Sony 4K TVs will be controllable with Google Assistant later this year

Buying a 4K TV is more confusing than ever before, and decoding all of the different picture quality technologies and supported formats like quantum dots, OLED and HDR can be a daunting task.

But while image quality is the primary feature to consider, Sony's hoping Google's Assistant will be another reason to convince you why its 4K TVs are better than Samsung or LG's.

Sony 4K TVs, which run Android TV, will be the first to get the Google Assistant, Wired reports. A firmware update will add the intelligent voice assistant to Sony 4K TVs later this year.

With the Assistant, you can ask questions like you would on a Pixel phone or Google Home, or control your TV settings and smart home devices.

But while it all sounds really great, there's one major caveat: the Google Assistant won't always be listening, meaning it's not a hands-free voice control experience. Instead, you have to activate the Assistant by pressing a microphone button on the remote control:

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

How much faster will it be to use the Assistant to do things like change the channel, adjust the volume, launch apps and switch source inputs when you still have to grab the remote, press a button and speak into it? Probably not that much faster, if at all.

Voice controls are pointless if they're not hands-free. Just take a look at the Amazon Tap Bluetooth speaker. When it launched, you had to press the microphone button to activate Alexa. It was such a big mistake that Amazon patched it and added hands-free Alexa voice controls in.

It's understandable that most people would probably find it creepy to have an always-listening microphone in their TV, but at the same time it feels like Sony missed an opportunity here.