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Samsung Sero TV rotates to portrait mode for vertical vids, like a giant phone

The 43-inch set is designed for mirroring your phone and all those vertical YouTube and TikTok videos.

David Katzmaier Editorial Director -- Personal Tech
David reviews TVs and leads the Personal Tech team at CNET, covering mobile, software, computing, streaming and home entertainment. We provide helpful, expert reviews, advice and videos on what gadget or service to buy and how to get the most out of it.
Expertise A 20-year CNET veteran, David has been reviewing TVs since the days of CRT, rear-projection and plasma. Prior to CNET he worked at Sound & Vision magazine and eTown.com. He is known to two people on Twitter as the Cormac McCarthy of consumer electronics. Credentials
  • Although still awaiting his Oscar for Best Picture Reviewer, David does hold certifications from the Imaging Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Standards and Technology on display calibration and evaluation.
David Katzmaier
2 min read
sero-portrait

The Samsung Sero takes phone mirroring to another level.

Samsung

Call it the biggest phone accessory ever. Samsung's latest gizmo, as seen at CES 2020, is the Sero, a TV the company says is "designed for the mobile generation." As in, it automatically flips from a standard wide-screen TV into a vertical portrait mode, just like your phone. Except the screen measures 43 inches diagonally instead of 6.1 inches.

Portrait mode is actually the default setting for this TV, but Sero's integrated motorized mount rotates the screen back and forth to taste, controlled by a button on the remote or via Samsung's SmartThings app. Own a Samsung Galaxy phone? You can sync it with the TV so the screen flips automatically when you rotate your phone -- although prepare to disable that feature after it inevitably activates by mistake for the ninth time. 

Watch this: Samsung Sero TV has a magical feature for millennials

As with many other TVs , you can mirror your phone's screen on the TV itself, but in vertical mode it will look a lot better (and bigger), in particular with vertical videos from YouTube , Facebook or your own camera roll. And yes, you can mirror other phones too, including iPhones . The TV features all of Samsung's smart TV extras, including Apple's AirPlay 2 system for features such as screen mirroring and video streaming.

sero-landscape
Samsung

The screen and motorized stand are inseparable: No wall-mounting for the Sero. The stand is on wheels and canted back slightly, mounted relatively low (maybe Samsung will do an above-the-fireplace version next year). Samsung's reps also said the speaker system takes advantage of the stand to sound bigger than that of a standard flat-panel TV. Otherwise the Sero is a typical 4K TV.

The Samsung Sero is only available in a 43-inch size, shipping later this year. Pricing was not announced.

Samsung TVs spin into portrait mode, expand to 292 inches

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Originally published Jan 5.