Chris Welch of The Verge spoke to Telly and looked at the two-screen free TV, one of which was used to show commercials.

In mid-May, the Telly company, created by Ilya Pozin, co-founder of Pluto TV, presented an unusual television set consisting of two screens. By design, the former is used for its intended purpose, while the latter constantly displays advertisements. Such a device will be offered free of charge.

Although the manufacturer calls Telly a “$1,000 TV” that users can get for free, The Verge columnist has a different opinion. The journalist admitted that he was not able to fully test the device, but from the image of the Google TV desktop displayed, he noticed that Telly’s home screen is not much different from the screens on Vizio’s budget TVs. TCL or Hisense for $300.

The manufacturer claims that the 55-inch screen with 4K resolution is capable of displaying HDR content, but Welch could not confirm this. He also stated that this is an ordinary TV that has become smart thanks to a full TV stick based on Google TV.

Also, from the journalist’s conversation with company representatives, it was learned that users will not be able to turn off the advertising screen or somehow restart the device – in the first case, there will be a large fine or recall of the device, and in the second – a malfunction.

The company plans to “give” 500,000 Telly by the summer of 2023 – more than 250,000 Americans have already agreed to become free TV users. To do this, they must provide a credit card to withdraw money in the event of a fine, and also agree not to pass on information about the processing of content viewed, channels, viewing times and other information that would be useful. advertisers.