Unfortunately, many current TVs ship with advertised-but-missing features, which are added later via a software update. In the current gen, variable framerate input is a good example of this.

That only works if there are no open wifis around. And I would not be suprised if Samsung use Verizon's (?) spy mesh of wifi routers.

I've always heard people claim that TVs will do this, I've never seen one actually do it. I don't believe any TV will speculatively join open wifi without asking.

If you consider Echo Show a smart TV, it can use amazon's sidewalk network to connect without internet.

im using kodi myself. i used libreElec for a few years which is basically just kodi as an OS. i switched to a OSMC recently which is a bit more expensive than a raspberry pi but the hardware and then OSMC skin is a bit nicer

i mainly use it with the jellyfin plugin so all of my media is stored on a NAS and kodi just acts as the player