This Totally Wireless TV Sounds Like a Dream, Except for One Big Design Flaw

Among a handful of home gadgets and technology revealed earlier this month at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) a completely wireless television caught attention for its  lightweight, seemingly perfect design.

Although an overwhelming amount of cables can be manageable with strategic organization skills, there’s no need to use your hack for hiding cords  — Displace’s 55-inch 4K OLED television is powered by four rechargeable batteries. 

The $3,000 television comes with a base hub to connect your streaming services to the screen and a charging station for the batteries. The company even added a built-in webcam to detect movement, essentially making its user a human remote. Combined with the ability to casually lift the lightweight device and adhere its vacuum sealing mechanism to any surface, this television may be as useful for work calls as it is for watching movies. 

It’s sleek, weighs under 20 pounds, minimizes cord clutter, and has the ability to link together four TVs for a massive 110-inch screen. So what’s the downside?

With an estimated lifespan of six hours per day for 30 days, the swappable batteries are the only thing that keeps the television mounted using vacuum technology. So, if the batteries die while the TV is adhered to the wall, it can fall. The Verge reported that Displace’s CES rep mentioned that the TV’s brightness “takes a hit” if three of the four batteries are drained, and that there will be several on-screen warnings before the screen reaches zero power (and the potential to fall).

According to their website, only 100 televisions are available for purchase at Displace, and the company is allowing “fully-refundable” deposits. Who exactly will end up purchasing this costly wireless screen? As of this writing, Displace only has four more TVs available to reserve, so clearly some people. If you’re the type of person with a phone that is always charged, maybe this is a television for you.