Newsletter
If you’ve been struggling to find a reason to fly United Airlines lately, well here’s a good reason to fly them now. United Airlines is adding the next-gen Astrove in-flight entertainment system, which uses Panasonic’s 4K OLED TVs.
United has not yet disclosed how large these TVs will be, but they are in the seatback, so they can only be so large. But judging by the renders that the airline has released, they do look to be a lot larger than what’s currently on most planes. That’s due to the much thinner bezels and chin.
These new TVs bring Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity as well
What’s better than having your own personal 4K OLED TV at your seat? How about Bluetooth connectivity? That’s exactly what this new system offers. They will allow for connecting your favorite Bluetooth headphones during your flight. So you won’t need to use those dinky little – sometimes free – headphones that the airlines pass out. You can use your AirPods Pro 2 or Sony WH-1000XM5.
That’s not even the best part about this new system. The new Astrova System does also have two 67W USB-C chargers available on the bottom-left edge. This means you can use it to charge your phone as well as your laptop or tablet at the same time. So that when you land, you have fully juiced devices.
This is all being done to create a “premium home theater environment”. Though you’re still stuck in a plane for a few hours (or longer), it is a pretty big step forward. Honestly, I haven’t been this excited about inflight entertainment, ever.
Unfortunately, we won’t get to experience these new inflight entertainment systems for a few more years. As with anything in the airline industry, this one is going to take some time. United says that the screens will be outfitted on their new Airbus A321XLRs and Boeing 787s starting in 2025.