“Free” 55-inch LED TV might not be as free as you think

A startup has started delivering a promised free 55-inch LED TV free to subscribers. But there is a price that you pay, and it’s costly.

A few months back, a startup, Telly, promised to offer a unique high-resolution TV to its subscribers for free. The TV in question is a massive 55-inch dual-screen high-resolution unit with a built-in sound bar.

Sceptics said this might be another start-up destined to fail, and the TVs might never arrive. However, to everyone’s surprise, the units have started rolling out, and users have confirmed receiving the TVs in the US.

The company, Telly, claims that this is one of the most advanced and feature-rich TVs the market has seen recently, and comes with a 55-inch 4K display and a powerful five-driver built-in soundbar that separates a nine-inch tall secondary display. This horizontally-placed secondary display shows off sports scores and news tickers.

Besides the hardware, a lot on the software front makes the TV stand out. It comes equipped with artificial intelligence, voice control, and motion-sensor capabilities.

Though Telly says that this TV would cost $1000 otherwise, its subscribers will get it for free. The company aims to “sell” 500,000 TVs for free, aiming for millions of free TVs.

But, nothing in life is ever really free. Telly will show personalized advertisements on the secondary display and will use a built-in camera to determine how many people watch TV. Essentially, you get a free TV by letting the company track your usage behavior and show you targeted ads or content based on the data it collects about you.

Telly

There’s a massive catch, only if you’re concerned

There would be hardly anyone who wouldn’t want a state-of-the-art smart TV that lets you enjoy your favorite games, movies, and shows all for free. The TV with a bundled soundbar and a Google Chromecast device itself could be a prized possession at the cost of your privacy.

Per the terms and conditions, users are expected to use this TV as a primary content consumption device at home, and it needs to be connected to the internet at times. The built-in sensors and camera will track the users watching the TV, and the camera cannot be turned off.

It also prohibits users from bypassing the terms and conditions or tampering with the hardware. Failing which, the TV can be taken back, or the users need to pay $1000 to the company.

On the other hand, Telly plans to generate revenue by showing ads and affiliation and says that free TVs are just a medium for increasing the audience. This isn’t the first time a company has decided to offer a subsidy or discount for showing advertisements. Unfortunately, most previous attempts have failed.

It might be soon that some savvy users find ways to stop the ads from showing or block the TV from tracking their usage.

Moreover, there is also a concern about interlopers gaining access to the trove of user data or the camera itself, as the TVs must be connected to the internet. Additionally, users are also concerned about the laws around the harvesting of children’s data.

Users who are okay with letting the company collect the data and share it with their partners can be eligible to get the TV; the ones who value their privacy more than a freebie can buy a TV off Amazon. In both cases, you end up watching ads anyway. However, the latter lets you remain anonymous.