shouldiuse.io

Categories

VERDICT

Should I use Google TV?

Meet Google TV, now with Gemini. It's the smart TV experience that actually gets you—learning your tastes to recommend entertainment you'll love and organizing it all in one place. - tv.google

Depends. Buy it when it's already built into a good TV — it's free, capable, and regularly patched. Skip the $99 Streamer if you want a cheap simple streamer, or if ad-heavy menus and Google account lock-in bother you.

Confidence

Medium. Based on 25+ public sources; snippets were truncated, so some user quotes are post/review headlines.

Ratings

  • Value for money
  • Ease of use
  • Feature depth
  • Support qualityNo direct support-quality evidence found
  • Security posture

Pricing

Free

Google TV platform

ModelNot disclosed
Monthly feesNot disclosed
HardwareNot disclosed
Free tierYes
Google TV Streamer (4K)$99 (sale $80)

Best for

  • Google ecosystem households
  • Smart home users wanting Gemini control
  • Sony/TCL/Hisense TV buyers
  • Cord-cutters wanting free live channels

Not for

  • Privacy-first users avoiding Google sign-in
  • Sideloaders — Google removes 'harmful' apps
  • Budget buyers — Roku/Fire TV cost less
  • Anyone allergic to ad-cluttered menus

Gotchas - check before you buy

high

Google TV Streamer price rose $50 in the US without matching improvements, per reports

medium

Google auto-uninstalls apps it flags 'harmful' — including sideloaded ones

medium

Popular sideloaded apps get pulled: SmartTube removed from Android/Google TV

medium

Requires Google account sign-in; smart-TV privacy trade-offs apply

Pros and cons

Pros

  • Organizes all your streaming services on one home screen
  • Gemini recommendations plus smart home control from the TV
  • 800+ free live channels included
  • Large app library: 13,730 Google TV apps
  • Runs on top-rated Sony and Hisense TV sets

Cons

  • Long-term verdict: 'Not the best' streamer
  • Active 'Don't buy Google TV' threads on Reddit
  • US price rose $50 with no reported new features
  • Users complain ads and clutter are ruining the platform
  • Community sees an 'uncertain future' for the platform

Sources & method

Analyzed 10/05/2026 - 16 sources - Actively maintained — monthly Chromecast/Google TV security bulletins — but the platform has a history of exploitable firmware vulnerabilities.

official x1review x5security x3news x7
  • CVE-2023-6181, Firmware vulnerability affecting Google TV/Chromecast, tracked in vulnerability databases.
  • Three Chromecast device vulnerabilities, An exploit chain was demonstrated against Chromecast hardware; Google issued patches.
  • TCL Android/Google TV vulnerabilities, TCL published an alert about vulnerabilities found in its Android TV sets.

Key stats

  • Value for money: 3/5

    Rating

  • Free

    Starting price

  • 16

    Sources

  • Analyzed

  • Value for money: 3/5. Free on TVs; $99 Streamer called overpriced
  • Ease of use: 3/5. One-screen aggregation praised; ad clutter criticized
  • Feature depth: 4/5. Gemini, smart home hub, 13,730 apps, 800+ free channels
  • Support quality. No direct support-quality evidence found
  • Security posture: 3/5. Monthly bulletins, but past exploitable firmware chains
  • 100M+ New users added in one year, per Google (2024)
  • 13,730 App library Google TV apps on Play (2026)
  • $80–$99 Streamer price launched $99; on sale at $80
  • 4.7/5 Best Buy rating smart TVs with Google TV platform

Pricing

Google TV platform

Free

  • Built into Sony, TCL, Hisense and other TVs
  • Includes 800+ free live channels

Google TV Streamer (4K)

$99 (sale $80)

  • 4K streaming with Gemini
  • Smart home control/hub
  • Launched $50 above old Chromecast

Security

Actively maintained — monthly Chromecast/Google TV security bulletins — but the platform has a history of exploitable firmware vulnerabilities.

  • CVE-2023-6181Firmware vulnerability affecting Google TV/Chromecast, tracked in vulnerability databases.
  • Three Chromecast device vulnerabilitiesAn exploit chain was demonstrated against Chromecast hardware; Google issued patches.11
  • TCL Android/Google TV vulnerabilitiesTCL published an alert about vulnerabilities found in its Android TV sets.

What users say

Sentiment is split: the hardware and aggregation earn praise, while Redditors and long-term reviewers gripe about price hikes, ads, and Google's platform direction.

“Don't buy Google TV”
Reddit, r/GoogleTV (post title)
“Google TV Streamer Review: High-End Streaming for Power Users”
CNET (review headline)
“Google TV Streamer long-term review: Not the best”
9to5Google (review headline)

Alternatives

Compare Google TV with each alternative.

  • Roku

    Cheaper streamers, simplest menus, less clutter.

    Google TV vs Roku

  • Apple TV 4K

    Faster, polished, privacy-friendlier; costs more.

  • Amazon Fire TV Stick

    Budget 4K streaming with broad app support.

Companies that use it

Companies that could

  • LG Uses webOS instead
  • Samsung Uses Tizen instead
  • Apple Uses tvOS instead
Full analysis

Based on 25+ public sources; snippets were truncated, so some user quotes are post/review headlines.

Free, capable TV platform built into Sony/TCL/Hisense sets; the $99 Streamer is overpriced and long-term reviews are lukewarm.

Methodology

Based on 25+ public sources; snippets were truncated, so some user quotes are post/review headlines.

Sources

  1. Google TV official sitetv.google
    official
  2. CNET: Google TV Streamer Reviewcnet.com
    review
  3. 6 Months Later: Google TV Streamer Review6monthslater.net
    review
  4. 9to5Google: Streamer long-term review9to5google.com
    review
  5. RTINGS: The 5 Best Google TVsrtings.com
    review
  6. Android Police: 100M new Google TV usersandroidpolice.com
    news
  7. 42matters: Google TV app statistics42matters.com
    news
  8. Chrome Unboxed: Streamer drops to $80chromeunboxed.com
    news
  9. Google TV Streamer price increase reportinstagram.com
    news
  10. Chromecast Security Bulletin December 2025source.android.com
    security
  11. The Record: Google fixes three Chromecast vulnerabilitiestherecord.media
    security
  12. DirectDefense: Executing a Chromecast Exploitdirectdefense.com
    security
  13. Reddit: Don't buy Google TVreddit.com
    review
  14. TroyPoint: Google TV uninstalling harmful appstroypointinsider.com
    news
  15. Techweez: SmartTube pulled from Fire TV and Android TVtechweez.com
    news
  16. TechRadar: Smart TV sign-in privacy opiniontechradar.com
    news

Rate this review

Anonymous. You can change your vote.

Loading votes…

Comments

One queue. No nested comments. Give a display name first. Limit: 200 words per comment and 7 comments per day. You can edit or delete yours.

Save a name to write a comment.

0 / 200 words

No comments yet.