Sony Bravia vs Chromecast with Google TV

by Lima_L

I'm in the market for a new TV and I'm seriously considering the Sony Bravia XR X90J. It comes with Google TV, which is a plus for me given my love for my little Chromecast. When considering the Samsung, my second choice, I just think of all the smart features I'm unlikely to use!

Anyway, is there any difference between the Google TV in the Sony Bravia and the one in the Chromecast? Can I install the same apps from the Google store, such as streaming and VPN apps, and sideload other apps, or is the system on the TV somehow restricted or different in any significant way?

Many thanks!

kaest

I have two Sony Android TVs and yes they're the same as Chromecast. You can side load whatever you want.

sid32

Most apps can be installed on the TV through the play store on your phone. I installed SNES emulator, SSH server to transfer files, Bigly torrent app, VLC and MX player pro. All working great.

KevinIsSoAwsome

To me I hate the Sony remote just by looking at it. It’s so huge and I don’t care for dedicated number buttons.

GadgetFreeky

If you just have a chrome cast plugged in, voice commands are far smoother. The Sony integration of Google is fine if you just use the remote but if you are trying to control your TV using voice- it's fairly rough. Often times stuff that works one day, does not work another.

Basically the integrations with things like Google Home and even Apple Home are exceedingly glitchy software wise. It's not unusable but it's incredibly shoddy and glitch for a premium TV.

sonfusion

I have this television, it is amazing. I have only used an older Chromecast but it has cast functionality on the TV as well as being able to side load and has access to the play store.

I previously used a Nexus player an old Sony Android tv box and a shield tv. The Sony blows them all out of the water. It is super responsive and has a great but not perfect picture.

rooser1111

When it comes to utilizing frame rate matching and auto res switching, a separate dongle/device is not as reliable as the built in apps. I generally stick to sony built in apps for streaming and when it comes to play remux I use coreelec running on s905x3 with gigabit. Cheaper than shield and does everything better.

apsted

i would get the Sony tv and in future if you want to replace it with newer version of google tv you can always buy the ccwgtv and replace it.

EvilDaleCooper

It's exactly the same

preterist-seek

I have the same questions... Does anyone know if the Sony TV integrates OTA channels in any way? Also, does the Guide or DVR buttons integrate with YouTubeTV?

KKurb

I have one, and I bought a Samsung and added a Shield. The Bravia has a 10/100 Ethernet port, and would constantly lag when hardwired watching HQ 4k content streamed over SMB using Kodi. If you watch netflix, then no issue. I help relieve the problem using WiFi, but i was susceptible to anything else WiFi in the house at the time. I hate the Samsung OS, so I bought an nVidia Shield. Best decisions I have ever made. I didn't realize how slow the Android TV in the Bravia was until I tried the Shield. But, if you only stream your content from Netflix and Disney and have no intention of watching HQ 4k over a network connection, then the Bravia will do just fine.

Edit: Before giving up, I tried using a USB Ethernet dongle, but Sony removed the drivers built into Android to support it.