Pretty much all TVs are smart TVs now. You won’t find any decent TV without media streaming features, and you won’t save any money by hunting for one without them. They almost all use one of the following smart TV platforms: Amazon’s Fire TV, Apple TV, Google TV, LG’s webOS, Roku OS, Samsung’s Tizen OS, or Vizio’s SmartCast.
These platforms all look and behave differently, and their apps and features aren’t consistent across them. Below, I’ll break down what every popular smart TV platform offers and share some of my favorite TVs and media streamers in each category. Keep these differences in mind if you’re shopping for a TV. If you already have a TV but don’t like its interface, you can always get a media streaming device with a different platform.
