I am broke, but my dad is loaded LMFAO so he said he would be kind enough to buy a new smart T.V. for the both of us. My dog and I recently moved back in with him, which I am pleased with. It seems like a good thing right now. Anyway, that really doesn’t matter. The reason for this post is simple, many of you on this forum are technologist and much more knowledgeable than me in this field. I have a simple question, would you buy a Samsung or a Sony? I honestly donno what to do. I am leaning towards a Samsung for one reason. I liked the channels that were on it with my last one. I loved specifically watching the romance/love story’s that were playing I think on the my time movie network (if I recall correctly) and the westerns which were on numerous channels. I mean I did not only watch those things but primarily I that is what I enjoyed. Anyway I was wondering are the channels for a Samsung smart TV and a song TV the same or different. I heard Sony is of a higher quality, but that was just from employees at Best Buy. I also inquired about that quite a while ago, so things may have changed since then. I donno if we are getting one from Best Buy or Walmart, but we were going to look at those two stores specially. I guess what ever my dad decides to go with, I am going to comply, as it is very kind of him to get a T.V. for the both of us. Anyway, what do you guys think? If the channels are different than I may just stick with the Samsung as I recall enjoying the channels that they had on it. If you guys really feel strongly though against that, I may be inclined to listen to you all. I am no expert on such things and am relatively ignorant of such matters. What would you guys buy T.V. wise and why? Thankx… hoping someone has some ideas/suggestions. Oh, he said it will take him a week to decide so it’s not like where rushing out the door to get one A.S.A.P. Oh yeah we both agreed as my last smart TV was 55 inch we are gonna go with that again. We both liked it’s size as well. I think it will be a good fit.
I mean…it isn’t really about Samsung vs Sony. It is about the specific models. They both make a ton of TVs as do lots of other manufacturers.
I personally have had much better luck with Sony than Samsung but, again, which Samsung and which Sony makes a big difference.
cool, cool… okay my dad said he is whiling to get a high end TV rather than a low end TV. I just literally asked him so thank you. that is news to me haha I told you have no idea what is going on in the smart TV world nowdays. I have only owned one in my life. AWESOME I am now leaning towards Sony.
One of the very few things I do NOT miss about the 90s is those huge box TVs, which is pretty much what I am used to watching. Other than that one Samsung smart TV, I owned for a rather short period of time.
I guess I would say, if I was buying a TV right now, I would get an LG OLED if I could afford it. No question.
I have two of those and they have been great. LG keeps updates coming for a long time My 9 year old LG OLED got an update recently.
hmmmmmmm okay I am grateful for that information. @dalto you really are a good friend. 
it’s all news to me… I do in fact like the idea of updates coming for the TV for a long time. I know the Samsung I had did not update their Pluto compatibility and I lost the ability to watch Pluto after a rather short period of time. At first, I was confused and then found out it was because of lack of updates for that specific app on the TV.
Are the channels different on a Samsung vs a Sony vs a LG? Which has the best content in your opinion? Or are they all good?
They are all much better than they used to be.
Most(All?) of the Sony’s have Android TV so they have the most flexible content and the biggest app library.
hmmm okay so either an LG or Sony. No doubt I am gonna buy one or the other. As you mentioned there is no question in your mind the LG is what you would go with, so that definitely sways my opinion to lean towards that. Tomorrow, me and my Dad are heading to the store, so I am pretty psyched about this. Can’t wait TBH! THANKX so much, I learned A LOT from you tonight. Super cool. Can’t wait to binge on some media soon. HEHE I can watch TV & Movies for endless hours. Which I am sure is not healthy, but I do have a tendency to get sucked into stories.
Another huge plus of owning a smart TV is of course the HDMI. I can’t wait to plug in my computer and get a gigantic view. I like it better than adding another monitor, just because…
Okay, you have answered all my questions. I feel much more informed now. Good, good…
I have been buying Insignia brand TVs from Best Buy for years and never had a problem. Nice thing about Insignia, they are relatively inexpensive and I would have a easy time affording a replacement. However, I have several Insignia TVs that are almost a decade old and still work well. My newest is a 50" Insignia with FireTV built-in and its very good.
Thank you for that, I shall be mindful of this as well when hunting/searching…
i did not even know what that was until i googled it i kinda guesstimated but wasn’t sure… COOLZ
from google:
The main point of a Fire TV device (like a Fire Stick or a Fire TV smart TV) is to provide access to a wide variety of streaming content, apps, and games, essentially turning any TV into a smart TV. It allows you to stream movies, TV shows, and live TV, listen to music, and play games, all through a user-friendly interface with voice control via Alexa.
get a cheaper Samsung ($400-$500USD) from Best Buy, not Walmart.
If it was me, personally, I would buy an open box item from Ebay. Much cheaper than new or the Best Buy option.
2 cents
Samsung’s has gorgeous picture quality. The problem is, they have terrible power supplies that tend to go out in a couple of years.
The LG OLED is outstanding picture and Sony high ends are amazing as well.
Mine is a refurb. Takes a couple presses to get it on but great quality as you say, and this was cheeep like me.
IMO it depends on the usecase but couple of things of note:
You should get measure where you guys normally sit and watch television in feet and then move the decimal point to the right (if you’re sitting 6 feet away from the televison, get a 60 or 65in tv etc.)
Be careful of certain marketing things such as Quantum LED or Mini LED and do research on them before you ever purchase them. Technically speaking there is only 2 types of LED, OLED and LED. Quantum LED and Mini LEDs are still technically like normal LED’s, just a different cut.
All current televisions will have smart technology built into them, from my personal experience LG’s webOS seems the fastest (granted I have a oled) but I will say tizen from Samsung TV’s are the slowest.
Samsung: Tizen
LG: webOS
Sony, Hisense, TCL: GoogleTV
Insignia, Toshiba, Certain Hisense Models: Amazon FireTV
My personal opinion, go with LG. If you can justify the price, get an OLED. 2024 models are going on sale currently and the 2025 OLED models (besides the Gallery) are not going to be a significant upgrade. Alternatively if you’re going with Sony, the BRAVIA 7 and the BRAVIA 8 are excellent choices as well.
Sorry for long post, I love TV’s.
I have a 13-year-old Samsung 3D TV, so I cannot buy a new one—sadly, they don’t seem to build 3D TVs anymore. And I have quite a few 3D Blurays. Niche product. Sigh.
Anyway, nowadays, I’d mainly look for compatibility with Home Assistant. It’s a real nuisance that HA cannot switch my TV on (switching it off works). It seems LG, WebOS and AndroidTV do the best job here (plus, you can probably sideload apps like KODI or Jellyfin).
Samsung disappointed me here: Since I have the TV, their “SmartHUB” removed one app after the other (instead of updating), until almost nothing was left, not even Firefox. I eventually bought an Amazon FireTV 4K stick for the sole purpose of being able to turn the TV on/off and sideloading KODI and Jellyfin onto it. Jeff Bezos will be unhappy to hear I never ever bought a Prime subscription or any of their content… 
That being said, knowing what I want, I’d then start reading tests & reviews, to find out what to buy.
The decision is party dependent of the ecosystem(s) you wish to be in, like Apple, Android, Google, Amazon. If you are into automating things, that is. That’s why I want to stay as autonomous and flexible as possible and look for compatibility with my local Home Assistant.
The other part is—of course—the device size, feature set and quality you want to go for. I often take weeks to inform myself before making a “big” buying decision like a large TV.
Wise advice… thank you… I found your post & everyone else’s post on here very help & informative.
My old LG TV broke when the new OLEDS were available for around €1000 and more. I then opted for an LG UHD (LG49un) which was affordable for me at the time. My son has an LG OLED. Outstanding, nothing better
hmmm awesome, I am pretty sure my Dad will go for one of the best & is able to afford anything on the market so… this definitely persuades me. Very help @swh!
I usually look at whathifi for the models. I usually end up choosing one from the previous year