[zrail]

Roku seemed like the least bad choice when we were picking a new tv a few years ago, so that's what we have. If I could find a dumb display of the same size and quality without any of this software at a price even in the same ballpark I would opt for that, but that's not how the industry works anymore.

[DoktorDelta]

Same here. I'm planning on replacing my Roku TV with a Google/Android TV model and replacing the launcher to avoid ads. Then I'll sideload a YouTube client that has sponsorblock and adblock so I can get the benefits of YT Premium.

[Larrikin]

Sponsor block is so good that I initially tried to replace my Roku. The lack of Unicode was pushing me away from Roku, but programmatic ads in the middle of music videos pushed me to try the Android TV ecosystem.

But the ecosystem seems to be years old shields that struggle with 4k, cheap junk, and unknown but probably cheap junk from China.

My shield is definitely a lesser experience than my Roku, with the lags and skips, but I can put up with it on most days. But when I want to watch a 4k movie I'll switch over the HDMI cords back to my Roku.