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[jigglet]

By long term I mean 5+ years.

Some of the big companies like Samsung don't even offer long term support for their flagship phones, so I figured when it comes to TV's it probably has shit all chance of being supported for more than a year or so.

Are there any brands that provide really good long term support? E.g. my iphone SE is I think 5-7 years old and it's still getting updates.

I know some of you probably don't care but I only buy TV's once every 10-15 years, I'm not a really replace every few years type of guy.

 

[ParaSeoul]

LG,their higher end models get updates and new features years after release, also Samsung has gotten better with updates lately on their phones,dont know about their tvs but I'll probably never buy a samsung TV again.

 

[Cyberpunkd]

By long term I mean 5+ years.

Some of the big companies like Samsung don't even offer long term support for their flagship phones, so I figured when it comes to TV's it probably has shit all chance of being supported for more than a year or so.

People switch phones every 24-36 months, since it’s mostly Ona contract. People don’t switch TVs as often, no reason for them not to be supported long term.

 

[Boaty McBoatface]

Not Panasonic.

 

[Quasicat]

I’ve had a Sony Bravia for a bit more than 5 years now and there are still updates. It’s probably due to Google TV integration, plus it runs so bad now that I have an Apple TV attached to it. If the operating system is important to you, regardless of updates, I would stay away from Sony/Google TVs. They run like crap after a few updates and the advertising is constant and annoying.

 

[Drew1440]

Not sure what the issue is, if the tv stops receiving updates from the manufacturer or starts losing app support its only a streaming stick/device away.
There are TVs that run on either Roku/Fire TV/Android that might get long term support but as mentioned earlier, software gets more demanding and will run much slower over time.

Cable boxes seem to be immune from this, my Tivo box can still access most streaming servers and that's over 8 years old.

 

[kurisu_1974]

TV software is usually too slow anyways, you'd be better of just getting the TV you want and adding a Shield TV or Apple TV.

 

[Ownage]

I’ve had a Sony Bravia for a bit more than 5 years now and there are still updates. It’s probably due to Google TV integration, plus it runs so bad now that I have an Apple TV attached to it. If the operating system is important to you, regardless of updates, I would stay away from Sony/Google TVs. They run like crap after a few updates and the advertising is constant and annoying.

I never enabled my X900E to be online or to receive even one update, and it's run flawlessly for several years.

I'm of the opinion that "updates" on some devices speed up manufactured obsolescence.

 

[funkygunther]

I have a 2016 Bravia running Android TV or whatever it's called and that gets updated frequently enough

 

[Pagusas]

I really wish TV manufacturers would allow you to turn off the smart TV aspects, Apple TV is 1000x's better than any of the built in TV UI's and software (with the exception of the 24fps bug). I actively avoid the smart features of my samsung.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

I’ve had a Sony Bravia for a bit more than 5 years now and there are still updates. It’s probably due to Google TV integration, plus it runs so bad now that I have an Apple TV attached to it. If the operating system is important to you, regardless of updates, I would stay away from Sony/Google TVs. They run like crap after a few updates and the advertising is constant and annoying.

I never enabled my X900E to be online or to receive even one update, and it's run flawlessly for several years.

I'm of the opinion that "updates" on some devices speed up manufactured obsolescence.

I have a x900e too. Worst TV I've had. The first year was great and then went downhill.

Not only does it have dead pixels, but the system update killed my HDMI ports to get sound out of my home theatre system, so I had to resort to buying an optical cable which worked. A year later, one of their Google Oreo OS updates supposedly fixed the issue. Not for me it didn't. Whatever update it did back in 2018 messed things up.

Also, even something like the Netflix app would barely run on it. I'd sit there waiting for it to load and eventually it works. Sometimes it doesnt and I have to try again. When its really bad, I'd end up just running NF off my Xbox.

 

[Spyxos]

Yeah don't buy Samsung tv i have 2x 2020 Models and they still get updates, but they are so fucking slow now. And one from 2018 and i don't think it has been getting any updates in the last 2 years.

 

[TGO]

Not only does it have dead pixels, but the system update killed my HDMI ports to get sound out of my home theatre system

Yeah that's not normal, dead pixels is a hard one because all TV manufacturers suffer from them and it is a hit & miss on if you'll get one that has them, and what's worse is they see it as acceptable unless you have a certain percentage of them.
But the HDMI port thing you shouldn't be happening.
You tried calling them about it?
even if the TV is out of warranty they have pushed something to your property and damaged it.

Sony TV's you get about two years of support, they'll continue to push security updates but that's it just like most manufacturers.

 

[Quasicat]

I never enabled my X900E to be online or to receive even one update, and it's run flawlessly for several years.

I'm of the opinion that "updates" on some devices speed up manufactured obsolescence.

Now that I have the new Apple TV connected to mine, I am planning on taking a snapshot of my settings and then wiping it to the factory settings. I have a couple of young kids and the crap that would appear as Android TV advertising has turned me away from Sony TVs…I’m just ready to upgrade just yet.

 

[Days like these...]

What in the actual fuck? I have an old Panasonic plasma with a roku stick. It's not "slow" nor does it have advertisements

 

[AlteredForms]

LG,their higher end models get updates and new features years after release

I can second this. One of the budget televisions ended up getting an update a couple months ago. Damn thing must have been several years old!

 

[Ownage]

A friend in Hollywood in motion picture tech warned me years ago about taking TVs online. Use third party boxes for browsing.

Thanks bud.

 

[AJUMP23]

LG,their higher end models get updates and new features years after release, also Samsung has gotten better with updates lately on their phones,dont know about their tvs but I'll probably never buy a samsung TV again.

My LG c1 is still getting updated.


I did have a Vizio a while ago and the software update borked the ARC port.

 

[wvnative]

Sony TV's run android, so they basically get extremely long term updates. But don't expect your 5 year old TV to get new features, the long term stuff is just minor UI tweaks and bug fixes.

 

[jshackles]

I really wish TV manufacturers would allow you to turn off the smart TV aspects, Apple TV is 1000x's better than any of the built in TV UI's and software (with the exception of the 24fps bug). I actively avoid the smart features of my samsung.

I have an LG C1. I have wifi disconnected 99.99999% of the time. I only connect when I need to perform a firmware update - and I believe even that can be done from their USB port. Without internet, the TV has extremely minimal "smart TV aspects".

In fact, the most recent update I did, I turned on the wifi and immediately got bombarded with about 15 consecutive text ads. So I updated and turned that shit off again.

 

[poppabk]

Yeah not sure why you would even use the smart TV functions. Just hook up your streaming device of choice.

 

[jakinov]

People switch phones every 24-36 months, since it’s mostly Ona contract. People don’t switch TVs as often, no reason for them not to be supported long term.

It seems more so about the cadence of product releases than about how likely consumers are to replace. If a company is releasing stuff yearly they for example likely don’t want to have 6 x N products to support at year 6. An extreme example is if they’re no new product they don’t stop support at all. Things like game consoles that get rare releases have longer support windows. OS versions used to be long periods too but with more frequent updates they last a couple of years now between major updates.