# Sony Google TV

5 Hacker News commenters recommended Sony Google TV and 1 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 6 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Praised for reasonably fast performance and a dumb mode that boots straight to HDMI; critics call its UI sluggish.

## Why people recommend it

- Optional dumb mode hides home screen (2 comments): "You can literally click to boot into "dumb mode" on all modern Google TVs such as Sony once and forget about it." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46222403)) "reasonably fast, and doesn't even show its home screen unless I specifically summon it" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49002049))
- Smooth, usable smart TV experience (2 comments): "reasonably fast, and doesn't even show its home screen unless I specifically summon it" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49002049)) "it's been the best smart TV experience I've had in a long time" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48547018))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [LG smart TV](https://hackerapproved.com/p/lg-smart-tv.md): 57 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

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Sony+Bravia+Google+TV&tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Official site](https://www.sony.com/electronics/televisions)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Sony Google TV", https://hackerapproved.com/p/sony-google-tv/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).