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The Honor Vision TV is Huawei’s first HarmonyOS device

The Honor Vision TV is Huawei’s first HarmonyOS device

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HarmonyOS finds its first home

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Huawei has announced its first HarmonyOS-powered devices: a pair of smart TVs called the Honor Vision and Honor Vision Pro, which will go on sale in China next week, reports Gadgets360.

Announced yesterday, HarmonyOS is Huawei’s big attempt to decrease its reliance on Google’s Android operating system. Since Google suspended Huawei’s Android license back in May, the company has been open about its plans to develop an alternative operating system, although it says that HarmonyOS has been in development for over two years.

Eventually, HarmonyOS will run on everything from wearables to PCs and tablets, but for now Huawei says its focus is on “smart screens” like this. Although the company has indicated that the OS is ready to run on phones, it has said that it plans to continue using Android for its own smartphones for the time being.

In terms of hardware, the TVs include Huawei’s Honghu 818 chipset, an octa-core processor which will process the images seen on screen. They’ll also include a 55-inch, 4K display, and can be used as a smart home hub, according to Gadgets360. The screens will be able to provide viewers with information about the weather and can track packages, and can be controlled with a smartphone.

When they goes on sale on August 15th, the Honor Vision will run ¥3,799 (approximately $540), while the Honor Vision Pro will retail for ¥4,799 (approximately $680).

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Image: Huawei

There are some differences between the two models: the Honor Vision Pro also comes with an adjustable pop-up camera and six far-field microphones, which can be used for video calling, with a resolution of 1080p and 30fps. The Honor Vision Pro also comes with six 10W speakers, while the Honor Vision only comes with four.

You shouldn’t expect the TV to come to the west anytime soon. Huawei previously said it intends to focus its efforts with HarmonyOS on just the Chinese market at first, meaning it’s unlikely that the device will be available worldwide at launch.

Huawei is unlikely to be the only new Chinese entrant the TV market sees this year. Last year, OnePlus announced that it would be producing a TV, and a recent filing with the Bluetooth technology group suggests that its first models could be on the way soon. However, unlike Honor’s TV, the OnePlus set is likely to run on Android rather than an OS developed in-house at OnePlus.