Native Android TV (With latest UI Update) vs Google TV

by jarrys88

Looking at buying a new TV and I currently have a Chromecast with Google TV.

A few TVs these days are coming out with Google TV as its Smart TV features and a lot of older TVs have Android TV.

Android TV has recently had an update to make it look like Google TV but my understanding is its lacking in some extra features.

How is the new Android TV experience?

Does anybody have a comparison?

How well does a TV's processor work with Android TV/Google TV? (Would it be better using the chromecast with Google TV Anyway?)

Pm_MeyourManBoobs

If I could go back in time, I would most likely buy a dumb tv coupled with a Roku or Shield, rather than a Google or Android TV.

pawdog

The Android TV "Discover UI" is what lives on various Android TV's and devices now. It is, in my opinion, a better UI than the Google TV UI. I don't really use any of the features they came up with on Google TV. I've had it since launch. It's just too busy and non customizable. I've actually been running a 3rd party launcher on it for the last month or so. Discover UI is a nice update to the previous Android TV UI, it doesn't bog down the homescreen and most home screen elements can still be removed or moved around.

As far as the TV processors, I have a Phillips Android TV from 2019 and it's serviceable. It's noticeably not as fast as the CCwGTV or any of the other Android TV devices I have. I would hope newer sets have faster processors. I've heard the higher end Sony's have faster processors. The conventional wisdom about smart TV's still stand. Buy your TV for he picture quality or price or any metric besides the smart OS. And expect to put a device on it sooner or later.