My samsung TV got an update that made it start playing some samsung TV stream every time I turn it on and it slows the TV to a crawl while I try to navigate to what I want to watch. Terrible update. Before it would be on the main menu but with whatever streaming app I was using last behind the menu and didn’t lag to death.

My Vizio soundbar likewise also got an obnoxious update. It went from being a soundbar that just plays what i clicked on my TV to something that pushes obnoxious ‘stream this with Vizio’ push messages to the corresponding app. I blocked it from sending notifications but it’s annoying…

You are a soundbar, I want no input from you on what I want to watch. You are a TV, I want you to display what I click and not force auto play episodes of Medium from the 1990s.

Apples are pretty straightforward. My experice with samsung, in particular when they sell a lemon device and how they support it are super dodgy. At least with a iPhone you can take it to an apple store and get a replacement or repair on the spot. Good luck getting that with samsungs Phillipines based hall of mirrors.

Stick with iPhone or pixel. Samsung build quality is garbage and their support is outsourced to the Phillipines and is garbage. At least with iphone you can take it to an apple store. The Samsung 'experience ’ stores aren’t helpful.

If you buy from Samsung and have any problem at all do not call their tech support. Just return the device for refund and buy something else. Samsung tech support will try to run out your 14 day return window then after that all they will offer is for you to mail the phone back for repair while you are expected to live without a phone for 2 to 4 weeks while they evaluate their defective hardware.

My nearest samsung experience center is an hour drive away. We tried scheduling an appointment via the web site but the web site was broken. We called 6 times over 4 days during business hours and left voice mails every time and never got a callback. So we finally gave up and did the hour drive only to be told we had to have an appointment and we couldn’t just wait for a tech. We asked to schedule the next available slot while there in person and were told we had to use the web site. I opened my working samsung device and showed the person the web site wasn’t working to schedule the appointment and asked him if I was maybe doing it incorrectly. He said no it looks like the web site isn’t working and I need to call the tech support number that instructed me to go to the samsung experience center in the first place. It’s a hall of mirrors. (This is the Stanford CA location. Insanely staffed)

The key mistake we made was talking to tech support to begin with and following their instructions. We should have immediately returned the phone within the 14 day return period when we noticed Bluetooth was defective on the device instead of following tech support. Lesson learned.