So i have a smart tv that lets me stream and airplay anything i want. Is there any benefit to getting an Apple TV besides the HomeKit stuff? Like do you better quality on the context? i have a mini led ( Neo Qled) Samsung tv, a 2021 mode
So i have a smart tv that lets me stream and airplay anything i want. Is there any benefit to getting an Apple TV besides the HomeKit stuff? Like do you better quality on the context? i have a mini led ( Neo Qled) Samsung tv, a 2021 mode
Things I benefit from:
Apple Ecosystem: easy to input text using your phone rather than on screen keyboard. One underrated feature is airpods. The spatial feature when using them is very very good.
Speed: It’s the fastest TV box/streaming device out there. Snappy and responsive. I have a Shield and I love it but only yesterday it crashed on an app and rebooted itself.
Codec support: I’m a heavy Plex user and via the device itself and an app called Infuse I consider it the best Plex experience regarding its UI and it flawlessly plays everything I have on my home server. Ethernet connection is also important to be, something a lot of streamer sticks tend to omit these days.
Mic: I personally think it has a pretty decent mic and voice assistant. I’ve had experience with the Shield (google) and Fire sticks (Alexa) and I never used their mics because they could never recognise what I was trying to say. The Siri remote is fantastic. I don’t use Siri in day to day life but on the Apple TV Siri does its job well compared to others.
It can do a lot more. It has a bit of a gaming ecosystem but you need to pair a controller for that, but that could be useful in a pinch. You can game stream to your TV with apps like Steam Link or Moonlight from your PC. The app support is pretty good, all the streaming services are well supported here.
Negatives: If you are a home theater nut with an expensive surround sound setup, the Apple TV 4K does not support lossless surround sound. Also, you cannot sideload apps on it, or at least you cannot do so easily. Android TV wins out by a mile if sideloading is your jam. Android TV has some great sideload apps like Smart Tube Next and SoundTV as just some examples.
I got two of the fancy $150 ones and I just can’t find any use for them :/
The $45 Other brand stick lets me stream to the one TV that has no desktop plugged in to it. The ATV version of the Xfinity app doesn’t work “out of home” but their app version works just fine. For everything else, the desktops are superior.
AirPlay is nice and about the only use I can find for it. I’ll probably gift the second one as I’m never going to use both at once. Any other good uses for these? I know about the cameras but idc, I get everything to my iPhones. Streaming games go to a great assortment of handheld consoles.
Then it’s not for you.
First and foremost they are streaming boxes with other QOL improvements that might mean a lot for somebody else but feel useless and pointless for you.
Having this as a home pod replacement to take voice input- would that make sense?
You could. But it’s not a direct replacement for the home pod. The speaker is similar to an Alexa speaker and is always on and waiting for you to say, “Hey Siri” or just “Siri”. The Apple TV does not have an always on mic. You’d have to use the remote and press it down. To be fair, I’m not sure if the remote is always listening. I assume not, I’ll check in a bit b
If using the remote only to toggle Siri options is enough then yes you could use it as a sort of replacement.