Smart TVs have been such an utter disappointment for many, myself included. You'll come across one panel that manages to score well, but usually it requires thousands of your local currency (if not more) to enjoy a reliable viewing experience as the manufacturer intended.

If you don't spend well or choose wisely, you'll end up with a heap of plastic that doesn't do what it was supposed to on the shop floor. Remember the days when the TV simply played what was provided via cable or wireless broadcast? Set-top boxes did all the heavy lifting, but now we've got smart TVs.

These came about with good intentions. Turning your "dumb" television set into something akin to a small computer or other electronic device. It would have a capable operating system with updates. Apps could be installed, and smart features enabled on the fly. Streaming was to be front and center alongside live TV. It was set to bring the golden age of modern TV entertainment, but it unfortunately fell flat. Inside many of these smart televisions is an underpowered processor that simply cannot handle the operating system and everything else running on top of it.

This results in a terrible experience. Manufacturers want to push these things to the edge with cheap internal components. It's simply not going to work. A smart TV like an overgrown netbook and a $35 streaming stick can often do a much better job.

Smart TVs aren't smart at all

They're often worse than what came before them

How can a $600 TV have worse hardware and a worse experience than a $35 streaming stick? Well, it's all down to cost-cutting. TVs aren't getting better at the same rate as in earlier years. Things have slowed somewhat, prompting manufacturers to look for other ways to improve the user experience, largely through software. These improvements, features, and updates require more hardware resources, most of which the TV simply cannot afford. My 2019 Samsung smart TV has always felt sluggish. Its wireless capabilities are lacking, and the UI is just terrible.

I feel like Google TV has helped things somewhat. Our recent TV purchase for the bedroom is a TCL powered by Google's TV OS, and it's pretty good. Sure, the internals aren't incredible because this is a budget-oriented TV set, but it's good enough for the OS and feels like everything comes together cohesively. That's incredible to think since TCL does the hardware and loads up Google's software. Two separate entities coming together to power the same device. Samsung has control over everything, and its experience in the living room has always been subpar, requiring a streaming stick.

That's where something like Amazon's Fire TV Stick, Nvidia Shield, or Apple TV 4K comes into play. Depending on how much extra budget remains after the smart TV purchase, you can have a capable streaming solution up and running in no time. Something that also bothers me with smart TVs is all the needless advertising and tracking. Remember when Samsung asked people not to discuss private matters in front of branded TVs because they'd always be recording? Samsung isn't the only guilty party here. You'll often find privacy policies, manuals, and other documentation covering such practices.

The fight against planned obsolescence

Making technology last longer

Just about everything we buy these days has some form of planned obsolescence, where manufacturers deliberately design devices with a finite lifespan. This could be limited updates over time, or weaker internal parts that don't last as long. Smart TVs are no exception, with poor software support, the aforementioned underpowered internals, and aggressive marketing on newer models. Streaming sticks and other similar devices help combat this by transferring all the functionality from the TV to a separate device. The smart TV becomes a TV once again.

All smart TVs are good for these days is to display more advertisements than you can comfortably chew through. A separate device to manage the streaming of all your content frees up the TV to handle output alone, which is much better on the processor. The only issue is that you sometimes have to deal with the TV GUI before the streaming box has time to start up, though this depends on the brand and model. We should always aim to keep our gadgets working for as long as possible. This is why you'll often see XDA recommend repurposing old hardware for other uses, such as an old laptop as a home lab server.

The same goes for smart TVs. Why shouldn't they last a decade (or longer)? Using a dedicated device lets you offload everything from the TV, so if the streaming stick stops working, we can replace it without even considering the TV itself. You could go one step further and completely remove the TV from the network. Keep it offline so nothing is sent home to the manufacturer. Fewer adverts are loaded, and live TV is a thing of the past if you don't wish to watch any broadcasts – or if you're like me in the UK, where we don't pay a TV license.

Streaming sticks are king

Better user experiences and features

Streaming sticks and other devices simply do it better. They often have more intuitive user interfaces, are better powered from within to handle running everything, and are frequently supported with updates. After making the move from using native software to streaming sticks and boxes alone, I've not encountered nearly as many issues as before. It's a shame we almost need to use external hardware to improve the TV experience, but it's a small price to pay to make the most out of the big screen.