OnePlus announced new budget and mid-segment TVs!

Three new models between the price point of $175 and $670
Anonymoussaurus

OnePlus launched a premium TV last year (models: Q1 and Q1 Pro), and now it has announced three new TVs. These should fit in the budget and mid-segment, to compete with Xiaomi and Realme (especially in India), who now dominate the TV market. Tune in to the live announcement on YouTube:

Specifications and design U-series (mid-segment)

Even though OnePlus had to cut costs in order to offer a lower-priced mid-range TV, the new TV still ends up looking quite good. Pete Lau posted a render a while ago, which showed off minimal bezels and a matte-black glass panel, which covers the entire front.

Image credit: OnePlus

OnePlus claimed that the screen-to-body ratio is up to 95 percent for the mid-segment TVs, which seems comparable with the Xiaomi Mi TV 4S. They also claim that this is "one of the highest if not the highest at this price point", which could imply it's priced lower than Xiaomi's and Realme's TVs.

The new TVs will also have 90 degree corners instead of rounded ones and the thinnest part of the TV is just 6.9mm thick and should still be strong, thanks to stainless steel, according to OnePlus. This makes it even thinner than the latest OnePlus flagship smartphone.

Image credit: OnePlus

In another post, OnePlus already said all TVs will have DCI-P3, which is a colour gamut and has a range which is 26 percent larger than Rec. 709's (another colour gamut standard), especially in the green and red ranges. Now, DCI-P3 covers up to 93 percent colour gamut, which OnePlus calls "OnePlus Cinematic Display". Thereby they claimed many high-end TVs cannot achieve this spectrum.  Last but not least, the U1 also has support HLG (Hybrid Log Gamma).

Just like with the Q1-series, the mid-segment will also contain OnePlus' Gamma Engine and Dolby Vision, which greatly improves picture quality, according to OnePlus. The Gamma Engine contains an MEMC (a dedicated chip for motion compensation), colour space mapping, anti-aliasing and noise reduction, as well as dynamic contrast and super resolution. This results in sharper, cleaner and more fluid videos.

The U1 is a whopping 4K 55" TV, fits a MediaTek MT5887 chipset with four ARM Cortex A53 cores, which takes care of the experience of the animations and processing of videos and images. Storage-wise, it has 16GB internal storage in combination with 3GB of RAM. As said earlier, the chassis of the U1 is made of metal and has an aliminum alloy frame, which looks modern and is exceptionally strong as well. The back of the TV has a removable cover. By removing, the I/O ports can be seen and used. This layer is made of carbon fiber-texuted material, for an even more modern design.

Compared to the Y-series, this U1 has 30W speakers instead of 2x 10 watt. Speaking of sound, Dolby Atmos is also part of the package and are rotated for 90 degrees, for better sound quality.

Image credit: XDA-Developers

As you can see, the remote controller contains dedicated buttons for Netflix, Assistant and Amazon Prime.

Specifications and design Y-series (budget segment)

In the budget segment, OnePlus announced 2 TVs: a 43" full HD (1080p) TV and a 32" TV. The latter is HD-Ready (720p). Even OnePlus' budget segment contains all the hardware-specific features that the U-series has, but lacks the MEMC-chip.

The new Y-series also fit 2x 10 watt speakers, but also has the Gamma Engine, just like with the mid-segmented TVs and Q1-series. The Y1 has Dolby Audio and has thicker bezels compared to its more expensive brother.

Oxygen Play

All TVs that were announced today by OnePlus run Android TV, based on Android 9 and have the usual OnePlus-apps integrated. The Oxygen Play app is an app that combines Netflix and Amazon Prime video into one library of movies and series. The TV will have an album functionality and the OnePlus Connect App, where you can remotely control your TV with your OnePlus phone or iPhone, even when the TV is turned off.

Other features, which will come to the U-series only, are Data Saver and Kids Mode.These features will be implemented later and will come by an Over-The-Air update.

These features will also come to the top-of-the-line Q-series.

A list of features that are available (source: XDA-Developers):

 

  • TypeSync to avert the jarring typing experience on Android TV,
  • Smart Volume Control for automatically lowering down TV when you receive a call
  • Quick App Switch to jump between apps on the TV
  • Trackpad control as an alternative to the traditional D-pad
  • Screenshot capture, and
  • Wi-Fi sharing for easily connecting to a Wi-Fi network on the TV using your phone.

Prices & availability

The three TVs OnePlus announced with these live stream will only be available for the Indian market. OnePlus didn't mention anything about selling these TVs in other countries besides India. Sales will start the 5th of July and will be sold via Amazon and will later be available through other channels. The prices are as follow:

  1. 55U1 (55", 4K): 49,999 Indian Rupees (~$670/€595, excluding import costs)
  2. 43Y1 (43", 1080p): 22,999 (~$310/€274, excluding import costs)
  3. 32Y1 (32", 720p): 12,999 (~$175/€155, excluding import costs)

Image credit: XDA-Developers

 

XDA-Developers also posted an exclusive interview with CEO and founder Pete Lau.