If you are looking to get a new TV and wonder if a Smart TV or Android TV box is a better option, below we break them down along with the advantages and disadvantages of both.
A smart TV or Android TV box can be different from one manufacturer to the next. One may add more features than another but for the most part they can broken down into having some basic features.
The main objective of any of these units is to give a user the best way to view content on their TV from videos to music.
What is a Smart TV?
Smart TVs have built-in apps along with the ability to connect to the internet.
Depending on the unit most will have apps such as Netflix or Hulu,which users can stream straight to their TV.
Advantages
Everything is in one package
Only need one remote control.
Disadvantages
Cost more
Limited amount of apps
So an Android TV box is a small computer that plugs into any TV and gives the user the ability to stream content, locally and online.
Android is a well known operating system that many phones and tablets run on. This gives an Android box a very large app library for most anything that can be thought of.
Of course,you can download apps from the Google Play Store, installed and do most anything a standard computer can do from streaming videos to writing an email.
Advantages
Turns any TV into a smart TV
Low cost
Large app library
Disadvantages
Adds another box to a TV
Need to learn Android Interface
Smart TV vs Android TV Box
While a smart TV is nice, an Android TV box combined with a large standard TV is the best option, at least in my opinion.
The price for a smart TV does not match its computing power compared to the hardware an Android box can offer.
Updates are also a problem for many smart TVs while Androids are updated much more easily.
Android has been around for longerand has many top selling smartphones and tabletswhich has created a very large community for help when needed.
For example, if someone needed to Skype they could simply download the app, or if a document needed to be created the same can also be done.
The list of apps is endless with an Android. Keyboards like a desktop or small TV remotes used to stream videos and music.
Read Here for Our Picks of Top Android TV Boxes
With that said a smart TV can have its place in many homes and many choose it over other options.
For example, If all that is need to stream content from Netflix and the TV has an app that does it well there is no need for any other devices.
TVs are also improving all the time with better and better technology.
In my opinion, an Android TV box is the best option. It adds a computer to a TV and makes it able to do most anything a smartphone, tablet, or even a desktop can do.
Of course, every home will have different viewing habits and what fits one may not fit another.
When looking to buy either unit simply make sure it can do what you want it to do at the best possible price.
