The Samsung Sero TV has debuted in South Korea as a concept device, but at CES 2020, it seems ever closer to becoming a full-on product with future global availability.
Sero is designed to be paired with a phone so that it can match the handset’s orientation and content. You can think of it as the largest and most expensive phone accessory to date.
Pairing is done by (NFC) contact with Galaxy Phones, and some non-Samsung devices may have some form of integration as well. In the worst-case scenario, people can use the Sero remote to switch the orientation.
To be fair, the Sero can also be used as a regular TV, especially when in Landscape mode, but buying it (for $1600) can only be justified if someone plans to used the phone display cloning mode.
The idea may appear a bit “out there,” but if you think about how much time many users spend on YouTube, Instagram and other mobile-first image or video-based experiences, you can understand why someone had to try it, and of course, Samsung has the tech, the engineering resources and the willingness to try it.
And it’s true that these experiences already look MUCH better on a tablet, so there’s value in having a larger screen, this time a 43” TV.
The Sero TV can also change its rotation based on the aspect ratio of the content. For example, watching when a vertical Instagram video, the TV can rotate by itself without user intervention.
We’ll assume that the trials in South Korea went well, and therefore a larger push seems to be underway.
As a user, you have to accept that the TV comes with its stand, which makes the rotation possible and that Sero is designed to be right on the floor and not on a shelf of a wall.
The stand integrates a relatively powerful speaker system (60W, 4.1) covered with acoustic cloth.
The image quality seems to be quite good, but other Samsung TVs can outmatch it as Sero has been designed to be a “lifestyle TV” and has pretty much no competition, for now.
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