I really thought that, over the years, smart TVs would get more fluid and responsive interfaces. While the UI has been updated, sadly, the interface is still just as laggy as it was in 2018. That’s why I’m ditching my 2024’s Fire TV OS for my eight-year-old Apple TV 4K.
TVs With Built-in Smarts Just Aren’t That Responsive
I’ve had a TCL smart TV for years now. My first one was a Roku TV, and my brand-new 2024 model is a Fire TV. Both, however, are extremely slow and not that responsive.
Here’s the thing: I’ve used both Fire TV and Roku on first-party external streaming devices, and they’re great smart TV platforms, as well as nice and responsive. Initially, I just thought that my TCL Roku TV was slow because it was from 2018. It was an older model, but newer TVs should be faster and more responsive. You’d think.
However, after purchasing my brand-new TCL Q5-series smart Fire TV, I was again disappointed in the performance of the system. I was really hoping that I could ditch my Apple TV 4K, which is coming up on eight years old, for my TV’s new built-in OS. It would be more seamless not to have to use an external device. And, it would just be more convenient not to have to know where the TV remote is in case HDMI CEC failed to turn the TV on with the Apple TV remote.
Sadly, that just wasn’t the case. Even navigating the pages of the YouTube app was slow, sluggish, and just downright painful to use. It “worked,” but not fluidly, and that’s something I didn’t expect to be a problem with a 2024-model mid-range TV.
8 Years Later, My Apple TV 4K Still Outshines Modern Built-In OSes
My trusty eight-year-old Apple TV 4K is starting to get a bit long in the tooth at this point. And, this is partially why I was hoping my new TV would have a nice and responsive operating system. However, when the TV fell flat, my Apple TV 4K got hooked right back up.
While eight years old (and multiple generations behind the current model), my original Apple TV 4K works great. It has its issues and sometimes has a tiny bit of lag. But, overall, it’s extremely responsive and blows my brand-new 2024 TV out of the water in terms of performance.
Not only does the Apple TV 4K outshine my current TV’s operating system in fluidity, but also in just sheer function. Some of the apps that are on the Fire TV are just so cumbersome to use, while the Apple TV version is more polished, fluid, and easy to use. I know this is an Apple TV vs Fire TV thing, but it’s simply worth noting how great Apple’s devices are, even almost a decade after release.
Why I’ll Continue Using My Apple TV 4K Over Built-In Options
Going back to my Apple TV 4K wasn’t on my 2025 bingo card, but it’s also something I should have expected. While it’s possible to do things like pair AirPods to Fire TV and more modern TVs support AirPlay 2 and HomeKit, the process just isn’t as seamless as using an Apple TV.
Apple TV is also more than just a streaming box. It’s an out-of-home HomeKit hub. It’s a Thread hub. It’s a Matter hub. It can become a central part of your smart home. And that’s something that I realized I was going to miss by not having an Apple TV in my smart home stack.
Apple does a great job of building its walled garden to keep you in. And, while I don’t use any Apple-exclusive services on my Apple TV 4K, I do use a lot of the features that they’ve built into the streamer. And I already owned it, which meant I didn’t have to buy something else to accomplish those tasks.
Is your smart TV slow, and are you ready to make a change? We’ve got the best streaming devices to pick from, helping you make the most informed decision when it comes to upgrading your smart home theater.
