My brother had bought a Vu 104cm Premium Smart TV... I thought it was android TV but NOPE. I think they're using a highly skimed version of android or at least linux. It does have Netflix and Youtube, plus Opera TV Store (now renamed to something else).
I thought it was an andoird TV, so I tried to side load apk, but the media file explorer could recognize anything which isn't media related (images, music or videos). I wanted to use JioTV (an android app) which provides access to a lot of Indian TV channels so my mom can watch some stuff while she's at home.
While Youtube and Netflix works, typing using the numeric keyboard is HORRENDOUS. It surprisingly has a Browser, but with the remote it's a PITA to use.
I was actually considering to buy one of those 'android box', or use android on Raspberry Pi (cuz I think it'll be cheaper with better performance). Is there anything else I can do to get android onto the TV? Hope I get some way to get what I want :(
Those "android box" also use a skinned version of regular Android, much like your TV does.
As for actual (official) Android TV devices, if you skim a bit through the subreddit you'll find out that you'll have three obvious choices:
If none of those fit your budget/requirements and you choose to go with a box running skinned android, then you'll most likely have better luck at finding advice at r/AndroidTVBoxes since this subreddit is about official Android TV devices.