It’s no secret that OnePlus is working on a 4K TV. Heck, we’ve known that since CEO Pete Lau announced the endeavor in September 2018 and confirmed the OnePlus TV name in August 2019. In the interim, several new details surfaced — like the fact the television will have a QLED screen, come equipped with a so-called “optimized” Android TV skin, and will be available in several sizes, ranging from a modest 43 to a massive 75 inches.
Most of what we’ve heard to date stems from a recent filing on the Bluetooth Special Interest Group’s website (all devices that utilize Bluetooth must first receive a certification issued by the Bluetooth SIG), with the documentation stating that the so-called “unique” Android TVs all have an LED screen, with Lau later revealing that the OnePlus TV will feature a high-end QLED panel (not to be confused with OLED), akin to top-of-the-line Samsung TVs.
The OnePlus TV will be smart …
At first, we were stumped by what that could mean. Google doesn’t allow a whole lot of customization when it comes to Android TV, leading some to speculate that the firm may have come to some a unique arrangement with the search titan, and now Lau confirmed it’s done just that, telling Gadgets360: “Because of our great partnership with Google, not only do we use their Android TV system but we also optimize it very deeply.”
Lau then went on to detail his vision for the television as a whole, hinting at what it could have in store with the OnePlus TV, saying: “If you think about what’s going to happen in five to 10 years, I believe the TV is no longer the TV, it will be a smart display. It will have all the information that you have, including your note, your reminder, and maybe when you wake up, the TV will automatically tell you that this is your whole day’s schedule …”
But the OnePlus boss didn’t stop there, adding: “I think in the future, at a person’s house he or she is no longer going to have one or two displays, they may have multiple displays in several rooms and each room may display different things — but all the displays are connected to each other,” before noting that seamless smartphone integration is a must. How does that work, you ask? Well, we don’t know, but we have a couple of (feasible) theories.
First, given the simplicity of OnePlus’ smartphones, we envisage there being some sort of Bluetooth or Wi-Fi feature on board the OnePlus TV that communicates with the OnePlus 7 Pro (and other smartphones) when they’re in the vicinity of each other, with the latter directing all incoming calls, calendar events, reminders, and messages to the television to be showcased a non-intrusive slide-in alert in a corner of the high-res screen.
We also imagine a BlackBerry-esque hub — which users can visit to view all their incoming notifications, see their entire schedule, as well as all other pertinent information, such as the weather forecast, local traffic information, and any must-know sports scores — and a voice assistant, likely Google Assistant, for controlling both the television and smart-connected appliances (a Nest Learning Thermostat or Philips Hue, for example), sans remote.
It shouldn’t be too difficult to bake those features in, either. The OnePlus TV will ship with a MediaTek MT5670 CPU and 3GB of RAM, according to a listing that surfaced on the Google Play Developer Console on August 23 — more than enough horsepower to run the aforementioned tools. Pair that with Android TV and Google’s unconditional support, and there’s no reason OnePlus shouldn’t be able to turn the upcoming 4K TV into a smart screen.
… and high-end …
Surprise, surprise — Lau has an answer to that as well. “I’ve seen some premium or high-end TVs currently available in the market. Some of the TVs might have great quality but in terms of user experience they are not doing very well,” the CEO said. “And vice versa — I’ve seen some TVs may have great user experience but they are not very high-end or premium. But for us to do a great TV the definition is — great quality and great user experience.
… and it’s set to launch next month
On August 20, Lau revealed that the OnePlus TV will launch in September. As for where it’s going, the phone maker’s first foray into the television market will hit the shelves in India first before launching in Europe and North America soon thereafter. That’s all we know; the CEO didn’t shed light on when the much-anticipated 4K TV will hit the shelves, or how much it will cost when it does. But being a QLED, it probably won’t be cheap.
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