For better or worse, those of us stuck at home during COVID-19 have been passing the time by binging on television. And frankly there’s a lot of great stuff to watch. (I was late to the game, but finally caught up on Ozark and Succession.)
But then I was reminded of a 2014 warning from the Journal of the American Heart Association, outlining the risks of “overwhelming sedentary action.”
Translation: get off your fanny and head outside, which thankfully is more inviting these days with the weather warming up in much of the country.
But does that mean giving up on watching TV?
Not if Samsung Electronics has anything to say about it.
The company today announced The Terrace, a series of 4K, HDR10+ smart QLED TVs that are designed for your patio, deck or mounted on the side of your garage. The TVs are built to withstand water, dust and the elements—it carries an IP55 rating—and has an anti-reflective coating on the screen that Samsung says will reduce glare.
Samsung has started selling 75-, 65- and 55-inch models, but at $6499, $4999, $3499, respectively they won’t come cheap. And that’s an obvious sticking point for buyers who have hit hard times during the pandemic.
But let’s face it: outdoor TVs are targeted at people who not only have disposable income (even now), but also the outdoor space to accommodate such a luxury splurge.
Samsung is also selling an optional outdoor-ready Terrace Soundbar to go with the TVs.
The Terrace comes equipped with Tizen, Samsung’s Smart TV platform, and the company’s Samsung TV Plus free linear video service, which it says features more than 120 channels. You can connect The Terrace to your home network via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. It also has three HDMI connectors and USB and networking ports.
And if all you think you’ll be doing is taking your lazy act from the living room to the backyard, the TV will also include Samsung Health, a fitness and wellness platform that launches in the U.S. next week. Might that be the motivator to get you to move around?
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The TV also supports Amazon’s Alexa, Samsung’s own Bixby and (coming soon) the Google Assistant.
With 10mm bezels, and a depth of 59mm, and matte finish, the TVs are thin and look good in Samsung's press pictures like the ones shown here. Of course, I’d want to see what the TV, and screen would look like in my own backyard.
According to Samsung’s own research, interest in outdoor entertainment has been growing even before we’ve all been sequestered at home.
And while this is a first for Samsung, outdoor TVs are nothing new. In 2014 when I referenced the aforementioned American Heart Association study, it was in a review of a 46-inch outdoor TV I tested at the time for USA TODAY from SunBrite TV. That TV listed for $2,895, about three to four times what you might pay back then for a perfectly decent indoor 46-inch high-definition set and didn’t factor in the cost of installation.
So are you ready to plunk down some serious bucks for an outdoor television? Let me hear from you.
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