I've Tried Every Major Smart TV Device, And I Still Recommend Apple TV. Here's Why

I've been using Apple TV for a decade: first in the form of the 3rd-generation Apple TV and later in the form of the 1st-generation Apple TV 4K (which I still own and use today). In all that time, I've found plenty to gripe about. I put up with the annoying lack of a streaming app store on the old 3rd-gen device, I've dealt with that frustrating 4K remote that's now been tossed out for subsequent generations, and I've struggled with streaming and audio quality issues that have no right happening on a device so expensive.

But through all that, my Apple TV still remains my preferred way to stream. It might not be great, but all the other major smart TV devices still fall short of it. I know because I've tried them, too. It happens like this: Every so often, I'll throw in the towel on my 1st-gen Apple TV 4K and convince myself to try something from the competition. That's when I've picked up a Roku Ultra, a Chromecast with Google TV, or a Fire TV Stick 4K Max. I'll spend a few weeks with it, really trying to make it work, but every time, I find myself reverting back to Apple TV without fail. It's not even about brand loyalty. It's just that Roku, Chromecast, and Fire TV all fall short in ways that are even more annoying than what bugs me about the Apple TV. I'll take you through my thought process, device by device.

Roku's marketing has always been about simplicity, so it's not like you can really fault it for being that. And besides, it's really not all that simple of a device, especially when you compare it to the bare-bones offerings of Chromecast and Fire TV devices. (And I'll get to them.) In all honesty, the Roku Ultra is easily my second-favorite smart TV device after the Apple TV. Its performance can be pretty fast most of the time, it has picture and sound quality more or less on par with Apple TV's, and the rechargeable remote is another plus, as well. On paper, it's everything a streamer could want: 4K, Dolby Vision, HDR, access to all major streaming apps, and it can connect via Ethernet, too.

Unfortunately, the first thing you notice on the home screen is also its biggest flaw: ads. Banner ads clutter the side of the home screen, and sometimes certain promotions will even wallpaper themselves over your chosen layout. Not even the Roku City screensaver is safe from sponsored content anymore. Apple TV has its troubles, but at least it doesn't feel as much like a digital billboard. (Yeah, they push those Apple TV shows and movies on you at the top, but you can easily swipe away from them.) In the end, I relegated it to a different TV in the house and went back to Apple TV for my living room setup.

Because I'm not a Google loyalist, I was never too interested in Chromecast (or Google TV Streamer, as it's now called). I don't have a Pixel smartphone, I don't have any Google Home devices, and it just didn't make sense for me to use Chromecast. But when Google announced a new 4K HDR model with Google TV in 2020, complete with an actual remote and streaming interface, I decided to give it a chance.

But from the moment I set it up, I could tell it wasn't for me. Voice control is front and center here. Press a button, say what you want, and Google does the rest. In the end, the thing that kept me away for years was the very thing that kept me from really clicking with it from the jump: I'm not a Google ecosystem user. I don't own Nest speakers, I don't want to talk to Google Assistant, and I certainly don't feel like barking voice commands to my TV. My bad for thinking this device might still be usable without that level of brand loyalty. And anyway, without an Ethernet option, I knew it wasn't going to work out between us. Back to the store it went.

Amazon's Fire TV Stick 4K Max is the kind of device that sounds great on paper. That's actually what got me to try the 2nd-Gen version over the old 1st-Gen: It has 16GB of storage, Dolby Vision and Atmos support, it even lets you stream Xbox titles without a console. So, back in 2023, I grabbed the Fire TV Stick 4K Max and gave it a try. Alas, like Roku, the amount of advertising on Fire TV is utterly relentless. Every inch of the home screen is selling something: Prime Video originals, third-party apps, add-on subscriptions, even products from Amazon's retail side. It's the polar opposite of the clean, (mostly) ad-free environment I've come to appreciate on Apple TV.

Performance-wise, it's not bad. App launches are quick enough, and the video quality holds up. But the overall design feels really crowded and busy in a way that only makes it feel that much more overwhelming to find something to watch. Not to mention, the device itself is bulky: It blocks neighboring HDMI ports on my TV, which immediately limits what else I can plug in. Then there's the ecosystem problem (again). Similar to my issue with Google, I'm not an Alexa household. I don't use voice control, and I'm not a Prime subscriber. That eliminates a ton of the device's functionality. Without those integrations, Fire TV becomes just another way to open apps.

It shouldn't be this hard to find a usable streaming device. Hopping back and forth from brand to brand makes you feel erratic. Indecisive. A little Goldilocks-y. But this is just the reality of streaming in 2025, I suppose. In the end, Apple TV's interface is the cleanest and the least cluttered. Ads are there, but only for Apple TV shows and only when you swipe all the way to the top of the screen. (They're escapeable, in other words.) Plus, apps launch instantly, and when something happens to freeze, you can swipe up and force close it to get it working again. The 1st-gen 4K remote still sucks, but that's on me for not buying the new version they put out way back in 2021.

Yes, it's expensive. (2nd and 3rd-Gen Apple TV 4Ks still cost more than just about every competitor out there.) But you really don't realize how much all the little plus-sides matter until you've tried everything else: how quickly you can download and rearrange apps, how easy it is to get around from app to app, and how stable your 4K streaming is when using the device's wired Ethernet connectivity. I should also congratulate my first-gen Apple TV 4K for surviving eight years of daily use without slowing down or becoming obsolete. I guess I'm sticking with this thing for the foreseeable future.