The first so-called smart TV systems emerged almost ten years ago and immediately rewrote the television industry. Over the last decade, several companies have started to develop such solutions, and as a result, users have been able to experience a wide range of smart platforms over this period. One of the most successful of these is undoubtedly Android TV, which is still found in many major brands. The platform, which was created by Google and is constantly being updated, has been chosen by Xiaomi, one of the fastest growing television manufacturers.
Like the telephone?
So Android TV is a smartphone system, which as the name suggests is based on the Android operating system, which is already well established on phones and dominates the market. However, it bears only a passing resemblance to mobile solutions, so (fortunately) the developers have not adopted the mobile interface in a one-to-one fashion. This would not have made much sense, as it is optimised for touchscreens, which is obviously not the case for large-screen TVs.
Graphical interface
One sign of this, for example, is that Android TV has the same main graphical interface across all manufacturers. Thanks to the large, colourful icons used, the system is transparent and users are not lost in the details.
One of the great advantages of Android TV is that it is customisable, so everyone has the option to place the apps or services that are important to them on the main screen, making them easily and quickly accessible.
Stability and speed
Earlier versions of the platform often slowed down, stalled, and sometimes even froze, which led to a lot of criticism of Google's engineers. But they've worked hard to fix the bugs, and as a result, the anomalies disappeared years ago. In other words, if you buy a TV set based on Android TV these days, you don't have to worry about these problems. Running various web applications is also rock-solid, and the speed is decent.
Control
In addition to the remote control, Android TV, which also communicates in Hungarian, can interact with the mouse and keyboard connected to the devices via USB. The remote control can also be replaced by a mobile device via a free downloadable app. In addition, the platform supports Google Assistant voice control (this may be problematic in our country due to the current state of regional support), which we have found works great.
So, for example, you can tell a Xiaomi TV to turn itself up, launch an app or even search the web. All in all, the controls are first-rate, very user-friendly, and even for those who are new to the universe of electronic devices, the controls shouldn't be a problem.
Range of applications: competitive advantage
The biggest extra of smart TV systems is that they allow direct access to various internet applications. In this respect, Android TV outperforms every single competitor, and by a brutal margin. While webOS (LG) or Tizen (Samsung) have around 250 apps, and Vidaa (Hisense) and MyHomeScreen (Panasonic) only offer 130, Android TV gives users a choice of more than 6 000 apps.
These include, of course, the very popular content providers of today, such as Netflix, YouTube, Amazon Prime, HBO Go, Roku TV, Deezer and Spotify, to name just a few very important examples. There are also many similar apps and software for lifestyle, entertainment, weather, sports and news.
And there's even games familiar from phones with great 3D graphics, such as the Asphalt series with its stunning visuals.
In other words, Android TV basically turns your TV into a games console. It also includes a web browser, of course, so you can visit websites on such devices.
Is Android TV good?
Absolutely yes! It's one of the most advanced, easiest to use and without a doubt the most application-rich smart TV system on the market today. It's just the user experience that needs a little improvement to catch up with the big boys in every respect.
