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I suspect many of the cheap smart TVs will self destruct in a few years. I prefer to buy a good TV like a Sony and have it last 10 to 15 years. Those cheapies often look like cheapies, and if I have to replace them every few years then I’m really not saving much, if any, money in the long term. Heck my 2008 Sony Bravia was from an era when streaming was rare. Not sure when it became a thing and when Roku and Fire TV and Apple TV came around, but I think it was after 2008. A cheap $99 smart TV might last a few years, or it might be low quality from day one. My first smart devices were DVD/Blu-ray players, and the apps on those were pretty much garbage. The Amazon Prime app on my cheap Visio TV never was any good. I got super low resolution from it, and the TV’s microprocessor is too darn slow to use apps anyway. It looks pretty good with inexpensive Fire TV stick and Roku stick. Much better than using the included apps. So my philosophy is buy a really good TV that will out last the current trends in entertainment, and upgrade the external devices as they improve and change.
Streaming is now what I do. I have subscriptions to Philo TV, Amazon Prime, Disney Plus, Hulu (on demand only), CuriousityStream (only $12/year), as well as having access to 80 OTA channels and free channels like Pluto TV streaming. I don’t watch much sports or news channels so no need for those expensive plans.
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