So I'm a divorced guy with 2 small girls (3&4) and just got my own place. I'm currently in the market for a new tv. I would like to get a smart tv and with a remote control that's easy for my kids to navigate with on their own. I'm looking for a 65'' but don't know what to get. I don't want to spend more than $700 since this will be in the family room. I was looking at Samsung's, LG's, and Roku 65 Select. I need some guidance. I heard that Samsung has great picture but poor audio quality and may need a soundbar in the future. We don't game or anything extreme nor watch much tv. Just looking for something that will give the most bang for your buck. Thanks!
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I use an Apple TV and run Disney+ and Netflix on it. Sometimes the kids will watch YouTube to do yoga videos. The remote control is pretty easy and it can turn on the TV. So you don’t have to worry about all the extra button on the remote.
That said. I think most TVs are smart TVs anymore. I have Samsung, but don’t use any smart features. -
I have had several of all three. First, speakers suck on all tv's but i still ride them out and just keep turning the vomume up more over the years. One of these decades I'll get sound bars or a new surround sound. I started off with nice samsungs for myself or living rooms and cheap Roku's for the kids and spare bedroom. I broke my last samsung like 7 years ago and upgraded to an LG OLED and an LG QLED for me and the main living room. I instantly fell in love with LG OLED's and definitelyrecommendthem but only if you actually want to spend the money. I did just gave the QLED to my step daughter and upgraded the living room to another LG OLED last black friday. However, my almost 5 year old that can use a tablet better than me but struggles with the LG remote and navigation The remote controls are advancedand not as easy for kids. Plus if you move the remote too fast it switchs to a mouse pointer that makes it harder for some and makes it seem like you can'tjust use the big circle button on the remote to switch back to left, right, up, down click navigation. Honestly even adults sometime struggle if they never used an LG before. But my daughter can use the Roku tv a lot easier.
I am not sure how Samsung has come over the past 7 years but the navigation and ui is similar to LG. If you're going for best picture then I obviously recommend LG, but it is personal preference and do suggest looking at a comparable Samsung and LG side by side at Best Buy or somewhere to see what you like. If you're more worried about the ease of kids using it then probably Roku. But i am sure my kid is just being lazy and just asking soneone instead of trying becauseshe is too busy on her tablet. Once i get her into Disney or Netflix she can at least pick stuff. I probably need to stop giving in and force her to try herself more often. But Roku does have an easy customizable home screens and simple remotes (that kids break all the time but amazon has cheap replacements amd you can link the roku app on your phone to control Roku tv's on your wifi). But the screens and picture are not going to be nearly as good as Samsung and LG. They're not bad and actually usually really good for the cheap price. Just once you get spoiled with OLED or a nice TV for awhile then you can definitely tell the difference.
All in all, i personally would recomend LG or Samsung and just teach your kids if you think it's something they can pick up. Kids aren't dumb, if they're interested and want it enough, they'll learn. But if you are worried they'll struggle and just want something easier for them and your wallet and you haven't had a super nice tv to notice the difference then yea Roku is definitely the easiest.
More importantly, if you can wait then get it on sale. TV's go on sale all the time for everything, holidays, back to school, football, and just random sales all the time. I always buy them on sale and then usually bring home a broken tv that i have to bring back and swap out multiple times. They usually give me a discount for the inconvenience if it'smore than once. My last samsung took 4 tries before i got one that wasn't smashed or broken. I dunno they always blame fork lift drivers which i buy itComment
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I have Samsung Smart TVs in three places and one LG in my granddaughter's playroom next to my office. She has no issue with navigating any of them, and she is 5 years old. Hell, to be honest, she navigates them probably better than I do. As stated above, all modern smart TV audio pretty much suck. A cheap soundbar is a large improvement over the built-in audio. Samsung soundbars are pretty good, but Visio has a couple of cheap ones that are on par with the Samsung. I have Bose, but I got those cheap through an employee discount, so I can not recommend them as an alternative. Sonos soundbars are overrated, and they have had some recent issues with both their hardware and software, so I'd steer clear of them. For visual quality, all of them are some form of LED, and all look fine, but I will say the LG QNED in the playroom looks crisper. However, the one downside to that one is that the Smart side of the TV takes forever to boot up if the TV has been idle for a long time.
"When you are asked if you can do a job, tell 'em, 'Certainly I can!' Then get busy and find out how to do it." - Theodore Roosevelt
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Try this out: https://www.rtings.com/tv/tools/recommendation
I replaced our bedroom TV last year with a 50" TCL Q651G and I couldn't be happier. It's was under $300, picture is great, was easy to setup. The latest model in 65" is the TCL 65Q750G at $550; I recommend it based on mine. The price/performance is excellent.
No matter what TV you get, though, I highly recommend that you avoid the built in smartTV stuff. Add your own. They're all AndroidTV based, and the integrated versions only add bloat, annoyance, and instability. I have a 2019 Shield Pro, Chromecast 4k, and a ONN 4K that all have the exact same interface. It makes it much easier for the family to use - including my kids in the same age range as you mentioned. As far as remotes go, the AndroidTV boxes will use any remote you pair so feel free to pick up the same remote for all devices. The three I mentioned are all fine, though the remotes for the Shield and ONN are better than the Chromecast.
Configuration tips:
1) To have the same interface, look up ProjectIvy launcher.
2) You can change what the remote buttons do using a Button Remapper app. So "NETFLIX" could mute the TV if you like.
I do add a soundbar to every TV install. I usually just grab whatever is available for cheap, as the cheapest soundbars are far better than the integrated speakers. Just make sure that you can pair the remote to it first. I mount these to the back of the TV using some <$20 brackets before hanging it to the wall. Which reminds me...
Don't forget to budget for the TV mount... I think I get them for <$100 these days, but a good wall mount makes a huge difference. Good = >12" extension, pan+tilt+rotation controls, easy to attach/detach TV, and bolt holes that allow studs on 16" centers to be in multiple locations.
And I like to use 3M Dual Lock to mount all of the devices, including a power strip, behind the TV; either to the wall or the TV itself. The final touch is to add ~$20 in cord concealer to hide the single power cable going from the nearest wall outlet to the TV - or it and a data cable if you're lucky enough to have ethernet. All of this makes for a very clean install.Comment
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I have had so many problems with my various Samsung recently I won't be buying them ever again. My lg's are tanks. My Onn TVs are really good for the money. Little slow on the gui but I don't care.
Do not ever buy a Fire TV. Roku equipped TVs are pretty good.
Sound can always be a problem on new TVs because the speakers fire downwards and most people mount them on walls so there isn't anything to reverb the sound back. I 3d print speaker deflectors that redirect the sound into the room, not to the floor. The sound quality difference is stunning. A cheap solution to sound bars which I don't really love.Comment
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My latest TV is a Samsung "Smart" TV and the interface is so slow I just stuck a Roku into it and now I'm much happier. If I had known how bad the interface was I would have bought a "dumb" Samsung TV (yes they make them for display models) and gone from there. I've had a surround sound setup for 25 years so I can't comment on TV sound.Comment
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Every smart TV's interface I've had has slowed down, had a hard time opening certain apps and been overrun by adds over time. Apple TV is just so much easier to use and does not rely on the internal TV hardwear to remain modern.Comment
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