I have smart TV’s and Firesticks on some other televisions. I also subscribe to YouTubeTV. While either the smart TV, or the Firestick will provide you access to YouTube TV, I prefer the Firestick. The reason being is that with a fire stick you can link the Firestick to an Alexa device if you have one. Once you have linked the Alexa device to the Fire TV, you can verbally control the fire TV. You can do things like turn on and off the television remotely, search for various programs, change channels using verbal commands, and also pause and resume shows that are in progress.

If you have an Xfinity cable TV box, there are some apps that are delivered through the cable and not directly through the Internet service. So, you can access these apps without even having an Internet service, and no streaming is required.

ditto last paragraph and add 100 dollar penalty for going over data limit
sayanora xfinity to the moon and beyond
thanks gc

We cut the cord 3years ago. We had a friend program firesticks for us. We get local tv channels and movie channels,and all sports channels, for less than $25.00 monthly.

We have 5 TVs in the house, none of them are smart TVs. Chromecast on each of the 5, my own modem and mess router. I switched from Xfinity to You Tube TV, am more than satisfied and major yearly saving on equipment rental alone. Cutting the cable is easier than you think.

Cut the cord
 

We cut the cord 2 years ago and were not happy with the fire stick or roku. Finally got the chromecast device which seems to work the best with youtube tv. We get many local TV stations (live).

I would suggest looking into Quantum Fiber..... $65 per month with the price locked for life. We have had it for over 6 months now and it is great.

Would you explain that?

Assuming you have Internet service, turn on your smart TV and open the YouTubeTV app. Click on start free trial. You will be able to stream more than 100 channels which will include the local channels. After the free trial is over, it will cost you $72.99 per month.

I use you tube tv and it’s great and easy to use. You tube tv is an “app” and the app is either on your smart tv already or…..the app is loaded on a Firestick or a roku device. If the app isn’t on your smart tv you can try to to add it. If you can’t add it on your smart tv just use either of the 2 devices you mentioned. I got a deal with Spectrum a couple of months ago here in The Villages-$25 per month for 1 year then it goes up to the normal price(same as Infinity). Also, you can sign up for You Tube Tv online. No more customer service people and waiting on the phone!

You will always be better off using either a Firestick or a Roku than the TV app. The TV manufacturer is selling a TV, not apps, so they don't always spend a lot of time on optimizing and debugging their apps. The app on the TV (unless it is a FireTV or Roku) is NOT the same as the app on a FireTV or Roku.

Both Firesticks and Rokus are specifically sold to run apps - that is their primary purpose. These companies spend a great deal of time to optimize and debug the apps that are used to ensure a great user experience.

You are far more likely to experience slow response, stuttering, or freezing on a TV app.

If all you watch is YouTube TV
 

If you only want to watch YouTube TV and can get those on your smart TV's (as you stated), start out that way with only your Internet and the TV's.

That will get you going, save you money and make you comfortable with the concept of streaming.

If, in the future, you decide you want other streaming services and your smart TV does not offer them or your TV does not update the apps for some reason, purchase a Fire Stick or a Roku.

I have a smart TV but after several months of the same annoying commercials I am starting to go back to just internet and connecting computer to the TV for the large monitor. I tried white listing through my router but the commercials are still there. My adblocker works better on the computer and I don't know that it works as well for a smart tv. I now only watch Disney channel on the smart tv and deal with the commercials but those seem to be a lot less annoying. (not counting that whiney red bull bird one)

Two things.

1. Do not go with T-Mobile they just had yet another data breach. This is about the 4th data breach in a year. I got a $25 check and lifetime credit monitoring for them leaking my social security number to the highest bidder.

The sad thing is it’s their own employees that are giving access to customers' personal information. I wouldn't trust this company with my library card number nevertheless my social security number.

2. If you get YouTube TV get the $30 Google TV stick as it works best with Google products.
Chromecast with Google TV - Google Store

I have 7 smart TVs, and a Firestick in each one of them. Why? I find smart TV remotes to be ridiculous. Firestick remotes do everything I need a remote to do, and with way fewer buttons.