As much as I love a big ol’ flatscreen TV, I mean one that’s technically far too big for my house, I’ve long agonised over the fact that too much of the TV was actually outside the TV.
Digital boxes of all sizes, shapes and company designation scattered all over the place, each hard-wired to the big telly in a mass tangle of snaking cables. Then there’s the other al fresco acne, digital dishes and aerials festooned with wanton abandon all over the outside of the house just to the let the countless TV channels in.
Obviously, the advent of the ‘smart TV’ helped with all these issues, but it took quite some time for the ‘smart TV’ to get anywhere approaching truly ‘smart’ and much of the journey towards AV entertainment enlightenment was, at best, fiddly and, at worst, utterly infuriating.
As of the tail-end of 2021, Sky decided to do something about all that and took the smart TV to the next logical step (for Sky customers, anyway) by doing away with the dish, banishing the box and putting all its content directly inside the TV itself and calling it Sky Glass. A far more convenient solution, all you need is broadband and all your favourite digital entertainment apps are all there for you.
But what if all that sounds great, but you don’t want Sky? Maybe Sky’s televisual treats don’t do it for you. Perhaps you don’t want to commit to Sky Glass’s 48-month subscription.
Well, now there’s another option available, one that frees you from the shackles of boxes and connecting cables and simply gives you immediate access to the majority of ents apps at the touch of a button or via your voice: Amazon Fire TV. No, not the Amazon Fire TV Stick, just Fire TV – essentially everything the Fire TV Stick offers and considerably more delicious techie bells and whistles into the bargain, finally available in the UK.
Available in three flavours, the entry level 2-Series, the big step-up 4-Series and the ultimate Amazon Omni, the sets started shipping in April and I managed to further clutter my review-stuff haemorrhaging house and get eyes-on with models from the 2- and 4-series.
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Best 32-inch TVs: Smaller screens with smart features to suit your budget
Amazon Fire TV 2-Series
Best for: The bedroom
Available in 32- and 40-inch options and in corresponding 720p and 1080p resolutions, the two models in the 2-Series may be the babies of the bunch, but they still come packing the spec you’d expect.
Firstly, simple to set up, plug it in, turn it on, add the apps you want, sign into each with your account details and… watch TV. Yep, even though you get 2x HDMI 1.4 and 1x HDMI ARC ports to play with, add the Amazon to your Wi-Fi and just stream straight to it.
Looking at the 720p model, at 32-inches, it’s very light and the build feels a bit on the delicate side, resulting in me almost accidentally throwing it across the room while using too much force to pull it out of the box, but once you get the legs on, it adopts a reassuring sturdiness and sits nice and securely without fear of it blowing away in a sudden breeze.
Aesthetically, well, it’s black; and a nicely thin bezel gives the 32-inch a sophisticated air, but other than that it looks in every conceivable way just like a flatscreen TV. I mean, hey, what were you expecting exactly? Let’s get it turned on.
Picture-wise, the littlest Amazon Fire TV is nice and bright and delivers pleasingly vibrant colours. High Def at 720p, as mentioned, it also supports HDR10 and HLG, so images are detailed and sharp, but if you’re used to watching your telly in 1080p, you may want to consider stepping up to the 40-inch option.
Adding apps is a straightforward procedure (as long as the apps you’re after are actually available), so once you’ve gone through the motions, you’re good to go. And accessing those apps is made all the easier by the Amazon’s well laid-out remote control, complete with dedicated buttons for Prime Video, Netflix, Disney+ and Freeview, plus a big blue button at the top that summons Alexa so you can just tell your TV what you want, whether that’s to open a certain app or, for smarthomers, turn on your lights.
On the sound-front, both 2-Series models come with Dolby Digital Plus and built-in speaker, but you may find you want to add your own external audio options to up the oomph.
All in all, the Amazon Fire TV in its 32-inch format is a more than capable smaller smart TV option for the more enclosed areas of your home. Picture quality, ease of installation and access to so many entertainment apps, whether that’s TV, films or games, are all impressive and with the option to outsource your audio, coming in at just £250 for the 32-inch and only £299 for the 1080p 40-inch, the 2-Series are incredibly value for money.
Tech Spec
Sizes: 32- and 40-inch
Display type: LED
Resolution: High Definition
HDR format: HDR 10, HLG
Press & Ask Alexa: Yes
Hands free with Alexa: No
Ports: 2x HDMI 1.4, 1x HDMI ARC, Ethernet
Connectivity: Wi-Fi, Ethernet
Buy now £219.99, Amazon
Amazon Fire TV 4-Series
Best for: Home cinema for under £500
Okay, when I say: ‘best for home cinema under £500’, I may be stretching it a bit as the three models in the 4-Series are priced at £430 for the 43-inch, £500 for the 50-inch and £550 for the 55-inch. However, that’s two under 500 quid (the 50-inch is actually £499.99), and that’s a pretty attractive set of prices for whopping great TVs that deliver full-on 4K Ultra High Definition images with support for HDR10 and HLG.
Aesthetically identical to its 2-Series siblings and with a matching build quality, again we’ll skip the shallow skin-deep stuff and concentrate on what goes on beneath because, again, for the asking price, there’s an awful lot.
As you might imagine the set up scenario is the same as the 2-Series, so a few button presses, an adding of apps and an entry of your details is all that’s required to gain success to a world of TV over your Wi-Fi, and for everything else, there are no fewer than three HDMI 2.0, plus 1x HDMI 2.1 with eARC (Enhanced Audio Return Channel) for piping high quality audio from the TV to an AV Receiver or soundbar. So, add into that heady mix a USB and an Ethernet port and connectivity is, as you can see, excellent.
Once you’ve got that all sorted, you have unfettered access to all manner of AV entertainment and the glorious 4K images that may come with it; and those images are glorious, gloriously vivid, crisp and sharp enough to take your eye out. Rich in detail, the Amazon 4-Series has a reasonable brightness of 300-nits, but I would say that it’s best viewed in darker rooms to enjoy the full benefits of what it can offer on-screen.
A refresh rate of 60Hz keeps things flowing smoothly and letting Xbox and Playstation fans find freedom from lag. Okay, it may not be the 120Hz that next gen gamers seek, but that price!
Audio here comes in the form of 2x 8W speakers which deliver surprisingly decent sound, but you should probably take advantage of that aforementioned eARC and set yourself up with a sound system on a par with the images.
The remote remains the same, meaning you too can head straight to the four favoured apps of Prime, Netflix, Freeview and Disney+ and, yes, you too can use the dulcet tones of your own voice to command Alexa to do your bidding by pressing on the blue button.
Big, bold and brilliant in its flexibility and simplicity to set up and operate, the Amazon Fire 4-Series is a veritable bargain for anyone looking for a big UHD centrepiece for their home cinema but without the big price.
Tech Spec
Sizes: 43-, 50-, 55-inch
Display type: LED
Resolution: Ultra HD (4K)
HDR format: HDR 10, HLG
Press & Ask Alexa: Yes
Hands free with Alexa: No
Ports: 3x HDMI 2.0, 1x HDMI2.1 eARC, USB, Ethernet
Connectivity: Wi-Fi, Ethernet
Buy now £369.99, Amazon
Amazon Fire TV Omni QLED
Best for: Bells and whistles in abundance
Breaking out the big gun, the Fire TV Omni QLED is the crowning glory of Amazon’s Fire TV range and as such they’ve imbued it with an almighty 4K QLED (Quantum Dot LED) display with Full Array Dimming, a 60Hz fresh rate, Dolby Vision IQ and HDR10+ Adaptive and support for HDR10 and HLG for images with truly stunning colour, bright whites, deep, detailed darks, and clarity throughout. What’s more, thanks to a built-in ambient light sensor, whether your room of Omni choice is dowsed in darkness or bathing in brightness, the picture will always be automatically optimised for the conditions.
Now, this being the top dog of Amazon’s Fire TVs, the Omni QLED does not have a black plastic body, but rather a brushed dark metal frame that makes it look very fancy indeed and lends it a look of luxury that worth drawing attention to on this occasion as this frame is not just there to look pretty. No, thanks to the inclusion here of Fire TV Ambient Experience, when you’re not watching or gaming, you can transform your screen into a canvas for artwork, your photos, and any Alexa widgets you want to hand, which that frame then serves to, well, frame, obviously.
Sound here comes down to 2x 12W speakers which make more than a decent fist of firing out, but as with the 4-Series when it comes to hewing your dream home cinema, I’d take advantage of the Omni’s HDMI 2.1 eARC port to feed audio out to a sound bar or AV Receiver.
Naturally set up remains the same as all the other models, but connections on the Omni comprise of 3x HDMI 2.0, 1x HDMI 2.1 eARc, USB and Ethernet, so much to play with as you expand your AV entertainment empire.
Also able to operate as the hub of your smarthome with widget on-screen in Fire TV Ambient Experience mode and also available via your voice thanks to the Omni having a built-in microphone so that Alexa can hear you whenever you need her/him to open your apps, turn your smart lights/heating/washing machine/etc. on or off, for those seeking to smarten their home up but without much of a clue where to start, start here.
So, the Amazon Fire TV Omni QLED: a thing of external and internal beauty that produces stunning 4K images thanks to ALL the UHD-achieving specs, has ports for all your peripheral, operates as a smart frame when not doing its TV tricks, and which can allow you to control the electric aspects of your house with a few words – I don’t know about you, but I’m sold.
Available in four sizes from 43-inches up to 65-inches, prices run from £550 to £1000, the 65-inch option is available now, with the 43-, 50- and 55-inch to follow on June 1.
Tech Spec
Sizes: 43-, 50-, 55-, 65-inch
Display type: QLED
Resolution: Ultra HD (4K)
HDR format: HDR 10, HLG, Dolby Vision IQ, HDR10+ Adaptive and HDR10+ Gaming
Press & Ask Alexa: Yes
Hands free with Alexa: Yes
Ports: 3x HDMI 2.0, 1x HDMI 2.1 eARC
Connectivity: Wi-Fi, Ethernet
Buy now £899.99, Amazon
