Are Smart TVs ever as good as dedicated streaming players?

[bluto 2050]

I use a pi and an nvidia shield, both far outweigh the potential and power of a smart tv.

right smart TVs are often not as good or versatile as a decent media player and the Nvidia shield is the baddest powerhouse of all of them but Roku is OK bit not a powerhouse .


OTOH for 99 percent of my web TV Android streaming up to 4K HDR and 5.1 DD protected content in my Sony XBR 4K HDR TV works well but my 1080p Roku has 200 channels installed in it I , many I can't get on the TV outside or inside of Kodi add on's at 1080p so there is a certainly good argument for decent media player with a smart TV .

EDIT :

OTOH the Android 6 smart TV platform ( TV Android ) in 2015-2016 -2017 Sony better TV models is about as good as it gets in a TV but you can get it in some Android Boxes and Nvidia shield .

 

[bobc4012]

Buying a Smart TV is a Dumb choice.

I tend to agree. However, like the article said, if multiple remotes area a problem, then a decent smart TV can be OK in a limited app way. I bought a Vizio Smart TV a couple of years ago. It has terrible apps if you are interested in more than Netflix, Hulu and a couple of other streaming channels. It has no app for TWC. About half are brief news clips from TV stations around the country - whoopee. I bought a Roku stick for that set. A few months later, I replaced the family room set with a Samsung. While much better than the Vizio from an app standpoint, it still can't compare to the Roku stick. We haven't cut the cable yet because certain networks like Hallmark, which the wife watches, don't seem readily available unless you have cable, telco or satellite - plus she is not adept to using the Roku stick (nor even the apps on the smart TVs).
A couple of complaints with the Roku (or any smart app) is the ability to better organize apps for easier access. Plus a lot of apps work like they were written by amateurs rather than a professional programmer who understands quality and thorough testing/debugging.

 

[bluto 2050]

Vizio TV never made decent smart TV thats out of thier wheel hose and price range and the TV's ain't all that IMO either but they don't cost like a big 4 tier one one brand and play pretty well for what you pay .

My 2015 4K HDR wide color gamut Sony XBR on the all in here has Android TV and it does a lot (when it behaves ) and has the Sony featured apps and the down loaded apps and I side loaded some others stuff in and Sony ES AVR and 5.1 .

The Roku in here does what it does real well with 217 installed channels and there are more than that on the D*TV HR 55 room client ,

This 2160p Haswell Core I5 PC for it now and then and the media drives straight into the TV with Android Kodi and 4 remotes all works well but they are about to all get shoved into a Harmony remote that you set up easily with your device model codes on the web on Xmas day or close to it .

That said A Roku is better than any second string smart TV and some of them have a Roku baked in anyway, Vizio should do that