I want to upgrade my 40" smart tv to a 50" and i heard i lot of good things about Roku tv, i was almost buying it when i saw there's one the same price but with Google tv which i had never heard about.
Here are my options:
I would really appreciate if u guys could help me by giving your opinions. I'm planning to buy asap.
Roku is like the Dish Network of streaming platforms, always getting into content disputes, and pulling apps. Pure junk.
Roku is so far the only casting device I prefer to not have connected to my TV. It's sitting in a drawer, in a box. They manage to put together all the flaws you can imagine about casting devices; media not being supported, voice search not working (not supported in my country), sound-from-remote out of sync, and even stupid things like the "Netflix" button so big and soft that you press it unintentionally when you grab the remote (then you have to wait several seconds for Netflix to load in order to be able to close it).
Disclaimer; I don't have a Roku TV, I'm describing my Roku Ultra. But at this point I won't buy anything coming with Roku.
By the way; have you considered buying a standard TV and then a standalone casting device? TV software doesn't get much updates, and it's easy to replace a standalone casting device (or to have more than one) if you don't like it or if it gets obsolete.
I used Roku for at least 10 years (I owned the very first Roku model ). Then I got a FireTV stick and ran them on different TVs. Now I'm using 2 Google TV sticks (CCWGTV & ONN 4K) as well as a FireTV stick. I've still got a Roku as well, but I no longer use it.
Personally, I greatly prefer GoogleTV over any of the other options. That said, when I purchased my elderly mother a new 4K TV, I got her a Roku TV. There are 2 reasons--first, Roku's UI is extremely basic. I find it really boring, but it's also really simple. Just take a look at what the Roku homescreen looks like and then compare it to GoogleTV. If you find either one more appealing, that should inform your decision. The second reason I got my elderly mother a Roku TV is that I purchased her a Roku box over a decade ago so there was almost no learning-curve (she's 85 and just can't learn stuff easily any more).
Roku isn't bad at all. Roku TVs integrate pretty well with Alexa, so if you're in that ecosystem that might be useful. They just don't display info about movies & shows and don't really have a recommendation engine (at least not on any models I've seen). The UI is basically just a list of installed apps with some ads that aren't overly intrusive.
The reason I personally chose Google TV over everything else is that I really like Google's recommendations. I have very niche tastes and Google provides me with extremely useful recommendations on the main page. I also have a mix of Google Nest and Alexa speakers so I'm able to control my TVs via voice. You didn't ask about FireTV but I'd rate it behind GoogleTV and Roku. The FireTV devices also run Android, but the UI has lots of ads for Amazon stuff and GoogleTV just does everything better (e.g. details about movies, recommendations, suggested content from your installed apps, etc.).
Once you get used to a platform that prioritizes content over apps it's hard to go back. I happily used Roku for nearly a decade. But once I tried a Chromecast and got used to the Google TV interface it was all over. It quickly learns what you like and makes great suggestions. Want to watch a cool show? Here's one on Amazon. Here's on Peacock. Here's one on Tubi. You don't have to choose a single app/service and browse around just their content (although you can do that as-needed.) And the ability to continue watching what you started previously (across multiple services) right from the home screen is extremely convenient.
That said - no smart TV ever has the same performance as even a standalone streaming stick. We have Google TV built into our main TV, but still use a Chromecast as it's faster and more responsive.
I use both in my household but prefer Google/Android so I can sideload apps and get YouTube with no ads and Kodi
I’ve tried a Roku TV with 4K and I didn’t really like it that much. So I switched to a Google TV like a year later and it was way better than the Roku TV.
Google TV > Roku TV for me
I already had Android boxes so I picked up a ROKU TV and like it. I also have one of those dirt-cheap $20 ONN Android TV boxes on the same TV so you can have both if you like.
Google Android TV all the way. And when you can save up your nickels I never buy a TV with the smart apps I have an Nvidia shield hooked up to mine which is Android TV on steroids although that's a chunk of change when you look into it but I have over a hundred apps let alone making it a video game emulator 👍🏼
Use the two in the store and buy the one you like more.
You're asking in /r/androidtv, what answer do you think you're going to get?
I used to recommend Roku for streaming beginners, because it was the OS that seemed to support the most streaming services. That's no longer really the case; now support is pretty much the same across all the OS's, and Roku's flaws show much more. Roku's interface is extremely dated, and limits your ability to find content. And their codec support is very limited, which is a problem if you plan to use local media. Meanwhile, Android TV has just gotten better and better.
At this point, I'd say it's a toss up between Apple TV and Android TV as the best option for most people. Android TV gets the edge in my book for its hackability, and because it's available at a variety of price points; Apple TV only covers the high end of the market.
A friend of mine has Roku TV and he's not happy with it... I've had the Google Chrome with TV 4K and I sure enjoy it. The Roku TV is limited to certain types of apps such as Movie/TV apps , live-TV and VPN add-ons. There's other things that Roku TV doesn't support either, but I just can't remember at this time that my friend was telling me about.
Android Google TV
It depends on what your priorities are. I have both and prefer Google but my wife likes Roku. Roku is very stable and easy to use. Google TV can be flaky but is more open and has tons of apps. Both the TVs you are linking are on the lower end of hisense's model line. The u series is slightly more expensive but is brighter, has local dimming and isn't bad for a budget TV. Hisense doesn't have a good reputation for consistent QI so extended warranty might be useful.
Android TV of course
I'm against the grain here.
Google tvs, except for my nvidia shield, are not nearly as reliable as the roku.
The roku are bullet proof, and can be trusted to be 100% reliable for my kids, wife, parents, etc....
The Google TVs, especially the shield, are more attractive to me, but they freeze, sometimes fail to play, etc. Except the shield, which is also bulletproof, but too expensive to by so many.
Thus we have 1 shield, and 5 roku sticks.
I went with a Roku TV because I wanted access to the Roku exclusive content, and I didn't want to buy a Roku that wasn't a TV. I had a Shield and a Fire Stick anyways, so I had access to all the content from Android/Google. And I figured I'll probably upgrade the Android devices every couple years, but I expect I'll be happy with the Roku part of the Roku TV for a long while, since it's only for the exclusive Roku content. So I went with the Roku TV, and that's my train of thought as to why.
Buy the Roku and an Android TV dongle from Google and you have both
I have both and "upgraded" my Roku to Google TV. Google TV certainly wins the prize for looking modern but the reality is that it has terrible YouTube TV integration - look at the live schedule; it will say to go to the YouTube TV app! Google TV's premise is that you view content, not services/apps and that's true but since services won't cooperate with Google, you're still stuck with "what service/app am I using" with a pretty face.
I prefer Google Tv as it has a greater app support and more features
Google TV
I have to admit even though I didn't expect to use the Roku part, the Roku on the Onn Roku TV 50Inch $150 Black Friday special is maybe the best Roku I have ever had. I don't know if they are just using a better processor on this TV than Roku devices or what but it's more responsove than my Roku Stick 4k and it just does everything it's suppsed to do very well. I have not heard good things about the Hisense implementation of Google TV and since Google TV on the CCwGTV is disappointing to say the least I have a hard time believing it''s going to be better on a TV. The recommendation to not choose your TV based on the OS it runs still stands so look at all the other specs first. If the only difference between them is Roku or Google TV I'd say go with Roku and if you want Google TV put a device on it.
u/frugalwtfpricebot !pricehistory
I prefer GoogleTV over Roku. Roku always seemed laggy to me.
Go with Roku! I just switched to a new TV (son threw a toy and cracked my old one) and got one with google cause it was a couple of hundred cheaper than the Roku version. It’s much slower and glitches sometimes.
It sounded like it would be a good fit we use YouTube TV and use several other streaming services. But the hardware just can keep up with the software. I have a Nivida Shield in another room and that has google on it and it works perfect but the hardware is just much better.
The Roku app is also great the ability to ping the remote if you lose it is huge for us with two young kids that misplace things. Also the ability to pair my wireless headphone to my phone and use the app for quite listening was again really nice when the kids were in bed and I wanted to watch something loud.
Go with Roku!
Not even close.Roku blows it out of the water. Simpler and lighter is always better.
Avoid Roku like the plague.