One of my biggest complaints about modern smart TVs has always been the port selection. TVs are so much more advanced than they were 20 years ago, with smart capabilities that let you stream shows and movies, new panel technologies like OLED and Mini-LED that bring picture quality to life like never before, and dramatically slimmer designs that make TVs look sleeker than ever. But despite all these advancements, the ports on TVs have always felt like an afterthought.
For example, even though the HDMI 2.1 specification has been around for almost a decade, most TVs still don’t equip all of their HDMI ports with it. Instead, they offer a mix of HDMI 2.0 and HDMI 2.1, with only higher-end TVs typically giving you a full array of HDMI 2.1 ports.
Then there’s Ethernet. Don’t get me wrong, I love Ethernet, and it’s the best way to get a fast and reliable internet connection. The only problem is that, on smart TVs specifically, that’s only half true. Pretty much every TV maker still uses 10/100 Ethernet, which is limited to 100 Mbps and often means Wi-Fi can actually be faster than a wired connection on your TV.
USB is another frustrating area, and it’s the one I want to focus on. TVs typically come equipped with USB ports, which is great because they let you plug in a USB stick to watch movies, connect adapters like Gigabit Ethernet, and even fully power streaming sticks like the Roku Streaming Stick Plus and Fire TV Stick 4K.
However, despite it being 2026, the vast majority of TVs are still equipped only with USB-A. To me, that’s a bit of a head-scratcher, especially since USB-C has become so much more common.
USB-C needs to become a staple on TVs
It offers more flexibility
Given how common USB-C has become nowadays, with practically every phone, laptop, and tablet featuring it, I don’t think it’s a far-fetched ask for TVs to start including it too.
I have a number of devices I use with my TV’s USB port, like my Fire TV Stick 4K, that still rely on USB-A, so I’m not saying USB-A should disappear from TVs entirely. But it would be nice if, alongside USB-A ports, TV makers started including at least one USB-C port too. That would open the door to so many more devices you could connect to your TV.
For example, I have a portable SSD with old movies on it, but I can’t use it with my TV because it’s USB-C. If my TV had even one USB-C port, that wouldn’t be an issue. Instead, I have to use an adapter to make it work.
USB-C could also give you another way to display content on your TV, since some USB-C ports support video input. That means you could send a video signal from another USB-C device, such as a laptop or tablet, directly to your TV. So, instead of needing an HDMI adapter to connect your laptop to your TV, you could simply use a USB-C cable. Of course, this would only work if your laptop supports video output over USB-C and the TV’s USB-C port supports video input.
And that’s where the biggest problem with USB-C comes in. Just like USB-A and HDMI, not all USB-C ports are created equal. Some may support only older, slower specifications like USB 2.0, while others may support USB 3.0, USB4, or even faster speeds like Thunderbolt 5. And not every USB-C port supports video input or output, either.
Unfortunately, that’s just part of the USB-C experience on every device that uses it, and I don’t think it’s a reason to keep USB-C off TVs. TV makers just need to be upfront about what the USB-C port on their TV is actually capable of.
USB-C is already on some TVs
The best of both worlds
While the vast majority of TVs don’t have a USB-C port, there are a few that do. Roku recently announced its new OLED TVs, the Pro Series and Pro Series LX, and they include both a USB-A and USB-C port. That means you can connect both types of devices to the TV, which is exactly the kind of flexibility I think all TVs should have.
Hisense is doing something similar with its U8Q and UXQ Mini-LED TVs, which feature a USB-C port that supports both power delivery and DisplayPort. That makes it easy to connect a laptop directly to your TV without needing an adapter.
This just goes to show that if TV makers wanted to start including USB-C ports on their TVs, they could. On mid-range and high-end TVs that cost hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars, I don’t think asking for at least one USB-C port is a big ask. Even on budget models, having at least one USB-A and one USB-C port shouldn’t be out of the question.
Ultimately, USB-C has become the new standard for so many of the devices we use every day, and it’s time for TVs to catch up.
