Fire TV, Roku, WebOS, and More: A Guide to Smart TV Platforms
Amazon, Google, LG, Roku, Samsung, and Vizio all offer ways to access apps, streaming services, and more on your TV. Here’s what you need to know about the most popular smart TV platforms.
Most people now use video streaming services instead of physical media to watch movies and TV shows. Others have ditched traditional broadcast, cable, and satellite TV providers for streaming live TV. Whether you subscribe to Amazon Prime, Disney+, HBO Max, Hulu, or Netflix, you need to find a device that lets you access those services on your TV, or a TV that supports them natively.
Media streaming devices are flexible, affordable, and capable of showing both 4K and HDR content. If you have a recent TV or are shopping for a new one, however, you probably don’t even need a media streamer, as almost all current TVs feature a built-in platform that allows you to access popular streaming services.
But not all smart TV platforms offer the same apps and features. Most big services are available on the majority of platforms, but you might find a few exceptions. And other functions like voice assistants and streaming from your phone or computer vary by system.
We break down what every popular smart TV platform offers below, and share some of our favorite TVs and media streamers in each category.
Amazon Fire TV
Amazon’s Fire TV platform is one of the big three licensable smart TV interfaces, along with Android/Google TV and Roku TV. This means that many third-party TVs, particularly ones from Insignia and Toshiba, use Fire TV. Amazon also offers a few first-party Fire TVs as well.
You can use the Fire TV platform on any other smart TV by plugging in an Amazon media streamer, such as a Fire TV Stick 4K or Fire TV Cube. The interface prioritizes Amazon’s content, though not to an overbearing degree—it features the Prime Video service at the top of the home screen, but aggregates content suggestions from other major services as well.
Apps
Amazon and Google offer the most complete selections of media streaming apps among smart TV systems. The biggest services work on every platform, but niche services like Crunchyroll for anime fans and Twitch for gamers are less consistent. Fire TV supports both.
Local Casting
This is Fire TV’s weakest aspect. It works with Miracast/WiDi for some phones and most Windows PCs, but it doesn’t support Apple AirPlay or Google Chromecast.
Voice Assistant
Amazon’s Alexa is one of the most powerful voice assistants—it supports thousands of third-party skills and smart home devices. Its syntax requirements are a bit stiff compared with those of Google Assistant, but it still works well. Currently, hands-free Alexa is available only on the Fire TV Omni and the Fire TV Cube. For every other setup, you need to speak into the remote or keep a compatible smart speaker in the same room.
Android TV and Google TV
Google’s smart TV platform has gone through several identity shifts over the years. In the early days of media streamers, Google TV was a completely different system. Then, the company ran with Chromecast and the idea of exclusively streaming from your smartphone or tablet to your TV without any on-screen interface. Later, Google rolled out Android TV, a full smart TV platform.
Now, Google TV has mostly superseded Android TV—it’s essentially the same system, but with a more streamlined interface. You can also add Google TV to any TV by purchasing a Chromecast With Google TV.
Apps
Like Fire TV, Android TV and Google TV cover all the biggest streaming services, including Crunchyroll and Twitch.
Local Casting
Google never stepped away from Chromecast, so both Android TV and Google TV enable you to easily stream from any Android device or Chrome browser tab. You can’t use AirPlay or Miracast/WiDi, though.
Voice Assistant
Google Assistant is every bit as powerful as Alexa. It supports plenty of smart home brands and you can use it to search for content across multiple services. It doesn’t have Alexa’s wealth of third-party skills, but it responds to natural language commands more reliably. Higher-end Hisense, Sony, and TCL TVs have far-field microphones that enable you to use Google Assistant hands-free.
LG WebOS
Long ago, before the age of smartphones, a company called Palm made personal digital assistants (PDAs; ask your parents) called PalmPilots. They ran on PalmOS, which Palm renamed WebOS shortly after the iPhone first launched and about when PDAs started to lose their luster. HP bought WebOS and then eventually sold it to LG. After realizing that Apple and Google dominated the mobile device market, LG decided to use the technology for TVs instead. Thus, WebOS is now LG’s smart TV platform.
Apps
Smart TV platforms from first-party manufacturers tend to have much smaller libraries than Fire TV, Google TV, or Roku TV, but usually offer all the most popular streaming apps. LG’s WebOS is no different. It notably has a Twitch app (something Samsung, Vizio, and even Roku lack), but you can’t use Crunchyroll on the platform.
Local Casting
Like Roku and Samsung, WebOS supports Apple AirPlay and Miracast/WiDi, but not Google Chromecast.
Voice Assistant
WebOS integrates LG’s ThinQ voice assistant for direct control of the TV and any compatible LG ThinQ appliances, but you don’t have to rely solely on it. You can also set your LG TV to work with your choice of Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant. Far-field microphones for hands-free control are available on higher-end LG TVs.
Roku TV
Roku was one of the first big names in media streamers, and one of the driving forces behind the move for all current TVs to include streaming functionality. Roku turned its media streaming platform into a full smart TV interface called Roku TV, and made it available to any TV manufacturer that wanted to license it. Now, a lot of budget brands can provide access to apps they simply couldn’t before. Of course, you can still use Roku with any TV via a Roku Streaming Stick 4K or other Roku device. Roku TV’s biggest advantage is that it’s one of the most intuitive smart TV interfaces to use, even if you aren’t very tech-savvy.
Apps
Roku offers an impressive selection of apps and streaming services, which it calls Channels. The Roku Channel in particular is popular, but you can also use many free ones. However, it currently lacks a Twitch Channel, and has been without YouTube for a while in the past.
Local Casting
Roku TV supports both Apple AirPlay and Miracast/WiDi, but it doesn’t work with Google Chromecast.
Voice Assistant
This is one of Roku’s biggest weaknesses. While Roku TV has a voice search function that’s fairly powerful for finding something to watch and for controlling your TV, it can’t control smart home devices or provide general information like the weather. You can use it hands-free with the optional Roku Voice Remote Pro, at least.
Samsung Smart TV
Samsung has always gone its own way with smart TVs, and its current iteration, simply called Samsung Smart TV, runs on the company’s Linux-based Tizen OS. It’s very Samsung-centric, with features like SmartThings support (Samsung’s smart home platform), DeX compatibility (Samsung’s phone-as-workstation feature for Galaxy phones), and Bixby (Samsung’s voice assistant). Fortunately, it’s opened up significantly in the last few years and is much more accommodating to users who aren’t fully invested in Samsung’s products.
Apps
Like every other platform, the mainstream services are all available. However, Crunchyroll and Twitch are not.
Local Casting
The platform supports Apple AirPlay and Miracast/WiDi, just like Roku TV and WebOS. If you have a compatible Samsung smartphone, you can also cast your screen wirelessly to your TV to use as a workstation monitor.
Voice Assistant
Samsung used to be Bixby or bust, but that’s fortunately no longer the case. Bixby is still available, and useful if you want to control Samsung SmartThings devices, but you can also use Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant, just like with WebOS. Higher-end TVs also have far-field microphones for hands-free use.
Vizio SmartCast
For a short time, Vizio was committed to the Google Chromecast idea of streaming whatever you want from your smartphone or tablet without an on-screen interface, and even bundled an Android tablet with some TVs specifically for this purpose. Fortunately, Vizio realized that most people want menus they can browse on their TV, and the current Vizio SmartCast platform reflects that idea and even supports most of the big names in streaming.
Apps
Vizio has one of the smallest app libraries, but again, all of the biggest names from Amazon to YouTube are available. Crunchyroll and Twitch are absent, though.
Local Casting
Vizio’s SmartCast is the only platform with both Apple AirPlay and Google Chromecast, plus Miracast/WiDi, so you can easily stream anything from your phone, tablet, or PC.
Voice Assistant
There isn’t one. Like Roku you can use voice search, there’s no full voice assistant present on the TV itself.
Build the Best Home Theater
After you decide on a streaming platform, take your viewing experience to the next level by following our guide to building the best home theater system for under $1,000. We also explain how to calibrate your TV.
Originally published at https://www.pcmag.com.
