TV on its way out. Whats the best TV for ST integration

Hi all.
My 5 year old Samsung is on it’s way out.
I need to replace it.
I’m asking you guys on here which TV you think is the best for ST integration.
I know this will all come down to personal preference but a bit of guidance will be much appreciated.
I’m in the UK by the way.

My first thought is: avoid Samsung going forward. Their products have fundamental design flaws, they have trouble integrating, they self-destruct, and their customer service svcks.

So far I’m finding my Sony Android TV to be quite good for smart home integration. I don’t do much with it via SmartThings, but I do issue voice commands to it via Alexa all the time. Bottom line is that if a device can handle network commands and requests, it can be commanded via a system like SmartThings. Bonus is that it can display notifications onscreen as an overlay to whatever you are watching.

@bobbles - Before you take my input, know the following.

1 - I’m from the US, so I don’t know much about UK vs US capabilities. I travel to the UK often, it’s a nice place. Mostly London and Manchester areas.

2 - I don’t have cable. Every one of my TVs have a roku attached and that is how I watch TV.

3 - I have a lot of TVs. I watch them a lot. Of the 8 I have, 6 are Samsung and 2 are Sony.

Now that you know that…

The only TV I have that integrates directly with SmartThings is my brand new 49" Samsung UN49MU8000 that I use to display my security camera in my kitchen.

What does it do with SmartThings? Well, I can turn it on / off without a wall wart or harmony integration. You can also adjust picture mode and volume. That is about it right now (without harmony). Given that I just use it for cameras this is perfect. It is on all day when we are home and not sleeping. I have automations that turn it on / off as we come and go as well as when we go to bed. Now that I don’t have to use the wall wart to turn it on / off I am considering making it a little more intelligent based on motion detected by by kitchen and dining room motion sensors.

I should also note that you can send the TV notification via CoRE.

Adding it to SmartThings was super easy. It took me about 2 minutes. No hacks. I just picked the Samsung Home products from the market place and it found it.

What specifically do you want to do?

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Also, from my understanding brands like vizio run android which means you can actually download the smart things app to the TV. Doesn’t really integrate it it but gives you control of home. I haven’t done this myself I have just read about it. On top of that some TVs (like vizio) have Chromecast built in so if you have a Google home you can stream to your TV by voice out of the box.
I tend to go with Samsung TVs but with all this confusion over the smart things integration into their TVs and a slight feeling like they are falling behind other brands, I might persinally go with another brand the next time I get a tv.

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I just bought a vizio 65 inch display with Chromecast. Unfortunately, I do not have Google home… Lol. I haven’t thought about downloading the ST app to the tv, not sure how I would like that or if I would even use it.

I do however have harmony integrated and it does everything I want.

Watch tv turns on the right equipment
Watch movies turns on other stuff and sets the inputs right.
Pause, stop, play, eject all work as well as volume control and channel changing… All of that via voice with Alexa.

I also have scenes built in via CoRE so when the DVD starts playing the lights adjust, and when it stops they get brighter.

Pretty much the 99.00 harmony seems to be a better deal for me than any thing else by itself.

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I just bought the UN55KS8000 I am pleased so far. The best integration feature so far is event notification on TV bar. I already had volume control so not useful to me…

Integration looks like this …

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My “TV” Vizio P-65 C1 doesn’t even have a tuner. Harmony takes care of everything switching between HTPC, XB1S, PS3, Wii, Roku and the native Casting on the TV. Couldn’t be happier.

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Mine is the same, no tuner

this is the one with the tablet remote?

Hows that working for you? did you stick it in the drawer?

My father as the same tv with no tuner. He is very happy with it.

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I have all that going without Harmony. I say “alexa trigger fish tank” tv turns on, fires up YouTube, and launches a 4K saltwater tank video. “Alexa turn tv off” does exactly that. “Alexa, trigger hockey” turns on the tv if it’s not already on, turns on the cable box (via Iris wall wart) if it’s not already on, and sets the surround sound to my “no announcer” preferences. I opted not to integrate lighting scenes because I don’t want that - but of course could easily.

@whoismoses: there is an android pp called Notifictions for Android TV that can pass all or selected notifications from any other android device to your tv, and they display as an overlay.

You forgot to say how… Lol

I can do a lot more with it… But I’ve been too lazy to set it all up

Oops :slight_smile:

Android control tablet running Tasker, with a little help from IFTTT. I have sorta been lucky with my choices. I did research the tv, but didn’t know just how flexible and terrific the Bravia and Denon would be with this system.

The fish tank (and 4K fireplace, 4K waterfall, etc) work via AutoCast. Joaomgcd, the author of those AutoApps, is awesome at supporting his work. At first the AutoCast to Bravia did not work right; he fixed the issue in two days.

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The tablet is now purposed for Lannouncer. I played with it extensively when I first got it but really, I just prefer to use a regular remote. My wife uses it to send voice commands to harmony which is pretty darn cool.

The TV looks amazing.

My tablet does a lot. It does SmartTiles, sharptools, calendar and notification announcements, ip webcam recording for security purposes… and does the integrations with the Bravia and Denon.

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How did you get your UN49MU8000 to connect with Smartthings. I just purchased it based on this comment and it will not connect for me. I have an 8 series 65 inch 2016 Model that connects without an issue. Anything special you had to perform to get it to work?

Don’t feel bad, it wasn’t obvious. Did you try this?

Totally followed these instructions, only thing it finds is my 2016 8
Series TV. Waited hours for it to find 2017 8 series. Very frustrating that
Samsung can’t keep features reliable across their products. I mean
literally bought another Samsung based on how the previous one worked.

Did you ever get your 8 Series to integrate with SmartThings @Pilbeam? I have the same TV and seem to be running into the same problem as you. Thanks in advance!

Unfortunately no. I don’t believe this TV supports smart things which is
beyond frustrating that the same owner of smsrtthings and the TV can’t keep
things consistent between model years.