The problem is that most of the cheap Chinese (minus all the adware) don't have Widevine support, so you won't be able to use Netflix in HD.
Also, if you are sideloading apps, you'll need to do a lot of fiddling to get stuff working.
The Nvidia Shield is probably your best bet on the least amount of crap on there that still gets regular updates. You can change the luancher to hide the ads and lock down as much of the phone home with Adguard.
Also when you look at majority of Android TV devices, none of them get any update. The only ones that seem to do are the Chromecast TV and Nvidia Shields. If you're in Murica, you can pickup the new Onn box for $20 but being that cheap it will probably be phoning home more.
End of the day you just want your TV to just work. If you start having to sideload Netflix/Prime/Hulu, you're gonna encounter sooner or later spending hours just to fix it.
They also asked for Jellyfin, which is one way to overcome to DRM requirements. No need to bother with DRM if you just rip the media you watch.
My phone and computer don't get high res Amazon prime content either and I'm not going to bother with workarounds if downloading torrents is just as easy.
Have you managed to replace the launcher? When I do, after a few weeks it seems to get replaced back to the default Amazon launcher so the can show me ads.
My Sony Android TV got an OS update 2-3 weeks ago, which (afaik) included some security fixes. Granted this is a fairly recent model.
It's also trivial to sideload on it any app you want, just by changing permissions and allowing installations not from the Google store. It's also fairly simple to hide suggestions from bundled apps like Netflix etc from the homescreen - we don't use any streaming services.
Once you do that, there are zero ads on it. As opposed to other models, even flagship TVs from LG.
I actually bought this Sony model specifically due to the reviews that said this was the case. Kudos to Sony for making this. It is a tad more expensive than LG models, but it's worth it.
My TVs are Sony for the same reason. The Android/Google TV install is very minimal, won't nag you about not being connected to the internet, and can be updated via a thumb drive. It's perfectly happy to be used as a dumb TV.
I've never bought one personally, but have read that Sony Xperia phones also come with a pretty vanilla version of Android. If I were in the market for an Android flagship, they'd be in the running. They're pricier but I don't mind that if it gets me an OS with as little manufacturer meddling as possible.
The Nvidia Shield is probably your best bet on the least amount of crap on there that still gets regular updates. You can change the luancher to hide the ads and lock down as much of the phone home with Adguard.
Also when you look at majority of Android TV devices, none of them get any update. The only ones that seem to do are the Chromecast TV and Nvidia Shields. If you're in Murica, you can pickup the new Onn box for $20 but being that cheap it will probably be phoning home more.
End of the day you just want your TV to just work. If you start having to sideload Netflix/Prime/Hulu, you're gonna encounter sooner or later spending hours just to fix it.