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You would expect a lot from the TVs. After building a successful hardware business with its Fire TV streaming gadgets, the tech giant wants to put its name on the biggest screen in your home. The Fire TV Omni series has a variety of sizes that start at aggressively low prices, and the 50-inch model costs $359.99 at the time of this review. Amazon says that the largest 65-inch and 75-inch models allow for a more cinematic experience. All of the Omni TVs have built-in mics for hands-free voice commands, even when the screen is off. The higher-end Fire TV 4-Series is on sale, but I am not reviewing it.
Amazon's new effort shows promise. The Fire TV stick has a lot of features, such as launching your favorite streaming apps or searching for content with your voice, but the Alexa integration has more. When the TV's display is off, you can ask for information like the weather or music. You can use a webcam to make video calls with your Amazon Echo Show device, and you can also use it to make video calls with other apps later on.
The first TVs from Amazon underwhelm in the area of picture quality, and they rank below other TV makers that play in the same price range. There is nothing inherently bad about the viewing experience. You might be completely satisfied if you are easy to please. I don't recommend Amazon's new TV lineup to people who want the best picture for their money because of the compromises it has made.
While Amazon claims these are "Amazon-built TVs," they are almost certainly being manufactured by TCL. There are unmistakable hardware similarities between them, from the general design to the I/O port layout. There is no denying who the company contracted to produce these was Amazon.
Noupscale is a file onchorusasset.com.
A blue light illuminates when the mic is used.
There is a silver trim on the 65-inch and 75-inch models. There is an indicator for the far-field microphone array on the bottom of the TV screen, and a blue light illuminates when the wake word is detected. If you don't like your TV having built-in microphones, you can turn off them by flipping a switch on the TV's underside. You are still free to use voice commands with the voice remote if the mics have been turned off.
Noupscale is a file onchorusasset.com.
The TV's microphones are not working.
The omni has three HDMI 2.0 ports and a single HDMI 2.1 eARC port that can be used for the latest and greatest soundbars. There is a port for the IR emitter in the box, as well as a cable / antenna input, ethernet, ausb 2.0 port, optical audio out, and a headphone jack. The IR emitter can be used to control your other home theater gear and give the Omni some very rudimentary universal remote capabilities, like the Fire TV Cube.
Similar to existing "Fire TV Edition" TVs from Toshiba and Insignia, Amazon's Omni TVs run the company's Fire TV software with a few extra tweaks for TV inputs, picture settings, and so on. All of the navigation, browsing, and streaming are the same on a Fire TV Stick 4K. Even if the interface continues to put a bigger emphasis on Prime Video content than anything else, all of the major streaming apps are accounted for. In most cases, the responses that I received were the same as those that I received on a Fire TV streaming device. If you don't have an echo speaker in the same room, it's nice to be able to ask for the basics, like turning off a smart bulb. New software updates can be received long into the future with this TV and the same can be said for the Roku TVs.
Noupscale is a file onchorusasset.com.
The Fire TV Omni has a number of ports.
Noupscale is a file onchorusasset.com.
The standard voice remote is in the box.
When you start watching movies and TV shows on the Fire TV Omni, it becomes clear that Amazon settled for an average picture quality. These TVs do not have any kind of local dimming that can illuminate and dim the screen to produce deeper black levels. The contrast on Amazon's TV isn't as good as you'd find on something like the 5-Series or the M-Series. It is not the end of the world, but it is noticeable. I am not happy that Amazon went the basic route, particularly on the larger screen sizes. Digital Trends was disappointed by the maximum brightness levels on the Dolby Vision-capable Omni, though I found general HDR10 performance to be respectable for the price range of this 55-inch model. This is another area where it is clear that Amazon isn't trying to beat the competition, but rather is trying to be passable.
Every smart device requires you to agree to a series of terms and conditions before you can use it. It is not possible for us to read and analyze all of these agreements. We are going to start counting how many times you have to agree to use devices when we review them since these are agreements most people can't negotiate.
You have to agree to the company's conditions of use and privacy notice before you can use Fire TV Omni. Since the voice assistant plays a large role in this device, it is important to be aware of privacy settings for Amazon.
The Fire TV platform has its own privacy settings that allow Amazon.
Personal data collected by the operating system of this device can be used for marketing and product improvement purposes.
Appstore can collect information on the use of downloaded apps.
You can opt out of interest-based ads using your device's advertising ID. You can reset your advertising ID if you separate it from this.
There are two mandatory agreements and a privacy policy for Fire TV.
The Fire TV Omni lacks a variable refresh rate and is only 60Hz, so you won't be gaming at 120Hz with your PS5 or Xbox Series X. There is at least some support for auto low latency mode, and Amazon does a great job of cutting down input lag when gaming mode is active. It will work for gaming, but not every box that new console owners are looking for.
Noupscale is a file onchorusasset.com.
Only the 65-inch and 75-inch models have the software.
There are still several features of the Fire TV Omni listed as "coming soon", such as the ability to use echo speakers for home theater sound. A native app for zoom has yet to be released.
The Fire TV Omni is an attractively priced 4K TV with convenient voice controls, but only so-so picture quality. Next time, Amazon needs to do better. You can get a great picture quality for less with a TCL 6-Series Roku TV. The high-end TCL TV has a Mini LED and runs on Sony OLEDs. The viewing experience of the Fire TV Omni is not very good. If you prefer Amazon's streaming platform, then you're better off choosing a TV with better picture quality and throwing in a Fire TV Stick 4K Max. I wouldn't count Amazon out, even though this might be an underwhelming first attempt at "the Amazon TV" for nerds like myself. Some people might be interested in buying the Fire TV Omni. The whole concept will be more appealing if the company can maintain similar prices and dial up the picture quality of its eventual second-gen TVs. We know that the company is willing to improve it, and that is one thing we know about Amazon hardware.
Chris Welch is a photographer.
