# LG smart TV 57 Hacker News commenters recommended LG smart TV and 303 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 11 of 13 months; owners who said how long report a median of 5 years (16 owners). **Verdict:** Owners praise the picture quality and say the TV works well when kept offline; the most common caveat is intrusive software and data collection. ## Why people recommend it - Works well without internet connection (9 comments): "I let my latest LG TV on the network, but block internet access at the router." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46254466)) "I have an LG TV that only works as a dumb screen and it's really beautiful" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48879451)) "LG TV’s are really really good. If you never connect them to the internet." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48957833)) - Excellent picture quality (7 comments): "LG TVs have the best OLED displays and the most questionable privacy policy." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49600117)) "I have an LG TV that only works as a dumb screen and it's really beautiful" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48879451)) "LG TV’s are really really good. If you never connect them to the internet." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48957833)) - Few ads when settings tweaked (2 comments): "absolutely no ads. You need to tweak the settings" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49003945)) "neither of them bug me with such fullscreen ads" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46847640)) - Useful voice search and app PINs (2 comments): "LG let's me put a PIN on apps like YouTube, so the kids can't watch it alone." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46476263)) "Voice recognition is really useful when searching." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49675989)) ## What people warn about - Collects viewing and network data (14 comments): "I think the most egregious thing here is that if you don't give the TV a network connection that it will actively search for other ways to get the data back to LG" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49595958)) "from LG's surveillance capitalism point of view, the 0.001% of LG owners that can even think about doing that isn't even a drop in the bucket" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49599182)) "starts using a neighbor's LG TV as access point, without telling you, for the sole purpose of upgrading itself and sending this telemetry" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49597064)) - Slow, bloated, unpleasant software (7 comments): "I still somewhat resent that I need to wait for the software to boot up just to change inputs" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46432293)) "their TVs are bloated as fuck and they do questionable things privacy-wise" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49606393)) "their software was a bit shit but the hardware supported e-arc etc." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49001576)) - Hard-to-disable features and dark patterns (4 comments): "LG was the target of a different lawsuit in Texas which they settled and then wrote up a forced arbitration clause and doubled-down on data collection, even when opted out." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50222868)) "you can't easily turn them off. I turn the features off, and every time the firmware updates, they miraculously somehow turn back on." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49682227)) "using dark patterns to do things that wouldn't stand up in court because they definitely illegal in places with data protection laws" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49606622)) - Some apps and hardware dropped (2 comments): "the only thing I'm not happy with is that about a year ago Netflix ended their app for that hardware generation" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46160568)) "The tv remote sensor stopped working (and broke again after servicing), so now the only way to use the TV is by the LG app on my phone" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46591398)) ## Alternatives hackers recommend - [Samsung TV](https://hackerapproved.com/p/samsung-tv.md): 37 recommend - [Sony Bravia TV](https://hackerapproved.com/p/sony-bravia-tv.md): 19 recommend - [TCL TV](https://hackerapproved.com/p/tcl-tv.md): 17 recommend - [Roku TV](https://hackerapproved.com/p/roku-tv.md): 14 recommend - [Samsung Frame TV](https://hackerapproved.com/p/samsung-frame-tv.md): 10 recommend ## Where to get it - [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=LG+smart+TV&tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link) - [Official site](https://www.lg.com/us/) ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "LG smart TV", https://hackerapproved.com/p/lg-smart-tv/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).