Yes it's junk. The onn tv for $20 at Walmart is actually pretty good. The Google Chromecast at 30ish is also highly recommended. The shield at $200 is the cream o da crop
All I'll say is.. I saw an ad for the new $30 chromecast that has android TV.. If that's a good functioning Google TV.. I'd definitely get it.
I have a hisense with the same issue and went with a Google TV dongle. So much better.
Yeah the cheap smart tvs are... Well, cheap.
Even the expensive smart tvs are usually inferior to a dedicated box.
I've had an Nvidia shield TV since 2015 and haven't had many problems with it for streaming video, and the interface is snappy and the apps are all still up to date, still getting os updates too
Smart TVs are pretty universally trash, so yeah lol
Get the ONN box for $20. Can't go wrong
Yeah, I've got a TCL and it's definitely slow and buggy. I've had to unplug/plug it enough times that I actually bought a smart plug and created a Google Home voice routine to "reboot the TV" which will turn off the power and turn it back on to the TV.
I have the Google TV dongle on my old samsung in my bedroom and I love it. I'm seriously considering getting it for my TCL TV. The dongle works perfectly and has zero issues.
Now have three of the Google TV Chromecasts and really like. What I would recommend unless money no object.
If money no object then get the Shield. Best streaming device made.
Make sure your TV is up to date. When I got my TCL r646, it had the original Google TV firmware from factory and I couldn't watch a single video on YouTube without it crashing. It needed a few updates (which it never prompted me for, had to do it manually) and that fixed all the crashing. It still lags a bit going through the UI, but it's not too bad.
Yes I have a tcl and always use my chromecast
Yes.
How os it guys with atmos passthrough fir that dongle? Is it any good using tv audio device or so?
Google TV wont be better. I just bought a Hisense Google TV and it's also buggy, freezes on youtube TV, etc. I may return it but reading on here that I should just buy a google dongle...
Not really better I’m guessing. As another person mentioned, Google TV on my X90J is pretty laggy. It doesn’t crash often, but it’s still pretty frustrating.
My smart TVs have fire sticks the built in software is terrible. Although amazon are slowly ruining fire tv with every update might look into this google TV
Personally I use a Roku on all my tvs. My parents who are tech illiterate have rokus at home so it's easy for them to figure out how to use when they come visit plus it works great
TV manufacturers don't usually put the best components in their smart TVs. That's especially true for budget brands. I've heard good things about the picture of the more expensive TCL models, but my guess is the processor isn't great. I'd definitely look into a box or dongle.