I had the H8F and loved it despite the laggy UI. My son unfortunately broke it so now I'm back to a 2009 model 1080p dumb TV with a Chromecast. Looking for a cheapish 4K HDR TV to fully take advantage of the PS5 visuals, and would prefer an Android TV since my house is littered with Nest products.
Also, I'm a bit out of the loop, but I'm seeing some marketed as Android TVs and others marketed as Google TVs. Are these essentially the same?
Most likely. When I worked for Best Buy we consistently got the best budget TV customer feedback from Hisense customers.
Google TV is updated launcher to Android TV
My U6G + AppleTV is awesome
It's always fun reading the comments in a "budget tv" thread.
You've got two decent options for budget android / google OS TV's, Hisense and TCL. Android TV has been updated to Google TV, so depending on the manufacturer and model rollout, your next TV may have either one.
Both budget manufacturers have budget model lines along with mid and higher tier. The quality will vary accordingly.
I am very pleased with my U6G, but I do not use it for gaming and every month or so I do have to do a complete restart in order to clear the memory in order to get Kodi/Emby working again. But the fact that I can install Kodi/Emby directly on the TV itself to begin with is a big enough plus. It's UI is more snappy than my high end, but 5 years older, Sony.
I have a Hisense for almost a year. Great TV. Great picture.
I have an old h8g paired to a shield pro (2019), it's awesome, I would get the newer version for Dolby vision compatibility
The new Hisense Google TV is actually very high quality, check reviews. TCL is a great option as well. Newer models are better.
i'm loving my TCL R646 google TV.
I'd say either Hisense or TCL.
I was just at Costco yesterday. They had a 65" Hisense 4k Android TV for under $400 with a 3 year manufacturers warranty.
Although Hisense TV's are brighter than TCL's, they're known to have poor quality assurance/quality control, motion handling and processing. I currently own an Hisense A6G in my room and the panel used to be fine, but now it has a line that changes color after leaving the TV on Sleep mode for so many months. You're better off with the TCL S456 with an external streaming stick or box.
Google TV is Android TV but with a different launcher.
The blacks on my Hisense are awful
My Hisense is the worst tv I ever bought. I will never buy another one, I swear it’s like a child built the operating system. Always freezes and turns itself on and off for no reason, just spend the money on a good tv brand, these new “smart” tvs are 90% trash.
Google TV is basically Android TV - but it has a different launcher and is more of a TV platform rather than like using Android paradigms. For example there's still a Play Store app technically (you can access it by saying "open Play Store" to the assistant) but the store is actually integrated into the user interface as just another tab. It's basically coming off to me as focusing on the content and not the app - so while you do have a row of apps you can launch, most of the UI is focused on shows, movies, etc.
That being said, my television is from TCL, though it's a Roku and I have a Chromecast with Google TV hooked up to it, but I would say TCL makes great panels and has different tiers of televisions, but they are less expensive for what you are getting.
Always get the extended warranty though.
Fact is most modern-day TV’s are pretty decent these days.
Yes Samsung & LG a step above if you have the $ to pay for it. But for most, the differences aren’t worth the substantial price jumps
Love the TV hate the remote. They keep breaking
Yes. Hisense is the best option for a budget priced pure android tv. Expect it to last abt 3ish years before going bad. In general Hisense just don't last very long, thus the budget price. Purchase the 5 year warranty. The warranty may seem pricy but think of it as the cost for another new tv in abt 3ish years and the price be cheap.
Are the recent (-2 years) Hisense models still offering stock, clean Android TVs or have they slapped their own skin like VIDAA OS or some crap? This was the deciding factor me.
I would keep with TCL. My hisense android tv died suddenly after 9 months. Faulty mainboard. We turned it off and never turned on again, stand-by led was off. The rest of our tv's are TCL and we haven't had any kind of problem with them. They are working the same way as the first day.
Every man wants to go to heaven but no man wants to die.
Google TV and Android TV are the same but with different launchers
TCL R646 is probably your cheapest good 4k/120hz TV.
Try a genuine TV with a "Chromecast with Google TV".
Android TV is awful.
If you can get any non-Android TV for $60 less, you'd be better off getting a Chromecast With Google TV. You'll get far better updates and far less bugs.