As streaming devices and smart TVs largely offer the same access to services such as Netflix, Disney+ and Hulu, many people assume owning one makes the other redundant. However, pairing a smart TV with a standalone streaming device, such as a Roku, Fire TV Stick or Chromecast, can be worthwhile, particularly as televisions age and their built-in software becomes slower, less reliable or unsupported. This is especially useful for households wanting to avoid the far higher cost of replacing an entire television.

Smart TV performance varies widely because manufacturers licence software from firms like Amazon, Google and Roku, and processors can struggle once RAM is stretched by other tasks, causing crashes or sluggishness. Streaming devices tend to be cheaper to upgrade, sometimes carry fewer adverts than TVs from brands such as Samsung, Roku and TCL, continue receiving updates after a television's software support ends, and offer extra features such as personal media storage, remote-finder buttons, live TV apps and portability between rooms or on holiday.