Xiaomi has seemingly come out of nowhere to enter the smart TV conversation, and with the company’s most recent announcement, it’ll likely be staying for a bit.
Earlier today at an event, the company showed off a 49-inch smart TV that boasts both 4K resolution and an OS powered by Android TV. But the price is really what’s going to turn heads; Xiaomi plans to sell the set for CN¥3,999 in China. In United States dollars, that equates to about $640.
I’ve seen some cheaper 4K TVs being sold, but they’re often packing bare minimum specs and features. The Xiaomi set will reportedly pack a display from either LG or CSOT, a 1.45 GHz quad-core CPU (for running all those apps and games), 2 GB of RAM, and 8 GB of onboard storage that can be expanded via microSD to 64 GB.
All of that packed into a TV with a $640 price tag? That’s definitely worth a look.
It would be a mistake to view Xiaomi as an unknown Chinese company. The company was able to poach a senior Android staff member, Hugo Barra, to serve as a vice president, and it’s experienced a meteoric rise since its launch in 2010. The company’s most recent reports indicate $5.2 billion in revenue.
The company seems to be doing okay in China, but will it bring its products into the United States? We have a pretty sizable about of TV manufacturers vying for our dollars here, but we don’t really have a lot of innovation happening in the low-to-mid tier. It’s an area that could use a shot in the arm, and having an outside company come in with a set that is both cheaper and more feature-packed could do quite a bit to make that happen.
What do you think of the specs on Xiaomi’s 4K TV? Would you be interested in getting one? Drop us a line below with your thoughts.
[via Engadget]