Smart TVs are a wonderful way to enjoy content without the need of any additional device attached on the back. Samsung Smart TVs are very well developed and provide tons of opportunities for entertainment. These 5 best apps for Samsung Smart TVs aim to make the “smart” features of your TV see use. A lot of people I know who own smart TVs don’t actually use the additional features that come with their TV. It is either because they don’t want to go through additional menus or just plain tradition of just switching on the TV and flicking through the channels. I for one, am a huge advocate of using a piece of technology to its full potential, hence the 5 best apps for Samsung Smart TVs will help you use the exciting new features on a daily basis. Even though I don’t personally own a Samsung smart TV, I visited my parents over the holidays and tinkered with their Samsung smart TV, I think they are addicted to Narcos on Netflix. Note: The 5 best apps for Samsung Smart TVs were tested on a Samsung 40H6400 TV. I’m also aware that the model numbers may vary region to region, so it might be hard to track this particular smart TV down in the US. The good thing is, all the apps worked perfectly fine on the TV and no problems were faced during testing. I tinkered around for a good 30 minutes with each app, simply because I wanted to catch a full episode on them. You will obviously need an active Internet connection for these apps to work perfectly. Due to their kind of same nature, the apps are not in any particular order.
1. Netflix
Netflix has fast become my go to entertainment app on any platform, be it Android or Windows. So naturally, I tested it out on the Samsung Tizen OS as well and found it to be equally satisfying on the big screen. As a matter of fact, I kind of prefer watching movies on TV now, I think that I abandoned as soon as I got my first Android tablet. While the interface is a bit refined and rearranged for the TV, there are not many differences to make old Netflix users confused. The app ran perfectly fine and the streaming was amazing, to say the least. After installing the app I was watching high-resolution content in absolutely no time without any interruptions. If you own a Samsung smart TV, then you must check out Netflix. The best part is, you don’t even have to pay for the first month, so you are free to watch a bucket load of quality content for absolutely free. Visit website
Are the shows any good? In my personal opinion, yes, they are worth a monthly subscription. The app runs smoothly on the Samsung Smart TV and the streaming is never interrupted by buffering, even if your connection is not that amazing. I highly recommend The Main in the High Castle, it’s about an alternate reality where the Nazis won WWII. Visit website
3. PlayStation Now
This one is a bit different than the rest of the apps on the list. PlayStation Now allows you to play PS3 video games on your smart TV without actually owning the console. That’s right, you can enjoy a ton of PS3 and even PS2 titles on your Samsung Smart TV with this app. There are however a few catches; for one, you will need a pretty solid internet connection for the games to work and secondly, you will also require a PlayStation DualShock controller. After these kinks are ironed, you can easily play some quality games natively on your Samsung Smart TV. I thankfully own a PS4, so getting a controller wasn’t that hard. This move allowed me to play some old PS classics without actually lugging my PC or PS4 to my parents place these holidays. Fair warning though, you will notice a fair bit of input lag, so play slow games on it at first until you learn to compensate for the lag.
4. HBO Now
This one is a bit of a sore spot for a ton of people, especially me. You see, this app is only available in the US and the rest of the world also wants it on their TVs. I would have asked a good friend to test it out for me but we are not talking anymore, that’s because he watched Games of Thrones as it aired and spoiled it for me. That being said, HBO Now is a great app to have, if you are living in USA and have access to a Smart TV. I didn’t personally use this app but I heard great things about it from my friends living in the US. I know that there are ways to watch HBO and HBO Max from other countries, I recommend checking the VPNpro article about how it is possible. The app is also available for your Samsung smartphone, so you can easily watch Games of Thrones on your commute. Visit website
5. Youtube
This one is an obvious addition to the best apps for Samsung smart TV list simply because of the sheer amount of content available on it to enjoy. The app works across the globe and there are no restrictions on streaming. The best thing? Everything is free and you can watch a truckload of content for absolutely no cost. Granted there are very few channels that provide polished content, but you can have a lot of fun watching technology related channels. I especially enjoy watching a new game being played by someone competent so I can judge it better and proceed there for myself. Same goes for a ton of products that I’m interested in purchasing. As a matter of fact, I highly recommend that you do your research on YouTube before getting anything, especially Android smartphones. Visit website
Conclusion
One of the best things about the 5 best apps for Samsung smart TVs is that they are all available for Android smartphones as well. So if you own a Samsung smartphone or any other for that matter, you can easily install one of these apps and enjoy full content on the go. Now that the smart TVs are getting affordable, it is a good time to invest in a 4K HDR smart TV (I don’t know whether they exist yet or not). As for me, I’ll stick with faster response time LED monitors for now, because in all honesty TVs are really bad in that department. So what do you think about these apps? More importantly, how do you use your smart TV? Talk to us in the comments below and enlighten us poor folks. Feature Image Credits