Answered How bad is Android TV?

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Turk

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I've upped my budget slightly from <£800 to <£1000 for the sake of a decent picture and the only viable set at that price I can see is the Sony XE90 (though the lack of Dolby Vision is disappointing).

The only other thing that puts me off is Android TV. I've read so many tales of disappointment regarding restarts and poor apps, lack of now TV and slow updates. Is it really that bad compared to WebOS and Tizen or am I worrying for nothing?
 
I've upped my budget slightly from <£800 to <£1000 for the sake of a decent picture and the only viable set at that price I can see is the Sony XE90 (though the lack of Dolby Vision is disappointing).

The only other thing that puts me off is Android TV. I've read so many tales of disappointment regarding restarts and poor apps, lack of now TV and slow updates. Is it really that bad compared to WebOS and Tizen or am I worrying for nothing?

We have 3 Sony Android TV's, one from 2015, 2016 and 2017. The 2015 TV restarts every now and then and yes it is annoying. The 2016 and 2017 TV's (an XE90) are both reliable. Basically Sony have fixed Android TV since it was first introduced. The XE90 is by far and away the best TV for the money and you shouldn't let Android worry you.
 
Thanks. Perhaps then they've ironed out many of the issues.
 
Its not really any more prone to issues now compared to others but its still probably the slowest and less intuitive to operate. But its also the most flexible when it comes to choice of apps.

Can't get a better TV at that price and even if you aren't happy with the smart functions you will be better off with external smart TV anyway.
 
If I had to criticise something on my new 65XE9305 it would be Android TV.
I do find it a bit clunky, but having said that I’ve not had any crashes or reboots and once the TV has booted (I deliberately used that computer term) its not too bad, and as stated above, it does have a good range of apps available.
In summary, it absolutely shouldn’t be a deal-breaker for you so don’t let it put you off buying one of the best TV’s this year.
 
Owning two Samsung TVs I definitely wouldn't get another that's for sure.
I have a Samsung 65HU8500 that has a bug with Freeview after an upgrade, Apps removed (Skype) for no reason and restarts.
I also have a cheaper UE43J5500, which is described as having a quad core, but is really slow.
On both I have given up on the smart TV boxes for a number of reasons, and I had thought that I should have gone Sony for both, but maybe not so.
It has felt that the Samsung's are made at a price point, where they are built to ship fast and nee models regularly, with limited or no updates for the older sets.
Maybe they are all like this and don't really keep the platform updated?
e.g. Freeview Play .. seems only WebOS will get this.. but wonder why other TVs are not getting this as an update? If there is a hardware limitation, then if WebOS will get it, then it's a short sighted platform limitation surely?
It's why I think your best off not relying on internal hardware for smart features, they are refreshed so often.
I had thought about that with the HU8500 with its Evolution box, only to discover it didn't offer what was sold to offer - a way to keep your TV updated without having to upgrade the whole TV

Maybe LG and WebOS is the way to go, I had thought Android TV would take the lead, but maybe WebOS is the frontrunner.
 
Thanks people, shame it's not better but I guess you can't have everything. And everyone is pointing to it being the best TV at this price point.

How about the lack of Dolby vision? Is that a huge disappointment or much ado about nothing?
 
Thanks people, shame it's not better but I guess you can't have everything. And everyone is pointing to it being the best TV at this price point.

How about the lack of Dolby vision? Is that a huge disappointment or much ado about nothing?

DV isn't a big deal I don't think, all the experience I have of HDR10 has been spectacular (including on the XE90) so you won't feel like you're missing out.
 
I've just been reading up about it and it actually seems the best format for streaming services which is mainly where I'll be getting HDR content as it's conversion from 4000nits down to current TV spec is much more accurate. That said, I guess if manufacturer support isn't there then it might not matter either way.
 
DV isn't a big deal I don't think, all the experience I have of HDR10 has been spectacular (including on the XE90) so you won't feel like you're missing out.
I can't remember, but isn't Dolby Vision a prerequisite for streaming 4K on Netflix and Amazon Prime? (Or is that just HDR?)

I know that my Nvidia Shield wont stream 4k from Amazon or Netflix and the forums imply that it's because I don't have any "HDR" or DV support on my TV.
 
I can't remember, but isn't Dolby Vision a prerequisite for streaming 4K on Netflix and Amazon Prime? (Or is that just HDR?)

I know that my Nvidia Shield wont stream 4k from Amazon or Netflix and the forums imply that it's because I don't have any "HDR" or DV support on my TV.

It's not a prerequisite as dolby vision supports hdr10. It literally just processes the static metadata instead of dinamic. Or so I've read.
 
it's conversion from 4000nits down to current TV spec is much more accurate.

Consistent would be a better choice of word than accurate.

Dolby Vision is of benefit content creators because every TV using it has to map HDR to it's hardware capabilities in the same way. With HDR10 TVs are free to choose between different alternatives such as maximising dynamic range or keeping the APL - or offer those choices to the user.

Sony's tone mapping is apparently good, so it's going to benefit less from Dolby Vision than more ropey TVs with the same hardware.
 
Consistent would be a better choice of word than accurate.

Dolby Vision is of benefit content creators because every TV using it has to map HDR to it's hardware capabilities in the same way. With HDR10 TVs are free to choose between different alternatives such as maximising dynamic range or keeping the APL - or offer those choices to the user.

Sony's tone mapping is apparently good, so it's going to benefit less from Dolby Vision than more ropey TVs with the same hardware.

So in your opinion the 9005 is worth getting at £999 without future Dolby vision support as opposed to paying £500 more for the (edge lit) 9305 with the promised Dolby upgrade?
 
So in your opinion the 9005 is worth getting at £999 without future Dolby vision support as opposed to paying £500 more for the (edge lit) 9305 with the promised Dolby upgrade?

Last year the XD93 dropped from £1500 to £1300 at the end of November, so I suspect there's an impending price drop for the XE93.

Assuming the XE93 hits £1300 then I don't think Dolby Vision would be worth that alone, but it also comes with a better local dimming system and higher brightness range that may well be.
 
Why is smart TV so important to people when they can just get a fire TV or fire stick or similar to use instead? Its cheap and if you want to spend more there's the nvidia shield.

I have seen people on here looking to upgrade just for smart TV.:(
 
Last year the XD93 dropped from £1500 to £1300 at the end of November, so I suspect there's an impending price drop for the XE93.

Assuming the XE93 hits £1300 then I don't think Dolby Vision would be worth that alone, but it also comes with a better local dimming system and higher brightness range that may well be.

Thanks for your input. I was surprised how good the local dimming is on the xe93 since it's edge lit but looking on rtings it looks better than the fald on xe90.

Why is smart TV so important to people when they can just get a fire TV or fire stick or similar to use instead? Its cheap and if you want to spend more there's the nvidia shield.

I have seen people on here looking to upgrade just for smart TV.:(

I wouldn't say its important, but I'd like it to be stable and since everything is routed through a non 4k av receiver it would help to have now TV support and one less remote.
 
But once you start to consider things like app support and how smooth the smart TV is you have to take hits in other respects. Its best just to view as a bonus and not consider as a priority.

Besides, in a few years time just like a smart phone the TV will slow.

Now TV limits you to Sony and Samsung.
 
But once you start to consider things like app support and how smooth the smart TV is you have to take hits in other respects. Its best just to view as a bonus and not consider as a priority.

Besides, in a few years time just like a smart phone the TV will slow.

Now TV limits you to Sony and Samsung.

And LG has it too I believe. Didn't think Sony did though. What's your take on the Dolby vision aspect then? Since the xe93 will have support but the xe90 won't due to processor requirements?
 
And LG has it too I believe. Didn't think Sony did though. What's your take on the Dolby vision aspect then? Since the xe93 will have support but the xe90 won't due to processor requirements?
Sorry my mistake, Now TV is LG and Samsung only.

Dolby Vision is nice to have but I don't think its related to how fast the internal chipset of the TV is. The XE93 is worth it over the XE90 if you use lots of HDR but otherwise not.

Its also very close in price to the LG OLEDs which kind of makes it a bit pointless when you can buy one of those instead.
 
Android TV doesn't have a native Now TV app but you can cast it to the TV from your smartphone since Android TV has chromecast built in.
 
Sorry my mistake, Now TV is LG and Samsung only.

Dolby Vision is nice to have but I don't think its related to how fast the internal chipset of the TV is. The XE93 is worth it over the XE90 if you use lots of HDR but otherwise not.

Its also very close in price to the LG OLEDs which kind of makes it a bit pointless when you can buy one of those instead.

I believe, though I could be wrong, that Sony will support Dolby vision on the set with the x1 extreme (or something along those lines) but not the chipset in xe90.

I see your point on price though especially if oled drops further in the new year.
 
Android TV doesn't have a native Now TV app but you can cast it to the TV from your smartphone since Android TV has chromecast built in.

True. But it's just faffing about again instead of just using the remote.
Don't get me wrong, this isn't a deal breaker, but it's a minor annoyance.
 
I believe, though I could be wrong, that Sony will support Dolby vision on the set with the x1 extreme (or something along those lines) but not the chipset in xe90.

The X1 processor is just the name Sony give to their software they run on the TVs chipset, they say it upscales content better. but I have yet to witness it does myself. It doesn't have anything to do with how fast the TV is or Dolby Vision.

Yes if you start to look at the XE93 you should look at the LG OLEDs. The Sony XE93xx would only be better value at 55" if it was 200-300 cheaper and right now people have been getting the LG B7 for as low as £1350 at black friday and thats currently cheaper than the Sony XE93xx.
 
So potentially there's no reason they couldn't update the x90 to run dolby vision the same way as the xe93?
 
Taken from the avforums xe90 review

"The 65XE90 uses the 4K HDR Processor X1, rather than the X1 Extreme processor used on the higher-end Sony models, which means it can't be upgraded to Dolby Vision, so bear that in mind if you feel it might be an important factor to you going forward."
 
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