OnePlus CEO Pete Lau has confirmed that the OnePlus TV will launch in September 2019, earlier than the 2020 release date we were anticipating.
In a blog post, Lau also verified that the smart TV will initially roll out in India, and that the smartphone company is "working hard to launch OnePlus TV in North America, Europe and China", while OnePlus tries to "establish partnerships" with local and regional content providers.
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That means there's no guarantee that the OnePlus TV will come to Western markets, and there's still no word on pricing yet.
However, OnePlus' strategy in the smartphone market so far, has been to offer upper-mid-range products that undercut the competition by about 20-30% of the price, so we're not expecting the OnePlus TV to break the bank.
How "unique" will this TV be?
While Lau's blog post didn't reveal much about the upcoming smart TV (including whether it has a 4K display), we do know that the OnePlus TV will ship in 43-inch, 55-inch, 65-inch, and 75-inch sizes, as listed by the official Bluetooth SIG website.
The cheaper 43-inch model will only be available in India, though, while the 75-inch model will be exclusive to China; that means the September launch date could feasibly pertain specifically to the 43-inch model.
The Bluetooth SIG listing, which describes the OnePlus TV as a "unique Android TV", confirmed that the upcoming OnePlus TV will sport the most recent Bluetooth 5.0 standard.
Android TV in itself isn't new, with Sony TVs, Philips TVs, and many more using the operating system to power their smart features.
What sets the OnePlus TV apart from these models isn't clear, although it could have something to do with the remote and connectivity options, perhaps using a more smartphone-like interface than your standard Android TV.
At least now we won't have too long to wait to find out; and if you're in India, you could be among the first to get your hands on the much-hyped smart TV.
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