Does anyone here with a Sony Android Smart TV also use a dedicated streaming device?

[MrHT]

I have a Sony XBR43X800E Android Smart TV. The TV is great and was so happy to have that added convenience of streaming right from the TV. However, the Android platform is very slow & sluggish at times. It loads apps fast and everything, but when it comes to multi-tasking, it's terrible. So when watching movies, whether it be on Netflix, Vudu or Movies Anywhere, sometimes the video can be choppy when the TV is doing some other task in the background. It drives me nuts because it happens at least once or twice when watching a full movie and can be distracting. It's very stable where I never have any drops in internet connection nor do I encounter any freezing issues, but the occasional choppy video just drives me insane and bothers me to no end.

So I was thinking of buying a dedicated 4K streaming device or stick such as a Roku or Amazon Fire if it means better performance with video playback. But then again, I'm hesitant to spend the money because of a petty complaint over choppy video playback. So not sure if it's worth the added cost.

Anyone here own an Android Sony TV that has the same issue and uses a dedicated streaming device because of that?

[DVD Josh]

I have a ZD9 and stand by my trust Roku. I just feel it works better than the TV apps.

[steve_dave]

I have a Sharp Aquos Android TV and while it works, I still have an XBox One S and an Apple TV 4K. The Android TV apps come in to play when I just want to watch YouTube or don’t want to turn on my sound system for Hulu or Netflix. However, I use my Android TV for FandangoNow because it can play movies in 4K HDR. The One S doesn’t do that and there is no app for AppleTV.

My AppleTV is for my iTunes purchases, AppleTV+, and enjoying Picard in Dolby Vision. It, along with Android TV, also does not apply a HDR/Dolby Vision layer to Netflix & Hulu which makes the SDR content dark.

[MrHT]

I think in order for me to get a dedicated streaming device, I would also have to upgrade my receiver if I wanted to watch 4K and have surround sound capability. The beauty part of streaming via the smart TV is that I didn’t have to upgrade the receiver to a 4K compatible one. I was able to use my TV and receiver’s ARC function to watch 4K on the TV and bitstream the audio to my receiver.

So this is quite a project for me and not sure if it’s worth the trouble, especially since my issue is not all that major and just a slight cosmetic problem.

[dommie]

I have a Sony XBR75X900E and I use my Roku for all of my streaming. I have tried using the Android streaming but I found that the Roku is not only much faster in accessing the different streaming services and their program choices but also much more stable. Since my entire system, including my receiver, is all 4K, introducing the Roku into the system was simple.

[MrHT]

Originally Posted by dommie

I have a Sony XBR75X900E and I use my Roku for all of my streaming. I have tried using the Android streaming but I found that the Roku is not only much faster in accessing the different streaming services and their program choices but also much more stable. Since my entire system, including my receiver, is all 4K, introducing the Roku into the system was simple.

Yeah, my receiver is pretty old. I've had that bad boy for 9 years. Onkyo is really a great brand that it lasted me as long as it did. It is time for an upgrade and I probably may look into upgrading that first before buying a streaming device.

[MrHT]

Interestingly enough, when I play videos using Chromecast instead of the actual apps, the video playback is better with little to no choppiness. Very strange! I guess I'll just have to just cast the videos if I want better performance, but that eats up my cell phone battery, which is why I never liked using the Chromecast feature.

[chip75]

My brother, does, I think he said SONY's Android OS is "garbage".

[MrHT]

Originally Posted by chip75

My brother, does, I think he said SONY's Android OS is "garbage".

My friend has a Samsung TV and said the Smart TV platform that Samsung uses is pure crap. I don't think any of these Smart TVs are that good.

However, I do want to say that I've owned a Roku 2 before I got my Sony TV and had my share of problems with that one. I didn't have choppy video problems, but man, apps would constantly freeze up and I had to keep rebooting the darn thing. I never understood why Roku has such good reviews. Maybe the Roku 2 was just a bad model or something.

[Bodyslide]

I have the 65 Sony 930 and use the 2019 Shield pro for everything but Amazon. The app on the shield is broken at the moment, so I use the Sony TV app for Amazon, to get 4K content.

[MrHT]

I may end up getting an inexpensive streaming stick just for the better performance. Plus, I really could use the Apple TV compatibility, which unfortunately, the Android does not have, which is stupid!

I was thinking of trying the Amazon Fire Stick since, like I said, I've had issues with Roku before. How is the Amazon's Fire Stick compared to Roku? Does it perform better?

[tjritter79]

Sony's Android system is the worst, not enough onboard memory to handle modern apps.
The next worst option is using a Roku device, I think they're ALL "junk" with the exception of the Roku Ultra, which I used at one time.....again, same issue. Not enough storage and not enough memory to run the more advanced apps (Hulu w/live TV for example, the live TV froze all the time with an Ultra).

Had a client who had an Apple TV, he swears by it. A couple years ago i think I got a "free" one with a 6 mos sub to DTV Now (hated DTV). But I bit the bullet for 6 mos.
LOVED the Apple TV....in fact loved it so much, I turned around and bought an APPLE TV 4K with 64GB of memory. Have had zero issues. No stuttering, no buffering that I had with the Roku units. Yes, it cost so much more but the reliability and convenience is more than worth it. Since then, I have expanded my iTunes collection of movies & TV shows, most of the movies are in DV and some even have Atmos sound.

If you are in the iTunes "ecosystem" with an iPhone and/or you are a collector of media within iTunes, an Apple TV is a no brainer IMO.

Never used a Fire stick or Invidia Shield, but I've heard good about both of them.

[tjritter79]

Originally Posted by MrHT

I think in order for me to get a dedicated streaming device, I would also have to upgrade my receiver if I wanted to watch 4K and have surround sound capability. The beauty part of streaming via the smart TV is that I didn’t have to upgrade the receiver to a 4K compatible one. I was able to use my TV and receiver’s ARC function to watch 4K on the TV and bitstream the audio to my receiver.

So this is quite a project for me and not sure if it’s worth the trouble, especially since my issue is not all that major and just a slight cosmetic problem.

Don't "buy it all" right away, do it in stages. The last item i added was a Sony Atmos SB (over $1K) but well worth the quality sound. That said, you don't have to deny yourself quality if you buy the items in stages.

A TV is an investment, so is a receiver, speakers, subwoofer, if you're going to go "full-time" streaming, why settle for "low budget" ? That's all I'm saying. It's a marathon, not a sprint!

[chip75]

Originally Posted by MrHT

My friend has a Samsung TV and said the Smart TV platform that Samsung uses is pure crap. I don't think any of these Smart TVs are that good.

The LG OS is decent, but it get to be a chore when you can't use the Magic Remote on certain Apps and web browsing can be hit or miss.

[MrHT]

Are there any caveats with being forced to use Wi-Fi on the streaming stick? I used ethernet to hook up to my Android TV, but the darn LAN port on the TV only goes up to 100 mbps. So I'm not even getting the full 150 mbps internet speed that I have; not that I really need it though. Since the streaming sticks only let me stream via Wi-Fi, will that mean that I'm downgrading my speed? I can't imagine it would since the new streaming sticks have 802.11ac MIMO dual-band wireless, which means it should be able to receive high speed over wireless. Heck, I probably might get the full 150 mbps speed as opposed to the 100 mbps I'm currently getting via Ethernet .

[MrHT]

Here's an interesting little story. I was window shopping at Staples today and saw they had a Roku Express for $30 so I decided to buy it and give it a shot.

Well, it worked very well in terms of speed. Apps loaded very quickly and surprisingly, even though it was using wi-fi, videos loaded MUCH faster than they did on my Sony Android TV, which is directly connected via Ethernet.

I was very happy for the most part, but then suddenly ran into issues where the HDMI signal kept cutting out. I don't know if it's my HDMI cable, though I doubt it because it's a Monoprice cable and I've used this cable before and had zero issues. Maybe it's my receiver, but then again, my DVD and BD player as well as my TV's ARC port is connected there and I have zero issues. So I don't know what's causing this. Since this will be a headache to figure out, I decided to just return the Roku. Not good to experience issues within the first 30 minutes of using a new device. I'll just use my TV's smart platform until it officially becomes obsolete and then I'll save up for something better.

[MrHT]

Wow, I bought the Roku Streaming Stick last week and gave it a full week test and am having AV sync issues. There's very noticeable audio lag on the Vudu and Movies Anywhere apps. So I'll be returning this. Two strikes now.

Geez, no wonder why these streaming devices are so cheap. They all suck! I'll just be using my Android TV for streaming. As flawed as it is, it seems to be the least problematic.

[vonDubenshire]

Chromecast Ultra is the affordable best way.

Otherwise, Nvidia Shield

[MrHT]

Originally Posted by vonDubenshire

Chromecast Ultra is the affordable best way.

Otherwise, Nvidia Shield

Already have that built into my Android TV.

I just hate casting from my phone. Eats up the phone battery very quickly. So I never use it.

[Lee A Stewart]

Both my son and I use the Roku Express. No problems at all with streaming. We don't buy digital anything so I can't comment on that. His TV is on the other side of the wall that the modem is located while mine is in the living room, furthest point from the modem. We have CenturyLink.