If you buy a "non-smart TV", unless you plan to use it with an analog tuner or something, you're going to plug in boxes, and those potentially carry the privacy-invading bogey man.<p>There is literally no difference, in this regard, between a dumb TV with a dongle/box plugged in, and a smart TV which has exactly the same thing built-in.<p>The nice thing about a dumb TV, such as the one I have is:<p>- simplicity of operation/configuration. I never have to fiddle with any menus in my dumb TV. You turn it on and it's ready to go. All the HDMI inputs have dedicated buttons on the remote control, so switching inputs is easy. Changing picture mode: dedicated button. Other than for switching inputs, I don't use the TV remote at all. The Android TV box's remote is a beautiful thing of simplicity. Smart TVs running Android TV come with complicated remote controls: the "android box" feature built inside doesn't have its own simple remote (unless you buy an after-market one, I suppose).<p>- portable "brains": the box or dongle you plug into it fits into a coat pocket. Take it anywhere and watch your content (anywhere, modulo possible geographic restrictions, for which you need a VPN).<p>- portable "brains": possibility of upgrading the TV, without the hassle of re-installing apps and logging into each one: just out with the old TV, in with the new. <i>Logging into apps on a new device is particularly a pain if you're mooching logins off friends and relatives!</i><p>- the ability to shut the TV off, yet have content keep playing and listen to the audio. This is possible if your Android box has an audio jack! I absolutely love this. I hate visual content burning pixels on the screen when I'm just listening to music.