LG announced that its2019 ThinQ A.I. TVswill eventually support all three major voice assistants, in one form or another. Currently, these TVs embed LG’s own proprietary A.I. and theGoogle Assistant, but starting this month,Alexa will be addedto 2019 ThinQ A.I. TVs, including LG UHD TVs,NanoCell TVs, andOLED TVs. TVs in North America will be the first to receive the update, with Europe and Asia getting it in the weeks to follow.
Using Alexa on an LG TV will require the Alexa app on a smartphone or tablet, for account creation and the management of skills and other preferences, plus the TV’s remote. To talk to Alexa, you press and hold the Amazon Prime Video button, while a short press will still launch the Amazon Prime Video app. There’s no need for an external speaker, like an Echo Dot, and Alexa routines will be supported, too.
The regular microphone button on the remote will trigger LG ThinQ by default, but depending on your settings it will hand-off requests it can’t handle to either Alexa or Google Assistant.
As part of the announcement, LG also took the opportunity to remind us that the planned addition ofApple’s AirPlay 2 and HomeKittechnologies is still on the horizon as a midyear update. When this happens, you’ll be able to control a 2019 LG TV via Siri commands through an iOS device or a HomePod.
LG’s strategy of delivering compatibility with all a multitude of voice assistants is a logical approach, and it’s not alone in doing so. Earlier this month, Sonos finallyadded Google Assistant compatibilityto its range of Wi-Fi-connected speakers, giving users the choice of working with Alexa or Assistant — or both — within the same home network. Bose followed within a few days,adding Google Assistantto its existing collection of Alexa-enabled smart speakers.
The question now is, what will happen to companies that only support one of these voice-controlled helpers? Sony’s decision to useAndroid TVmeans it’s likely locked into Google Assistant for the foreseeable future. Or, as in Samsung’s case, what happens when you attempt to push a proprietary A.I. such as Bixby? We expect Samsung’s long-awaitedGalaxy Home smart speakerto appear shortly, and when it does, it will face an uphill battle if Bixby remains the exclusive voice assistant.
Updated on July 22, 2025: Added new details around how Alexa works on 2019 LG TVs.
