Hardware upgrade or replacment for built-in Android TV? Must be braindead easy for wife & kids, ideally with same TV remote

Silentknyght · February 23

My wife and kids heavily use the Android TV operating system/interface that's built into my 2019-era Sony Bravia TV. I have a rather-nice PC connected to the same TV, but because it's just running Windows, it requires too many steps to use for them. Instead, they just pick up the TV remote, find the streaming app they want, and go. Unfortunately, like a lot of similar tech, the android TV OS felt snappy and responsive 4-5 years ago, but no longer feels so.

I doubt there's a way to upgrade the hardware of the TV itself. But, perhaps someone knows whether it's possible to reprogram a Sony tv remote to a new, more powerful streaming box I could buy? And then, perhaps I could disable the TV OS somehow? If such a replacement isn't effectively invisible for my wife & kids, then I'm going to end up being a regular tech troubleshooter, and then it's just not worth it.

BoomerDutch · February 23

A Chromecast would suffice for simple streaming services if that's all you need.

DrMacintosh · February 23

Roku is cheap and works, the cost is it spies on your home network and there are ads in the home screen.
AppleTV is expensive ($129), but the performance is unrivaled. Only really works if you have at other Apple devices.
Nvidia Shield is the only Android streaming box out there worth anything, but its hardware is old, though its software has been getting updates.

ender23 · February 23

2 hours ago, DrMacintosh said:

AppleTV is expensive ($129), but the performance is unrivaled. Only really works if you have at other Apple devices.

AppleTV can handle plex and jellyfish streaming if you need that. You can definitely use it without other apple devices too (though setup is easier with at least an iphone in use), I know Linus complains about in device subscription management (a lot) but I've largely found his complaints unfounded, especially in current tvOS versions.

It's expensive, but you get what you pay for. Performance and simplicity is great and they last longer than literally any other box I've used (chromecast, roku, smartTV interface, HTPC).