Amazon had already managed to get into a multitude of homes with its Fire TV devices, later it licensed its Fire TV OS operating system to manufacturers like Toshiba to enhance its Smart TV side and now it is encouraged to present its first televisions. So we are going to tell you everything you need to know about the new Amazon Fire TV Omni and Fire TV 4, the first Smart TVs brand.
Amazon and its relationship with the television
The love relationship between Amazon and the television is not new. For years the company has been offering various products that sought to enrich the user experience through access to its own services among other extras.
This is how the Fire TV Stick, Cube, etc. were born. These devices connect to televisions via an HDMI connection and not only allow you to enjoy proposals such as Prime Video, Music Unlimited or the company's own assistant, Alexa. With them you also have access to third-party services.
In this way and through its own operating system, Fire TV OS (based on Android), the company was able to give its customers a very capable product in everything related to the multimedia world.
That success led them to license Fire TV OS to other manufacturers so they could enhance their Smart TV side. For example, Toshiba was one of the first to jump on Amazon's bandwagon to compete with what brands such as LG, Samsung or Sony, among others, were offering their customers through Smart TV platforms such as webOS, Tizen or Android TV.
Amazon Smart TVs are a reality
After all this journey Amazon has decided to launch its own smart TVs. Something that shouldn't be surprising either, since with so much sales data, he knows exactly which businesses can be more or less profitable.
Its first outpost in the television sector consists of two series. On the one hand is the series amazontv4, is the most modest in terms of benefits and aspects such as design. For another, Amazon Fire TV Omni is the most complete. Even so, neither of the two proposals right now points to the high-end sector.
Getting into high-end models without much experience or popularity is difficult even for a giant like Amazon. Because brands like LG, Samsung, Sony or Panasonic are very well positioned and when you spend more than 1.500 or 2.000 euros on a TV, it's better to go on the winning horse.
So Amazon's idea is to offer a series of televisions that are interesting in features and price. Which, let it be said by the way, is not going to be easy either with manufacturers like Xiaomi involved.
Amazon FireTV Omni
The Omni series of Amazon televisions is, as we have said, the more ambitious of the two. This is made up of a greater number of diagonals available, also better features and a series of extras that, depending on what type of user, will compensate more or less.
These are them main features from the Amazon TV Omni Series:
- Direct LED panel
- 4K resolution at 60Hz
- Screen size of 43, 50, 55, 65 and 75 inches
- Support for HDR 10, HGL, Dolby Digital Plus and Dolby Vision content
- Support for Dolby Digital Plus sound
- Connections: 3 x HDMI 2.0 1 x HDMI 2.1 with eARC, Ethernet, USB, WiFi and BT 5.0 support
- Fire TV OS operating system
- Alexa integration and hands-free mode
On a technical level, this Amazon series is still a mid-range television, something that is also confirmed by the prices. Because these new Amazon smart TVs will cost from 409 dollars.
Regarding the design, it must be admitted that without being anything outstanding, they do offer some finishes with a certain appeal. The front part, the most important of all, is quite clean and with very thin frames.
It also has very stylized and minimalist legs as we have seen on other televisions. These have a silver finish and can logically be removed if you want to hang the TV on the wall.
For the rest, the most interesting thing about this television is the use of the Fire TV OS operating system and the integration with Alexa. Here you will not only be able to access all the company's services and those of third parties such as Netflix, Disney Plus, HBO, Youtube, etc., which are available for the platform, but also control through voice commands.
Thanks to hands-free mode for Alexa, these televisions can be controlled with a traditional remote that also integrates a microphone to interact with Alexa. But if you don't want to depend on the remote, you just have to enable Alexa active listening so that when you say the activation command, you can control everything on the TV based on commands. You can control everything from power on to power off, source change or multimedia service.
Basically this is like connecting a Fire TV Cube with some extras or without the limitations of not being integrated as such. In addition, this integration with Alexa would allow you to use the television as if it were an Amazon Echo. That is, to control the rest of the connected devices you have at home.
Amazon FireTV 4 Series
Along with the Omni range, the Amazon Fire TV 4 Series also arrives, this is a somewhat more modest proposal and it shows some shortcomings in terms of options.
The main features of the Amazon Fire TV 4 Series are:
- Direct LED panel
- 4K resolution at 60Hz
- Screen size of 43, 50 and 55 inches
- Support for HDR 10, HGL, Dolby Digital Plus content
- Support for Dolby Digital Plus sound
- Connections: 3 x HDMI 2.0 1 x HDMI 2.1 with eARC, Ethernet, USB, WiFi and BT 5.0 support
- Fire TV OS operating system
- Integration with Alexa
with a price from 369 euros, this series is somewhat more modest and it is also noticeable in the design. It is not a bad proposal on an aesthetic level, but it could be said that it has less striking details so that the extra that you pay for one or the other is somewhat more evident to the eye.
Differences and prices of Smart TVs Amazon Fire TV
Reviewing the characteristics of both series, it can be clearly seen which are the differences between one and the other. The first and most notable is the design. It is not that there is a brutal jump, but enough so that this small difference between one and the other can compensate depending on which users.
Also keep in mind that the largest diagonals are only available in the Omni series (65 and 75 inches). Two screen sizes that are increasingly common in living rooms, because with 4K resolution and the reduction of frames they are no longer so large.
For the rest, at the level of image quality they also seem to be very similar. Yes it is true that again 65 and 75 inch models are only models with Dolby Vision, but for the rest, only the PiP Mode and hands-free for the use of Alexa without the need for a remote control is what makes the difference.
So, it's a matter of assessing what may interest you the most. Once done, the prices of Amazon's new smart TVs are:
- Amazon Fire TV 4 Series (43″): $369
- Amazon Fire TV 4 Series (50″): $469
- Amazon Fire TV 4 Series (55″): $519
- Amazon Fire TV Omni Series (43″): $409
- Amazon Fire TV Omni Series (50″): $509
- Amazon Fire TV Omni Series (55″): $559
- Amazon Fire TV Omni Series (65″ – Dolby Vision): $829
- Amazon Fire TV Omni Series (75″ – Dolby Vision): $1.099
Of course, the prices are in dollars only because it is in United States where for now they will be for sale. The company has not yet announced or commented on bringing them to other markets. Although presumably it will be a matter of time before they appear in other Amazon stores.
The great challenge of Amazon televisions
Amazon's first foray, if you can call it that, is arguably a safe bet. If, in addition, they replicate the strategy that they have been using with their Amazon Echo or Fire TV Stick and apply aggressive discounts during designated dates such as Black Friday, Prime Day, etc., they will manage to gain an interesting market share.
We will also have to see what results they give, but with these prices it is obvious that whoever bets on them will know that they will assume certain commitments in terms of quality that they would not allow in higher-end models from other brands.
Finally, Amazon's TVs seem to have been developed for two years by Amazon itself and its company Lab126. Even so, the manufacture seems to correspond to third parties, being TCL (Chinese manufacturer) the chosen one.