I made a new friend to stand by me & took them everywhere… almost

This is the 2024 LG StanbyME, or as I’ve taken to calling it, Stan.

Say “Hi” to Stan.

Stan can’t wave back, as it’s a TV on a stick.

A rapidly escalating series of events

I’ve been using Stan for a week, and it's like a buddy now.

We do almost everything together:

Watch TV!

Watch TV outside!

Cook!

Hang out downstairs!

Go on walks! (Please don’t go on walks with it, this is an indoor product)

Go on hikes!

Okay, maybe (definitely) not that last bit.

Okay, seriously

Okay, okay, let's be serious for a moment.

The 2024 LG StanbyME, which I do *not* call Stan, is a 27-inch lifestyle screen that can be wheeled around your home and workplace.

Now if you, like my family, saw the StanbyME and asked “What would you do with that thing?”, I’ll put it like this:

If you ever needed a screen in multiple locations, but didn’t want to either 1) set up a screen everytime you change location 2) buy a screen for every location, then you know what the StanbyME is for.

The specs

The StanbyME is a 27-inch, 60Hz, high definition touchscreen.

As someone who has used a lot of computer monitors on articulated arms, the problem with them is they wobble a lot, especially as you hammer away at your keyboard.

The StanbyME eliminates this problem by simply not being attached to your work surface.

Its articulating arm is weighted perfection, firm enough to hold the screen in place without sagging, but still easy to move up and down, and allowing the screen to flip from landscape to portrait.

Should I have spent so much of my “research” time watching TikToks?

Yes. Because it was great.

Gone on walkabout

The battery, good for about three hours of use, is located in its base, meaning that it has a good centre of gravity, and never feels in danger of tipping over.

Also notable is that the StanbyME has been updated in 2024, giving its wheeled base a makeover, to glide smoothly over most surfaces.

I even took it outside, as shown by several of my pictures, and the matte screen helps with outdoor viewing.

But taking it outside does reveal some of the thoughtful considerations that LG put into its construction.

A conventional monitor or TV usually has very little thought extended to the back of the device, as there’s no expectation it’ll ever be seen.

The TV can just be a pane of plastic enclosed glass and no one would know any better.

But the StanbyME has to look good from all angles, and in all places.

With its clean tapered lines, and cloth back (and its ports hidden behind a rubber shield), it fits in almost anywhere.

But what good is a screen with nothing to watch?

The StanbyME isn’t just a screen, always requiring a connection to a PC or some similar device by a wire.

Like a modern Smart TV, you can cast your shows onto it, and if you have an Android device, you can use NFC to mirror your screen.

On iOS, pictures, movies, and other media can be shared using LG’s friendly app, which also doubles as a remote (or you can use the actual remote).

But the device can also stream content directly, by connecting to WiFi and using its inbuilt apps, accessible using the responsive touchscreen.

If you’ve struggled with your “Smart” TV’s interface having difficulties responding to your input via remote, and thought, “This is so much easier on my phone”, the StanbyME is the best of both worlds.

The screen has inbuilt speakers, but if you need more oomph to your shows, you could always pair it with the petit, pill shaped, XT7S soundbar.

So you might not end up taking long walks with a new (and very flat) best friend just yet.

I’ll admit that I thought it a bit of a gimmick at first.

But the care and thought that clearly went into the device has changed the way I thought about it.

And I’ll admit, when I first used it, I may have thought, “Isn’t it easier to carry my phone or tablet to wherever I am?”

After using it for a while, I realised two things: the wheeled stand moves the device so effortlessly around the house that there’s no reason to compromise with a smaller screen.

And secondly, this means that I can turn any little corner of the home into a viewing area, including parts of the home that I may not have considered before.

If your home happens to have a nook, or a balcony and you need a place to binge watch (insert guilty watching pleasure here that everyone in your home judges you for watching), just glide the StanbyME to it, and stream whatever you want.

Simple.

And about that soundbar

Point one and a half: if you also have the XT7S soundbar, this makes it an even more straightforward experience: it powers on and pairs via Bluetooth with the StanbyME at once with One Touch Auto Pairing.

It can also be controlled via the StanbyME’s onboard app, or through the screen’s remote control.

Its aesthetic fits the StanbyME perfectly, and provides exceptional sound despite it being the smallest soundbar I’ve ever used.

Best yet, it dynamically optimises its sound depending on what you’re watching or listening, ensuring a good experience whenever or wherever you watch your favourite shows.

Modern problems, modern solutions

It is very tempting to treat the StanbyME as a novelty, and worry that like all novelty devices, you lose your desire to use it after a while.

But the truth is that at the heart of the StanbyME is a simple, easy to use, fundamental device.

It works great as a monitor; so you know it’ll function well as a screen to watch shows, and as a screen to read documents.

Realistically, these are the two most likely uses you’ll have, and it does them both excellently.

The StanbyME is a device whose digital interface matches its physical interface: a strong, sturdy base, with built-in flexibility of use.

Whether you’re talking about wheels, or apps, the StanbyME does both.

The 2024 LG StanbyME is S$1,799; while the LG StanbyME Speaker XT7S is S$299.

This sponsored article by LG did not involve the writer using the TV like a skate scooter… but he was tempted to.

Top image via Mothership