. For those who care about personal network security I imagine there's a big desire to not have a blob of closed source code sitting on (or anywhere near) their home network, or for that matter, their corporate network. Also smart features on most TVs feel like they are fairly slow and seem to get in the way of using the TV as a device driven by a media stick etc. If I've decided that I only want to use an Apple TV (or Roku, or FireTV or my L33z plex client running on a Raspberry Pi), then I don't want to have to wait for my TV to load and boot its own network stack and pile of applications.

bee_rider 5y ago

Sure, but the hypothetical effortful version of myself that actually puts his money where his mouth is would play content he owns from a Linux machine. If that guy ever shows up, it'd be cool to have a TV he could use.

mindslight 5y ago

Even running the site's proprietary software (javascript) on that [2] link, I still don't see this "MASSIVE video ad that takes up 2/3s of the screen". Likely because everything else in my computing environment is Free software, which fosters user-representing extensions such as ad blocking that do their best to remove such hostile garbage. If I'm spending ~thousand dollars on a TV display, the last thing I want is it being locked to some proprietary environment where user-representing functionality has been discouraged or even outright prohibited.

mrweasel 5y ago

Ideally your right, but major stream platforms aren’t available on many smart TVs. Apps aren’t updated. The TV is slow, like really slow. Press the Netflix button on my two year old Philips TV and prepare to wait. Other than being slow, the apps are just worse. The AppleTV is the minimum I accept, and non of the TV make are able to produce anything that comes close. We hate Smart TVs because the manufactures make shitty software.

yupper32 5y ago
> Ideally your right, but major stream platforms aren’t available on many smart TVs. The TV is slow, like really slow. Press the Netflix button on my two year old Philips TV and prepare to wait. Other than being slow, the apps are just worse. Besides ads and tracking, there seems to be a trend: People on here are buying shitty TVs and complaining that they're shitty. If you buy a cheap TV, you can't expect it to be good. Dumb or smart.

tomc1985 5y ago

Who says I'm using a Roku? My defanged smart TV has a computer (and a Shield that only runs Kodi) attached to it. Many of us still have large personal media libraries. Samrt TVs do nothing for that.

yupper32 5y ago
> Many of us still have large personal media libraries. You are a massively small minority if you're mostly using personal media libraries as your entertainment on your TV.
- tomc1985 5y ago
  Most anyone in their mid-thirties or older who were computer literate 10-15 years ago cultivated some kind of media library. To say nothing of (ongoing) iTunes/Amazon/Beatport/Junodownload/Bandcamp/etc purchases delivered as mp3 or losslessly, or all the random bootlegs on Soundcloud or blogs, or piracy. Minority, sure. But "massively"? Like, who is your demographic? Gen Z?

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

caconym_ 5y ago

> And it's not like you're not being tracked when you stream from a Roku stick / Chromecast. Believe it or not, there are ways to deliver content to a display that don't involve Roku, Chromecast, or any other instrumented "platform". From the baseline of a society already saturated with ads, I don't think there's anything unusually evil about giving people the choice to share analytics/see ads in exchange for lower hardware prices. But when that choice is obfuscated or taken away entirely, and it becomes difficult or impossible to buy hardware that doesn't spy on you and/or hijack your attention, I see that as a big problem. It's one more step along the road to a world where consumers simply don't have access to general-purpose computer technology.

deeviant 5y ago

> Why don't people like their Smart TVs? The reason why people don't like smart TV's is in literally every other comment on this post: we don't like ads and other data collection activities TV manufacturers are pushing on us. Is that not obvious? > It seems ironic that people are complaining about smart TV ads while the [2] link in the OP has an absolutely MASSIVE video ad that takes up 2/3s of the screen. For the life of me I can't understand why I should dismiss my TV automatically downloading uninstallable apps and unmovable icons in prime UI real estate, serving ads and generally being a menace because there are ads in one dudes link on the internet.