You could say that Amazon’s Fire TV line of TVs and streaming devices is pretty well kept. There are currently four Sticks and a Cube in the lineup along with several Amazon (AMZN) made TVs. In fact, the company just announced that they’ve sold over 200 million Fire TV devices globally.
The most interesting of the bunch are the Amazon-made TVs though: 4-Series, Omni, or Omni QLED. These all feature the brains of a Fire TV stick built-in and offer simple control via Alexa.
Now, as a spring surprise, Amazon is debuting three new sizes of the Fire TV Omni QLED which brings the starting price to just $449. Even more surprising is a new $199 HD TV line from Amazon. Let’s unpack it all ahead.
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Fire TV Omni QLED: What You Need to Know
The Fire TV Omni QLED is now available in 43-inch, 50-inch, and 55-inch sizes alongside the original 65-inch or 75-inch models. All of these sport a QLED display that’s made up of LEDs with a varying number of dimming zones.
These contain the LEDs and with more of them, the TV can create a more immersive visual experience. While the 43-inch doesn’t feature any local dimming zones, the larger sizes each feature a specific number of zones:
- 50-inch features 48-zones
- 55-inch features 64-zones
- 65-inch features 80-zones
- 75-inch features 96-zones
We’re expecting the smaller sizes of the Omni QLED to offer an excellent picture quality and also be very swift with using the Fire TV interface. The star of that here will be the Ambient Experience which is a mode that engages when the TV is off and not streaming content. From there it can show off a work of art, a dashboard that shows widgets like the weather, and even provide smart home alerts. You can also stream music from a service like Spotify or Amazon Music without turning on the TV itself.
On the subject of art, Amazon is expanding the number of pieces available within Ambient Mode from the original 1,500 back at launch. The technology giant notes that you now have access to over 1,700 pieces. These come from sources like The National Gallery of Art, The Art Institute of Chicago, the National Galleries of Scotland, the National Museum of Wales, and many others. TheStreet had the chance to chat with Cameron Campbell, Principal Design Strategist at Amazon, about the Ambient Mode’s capabilities.
Campbell shared that Amazon “planned the collection of photography and fine art to include diverse work from artists who capture unique, natural environments and landscapes from around the world.” It’s clear that Amazon is casting a wide net and seeking to offer customers with plenty of pieces to pick from, that come from all walks of life.
Another trick that Ambient Mode offers is the ability to share more information on a specific work of art or photograph by asking Alexa. Campbell explained that it’s enabled by Amazon’s work in generative AI across language, vision, and audio. For instance you could ask Alexa to say more about the photo or who created this work of art.
More specifically, she noted that “It was more about resourcing a team than anything else and setting up a system in which we could collect the right information so we could anticipate customer questions about the artwork and make sure we set that up with Alexa correctly.”
Campbell continued, “We also built relationships with artists and worked hard to be respectful of how their work was described.” She noted that artists and photographers were given a chance to write descriptions for their pieces. In our testing with the Fire TV Omni QLED it’s a pretty neat feature that lets you dive into the art a bit more.
All of this remains true on the original Omni QLEDs, and will arrive on the three new sizes when they begin shipping to customers in May. In terms of visual standard support, all of the Omni QLEDs support Dolby Vision IQ, HDR, and HDR10+
There is also a far-field microphone stack built-in, which enables the hands-free Alexa control. This will let you ask Alexa to turn the TV on, for a specific TV show, and other typical virtual assistant questions.
Amazon’s Fire TV Omni QLED expansion is an exciting one and we’re eager to go hands-on with the new additions. The 43-inch, 50-inch, and 55-inch Omni QLEDs are up for order now and will begin shipping on May 11.
- 43-inch Fire TV Omni QLED ($449.99 at Amazon)
- 50-inch Fire TV Omni QLED ($529.99 at Amazon)
- 55-inch Fire TV Omni QLED ($599.99 at Amazon)
Additionally, the 65-inch and 75-inch Fire TV Omni QLEDs are still available, shipping now, and discounted.
- 65-inch Fire TV Omni QLED ($599.99, originally $799.99 at Amazon)
- 75-inch Fire TV Omni QLED ($1,099.99 at Amazon)
Fire TV 2-Series: What You Need to Know
There are already Fire TVs made by other brands like Toshiba and Insignia that offer HD resolution, but Amazon wants a piece of that action. The Fire TV 2-Series is an entirely new line that consists of two models. A 32-inch Fire TV with a 720p resolution at $199.99 and a 40-inch Fire TV with a 1080p resolution at $249.99.
Both of these feature a Fire TV interface out of the box that gives you access to major streaming services like Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, Apple TV+, and many others. Just remember that you’ll need your own sign-in for the specific services.
The 2-Series doesn’t feature built-in microphones for hands-free control, but it does come with an Alexa Voice Remote for easy-enough control. Additionally, both the 720p 32-inch and 1080p 40-inch support HDR 10, HLG, and Dolby Digital Audio.
The entire Fire TV 2-Series is up for order now at Amazon.
Prices are accurate and items in stock at time of publishing.
