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Philips is now listing its “Android TV with the Google Assistant” as available in the U.S.
This appears to be the same device that made its debut during CES 2018.
While the device is listed as “new” on the Philips USA website, actual places to buy have yet to be confirmed.
Android TV for your kitchen
The idea here is simple. You can buy a smart display for your kitchen or any other smaller room in the home. Alternatively, you can buy a fully-fledged, feature-packed Android TV device instead.
This is Android TV but with a 24-inch display. By Android TV standards, that’s a pretty small display and hints at the purpose of the device. It is not meant to replace your main TVs, but fill in where traditional TVs would be too large.
The kitchen appears to be one of the most obvious examples and Philips hints at this in the item description by noting how you can just ask Google to “gain access to your favorite recipes.”
The Philips “Android TV with Google Assistant” was first shown off almost two years ago, during CES 2018. It remains to be seen why it is only now appearing to hit store shelves, although little to nothing seems to have changed since then.
Besides the 24-inch, the resolution is 1366 x 768 and the device looks to offer improved audio quality. Thanks to the inclusion of a dual 8-watt speaker system that’s attached to the display.
This vs smart displays
Smart displays are a great option for rooms like kitchens. Especially due to their size. However, the interface is far different compared to Android TV, and certainly more limited.
If you are looking for a device for the kitchen then a smart display will work just fine. Although, if you want a more robust solution, and one that doesn’t necessarily rely on casting video from a smartphone, then Android TV for the kitchen is likely to be a better choice.
Both device products come with the Google Assistant and so users have the option of controlling either through voice commands alone. That’s another plus for use cases where things might get a little messy, such as the kitchen.
In other words, if you are looking for more of a direct kitchen TV replacement, then a device like this one is probably what you want.
Smart displays are more of a kitchen tablet replacement, albeit without the direct access to apps.