After a successful run in overseas markets, Amazon is bringing its own line of in-house developed Fire TVs to the UK and Germany. There's an all-new 2 Series, as well as Amazon's established 4 Series and Omni QLED Series, which launched last year in the US. These low-cost TVs boast Amazon's Fire TV streaming platform built-in and are heavily integrated with Amazon's Alexa voice assistant and smart home platform.
The Omni QLED Series is the highest-end model and features a sizeable feature set with a wallet-friendly price tag. Amazon is calling the Omni QLED its "most innovative TV yet", as it comes with plenty of first-time features. This includes Alexa widgets for controlling your smart home and a dynamic ambient mode which makes the TV still useful even when you aren't directly using it. It can rotate through a wide selection of art and other themed images such as landscapes and even TV and movie stills, as well as create its own AI-generated art based on user input. In our hands-on demo, Alexa created an interpretation of the Northern Lights over the London skyline via AI image generation.
You can interact with Alexa via the included Alexa Voice Remote, or using the built-in far-field microphones. There is a physical switch to disable the voice assistant on the TV if you're privacy conscience, although the sensor to detect your presence in the room may raise eyebrows. This is used to intelligently wake the TV to show morning briefings and widgets or start cycling through the wealth of artsy screensavers.
Onto the more technical aspects of the Omni QLED, it features a 4K resolution that supports HDR in the HDR10+, Dolby Vision IQ, HLG and HDR10+ Adaptive. The last format works alongside the TV's ambient light sensor, which detects the room's lighting conditions and adjusts the brightness of the display in accordance. The wide range of HDR compatibility is a nice touch, however considering Prime Video features first-party content that utilises both, it is somewhat to be expected. The Omni also features full-array local dimming with up to 80 zones depending on the screen size.
Of course, this TV is all about streaming with the Fire OS operating system offering practically every streaming service you could need. You can stream Prime Video, Netflix, Disney Plus, Apple TV+ and more when it comes to movies and TV, as well as Prime Music, Spotify and Tidal are just some examples of the music streaming options available. However, there are three HDMI 2.0 ports available if you plan on hooking up a console, as well as one HDMI 2.1 eARC port for a soundbar. Don't get your hopes up with that HDMI 2.1 socket if you're a PS5, Xbox Series X or PC gamer though, as the display only runs at 60Hz; however that's understandable for the price.
On the subject of screen sizes; the Omni QLED Series comes in 43-, 50-, 55-, and 65-inch sizes, and starts at just £550 in the UK and €600 in Germany for the 43-inch model. The Omni QLED launched last year in the United States and starts at $450 for the 43-inch variant, however, the States also gets an exclusive 75-inch model that doesn't seem to be coming to the UK. The 2 Series, 4 Series and Omni QLED Series TVs are available to pre-order now.
The 2 Series and 4 Series start at £250 and £430 respectively, and while those price tags are attractive, they reflect the step down in features and screen quality with these models. For example, the 32-inch 2 Series features a 720p resolution which isn't exactly ideal, however, for occasional use in a guest bedroom it's not the end of the world.
Amazon is running an introductory offer currently, with savings of up to £300 if you pre-order any of the new Fire TV models. The Omni QLED Series begins shipping on the 12th of April for the 65-inch model, with the other sizes shipping 1st of June.
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