A less expensive Google TV might price you extra in the long term

Google had lots to share at its current

I/O 2025 event
, asserting over 100 different software initiatives, together with AI mode in Google Search, its Veo 3 AI video era instrument, and

Gemini expanding to more devices
, together with smartwatches, vehicles, and TVs. Talking of TVs, Google revealed a number of upgrades for its Google TV OS with Android 16, together with Eclipsa Audio assist and a visible refresh based mostly on its newly unveiled

Material 3 Expressive
look.

Nonetheless, one announcement that took me a bit off guard was Google’s emphasis on low-cost TVs. Throughout Google TV’s I/O 2025 presentation, it was revealed that Google will probably be engaged on “launching reasonably priced and dependable low RAM TVs” with the purpose of “permitting extra budget-conscious customers to expertise high quality leisure.”

Shobana Radhakrishnan, Senior Director of Engineering at Google, said that the tech large would associate with “choose OEMs” to convey these new reasonably priced TVs to market.

Whereas this announcement has good intentions, it does concern me. To be clear, my worries do not stem from the truth that Google is growing new low-cost TVs. That is nice information, and for budget-conscious shoppers, it is going to make Google TV much more accessible. Nonetheless, what worries me is the “dependable low RAM” facet, which stays fairly obscure and will carry vital implications.

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Low RAM TVs may need longevity points

How a lot is “dependable low” Google?

Once I consider a low-RAM TV streaming gadget, I envision Google’s now discontinued Chromecast with Google TV, which had 1.5GB of RAM and 8GB of storage. As Android Police factors out, that gadget suffered from efficiency points and storage issues, which Google needed to deal with a number of occasions by updates throughout its lifecycle.

Google’s latest streaming gadget, the

Google TV Streamer
, addresses these issues with sooner processing energy, 4GB of RAM, and 32GB of storage. What worries me about this current announcement is what precisely “dependable low RAM” means.

If it is below 2GB of RAM, that is extraordinarily regarding, as it is going to really feel to me just like the TVs are outdated from the second you flip them on.

Google is likely to be making under-the-hood optimizations to make sure Google TV performs extra reliably with much less RAM on these TVs, however that appears more and more tough, particularly as extra performance-demanding options come to Google TV sooner or later, like Gemini this fall. So, efficiency points are undoubtedly a priority.

I am additionally curious whether or not there will probably be any software program implications surrounding this. If a Google TV has much less RAM than typical, it may not obtain software program updates for as lengthy. Whereas it is fully attainable {that a} low-RAM TV may carry out properly when it is model new, I concern which may not maintain true for lengthy. I imagine Google is shifting within the unsuitable path right here.

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Google TV should not decrease its minimal RAM requirement

Construct up, not down

Google / Pocket-lint

As a substitute of making an attempt to adapt Google TV for low-RAM TVs, Google ought to keep a baseline RAM requirement to make sure correct performance throughout all gadgets, guaranteeing a clean Google TV expertise for everybody. To be clear, budget-friendly Google TVs must be accessible, however what is the level of shopping for a brand new TV if, a yr later, it is going to already present indicators of getting old resulting from inadequate RAM?

Final yr, Google up to date the minimal RAM requirement for Google TV to 2GB (through Android Authority). It stays unclear if its new “dependable low RAM TVs” can have lower than that.

Mid-range Google TVs with 2GB of RAM are already accessible from manufacturers like Hisense, so it is puzzling to me why Google would make this announcement when TVs with the minimal quantity of RAM exist already. This worries me that Google’s new low-RAM TVs may fall beneath the 2GB threshold.

Contemplating all of the progress Google is making with Google TV, it appears misguided to out of the blue launch TVs with low RAM in 2025 that will not present the standard shoppers count on.

Low-cost, reasonably priced Google TVs must be accessible to budget-conscious customers, however not on the expense of RAM. If Google goals to boost Google TV to compete with Fireplace TV and Roku, it should proceed to ship higher options. I do not imagine that pursuing low-RAM TVs will obtain this, as they merely will not have the longevity that customers would count on. A low-RAM Google TV might finally price shoppers extra in the long term, particularly if they should purchase a brand new TV two years later resulting from efficiency points.

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