Motorola has just introduced its Moto TV, a television with Android and some other attractive detail. Still, is it a good idea? It is difficult to say if it is or not, but it seems that if you cannot sell more phones, selling televisions is the solution that some brands have thought of. Because this Motorola thing is not new, in fact, it is the last one for now to join the party of launching its own Smart TVs.
Motorola TV: a Smart TV with an integrated sound bar
Motorola joins the trend of other manufacturers such as Xiaomi, OnePlus -which will soon officially show its product- or Honor and has just presented its Motorola TV or Moto TV, a Smart TV with which they want to offer something more to their users.
Motorola's smart TV will be available in different screen diagonals. These will range from 32 inches with a panel with HD resolution to 65 inches and 4K UHD resolution. At the design level there are not many images for now, but it seems that it will have an attractive aesthetic with reduced frames and striking finishes. Even so, nothing that breaks the mold in a sector as exhausted of ideas as that of televisions.
However, in order to achieve a little more attention and appeal as a living room solution, the manufacturer adds a sound bar. With this, the listening experience will improve, because with such a slim design, the physical limitations to integrate higher quality loudspeakers is a problem that even the highest-end models suffer.
Another of the striking details, and that points a bit to where they are going with it, is that this Moto TV will offer a gamepad to take advantage of the option options that it gives Android TV. These are neither more nor less than all the games already available, those that will arrive through the subscription gaming service type Apple Arcade and the future Stadia.
As outstanding features we have:
- Autotune X, screen technology that will allow support for Dolby Vision, HDR10 and 10-bit images
- MEMC technology for greater power and fluidity of images in games or playback of cinematic content
- Mali GPU for all the graphics power required
- AmphisoundX, with support for DTS audio and Dolby Audio
- Android TV and Chromecast support
For the rest, with hardware designed to offer adequate fluidity, Moto TV prices they would remain more or less like this if we apply the currency exchange because, for now, They have only been presented in India:
- 32” HD Moto TV 180 euros
- Moto TV 43” FHD 320 euros
- Moto TV 43” 4K UHD 380 euros
- Moto TV 50” 4K UHD 430 euros
- Moto TV 55” 4K UHD 510 euros
- Moto TV 65” 4K UHD 830 euros
The prices are not bad at all, but there are many details to know yet to assess correctly. In addition to being able to prove it, because making televisions is not the same as making phones, no matter how similar they are.
Is it a good idea to get into the television sector?
Going from manufacturing phones to televisions might seem almost the same, but it's not. A television and a smartphone share common elements, the main one being that both base all their activity on a screen through which we consume content, but that does not mean that launching into producing them is a great idea.
The television sector is very complicated. Manufacturers like Sony, Panasonic or Philips know this. The difficulties they had to face years ago with the arrival of brands like Samsung or LG were many. Now, these brands share the lion's share of the pie and still struggle to sell TVs every year.
I don't think the irruption of manufacturers like Honor, OnePlus or Motorola will be something similar to what happened some time ago. Nowadays the way of consuming content has changed a lot; a large screen always gives a better experience, but a phone, tablet or computer gives more privacy. And the latter is something that many users value above other aspects.
Therefore, it is interesting for these manufacturers to launch their televisions to give value to the brand, also to create an ecosystem and look for solutions that allow their own products to be integrated -yes, in true Apple style-, but they need something more than putting their logo .
For now none brings something really differential, they do not improve at all what is already available with other more established brands and with much more experience in the subject. Therefore, I even see it as difficult for them to be able to reach them at the level of calibration or other polished image technologies year after year.
For this reason, although I appreciate having more options, I would like that when a manufacturer decides to launch a television or another product that is not common in its catalog, it does so with the idea of breaking schemes. If not, better put that energy into making better phones. Especially Motorola, which won us over with its Moto G2 and since then has not been able to repeat its success.