I bought a new 8000-series Bravia this year, my first experience with Android TV. I've been a long-time Apple TV user, and found the Bravia did everything the Apple TV did, so it's my main platform now. I have run into some problems with Plex on the Sony (it would refuse to play some movies that run fine on Apple TV) but the YouTube app is much better, so it's a bit of a wash. My suggestion is to buy the Sony, which will meet most of your needs most of the time, but also plan on having another quality streaming box as a backup -- Shield, Roku, Apple TV, whatever.

I have a 55" Sony 930E. The Android TV OS works well as far as content is concerned, but is on the sluggish side in terms of response. I also use a Roku Streaming Stick+ and AppleTV4K, which are considerably snappier. Never used an Mi Box, so I can't comment on how that compares.

I have a sony 75". Works well. There is sluggishness in the U.I., but doesn't bother me since 99.9% of the time I'm watching content and not playing with the interface. I'm not a power user, don't have much more installed then what came with the TV. I noticed that those that complain about sluggishness, reboots, etc... have kodi, plex, and other apps installed.

Has Sony announced TVs with mics on the panel for always listening?

I have a sony with Android. I restart it every once in a while when it stalls or apps act funny. I like it. Its a simple tv with excellent video and usability. I wont get a Samsung again. I won't mess with fire stick, roku, apple tv, or chromecast again. Never tried a Mi Box, but if its anything like my homebuild Plex/Myth etc was, f that.

Make sure you get hands on with a Sony Bravia Android TV in a shop with the remote control in your hand, not in the hand of the guy who is trying to sell you one. Take your time and play with it for a good 15+ mins. You are likely to see / find lag in some places.

Most performance problems can be fixed by applying multiple tweaks which thankfully are reasonably well documented now in various places i.e. here, Sony forums, xda etc. Don't expect any official help from Sony to sort the performance issues out with their hardware, you'll need to fix the problems yourself.

The MediaTek SOC in their TVs is a poor performer but it can be made to work reasonably well. An Nvidia Shield performs massively better but it's kinda nice to have everything controlled from one remote control with a Sony Bravia Android TV. It's taken a while for me to get happy with mine, it's been a slog of finding and applying fixes to get it to the point where it's performance / responsiveness is what I can call acceptable.

I have both and I must say that Mi Box works a lot nicer and smoother than Android TV on Sony. Also I still use the Mi Box because of HD audio playback via Kodi, since I can only get up to Dolby Digital + via ARC on the Sony. The YouTube and Netflix apps on the Sony TV seem to have more features though (4K and HDR I mean).

4K and HDR YouTube videos seems to not play well on Mi Box, but I can't install the recent YouTube fix since I'm on Nougat beta.

Although some problems mentioned the screen is really nice. Sony 55XE9005 in my case.

I'm not sure of the model, but I have a Sony 3D 4K model that I bought in 2015. On the plus side, this was the first TV I owned that had Google Play movies. Before then I had to stream them from my phone to a Chromecast (the experience is as bad as it sounds). The downside is that it's very sluggish at times, freezes and reboots randomly and has the odd odd habit of occasionally crashing when I change the volume while watching YouTube. Not sure if other smart TV's have these issues because this is my first one.

One thing to keep in mind is that -to my knowledge- no one but Sony has adopted the Android TV platform and there may be a reason for that. I can say that my TV hasn't had any significant updates since I bought it. Not sure if that's a Sony issue or if it means Android TV is just one more platform that Google has left to rot. So keep that in mind. You may be spending a lot of money on a TV with a dead OS.

Edit: This may also be relevant. My TV doesn't work with Google Home. So if that's a necessity for you, you may want to check that. Newer models may support it.

My W800c works great with Android TV, I love having just 1 device to do everything on. The only bad side is that the Android will eventually be out of date and apps will stop being compatible. I guess that's a perk of the MiBox. MiBox is a great little device as well.

It is more sluggish than the Mi Box but for streaming services there is no comparison. Mi Box will not switch to correct resolution automatically so you end up with its much inferior scaler for any non 4K content. Plus 4K HDR doesn't work on the Mi Box while on the Sony ATV it does and it also automatically switches to correct color space. It really depends on what you're going to use it for. I have the nvidia Shield and still prefer the built in Sony ATV OS for streaming.

Don’t do it. Androidtv isn’t what as advertised via a Chromecast.

I have a 2015 Sony with latest version of Android TV. It is slow as everyone reports, doesn’t have all the bells and whistles like a chromecast does (confirms with google that google assistant does not work and no plans to have them integrated), super buggy interface with titles showing several times, downloaded apps not showing, etc.

Get a good TV with an apple TV or chromecast

The single worst problem is changing the volume when using the Prime Video app. Video gets choppy while it struggles to draw the volume control.

I have one, I'd say it works fine but doesn't blow me away. Fairly sluggish and does not work with Google Home the way you expect it to. Makes no sense. I'd almost just rather have a Chromecast plugged in and not have the built-in function. Just seems overall clunky. I don't think about it often though so for that I say it is fine.

Firstly, you need to be aware that Google Play for Android TVs is a heavily curated App Store, and I think filtered by TV model. With that in mind, I hear that Sony's range of 'endorsed' apps is better than most

My 2015 Sony x850c runs just as good, if not better, than my Nexus players (yep, still running 2 NP in my place as well).

There can be some hiccups but removing the bloatware does wonders

I have had no issues after I have done some of the techniques to speed up the interface on my 900 Sony. What I will say is Netflix works 1/2 the time and so does Amazon even after factory resets and re installs. Every other movie stops loading at 24% and amazon has no actual video for me on Android TV. I have given up and just used a connected Xbox one x.

I've got a 2015 and a 2016 android tv Bravias and I used to have issues with plex which turned out to be server or app issues. I've also got terrarium tv and Mobdro sideloaded which both work flawlessly (ad free versions) Previously I had a modded spotify TV apk that was ad free but we all know how that turned out. Both of mine are hard wired to the router and I'll be with Sony now with my next TV. As long as it's android tv.

I bought an x900e for the panel but android tv was a mistake. Since the last update a few months ago my TV is very buggy. When switching inputs with CEC I get no sound 80% of the time. I have to use the TV remote and manually select the input again to get sound. The sluggishness I can live with but it's very annoying to use my harmony remote or Google home to turn on the tv and still have to find the remote to get sound.

I have a x900c 55 and I love it. The tv itself is really good, but ofcourse 2 years old tech is still 2 years old tech. Hdmi link a ps4 if you have one and you can even use your tv remote to navigate the console, and vice versa. (i was pretty blown away by this)

Android is not nearly as good as Samsungs OS, from what i've seen. It does what you want it to do, but it's not as smooth as you'd wish. The apps works great however. You can delete som apps and tweak the animations and how many apps should be up and running in the "developer options" to negate the heavyness.

Also, the built in chromecast have been used more than i initially thought it would, so that's nice.

My next tv will still be a Sony despite the clunkiness though!

I love my android OS on Sony. I have Samsung TVs and the Android OS is much better. I am unplugged and only used the Internet and OTA for my programming.

Never get a TV for its smart capabilities. You Will Regret it. You are better getting a TV for its picture quality and then getting a separate set top box or device. My Sony TV runs quite slow and the image quality isn't really mind blowing. I've got a Samsung TV from 2011 in my bedroom and i have it paired with a Nvida Shield TV and it runs and looks a lot better than my Sony.

I use an Nvidia Shield with my Sony. I can't stand the laggy UI on the Sony. The Shield also seems to get updates a lot quicker and more frequently.

I have an x830, which is the version with the PSNow built in. Overall it isn't bad, but it is so loaded with junk at a system level, that while the hardware is probably quite Skookum, the entire interface is pulled down, and often even older titles can have issues playing back.

Plus the remote sucks donkey balls. It is IR, and the pickup is fucking tiny, and MOVES!

I got a shield pro, which I intended for a couple trips I am taking soon, and my bedroom TV to get it off the Samsung BD player as a streamer.

Testing on my main TV, holy fuck does it outclass the Sony TV. It is FAST, it plays back well, and the remote doesn't suck! (Well, it has a few quirks coming from the Sony...)

See all the comments that say it's sluggish? My brother bought one and hates it. He bought the new Apple TV so that he doesn't have to use it. (I have an Nvidia Shield and love it.)

Vudu UHD mostly.

I have a Sony Android TV since two years:

Good picture, performance is fine and updates come regular.

Go for it.

My 900e 55 inch has been a nightmare. The UI is slow and filled with tons of unnecessary add on that you have to manually disable. I want to love the TV since the panel is nice, but Sony just butchers AndroidTV.

My biggest complaint is how my Wifi resets whenever I fully shut off my TV. This means no TV Guide or anything for 3-5 minutes as it "Configures IP" and wired doesn't help much more. Before anyone offers any suggestions, I've tried them all. I can't wait to return this and get almost anything else.

Most people will say Samsung is better than Sony as far as Picture quality. I have seen some really nice looking Samsung TV's but I hate the UI. I have two Android TV's an 55X700D and 55850D. I like both even through all the little quirks and more times than not the UI is sluggish BUT the Android TV being integrated into the Panel is the reason I bought it (using the same remote to do everything) not having to change inputs then pick up another remote. I gave away all my Firesticks and loaded all the apps I use onto both TV's I like them both. Honestly the thing that messes up the most is Live Channels or the Guide for OTA channels. I have side loaded a few apps that are not in the store and tested them on both models with minimal issues. It all comes down to your preference so you really need to get into a Best buy to play around with a few.

I've had my 900E for a while now, I hate the home screen, it's so disorganized and full of junk that I don't use that is impossible to hide and buries the stuff that I do use within all of the stuff I don't.

UI speed is acceptable for what it is, it doesn't need to be perfect just to navigate to some app a half percent of the time I'm using the TV. With Netflix, there's a button to bypass the whole menu system... not so for Prime Video, Plex etc. though.

The content playback and TV tuner built into the TV (I have it wired to my network and don't use Wifi) is more than good enough that I have completely retired any extra "boxes" in the living room and no longer even use my "htpc" for video content any more (it's just my gaming PC now).

I'm disappointed that Sony still has not released an Oreo based update considering how long Google has had it available now. I mostly just want the home screen/app selection to be less of a hot mess than it is now but it's serviceable at the end of the day.

I have a 3 year old(850c) and they are still doing by random updates on the TV as others have said UI is a little sluggish but you can pretty much get what you want on the tv and apps run decently I even had kodi on mine for a bit as well.

I like the tv over other smart OSes just because it’s a lot more universal than the other players LG and Samsung that are more proprietary and you could run into a long term issue of support etc.

Also as others have said having a backup device would be good.

I wish Sony made a “dumb tv” panel that had all their high end image processing that would be the most ideal. But overall you can’t go wrong with em.

In terms of buying TV you should be only looking on the features of the TV. No matter what is the current state of Android TV on this TV, it will get outdated much sooner than TV itself. So just pick the best in price/quality terms TV for another few years and buy the Mi Box (or Nvidia Shield), which cost is not comparable to the cost of a new TV.