Never waste your money on buying SMART TV's :) But buy one of these to make your LED/LCD tv smart and control with your phone/home automation
Let's compare between Chromecast vs AppleTV vs Raspberry Pi vs Roku vs Others in 2015. Previous version comparison can be found here
Let's compare between Chromecast vs AppleTV vs Raspberry Pi vs Roku vs Others in 2015. Previous version comparison can be found here
Chromecast 2
- Google came with a new design for Chromecast 2, with a much better antenna (802.11ac) and perfect price ($35)
- Built in apps like HBO, Spotify, Youtube, Netflix (but all its competitors have these apps)
- Though aesthetic is much better, In my opinion it doesn't matter as it sits behind the Television
- Much improved casting from your phone, Laptop.. almost any devices with a cast option
- Also I liked that it doesn't have a remote, coz you can control from your phone
- Lacking power to play games
Apple TV4
- Coming with Top Specs and a cool Remote Control (Though I feel your iPhone is more than sufficient), Apple TV4 released in 2015-September boasts of (Price around $150)
- 32/64GB storage, 802.11ac WiFi, A8 Processor
- USB C (3C) Connectivity but only for service/support
- Bluetooth 4.0, IR sensor, HDMI 1.4, Ethernet, Power cable
- Remote Control with Siri voice recognition, Bluetooth & IR, & Lightning port for charging
Raspberry Pi 2 (model B)
- Priced around $35 and best suitable if you are a developer. Can be very well used as Full HD entertainment mechanism. Details here
- Released in 2015 Feb, 900 Mhz A7 Cortex CPU, 1GB RAM, 4 USB ports
- Full HD supported. Can run full Linux or Windows 10 (who really want to run Windows?)
- HDMI, MicroSD slot, 800 MA power, Approx 45gms
- Sits Quiety and very easy to put an OS and do whatever you want !! Check here to find various media center's/ OS available for RPi2
Roku 4
- All the hype around Roku4 is the 4K compatible/ready playback and priced around $130.
- Optical audio out (phew its old tech !!), 60 frames/sec, Roku OS7
- The design of console is cool, but the remote seems out of date ( I would have done other way around as you use remote more than console)
Others
- Amazon FireTV - I have attached a sample compare sheet with Amazon FireTV (I don't really care about FireTV as of now)