Budget Smart TV in America, How Good of a Deal can that be?

When we talk about budget home appliances, Chinese products come at the forefront. For reasons that go beyond the scope of this blog, Chinese technology may not always be easily available in the United States. Fortunately, there are many alternatives for numerous appliances from the local American market. This also includes popular US household products like Television. Having a budget television with a premium picture quality and smart features that enable access to many streaming platforms such Youtube, Netflix and Disney+ is a huge +.

What to look for?

In a previous blog, we provided a brief explanation of what to look for when purchasing a Television. The summary of it is that you should consider a television with a sufficiently large screen for convenient display and quality picture. For a budget shopper, such features can be encompassed by a 43-inch screen with 4K resolution and (Q)LED display. Furthermore, and since streaming channels are becoming more popular at the expense of local channels, it is important that the television is coupled with popular streaming platforms. This is in addition to other smart features such as voice remote control, adaptive brightness and connectivity to home-based applications for seamless integration with other home appliances.

Our Product Recommendation

With the above predefined specs, our product recommendation for a budget smart TV in America has got to be the 43-inch Smart TV from the Roku Select Series with 4K resolution and LED display. The television is dedicated to giving an optimal streaming experience as it connects to a number of popular stream platforms like the ones mentioned at the beginning of this blog as well as Prime Video, Hulu and Apple TV. It is also compatible with a lot of home-based applications including but not restricted to Google Home, Apple Home and Alexa. This is not to forget the free content provided by the Roku streaming platform itself. Additionally, the TV is also suited for gaming. Perhaps the most appealing of its smart features - alongside the adaptive brightness for sure - is the enhanced voice remote. This feature is not only convenient for remote control with voice input, but also comes with the Headphone mode in case the Dolby Audio speakers are too loud for other occupants. And once you get tired of talking to the TV, the voice remote can always helps you find the physical remote. All this at a compelling price of almost 220 US$. The models with larger screens, predictably, go for higher prices, albeit at a value-for-money rate.

Comparison with other Brands

To motivate our recommendation, we resort to our standard product comparison chart where we compare a series of 43-inch televisions from renowned brands in terms of both quality rating and price. Our recommended Roku TV is marked in red.

In this comparison, we considered five alternative 43-inch TV models from renowned brands that are available in the US market. These are the Samsung M70B, Hisense 43A6N, TCL 43P61B, Amazon Fire 43" TV and LG 43UR640S9UD. The Roku costs less than all of aforementioned models, with the Samsung coming the closest at a price of about 280 US$ relative to the Roku's 220 US$. However, the Roku enjoys a relatively high quality rating due to its smart features, streaming-oriented focus and free content which the other models mainly lack. This is further complimented by its versatility as it supports gaming as well. All in all, the Roku serves a an impressive balance between budget and comfort which you should seriously consider.

Interested? Click on the bottom below to check it out.

If you do not trust us, feel free to read other product reviews about the Roku Select Series in blogs like this one here. Or you can watch the following Youtube video too for more information.