The innovation never stops at LG Electronics, which has just launched its bizarre, suitcase-style TV called the StanbyMe Go with a price tag of $999 in the U.S.
The StanbyMe Go TV naturally stands out for its design aesthetics, being encased within its own briefcase to maximise portability, but what is equally impressive is the number of features and high-end specifications that the model boasts.
LG revealed the StanbyMe Go earlier this year, the first-ever TV anyone has heard of that comes packed inside its own briefcase. It’s a 27-inch LED touchscreen TV featuring a 1080p LED display that has its own battery with up to three-hours of life on a single charge, and 20 watt speakers. There are some other impressive features too.
For instance, the StanbyMe Go supports Dolby Vision as well as HDR10, which is a premium feature normally reserved for higher-end TVs. Indeed, some premium TVs, such as Samsung’s, don’t offer Dolby Vision at all. For many people, it’s an essential feature whether it’s for watching movies or playing games.
In addition, the LG StanbyMe Go supports a kind of virtual Dolby Atmos, which is another premium feature offered by some of the best TVs and soundbars. Of course, the StanbyMe Go runs LG’s webOS smart TV platform, which provides access to all the best streaming apps. It supports Airplay 2, Bluetooth, WiFi and screen-mirroring from smartphones and tablets. So although it’s small, it clearly packs quite a punch, all the more so considering LG envisages people using the TV while out camping or enjoying picnics etc.
Whether or not the concept will catch on remains to be seen, because while the feature list is fairly impressive, it does have some weaknesses. For one thing, $999 is a pretty hefty price tag for such a small screen, and so people are clearly paying a premium for the novelty of such a portable device. One could buy a very powerful laptop for that money, providing a similar screen size and a much longer battery life.
Indeed, the battery life of just three hours may prove problematic, especially for someone who intends to watch a long duration movie such as Oppenheimer. The three-hour quoted lifetime is probably not even achievable at the highest settings, when the user wants to maximise brightness. Two hours may be a more accurate estimation in such circumstances.
And again, many people will not be too enthusiastic about lugging an extra briefcase around with them while they’re out exploring the great outdoors.
Still, it’s a fun, novelty idea for a TV and the eye-catching design is quirky enough that it will probably find a fair few buyers. It’s unlikely to take the world by storm, but if you bring it down to the park during the summertime, you’ll probably get lots of interested hangers on wanting to take a peek at it.