I use a browser on a desktop OS (Linux). I get what you mean that a browser on the tv is not nice UX, but there are some things you can do to improve the experience such as

• bumping up the default zoom level (I prefer to do that at the OS level rather than in the browser settings so it also makes menus, buttons and other UI elements bigger)

• getting one of those small wireless keyboards with integrated touchpad. The one I use is from Logitech and the batteries last for months.

Not everything is in the browser, I have downloaded a few desktop apps from Flathub (Freetube for watching Youtube, unofficial Spotify client etc).

The level of freedom you get from a desktop OS is so great that I would never go back to a “tv box” like Apple TV and similar things (I tried those and concluded they weren’t for me).