Services like Hulu, Amazon Prime and Netflix are what smart TVs are built for, right? Rather than plugging in devices and setting up boxes, having it all within the TV itself streamlines the entire experience. So, using your smart TV to browse, save and watch all of your favorite shows and films is a given, isn’t it?
Well, after reading this article, you might want to reconsider. Some of the streaming apps that come pre-installed in your smart TVs aren’t quite the same as the ones that come with external devices.
Speed
The first thing to bear in mind is speed. Anyone with experience in this will know that apps on smart TVs, for some reason, run at a ridiculously slow pace. That can be frustrating at best, and anger-inducing at worst.
This is simply due to smart TVs lacking the amount of dedicated power that these external devices can provide. Hence why many of these external devices have their own dedicated power supply. As well as this, the remotes that come with smart TVs aren’t exactly designed for this sort of layout or navigation. The vast majority of models don’t include anything like voice control.
Dedicated streaming devices provide a much more pleasant and smooth experience when it comes to navigating the apps themselves. This can be due to their button layout, simplicity, and even the keyboard that comes on certain controllers/devices.
For a faster experience – one that lets you jump straight into the action – it’s best to ditch the smart TV interface. You should go with an external one. Put simply – stop streaming Netflix from your smart TV!
Quality
Despite the fact that your smart TV might have excellent specs when it comes to visuals you can actually get a worse video output when using the apps within the TV. Now, this is a rare one that won’t affect everybody. But watching Prime Video or Netflix on your Firestick can offer different visual quality than watching it straight from your smart TV.
An example of this can be seen in Netflix’s HDR support. This applies to the PS4, Xbox One X, and Google Chromecast. But it doesn’t apply to all smart TVs, even if they offer HDR themselves. Not only this, but smart TVs often contain older versions of these streaming apps that can’t always be updated. Any updates in quality or viewing experience, in general, will only happen in certain devices.
With devices like the Amazon Firestick, Google Chromecast and NOW TV box being more popular than smart TV interfaces, Netflix is far more likely to update on these instead.
Privacy
And last, but certainly not least, comes privacy. As with many smart devices nowadays, there has been a rise in privacy concerns. This is when it comes to using streaming apps like Netflix. It seems more and more of our personal and financial data is being trusted with these services.
With smart TVs no longer being a big thing in the world of tech, it seems that manufacturers have gone for a different approach to making money. Rather than charging loads of money for their smart TVs, they sell them cheaply to get them in your home. Then they track your viewing and browsing habits in order to target you with adverts that are suited to you.
Most people wouldn’t mind this and would actually prefer adverts that are relative to them. But for those who don’t like the idea of being watched at all, rather than restricting what you use your smart TV for, the best option is to never use any of its ‘smart’ features. Never connect it to the Internet to begin with.
By using dedicated streaming devices instead, you’re far more likely to be dealing with companies that have a decent amount of revenue. They don’t need to resort to targeted ads or data infringement in order to make their money. This means you’re far less likely to get spied on.
All in all, for a faster experience, better viewing quality, and more privacy, stop streaming Netflix. Or anything else from your smart TV!
What’s your experience with Smart TVs and streaming? Will you stop streaming Netflix from yours? Drop a comment below to let us know!
