I bought a TCL with smart features and there's no ads and I just dont connect it to wifi.
The Firestick 4k Max I got for $75 advertises prime shows occasionally (unobtrusively) but the UI is 2x as fast as my Chromecast so I very happily use it w/ IPTV, Airplay, and streaming apps.
I have a Firestick 4k Max on our main TV and a standard 4k stick on the other TV. They just work compared to my Shield TV which always seemed to fighting my home theater setup. I got them through a Prime deal, so I think I spent a total of $75 for both.
I've been tempted by some in-app features that only seem to work on AppleTV devices but not enough to spend that much when my current devices do the job so well.
Like some high quality audio streaming or better Airplay integration or something?
I had the same temptations to upgrade to Apple but I've resisted. Android seems to be where it's at for pure variety of software when it comes to TV/streaming media.
The Firestick 4k Max I got for $75 advertises prime shows occasionally (unobtrusively) but the UI is 2x as fast as my Chromecast so I very happily use it w/ IPTV, Airplay, and streaming apps.