Context; So… Just bought a brand new TV and life is good, but I should have done more research before buying it. I primarily want to use PLEX for watching media on the TV. However, due to “smart TV’s” not being smart and being rather slow because most current TV operating systems are either bloated or just riddled with ads.
Question; So Plex is there, but it runs very poorly. What are the best options out there to get this running smoothly? Are the only options AppleTV and Amazon Firestick? Anyone been in this boat before that have any tips-n-tricks to share?
Ps. I hate ads, so the Firestick is of off the charts.
Much appreciated
I’m a fan of the Apple TV because I’m in the ecosystem. Plex works just fine for me there. And I love that my Apple TVs don’t seem to rot out as fast as Android or Google TV boxes I’ve used in the past.
That being said, someone else mentioned the Onn box, and that thing seems to have pretty solid value. I’d start there, too, if I was trying something non-Apple.
Having been through several generations of Apple TV, I second this option. They’ve always been pretty great to me with regards to running Plex.
NVIDIA Shield Pro (the 2019 model is the latest version) with a couple of customizations STILL is the absolute best for avoiding ads.
It is the most powerful outside of the latest model AppleTVs, but with the added benefit of being completely customizable.
Personally, I HATE ads, so I use a combination of customizations to eliminate them completely.
- A custom “launcher” - this is a little weird to wrap your head around if you’re not familiar with Android OS devices, but it basically means “replacing” what you see when the device turns on. A few years ago, Google couldn’t help themselves and started adding more and more advertisements to their “home page” for the Shield’s default launcher app, so I switched to the “Wolf” Launcher and have never changed, though I would probably recommend “FLauncher” now since you can still (at least last I checked) get that directly from the Google Play Store without any “side-loading” (which means to install things from non-Google sources)
- I love YouTube, but hate ads, so I downloaded and installed a 3rd party YouTube client called “SmartTube Next” - which although DOES require a side load installation, COMPLETELY ELIMINATES ALL ADS, AND in-video sponsorships, and even intros and other annoying filler content in some more popular videos.
The side-loading part makes things a little more scary/difficult to setup but I promise it’s worth it and there are always updated videos online on how to do this safely and securely.
I just set up like 8 of these things a few weeks ago for my brother and he loves it. Nothing is laggy or slow, no ads, and it integrated into his Smart Home stuff effortlessly.
The shield always lags and freezes for me when used with Plex. It also happened with Channels but otherwise was mostly fine. They really need to update it with better specs.
Maybe it’s just mine though considering others here seem to recommend it? It is 4 years old though.
You are the best. Never even knew bout this i hate google tv’s home page thank you
My problem is that this is a Panasoic TV, there is no Play Store like on normal android TVs, so dont think i can side load anything?
The Nvidia shield is the android tv with google play services. It would be your drop in replacement for the Panasonic interface you are currently using.
So… People are saying apple tv, but if you hate ads, and also watch YouTube, then this is not the way. If you go with something androidTV based, you can side load smarttube plus, which not only will block ads without YouTube premium, but it also has sponsor block built in, which will skip sponsored sections in videos.
I use a nvidia shield since it supports the widest range of direct play standards (h265, Dolby atmos, hdr10 / Dolby vision, support for refresh rate and output resolution switching, so on)
There’s tons of other androidTV based boxes to go with, but thats what my research ~3 years ago brought me to get, and ive been pretty happy with them. The only con is that it doesn’t like Ethernet cables that dont have a metal shielding on the rj45 connector. Not sure why, but yeah
Here is a greatbarticle on how to build your own streaming box with Kodi and a raspberry pi. You could also use a playstation or xbox.
You could try one of these.
onn. Google TV 4K Streaming Box (New, 2023), 4K UHD resolution https://www.walmart.com/ip/2835618394
These are surprisingly decent. I have the non 4k one from a few years ago and even that is faster than smart tvs I’ve used.
No thanks: https://killedbygoogle.com
Buddy, I’ve still got an original Chromecast I use daily.
$20 for what seems to be a good streaming device ain’t bad, but I can understand where you’re coming from.
I recommend a Roku streaming stick or a Roku streambar if you need a decent sound bar too. That’s what we use on our “smart” TVs and I hate ads too. Full disclosure: they do put one ad on the homescreen off to the side, but none in the actual content apps. You’ll only see it while between apps.
Would Kodi be an option?
I might look into Kodi instead, seriously dissapointed with plex running so poorly
