OnePlus TV: smartphone brand enters TV market with "unique Android TVs"

OnePlus TV models announced
(Image credit: OnePlus)

OnePlus, a company best-known for its smartphones (such as the five-star OnePlus 7 Pro) is finally entering the smart TV sphere. It's been almost a year since we told you about OnePlus' plan to venture into TVs but, finally, we have cold, hard evidence that OnePlus TVs are in the pipeline – although specific details are admittedly still fairly thin on the ground. 

According to newly-released Bluetooth SIG documentation, (or Bluetooth Special Interest Group) the Chinese firm’s TVs (reportedly called 'OnePlus TV') will all feature an LED display (which we interpret to mean an LED-backlit, LCD screen), and come in four sizes: 43-inch, 55-inch, 65-inch, and 75-inch. 

There are a total of 39 new OnePlus TV model numbers listed, all of which confirm that they’ll be made for US, Chinese and Indian markets (denoted by the use of either US, CN and IN at the end of the model number). We'd hope for a European launch too; however, this will require a separate Bluetooth certification.

The TVs will also offer the most up-to-date Bluetooth 5.0, and – here's the really intriguing bit – the document lists the new models as "unique Android TVs". 

We can’t be sure what will make OnePlus' offering so "unique", but it could well mean a combination of apps and a new (or perhaps customisable) interface. Of course, we'd expect OnePlus TVs to have a 4K HDR screen, Android OS and a virtual smart assistant embedded.

Bluetooth SIG is a certification required by all electrical devices that incorporate Bluetooth technology.

Android TV is a smart TV platform used by several television manufacturers, including Sony and Philips

Again, we can only speculate on the "unique"-ness OnePlus will be bringing to the TV table, but it could also have something to do with the remote and connectivity options – perhaps using Bluetooth to display and cast content from Android smartphones, or running a more mobile-friendly OS interface different from other Android smart TVs.

If OnePlus is offering something unique, surely the company will utilise its strengths and experience within the smartphone sphere to do so.

There's no exact release date, (it is most likely to be a 2020 debut) but when we know, we'll be letting you know – in our own unique way. 

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Becky has been a full-time staff writer at What Hi-Fi? since March 2019. Prior to gaining her MA in Journalism in 2018, she freelanced as an arts critic alongside a 20-year career as a professional dancer and aerialist – any love of dance is of course tethered to a love of music. Becky has previously contributed to Stuff, FourFourTwo, This is Cabaret and The Stage. When not writing, she dances, spins in the air, drinks coffee, watches football or surfs in Cornwall with her other half – a football writer whose talent knows no bounds.