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

[MrHT]

Originally Posted by 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.

I'm afraid I might have returned a perfectly working device. Best Buy currently has the Roku Premiere on sale for $27.99 so I went ahead and bought it the other day to give this one last try. Given that I don't have a 4K AVR, I hooked it up to my TV and had the audio pass through the TV and into my receiver via the ARC function. And I had the same issue as the Roku Stick where there was an audio delay. So I decided to try and hook it up to the AVR using 1080p resolution and lo and behold, no more audio delay. Apparently, the audio delay was caused by the passthrough on my TV. How silly that Sony has this glitch on their TVs!

Anyways, since my AVR does not have 4K passthrough ability, I can't watch 4K so, I'm limited to 1080p. But truth be told, I'm ok with that. I think HD content looks fabulous on my TV and since my TV is only 43", the difference is not much when watching 4K material. And not to mention that my TV sucks displaying HDR content. I have the Sony XBR-43X800E TV, which is a pretty low end TV with poor HDR capabilities. SDR content looks fantastic, but HDR content looks very dark with dull colors, so I'm ok with sticking with HD SDR content on this TV until I get a better TV at some point down the road. Though it would be nice to get a 4K receiver at some point and then just manually set the Roku at 4K SDR for optimum picture quality.

So far, the Roku Premiere seems to work well now so keeping my fingers crossed that this one works out for me! My Smart TV is getting more sluggish by the day and it seems to get even worse with more updates. I don't think the processor and RAM is all that powerful on my Android TV, so as apps get updated and require better hardware, it's starting to make my TV suffer during operation.

[MrHT]

Having been watching on my new Roku for the past couple of weeks, I noticed that the picture quality looks slightly better compared to when I stream on the Android TV. Maybe it's just my imagination because I don't see how that's possible since the TV calibration settings are the exact same under both. I don't know, but the picture just looks a tad fuzzy when watching via the Android TV.

[tjritter79]

Originally Posted by MrHT

Having been watching on my new Roku for the past couple of weeks, I noticed that the picture quality looks slightly better compared to when I stream on the Android TV. Maybe it's just my imagination because I don't see how that's possible since the TV calibration settings are the exact same under both. I don't know, but the picture just looks a tad fuzzy when watching via the Android TV.

Part of the reason may be dedicated RAM used for streaming. The Roku's are terribly underpowered and I'm sure Android TV's suffer the same fate as well. I have an XBR-900B which is about 6 yrs old and the internal-based apps don't play for s**t! I originally got a Roku Ultra, had similar problems with 4K content. Got a free Apple TV during a DTV Now promotion, I enjoyed that SO much I sold the freebie and bought an Apple TV 4K (2GB RAM). Haven't had any streaming issues since.

[MrHT]

Originally Posted by tjritter79

Part of the reason may be dedicated RAM used for streaming. The Roku's are terribly underpowered and I'm sure Android TV's suffer the same fate as well. I have an XBR-900B which is about 6 yrs old and the internal-based apps don't play for s**t! I originally got a Roku Ultra, had similar problems with 4K content. Got a free Apple TV during a DTV Now promotion, I enjoyed that SO much I sold the freebie and bought an Apple TV 4K (2GB RAM). Haven't had any streaming issues since.

I'm stilling loving my Roku Premiere. I'm amazed at how flawless it's been with streaming and no more choppy video issues anymore like I did with my Android Smart TV. However, about a month or so ago, my Android TV did upgrade to version 9 and just by doing a quick test, it seems to be running apps a bit smoother now. I did some tests and it doesn't seem like the video gets choppy anymore, so the upgrade probably fixed the RAM issue with the new version. So maybe I didn't need to upgrade to the Roku. But since I love my Roku and it was darn cheap, I'll continue to use it, especially since it has Apple TV while the Android doesn’t ... at least, not yet anyways.

[Dunk the Lunk]

I just wish the TV manufacturers would focus on making great screens. I have a 6 year old Sony (from the year prior to the first Sony Android TV) and it’s still an excellent screen but the OS is terrible, only a few of the services still work, and it’s probably full of security issues. I doubt the newer Android models will be much better after five or more years. If TV manufacturers want us to use their operating systems and services make great set top boxes/dongles that we can easily upgrade.

[Edgar_in_Indy]

Maybe it's just the nature of built-in chipsets in smart TV's.

I bought a TCL 6-series 75" Roku TV last year for our living room because I enjoyed using my Roku Ultra so much on my projector. But I have been disappointed with how sluggish the Roku is on my TV compared the standalone box. The Netflix and HBO apps in particular seem to drag, but even just navigating the home screen is sluggish compared to my Roku Ultra.

It's gotten to the point where I'm considering buying another Roku Ultra to use on my living room TV, which completely defeats the purpose of buying a Roku TV in the first place. Kind of sad that a little $100 box outperforms a huge $1300 TV.

[tjritter79]

Originally Posted by Edgar_in_Indy

Maybe it's just the nature of built-in chipsets in smart TV's.

I bought a TCL 6-series 75" Roku TV last year for our living room because I enjoyed using my Roku Ultra so much on my projector. But I have been disappointed with how sluggish the Roku is on my TV compared the standalone box. The Netflix and HBO apps in particular seem to drag, but even just navigating the home screen is sluggish compared to my Roku Ultra.

It's gotten to the point where I'm considering buying another Roku Ultra to use on my living room TV, which completely defeats the purpose of buying a Roku TV in the first place. Kind of sad that a little $100 box outperforms a huge $1300 TV.

The issue IMO as I stated above is the lack of functional RAM. All the Roku devices IMO are grossly underpowered except for the Ultra. The Ultra has enough to get by. I don't know the nature of TV's with the OS "built-in". I imagine its nothing more than a software download or an imbedded chip. Either way, it wouldn't surprise me if the TV was short on RAM to begin with. The Roku OS should permit the user to insert a USB "flash drive" and rely on this as additional functional RAM, unfortunately it does not.

[Edgar_in_Indy]

Originally Posted by tjritter79

The issue IMO as I stated above is the lack of functional RAM. All the Roku devices IMO are grossly underpowered except for the Ultra. The Ultra has enough to get by. I don't know the nature of TV's with the OS "built-in". I imagine its nothing more than a software download or an imbedded chip. Either way, it wouldn't surprise me if the TV was short on RAM to begin with. The Roku OS should permit the user to insert a USB "flash drive" and rely on this as additional functional RAM, unfortunately it does not.

That makes sense. Do we know how much RAM various devices have? I don't imagine it is a spec that is commonly published.

[tjritter79]

Originally Posted by Edgar_in_Indy

That makes sense. Do we know how much RAM various devices have? I don't imagine it is a spec that is commonly published.

Oh yeah, simply Google the specific model of TV or streaming device.

[MrHT]

It's pretty funny. I gave my parents my old Sony TV because I upgraded to a bigger and better back in November, and considering that my parents only watch news and youtube, I figure the Smart TV function would be sufficient for their streaming needs. But they've been complaining to me how much the Android/Google TV smart TV sucks! It's suffering from constant Wi-Fi connectivity issues and apps keep crashing. So I had to get them a Roku sick. Problem solved.

I don't know how the average TV user can use these Smart TVs to stream. They are absolutely horrible!

I do hope the Roku stick I got my parents doesn't suffer from overheating issues. I had that problem with my old Roku Premiere, so that's why I ditched it after owning it for only 8 months. Hopefully Roku fixed the problem since then.

[ferminl12]

Originally Posted by 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?

I use Amazon Firestick to install some movie streaming apps like Cinema HD, when I can't find the movies I want to watch on Netflix or Prime or Disney. Firestick is really great.