For months, we had been waiting for the launch of the OnePlus TV with bated breath. It has finally gone official today as the OnePlus TV Q1 series, bringing a premium viewing experience to the users. It features a 55-inch QLED panel, up to 8 speakers, Android TV based on Android 9 Pie, and stunning design. While all of this sounds quite exciting, the standout feature of the OnePlus TV will have to be the OnePlus Connect companion app.
OnePlus Connect can be seen as a superpower of the OnePlus TV, which makes this smart TV unique as compared to a boatload of other smart TVs on the market. This app essentially turns your phone into a TV remote, solving some of the most annoying pain points of Android TV.
You gain the ability to type on the TV screen using your phones, quickly switch between apps, freely navigate around the UI, and much more. So, let’s not waste any more time and take a look at the best features of OnePlus Connect:
Best Features of OnePlus Connect
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Content Suggestions
If you don’t want to go through the pains of scrolling through the Oxygen Play catalog, well, you don’t need to worry as OnePlus has made content suggestions available front and center on the home screen of the Connect app. You can swipe through the recommendations and then tap the cast icon to start playing what you choose on your OnePlus TV.
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TypeSync
This is probably the best feature of OnePlus Connect and I appreciate OnePlus to have introduced a solution to the most frustrating problem of Android TV — typing. If you have ever used an Android TV-based smart TV, you would know the efforts it takes to type text and search content via the remote. It’s frustrating at times, to say the least.
Well, TypeSync is the ideal solution to this problem as it allows you to type words into OnePlus TV using your smartphone. Yes, you can use Gboard or any other keyboard app you use on the daily to effortlessly type in text and search what you’re looking for. I love this feature and it works like a charm.
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Quick App Switching
OnePlus Connect also allows you to switch apps on the fly, without having to pick up the remote, go home, navigate to the desired app, and hitting the OK button. With the quick app switching feature, you’ll find a shortcut inside the app, which when tapped will show you the complete list of apps on your OnePlus TV.
Now, you can simply tap the app you intended to open, right from your phone, which is mostly in our hands all day, and see that app start up on the smart TV. Awesome, right?
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Smart Volume Control
No one would’ve thought that we needed this feature on smart TVs until OnePlus did it. Even though I’ve used a couple of smart TVs, I never knew how handy a smart volume control feature would be.
As for what this feature is, OnePlus Connect is paired with OnePlus TV, so whenever you receive a call on your phone, the app detects the incoming call and automatically lowers the TV volume. It bumps the volume back up to the previous level once the call ends.
This feature is just genius. And again, you didn’t even need to frantically search for the remote or tell your friend to lower the volume when you receive a call. It’s just so much easier with OnePlus Connect.
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Screenshots
The app also greatly simplifies the process of capturing screenshots on OnePlus TV by giving you a shortcut for this feature right on the home screen. At the top right corner, you’re going to spot a camera icon that you can quickly tap at any time to capture whatever is shown on the TV.
The Connect app places the screenshot inside the OnePlus TV frame to make the screenshot look attractive, but you can choose to disable this option from the Settings menu. You can then quickly share it with your friends from within the app itself.
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Other Features
The Connect app brings along even more nifty features such as easy Wi-Fi sharing from your OnePlus smartphone while setting up the smart TV (which means you could rely on your mobile data to get started), trackpad control to easily navigate across OnePlus TV’s user interface with quick swipes across the phone’s screen, and finally, Bluetooth Stereo that allows you to use the TV as a soundbar to play music when you’re not watching any content.
Elevate Your OnePlus TV Experience with Connect
OnePlus TV would have been just another smart TV with a premium build and viewing experience if not for the Connect companion app. The Connect can essentially replace OnePlus TV’s sleek and elegant remote as it makes all the core functionalities you will require to use the smart TV available on your smartphone itself.
I mean, you can now switch apps and play movies/ TV series from a smartphone itself, what more do you need, right? Let us know your opinions on OnePlus TV and Connect companion app in comments below.
