Hi there!
So I am looking to buy a new TV, but the latest smart-TVs all seem to be very bloated with ads and other ridiculous and unnecessary features. I know very little about TVs, and therefore wondering if anyone has any tips on some good TVs that include as little bloat as possible.
Thanks for any recommendations or tips!
You can make any smart TV dumb. Just disable the network on it and use your own streaming device (Roku, Chromecast, Fire TV, etc.).
Recently LinusTechTips posted a video vouching for Roku TVs. It seems they have a really snappy UI with no ads.
Roku does have ads but they are pretty minimal and not invasive. I’ve had roku since almost the start and have had a roku tv for several years and love it
We’re looking to get our first TV in years, the current one is about 10-12 years old. We don’t watch normal ‘tv’, everything is streamed through another device.
What kind of adverts can I expect in a modern current-gen TV?
Mine just pushed streaming services and shows I’m not interested in, and makes it waaaaay easier to accidentally get advertised at than to find the input select menu to get out of that.
The UI also lags hard while trying to stream video because the embedded computer is terrible
Not really. TVs are subsidized by ads and data collection, so they all have this crap. The more reputable brands do have better UX and may let you opt out of some of it, but not all.
My recommendation is to buy the TV with the best hardware features that you want. Once you get it, connect it once via Ethernet and update it to get all the most up to date features and fixes. Then disconnect it from Ethernet and connect a smart TV box like Apple TV or the nVidia Shield and use that.
Your experience will be better, the UI will be simpler, and you don’t have to worry about all the ads and spyware.
Definitely not the case with Chinese products. Cheap is king
I went on that journey a couple years ago. What I ended up buying is technically considered “digital signage” rather than a TV. Basically zero bloat. You may have to pay a little extra but I don’t recall it being that much. Pretty sure I got it here.
Yep, a commercial display is what OP is looking for. You won’t get fancy stuff like high framerates or digital audio processing, and they cost a bit more as many of them are meant to be on 24/7/365, but there are no apps installed. They’ll have network connectivity, but only so you can manage them.
Be careful when buying commercial displays for digital signage, some do not have speakers built in, though they should still have a 3.5mm and/or optical out and you can always strip the audio from an hdmi cable.
Quite right. I did get one with speakers, but they were even worse than I expected. I bought a sound bar to go with it. There are also a few quirks that remind me it’s a commercial display. Like there’s no power button on the unit. I have to use the remote. I suppose one wouldn’t want their signage turned off by randos.
Yes just a NonSmart TV they are usually cheap or very expensive or old
