This is a common point of confusion. Part of what adds to it is the fact that some companies that make smart TV software also make smart TVs themselves. So, for example:

Roku sells TVs, among other things. It has Roku’s software (operating system, or OS) and comes with a Roku remote. But, you can ALSO just buy a television produced by another company that has Roku’s software on it.

Remember the top two options on our list:

The first is a TV by Insignia, and the second is a TV by Hisense. Insignia makes and sells the TV, but they made sure it’s running Amazon’s software—Fire TV. Likewise, Hisense is selling you its own TV, but with Roku’s software on it—Roku TV.

So realistically, these names in your search will be relevant for software more than hardware. Now, the main question: does the software matter?

Many people may at first worry that Fire TV just means you can watch shows by Amazon. But nowadays basically all mainstream smart television software will let you stream from just about any popular service.

So if you’re using common streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, or Amazon Prime, you’ll be fine using any mainstream operating system.

There are some differences worth noting, however:

First, some people find certain operating systems to be better than others for design reasons alone. For example:

Amazon’s software emphasizes Amazon Prime shows. Meanwhile, Roku displays all streaming services pretty much equally. It’s not a huge difference in features, but some find the latter to be a lot less annoying.

And while features are generally the same, some operating systems offer more unique features, or do common features uniquely well. So it’s worth investigating the features in the different software.

As for price…

Not significantly. Generally speaking, you just need an account with the company providing the software, the TV, an internet connection, and accounts to whatever services you want to watch.

Now, one word of caution here:

You may sometimes encounter attempts to scam you for set-up or service fees. For example, many negative complaints about Hisense’s Roku TV were about a $100 hidden fee.

However, these were, unfortunately, not real hidden fees from Roku or Hisense. Make sure you look closely at any requests to derive extra payments from you after you make a purchase.

Also, always check the company’s website. Roku displays this message very prominently on their site, for example:

Currently, Google TV is free as long as you have an account, as is Roku TV. With Fire TV, you need an Amazon account, but you don’t need an Amazon Prime subscription; however, a Prime subscription may offer other benefits in discounted or free content.

All the options on this list, as well as any others you’re interested in, advertise with a lot of numbers and initials together. For example: “4K Ultra HD,” or “Full HDR 1080p.”

4K and 1080p refer to the number of pixels. These are the things that can be most directly compared. To understand the difference, it helps to understand what pixels are:

Every monitor is displaying a grid of small pixels. Each pixel can be lit independently to display a different color. When you combine these millions of pictures together, you get the whole image.

So a 720p resolution means a width (vertical distance) of 720 pixels, and a length (horizontal distance) of 1,280 pixels.

1080p means 1920 x 1080 pixels. 4K has a looser definition: it basically means roughly 4,000 pixels horizontally. The most common 4K resolution is 3840 x 2160 pixels, but it can vary.

(Side note: there are also 8K resolutions, but those are less common and pricey).

Now, does having more pixels matter? Kind of:

For the most part, the more pixels your screen has, the higher-quality the image. Colors are crisper, often more vivid, and accurate to how something was filmed or designed.

Most TVs nowadays are 1080p, particularly higher-end ones. You can think of it as the standard for “high quality.”

720p is still considered high definition (HD), but at this point is generally considered sub-par to 1080p. If you have a smaller screen, 720p is probably fine; however, such a TV probably wouldn’t be ideal for a home theater.

And 4K? Well, it’s undeniably better than 1080p and 720p Mathematically speaking, it’s got 4 times as many pixels as a 1080p screen. And if you are going for a pretty large screen, 4K is ideal.

It might help to visualize the difference between them:

However, with that being said, there are some people who would argue that 4K screens don’t provide that much of a noticeable difference compared to 1080p, especially if you’re not choosing an enormous screen:

In other words, there may be 4x as many pixels as 1080p, but that does NOT mean the image is 4x better. Skeptic would say 1080p lets you save money and still enjoy high-quality images.

And there is one advantage 1080p has over 4K:

Many movies and games are meant to be displayed at 1080p. If you have a 4K TV, you can still play 1080p movies and games, of course—but the increased pixels may not do that much given the source material.

But pixels aren’t everything. While your images will overall be better with 1080p or 4K, how that TV can process and display colors is very important too.
This is where HDR comes in:

HDR does not refer to the number of pixels. It means “high dynamic range,” and it refers to color balancing. An HDR TV can display contrast better as well as an expanded color range.

HDR isn’t firmly linked to a resolution, but you’d most likely want your HDR TV to be at least 1080p.

Just because a TV lacks HDR doesn’t mean it displays colors poorly. So while it’s worth looking into whether your ideal TV has HDR or not, it’s most important to ascertain that it displays colors well.

Conclusion

As stated, our top spot easily goes to the Insignia NS-65DF710NA21 Smart Fire TV Edition. But that’s just our overall take, for the typical reader.

It’s important to pay attention to your own preferences and constraints, especially because there are so many good options available. The perfect television for your ideal home theater is out there—why wait?