Chinese Internet company, Xiaomi, has announced a new superthin smart television set at CES 2017, called the Mi TV 4. By “superthin,” the company explains that the new television set is thinner than the Mi Mix and iPhone smartphones. It’s only 4.9 mm at the thinnest point and furthermore, the set has minimal bezels around the edge, following an industry trend we have witnessed with the Xiaomi Mi Mix smartphone. The Xiaomi Mi TV 4 joins Xiaomi’s existing family of Mi-branded products, numbering smartphones, tablets, fitness bands, refrigerators, robotic vacuum cleaners, bikes and drones – plus more. Another leaf taken from the smartphone industry is that of a modular design, which is a trait the new Mi TV 4 shares with Xiaomi’s other television sets. The television is essentially split into two units: the superthin panel and the internal components, which reside in a bar that sits under the screen. A single cable connects the two components. The advantage of this layout is that it is relatively easy to upgrade or repair the television set by swapping out the display unit, motherboard or sound system.
The Xiaomi Mi TV 4 will ship with an optional Dolby Atmos home cinema sound system, designed to let viewers hear movies and television shows in three dimensions. This means that the sound from the television is projected around the view as it would be expected, so a car approaching from behind sounds like it is coming from behind. And finally, the television set’s smart software is built upon a version of the Android operating system under Xiaomi’s Patch Wall user interface, which Xiaomi explain learns from the customer’s browser history using artificial intelligence in order to make recommendations. Hugo Barra explained that the Patch Wall system takes recommendations from a “vast library of content,”
The television will be available in 49-inch, 55-inch and 65-inch versions later this year, with the biggest 65-inch model including Dolby Atmos will cost “well under $2,000” when released. Xiaomi also explained that a model without the Dolby Atmos unit will cost under $1,500; Xiaomi did not discuss pricing of the smaller 49-inch and 55-inch sets, or the exact date when it expects the televisions to be available. Still, this is Xiaomi’s first press conference at CES and their new ultrathin television has certainly made an impression.