Hey, Free TV (From Telly)!

What would you do for a free 55” 4K HDR smart TV with a built-in soundbar? Would you take a six-minute marketing survey, agree to make the Telly TV your main television, and watch nonintrusive ads on the Telly’s smaller secondary smart screen (that also shows news updates, sports scores, stock prices, and weather)?

Meet Telly—your new free TV. (Photo: Telly)

You’re trying to figure out how to say, “Shut up and take my money,” huh? Again, Telly Corp.—a subsidiary of the FAST streaming service Pluto TV—doesn’t want your cash. It wants your data, which the company starts collecting when you download the Telly app and take the survey.

It’s also possible that Telly can collect data via the built-in HD cam and microphone array, but we’re just speculating for now. We’ll post again when we have a Telly to test.

Here’s how to reserve your Telly and what we know about the free TV’s specs and features. We’ll also help you resolve a Telly app error we encountered during signup.

Telly TV specs and features

Telly Corp. released some, but not all, details on Telly specs and features. Some of the information could be more specific. We don’t know the display type, soundbar wattage, refresh rate, processor (Telly says “powerful chipset”), or if the HDMI ports are 2.1 (good) or 2.0 (eh).

Cloudy details notwithstanding, the TV’s $1,000 retail value tells us that the Telly should be at least as good as affordable smart TVs from Hisense and TCL.

Here’s a quick rundown of what Telly Corp. has divulged so far.

• Retail value: $1,000
• Theater display (main screen) size: 55”
• Smart-screen display size: 48” x 41” x 3.5” (48” x 41” x 14” with included feet/stand)
• Display type: Unavailable
• Resolution: 4K HDR
• Refresh rate: Unavailable
• Tuner: Built-in over-the-air (OTA) antenna.
• Audio: Premium 5-driver integrated soundbar with microphone array and “Hey Telly” voice assistant
• Remote: 4K TV streaming stick and Android dongle included.
• Camera: HD camera with motion sensor for fitness activities, gaming, and video calling.
• Connectivity: WiFi, Bluetooth, HDMI (x3), USB (x2)
• Total weight: ~65 lbs.

How do I get a free TV from Telly?

Follow these steps to get your free Telly.

• Visit FreeTelly.com.
• Enter your first name, last name, mailing address, and phone number.
• You should receive an email. Click the link to verify your email address.
• Download the Telly app (Android, iOS) and sign in.
• Take the six-minute survey.
• You should receive an in-app confirmation message indicating that TVs will ship this summer.

Telly app error

Telly has low ratings in both the Google Play and Apple App Store. Basically, the complaints concern getting an error message during signup. The same thing happened to us, but it’s easily solved. Try these tips:

• Enable location access.
• If you use a VPN, turn it off. You can enable it again after taking the survey.