If all I’m planning on doing is IPTV, is there a meaningful difference in doing it thru the tivimate app on my Sony smart tv vs getting a firestick or a shield? I’ve seen people say shield isn’t worth it if you’re only doing IPTV, but want to know if smart tv apps are inherently not as good as streaming device apps.
Thanks in advance
Try what you already have. If you feel it's too slow and you need an upgrade, grab a 4k firestick. Forget the shield for just iptv or streaming. Waste of money.
I'd go with the 4k firestick perfect just for streaming
I have all 3 devices and all run absolutely fine
The 4k Firestick is your best option because you won’t need to switch inputs and also because it can do other stuff.
4k stick is $40 after tax during sales. if u want to go overboard, 4k Max just released last week and is $60 after tax
I have a sony and doing it through tv together with kodi and syncler and it works great, i have the tv wired. No need for stick or shield if all you're doing is tivimate.
I use Tivimate app on Sony, no box. No issues at all, clear cache in settings every so often.
Duplex has gone on new subscriptions
Get yourself min 4K Firestick to run IPTV - Also in case you get a ISP block TV your screwed unless you have VPN Router
Honestly had the best experience with a chromecast with google tv. Beats my 4K fire stick experience every freaking day.
The Shield is by far the best streaming device you will ever buy. I have one on every TV on my house. Super fast has upscaling. You can run TiviMate Plex Emby no issue or buffering. For the $200. FireStick is junk stick with your Sony TV if you plan to go that route. You can add extra ram for storage on Shield and hardwire it for better internet speed.
I know you said streaming but, be aware that if you loose internet the Firestick is useless as it requires a connection for homepage. This was a MAJOR problem for me using Emby so I dumped mine for Shields which don't require internet. May not be a concern for you but, thought it was worth highlighting.
I've setup a few Firesticks to run TiviMate. The basic Firestick is more than enough. I hate the Firesticks interface though, so I always install the Wolf Launcher.
Given the choice of SONY TV, Firestick, or Shield, I would have no doubt choose Firestick because the SONY TV is great as a screen, but installed apps that serve as streaming devices should be in the trash. Plus, Shield is the best streaming device, but it's too expensive, and the inexpensive Firestick is my best bet.
It's worth mentioning, I've been using my phone's screen to mirror my Smart TV.
I like the shield because you can connect a usb keyboard to it, which comes in real handy when trying to download stuff and enter user names, passwords, etc.
Remove all the unnecessary files and apps on your Sony TV, let the TV have only necessary stuff on it and then run Tivimate.
Firestick 4K every day of the week. Remember it is affordable, small, portable and can let you have both your VPN and IPTV app on it.