Not sure if it changed, but my 1-2 year old Sony with Android TV was fine with not being connected to the internet at all.
No idea if it's full of some sort of baked in ads because, after the initial setup, I've used it exclusively as... a TV. It turns on, shows me things I give it over HDMI, and turns off. I haven't actually seen the menu/apps/whatever after the first day.
It's not optimal, I'd rather it just be a dumb TV obviously, but in a sea of bad options it's been... fine.
https://streamingclarity.com/android-tv-staff-pick-highlight...