TP Vision, the company that operates the Philips TV brand, has said it is finally rolling out an Android TV 11 upgrade for older TVs that were launched in 2019 and 2020.
Those TVs, with model numbers ending in “04” and “05”, were originally launched with the Android TV 9 platform, and have been stuck with it ever since then. Philips committed to upgrading the TVs some time ago, but it has taken a lot longer than anticipated to get the ball rolling.
There won’t be any step up to Android 10 first. Rather, Philips has decided that, just as Nvidia did with its Nvidia Shield streaming boxes, it will skip the Android 10 update completely due to its lack of many relevant, user-facing features.
Android 11 doesn’t have a great deal of those either. Like most recent updates to the platform it’s really been just an incremental improvement, but there are a few things to look forward to. For instance, Android 11 will bring the Gboard TV keyboard to Philips’ 2019 and 2020 TVs, which features speech-to-text and predictive typing. Also enabled with the update is support for HDMI Auto Low Latency Mode in applications that take advantage of it.
Other new features include instant apps and wider support for game controllers, with the addition of Nintendo’s Switch Pro, which can connect through USB or Bluetooth, and Valve’s Steam controller, which is only compatible via a USB port.
TP Vision said the Android 11 upgrade will come via a firmware upgrade called TPM191E_R.201.000.215.200 that is already rolling out now to select models from that era. The company hasn’t provided a timeline for when all of its 2019 and 2020 TVs will get the update, but FlatPanels HD said it will likely be some months before everyone is caught up.
It might be late coming and a slow rollout process, but TP Vision does at least deserve some credit for at least catering to owners of its older TVs. These days, very few TV brands bother providing updates to products that are nearly four years old, especially a major operating system refresh such as this.
All told, 13 older Philips TV models will be getting the new firmware, giving consumers newer features without having to invest in brand new hardware. At a time when many people would struggle to afford a brand new TV, the update will surely be widely appreciated.
