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

Google had quite a bit to share at its latest

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

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

Material 3 Expressive
look.

Nevertheless, 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 likely be engaged on “launching inexpensive and dependable low RAM TVs” with the intention of “permitting extra budget-conscious customers to expertise high quality leisure.”

Shobana Radhakrishnan, Senior Director of Engineering at Google, acknowledged that the tech big would associate with “choose OEMs” to convey these new inexpensive 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’s going to make Google TV much more accessible. Nevertheless, what worries me is the “dependable low RAM” side, which stays fairly obscure and will carry important 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 machine, 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 machine suffered from efficiency points and storage issues, which Google needed to deal with a number of instances by way of updates throughout its lifecycle.

Google’s latest streaming machine, the

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

If it is below 2GB of RAM, that is extraordinarily regarding, as it’s going to really feel to me just like the TVs are outdated from the second you flip them on.

Google may 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 troublesome, 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 likely be any software program implications surrounding this. If a Google TV has much less RAM than common, it won’t obtain software program updates for as lengthy. Whereas it is solely doable {that a} low-RAM TV may carry out effectively when it is model new, I concern that may not maintain true for lengthy. I imagine Google is shifting within the mistaken path right here.

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Google TV should not decrease its minimal RAM requirement

Construct up, not down

Google / Pocket-lint

As an alternative 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 easy Google TV expertise for everybody. To be clear, budget-friendly Google TVs must be out there, however what is the level of shopping for a brand new TV if, a 12 months later, it’s going to already present indicators of ageing because of inadequate RAM?

Final 12 months, Google up to date the minimal RAM requirement for Google TV to 2GB (by way of Android Authority). It stays unclear if its new “dependable low RAM TVs” could have lower than that.

Mid-range Google TVs with 2GB of RAM are already out there 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 abruptly launch TVs with low RAM in 2025 that will not present the standard shoppers count on.

Low-cost, inexpensive Google TVs must be out there to budget-conscious customers, however not on the expense of RAM. If Google goals to boost Google TV to compete with Hearth 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 could finally price shoppers extra in the long term, particularly if they should purchase a brand new TV two years later because of efficiency points.

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