# Vizio TV

8 Hacker News commenters recommended Vizio TV and 45 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 3 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Cheap, value-engineered TVs people accept for the price; the most common caveat is required Walmart accounts, data collection and ads.

## Why people recommend it

- Cheap, value-engineered TV for the price (2 comments): "Well that sucks, but maybe tolerable for a cheap TV if you only have to do it once." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47532585)) "a Vizio that was beautifully value engineered" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46251087))

## What people warn about

- Requires Walmart account or app setup (6 comments): "the enduser would be held hostage unless he/she gives up personal information to Walmart" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47531670)) "Walmart accounts will be mandatory on "select new Vizio OS TVs" for owners to complete onboarding and to use smart TV features." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47531845)) "The TV would not work unless I was signed in (or at the very least the option was so well hidden I didn't see one)." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49613203))
- Tracks and harvests viewing data (4 comments): "Vizio made TVs that automatically tracked what consumers were watching and transmitted that data back to its servers." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49596700)) "How can you compete/compare against vizio if it makes more on your data than on the television?" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47853916)) "The battle against personal-data-collection by default on TVs is probably lost at this point." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47531428))
- Ads and pop-ups in the interface (4 comments): "he got a confirmation dialog box with an ad embedded in it asking him "are you SURE you want to change inputs?"" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46257163)) "It won't be "just a screen" for much longer if people continue paying for TVs that do this bullshit." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47531549)) "I believe I read Vizio is losing money selling TVs, but more than makes up for it with all the ads" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46001764))
- Slow splash screens and silent updates (2 comments): "A few years later they did a silent update that added apps and generally made the UI much slower." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49677886)) "show a splash screen that might last anywhere from an infuriating time to nigh infinity" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47532710))

## 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=Vizio+smart+TV&tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Official site](https://www.vizio.com/en/home)

## Cite as

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