Sony Android TV and Apple TV 3 offer the best usability on Smart TV

Video on demand is increasingly replacing classic linear television. More and more people no longer want to schedule their time according to the current television program and prefer to call up their feature films and series from the Internet. Today, this takes place less and less on a small computer, but users enjoy the content directly on their large screen in their living rooms. In Germany, a large number of portal and device providers are currently competing for the favour of users:

• Smart TV portals from TV manufacturers such as Samsung, Sony and LG, who have recently overhauled all their platforms
• Additional equipment from cable network and antenna TV operators such as Vodafone, Unitymedia or the new Freenet TV
• Suppliers of TV accessories such as Telekom, Sky, Amazon or Apple
• Video portals on the Xbox and Playstation game consoles
• The television stations are also getting involved via their accompanying HbbTV offer, the "red button" on the remote control.

The platforms differ significantly in how easy they are to use and how appealing the user interfaces are perceived. This is the result of a study by Facit Digital, which compared the usability and perceived aesthetics of all relevant portals in Germany. Facit Digital interviewed 1,001 people who regularly use 28 different platforms on devices built in 2015 or later.

Sony and Apple lead in Smart-TV usability, Samsung trailed

The "old" Apple TV 3 as well as Sony Smart TV with Android TV score best among users in terms of subjective connected TV usability. In the eyes of its users, market leader Samsung can only achieve mediocre marks in usability. This applies to both the old and the new user "Tizen" user interface. According to the user rating, Sony's Android TV has the best visual impression.

HbbTV can keep up

The offer of TV channels according to the HbbTV standard is easily forgotten in non-linear television. In fact, for many users it is a real alternative to on-demand television, as it is free of charge and already provides a wide range of content such as the media libraries of the television stations.

In terms of user-friendliness, HbbTV can certainly keep up with the large hardware players in the eyes of the users. Media Broadcast's Multithek and 3sat's HbbTV offer achieve similarly high satisfaction levels as the leading smart TV platforms and additional devices.