OnePlus surprised many with the announcement that it was working on developing a new product that breaks away from its popular smartphones and accessories.
OnePlus TV was announced as a vision for OnePlus in September 2018, outlining the company's aim to give customers a more connected TV experience, to actually make smart TV smart, with seamless smartphone integration. It's part of a bigger move to disrupt the establishment: Honor is also playing the same game with Honor Vision.
OnePlus has been sharing little bits of information about how this plan is going to come together. Here's what we know so far.
OnePlus TV release date
- Plans first announced in September 2018
- Launching in India in September 2019
- US, China and Europe to follow
It was via the OnePlus forums that Pete Lau, OnePlus CEO, announced the intention to get into televisions, widening into a different product category.
Almost a year later, Lau confirmed via the company's community forums that the OnePlus TV will launch in India in September 2019, and that other regions would follow, as soon as they worked out partnerships with service providers in those regions, confirming rumours appearing in the Twitterverse.
Have some good news for you all: The OnePlus TV is not very far away, at least according to one source. The launch might be soon, so stay tuned. I have very high expectations from it, what about you? #OnePlus #OnePlusTV pic.twitter.com/qzCJnfozi4
— Ishan Agarwal (@ishanagarwal24) June 21, 2019
OnePlus TV design and manufacture
- Premium design
- 42, 55, 65, 75-inch sizes
OnePlus doesn't make TV panels and it doesn't make TVs, but it does have an eye for design. The company has said that it wants to bring "OnePlus' premium flagship design" to the TV category.
There's only so much you can do with a 16:9 panel, but it looks like design is going to be a target for the company. We'd expect it to focus on convenience, from controls to physical connections - but as yet, we've no idea what it will really look like.
Last week, our first #OnePlusTV came off the production line - a truly monumental moment. Within this box you'll find over 2 years of dreams, milestones and of course an amazing TV. Proud to seal the very first box, and can't wait for you to see it! pic.twitter.com/hFuChx6bJW
— Pete Lau (@PeteLau) August 27, 2019
OnePlus has confirmed that it will be available in a 55-inch size. However, the Bluetooth certification covers a range of different model numbers and these suggest a range of sizes will be available. They cover 43, 55, 65 and 75-inches, which are broadly the main sizes that TVs are selling in - so it make perfect sense.
These codes also contain IN, CN and US - which look like country codes, suggesting variants for each market. That would likely be to make sure that local TV standard were supported - by including the right tuners, for example, or slightly different spec. Whether all will make it to release, we don't know.
OnePlus TV confirmed specs
- 55-inch QLED panel
- Voice control, integrated camera
- Likely to be 4K HDR
For a TV to be competitive it really needs to be a 4K HDR panel. OnePlus CEO, Pete Lau, has said that it will "develop its own image processing chipsets" and sets the benchmark at Sony's image quality. From that, we can safely assume it will offer the latest TV standards.
Excited to take the next step forward together! What would you like to see in the OnePlus TV? Have ideas for a name? Let us know here: https://t.co/IpSnDtPxkT
— Pete Lau (@petelau2007) September 17, 2018
While this might all sound a little abstract, it's worth remembering that OnePlus sits under the umbrella of the Chinese giant BBK Electronics, alongside brands like Oppo Digital. That company (separate from the smartphone arm) recently announced that it was withdrawing from AV, but it had one of the best Ultra HD Blu-ray players on the market, so there's experience within the family, as it were.
According to Wikipedia, Pete Lau was previously director of Oppo's Blu-ray division, so his position at the head of the new OnePlus TV division makes a lot of sense. OnePlus has also made a point of mentioning "image quality and audio experience".
We know that OnePlus will use QLED panels for its smart TV and thanks to a notification page on Amazon India, we also have it confirmed that it will support both Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos. Supporting the latter are eight speakers with an output of 50W.
In the first round of news in the TV, OnePlus confirmed it was going to offer voice control and interaction, so there are going to be far-field microphones, according to details garnered in an interview with PC Mag. OnePlus TV will also include a camera, presumably to go straight into video calling - but Lau told Business Insider that it had a solution for privacy concerns with such cameras.
OnePlus has also shared the remote on Twitter. We've previously seen certification of Bluetooth for this remote, but now we have a full picture of it. You can see the Google Assistant button on it, which we suspect will trigger voice control, and various controls - menu, home, back - which look like they would on an Android phone and there's a volume rocker on the side. The top section looks like a multi-direction controller.
The OnePlus button remains something of a mystery, but we suspect this will access some of OnePlus' personalisation, some of the smarter stuff that takes the TV beyond that offered by Android TV.
OnePlus TV smart experience
- Voice control
- Seamless smartphone integration
- More personalised TV experience
- Powered by Android TV
But it's really the smart functions that will make the OnePlus TV stand out and this is the crux of what OnePlus has so far outlined. "We believe your TV has the potential to be so much more than where you watch your favorite shows," says Lau in the original forum post, but the specifics fall into other interviews.
"In my mobile phone, I have my calendar agenda. When I get up in the morning, the agenda will pop up in the TV with the local time, weather, temperature, my hotel information, and recommendations for how to dress," quotes PC Mag, suggesting a shift from a smartphone AI experience to one on the big screen.
It's all about a seamless integration between phone and TV, so that there's no complication getting content from your phone to your TV. It sounds, very much, like the sort of features that Samsung offers between its phones and TVs.
OnePlus has confirmed that to deliver the smooth and fast performance that customers expect from OnePlus that it will be based on Android TV. OnePlus says that thanks to a close working relationship with Google they can offer a great experience - but that it will also be updated for 3 years. That might not be the news some want to hear: most TV buyers keep that big purchase for over 5 years.
OnePlus TV as a smart home controller
- Google Assistant integration
- Smart home hub
OnePlus has also been open about talking about becoming an IoT player - and the TV is the first step in this goal. Sitting on Android, it will be compatible with all those devices that work with Google Assistant and we suspect this is the hardware route that OnePlus will be taking into a wider ecosystem as a smart home device manufacturer.
This is part of the justification for using Android TV to power OnePlus TV and that makes perfect sense.
How much will OnePlus TV cost?
OnePlus is saying that the TV will be premium, but that's always been the message for OnePlus' smartphones and they have been aggressively priced against established rivals like LG, Sony and Samsung - all big players in the TV space. The same thing will be true of OnePlus TV. In an interview with The Economic Times, Pete Lau described the TV as a "flagship killer" - hinting that pricing will be designed to challenge those established rivals.
The truth is we really don't know what the price will be yet, but we do know that in India it will be available from Amazon - but the price remains elusive.
We will keep you posted.
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