Kogan has been skirting around Android TV since it launched, offering Google Cast enabled dongles, but has today jumped in with both feet with their new Kogan Smarter TV platform, offering Android TV on two screen sizes.
The Kogan Smarter TV 50” and 58” are available for pre-sale from today, with the 50″ model priced at $599, while the larger 58″ model will sell for $799, though you’ll have to pay delivery on top for both.
The Kogan Smarter TVs include a 4K resolution HDR LED display, which is powered by the Android TV platform and includes a smart microphone-remote that allows access to Google Assistant. The Google Play store is included allowing access to apps and games.
Kogan has also worked with local content providers and offer integration of all the catchup apps including ABC iview, SBS On Demand, 7Plus, 9Now, and tenplay. The TVs also support Chromecast functionality to cast your favourite content to the screen.
Ruslan Kogan, Founder and CEO, Kogan.com said they had been working on the new range for over a year.
This is not a slight improvement. This is a watershed moment for TV technology. Let’s face it. TV remotes have served their purpose over the past few decades, but they were never designed to deal with today’s technology. Now, you can pick up the remote, and say ‘OK Google, play Stranger Things through Netflix on the TV,’ and you’ll be off. The best thing is, I can now relax when I visit my mum’s place and enjoy a meal and a chat rather than trying to teach her how to load apps on TV.
The hardware on-board the Kogan Smarter range is fairly impressive with 2 x USB (1 x USB 3.0, 1 x USB 2.0) and 3 x HDMI (2 x HDMI 2.0, 1 x HDMI 1.4) inputs, as well as support for both WiFi and Ethernet network connections. Dual 10w speakers are on-board with support for Dolby audio, though what type of Dolby Audio isn’t mentioned.
If you’d like to check out the new Kogan Smarter range or place a pre-order you can head to the Kogan website – the 50″ is here, and the 58″ is here. Pre-orders will begin shipping on the 24th of May.
