Amazon has been a frontrunner in video streaming {hardware} with its Fire TV Sticks for years. It has additionally partnered with producers to construct Fire TV straight into TVs. But till September 2021, Amazon hadn’t provided its personal tackle what a wise tv needs to be. With the prospect of reviewing one among their high-end fashions, the Amazon Fire TV Omni Series, it is intriguing to see the way it all comes collectively.
Amazon Fire TV Omni Series 65-inch: Price and availability
These Amazon-branded TVs had been introduced in September 2021. The announcement included eight televisions in complete: Fire TV 4-Series with 43, 50, and 55-inch variations; and the Omni Series with 43, 50, 55, 65, and 75-inch fashions. The 4-Series began at $370 on Amazon and Best Buy, with the Omni Series beginning at $410. Currently, the TVs have a $200 beginning worth for the 4-Series, and $300 to get began with an Omni Series set.
Amazon Fire TV Omni Series 65-inch: What’s good
While I’m no stranger to video streaming units and providers, I do not use a Fire TV gadget frequently — extra like hardly ever. I’ve been utilizing some type of Android TV as my most well-liked platform for years now by way of most of the best streaming devices just like the Chromecast with Google TV. The major tv in my home is a TCL 6-Series Roku TV coming in at 65 inches, and although it has Roku built-in — I do not use it.
Amazon’s first swipe at making its personal sensible TV is off to an excellent begin proper out of the field.
The Amazon Fire TV Omni Series 65″ fits right into what I’ve been using — only now can I experience Fire TV OS on the daily, built directly into a television that Amazon is putting its name on front and center. While other brands like Insignia and Toshiba have been embedding the service into their offerings for a while now, these new TV options are a first from Amazon.
Out of the box, my initial impressions were good. The TV is relatively slim and weighs in at just over 42 pounds. I still chuckle when thinking of how heavy a television was 20 years ago. The same 42 pounds in 2002 would have been for a 27-inch CRT model — ugh.
Back to the Omni Series, there is a very slim bezel surrounding the panel, with only a slight added girth at the bottom frame, which houses the Fire TV branding and a small bar under it for some of the Alexa performance.
There are no visible buttons on the front of the Omni Series TV, giving it a very sleek look. The TV is wall mountable with a 400mm x 200mm VESA pattern. But if you want to set it up on an entertainment stand, there are slim feet that can be attached to the television with the included screws.
The Omni Series 65-inch TV has a solid array of port options to plug in your peripherals.
Moving to the right side of the TV, we find the ports to connect peripherals to the set. The Amazon Fire TV Omni offers three HDMI 2.0 ports, one HDMI 2.1 with eARC, one USB port, a digital optical audio port, a cable/antenna connector, an ethernet port, a spot to plug in the included IR emitter, and even a headphone jack.
The left side of the TV is essentially bare, with only a place to plug in the power cord. On the backside, you won’t find anything other than some vents to help with keeping the unit cool. The clean back means it will be easier to add bias lighting to the TV. You’ll want to go with something like the excellent Govee Immersion TV Lights as a substitute of the Philips Hue HMDI Sync Box because it requires the TV signal to pass through it via HDMI to control the lights. In comparison, the Govee option uses a 1080P camera to achieve its results.
After getting the TV positioned on my entertainment stand, it was time to plug it in and start setup. Setting up the Omni Series television goes about the same way as any of the other excellent Fire TV units just like the Fire TV Stick 4K. The one big difference is going through the prompts to enable hands-free Alexa. The TV comes with the same Alexa voice remote as the other Fire TV devices, but the TV has Alexa built right in, so it has a few additional steps during setup.
Once I made it through the last of the initial setup and a few software updates, I opted to set up user profiles on the TV. I have two kids, and each of them uses one of the excellent Amazon Fire Kids tablets, so it was easy to add their profiles to the Omni Series TV. By doing this, I can add a PIN to lock my profile and keep their innocent eyes from watching something inappropriate for them. The fantastic Amazon Kids+ can offer the proper content for the children.
With profiles loaded, I found some apps to download from the Amazon App Store, like Netflix and Disney+, to go along with the pre-installed Amazon Prime Video. To kick off my testing, I wanted to watch something that would take advantage of the various features the Omni Series TV is capable of. So, I hopped into Prime Video and put on Free Guy.
Fun side note: If you are a Zoom user, you can plug any of the best webcams into the TV and use the TV for video calling.
| Amazon Fire TV Omni Series 65-inch | |
|---|---|
| Dimensions with out the stand | 57.1 x 33.3 x 2.9 inches |
| Weight | 42.5 (lb) |
| Display Size | 65 inches, 64.5 inches Viewable, 4K UHD 3840 x 2160 |
| High Dynamic Range (HDR) format | HDR 10, HLG, Dolby Vision |
| Backlight sort | Direct LED |
| Refresh fee | 60 Hz |
| Bezel dimension | 1.6 mm |
| VESA Wall Mount Standard | 400 mm x 200 mm |
| Gray metallic | Gray metallic |
| Smart TV | Yes, Fire TV OS |
| Audio assist | Dolby Digital Plus with passthrough of Dolby-encoded audio |
| Speakers | 8W + 8W |
| Audio Output Support | 1 Digital Optical Audio Port, 1 HDMI 2.1 with eARC |
| HDMI Ports | 3 HDMI 2.0 + 1 HDMI 2.1 with eARC |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi, Ethernet |
| USB | 1 |
| Voice Support | Yes, hands-free with Alexa, press and ask Alexa with the Fire TV Voice Remote or the free Fire TV app |
| Security | Microphone mute backside for Alexa |
| Other | IR blaster, Fire TV Alexa Voice Remote |
Amazon did not maintain again on the audio and movie options in its first journey down tv {hardware} lane. From HDR10 and Dolby Vision, to Dolby Atmos and extra, the Omni Series does its finest to benefit from the 4K UHD panel. While the audio within the TV is OK with twin 8W audio system, if you’re watching in a bigger house, you may wish to plug in a good soundbar within the HDMI eARC port.
In quick, the image high quality is nice. Watching appearing sequences with the entire fancy CGI results that Free Guy has was enjoyable and clear. There wasn’t any obtrusive blur or ghosting within the pictures. The 60Hz panel dealt with the film simply superb. While the refresh fee is a lot good for watching TV and flicks, it might annoy severe avid gamers preferring 120Hz or higher.
Navigating the Fire TV OS has been snappy with little lag in any respect. Though I do want there was a current apps choice like what the Nvidia Shield TV provides. While these can be found on different Fire TV merchandise, it is the built-in Alexa the place it begins to distinguish itself.
The Omni Series can act just like the Echo Show 10 or any of the opposite excellent Alexa smart speakers — even when it is off. As lengthy because the TV is plugged in, Alexa can entry the microphones and audio system to do issues like reply questions, management the best smart home devices, and even management the TV itself. That is except you employ the swap on the TV to disable the microphones.
You can ask Alexa to show the TV on or off, modify the quantity, change inputs, and extra. Like the Echo Show 15, should you’re watching one thing on the display screen and somebody presses any of the unbelievable Alexa-compatible video doorbells, it could actually present up in your TV. You may also ask Alexa to indicate you any of your linked cameras after which shrink it to picture-in-picture whilst you maintain watching your present.
Amazon has some options which are nonetheless within the works for the Fire TV that needs to be out there quickly. Like TV and film suggestions by way of Alexa Conversations, a wise house dashboard to view the standing and management your sensible house units, Alexa Home Theater that permits you to simply pair the Echo Studio and Sub, and extra. Amazon is discovering methods to make the TV have much more performance within the house, apart from protecting everybody entertained.
Amazon Fire TV Omni Series 65-inch: What’s not good
The Amazon Fire TV Omni Series 65-inch tv has so much going for it, however I would not be doing my job if I did not let you realize of some issues that may very well be improved. Before I get into these items, remember that this TV is at the moment promoting for $500 on Amazon, and for the options you get — that could be a nice deal.
I’m glad that Amazon included Dolby Vision and HDR10. Still, these options can be higher supported with issues like native dimming.
Even although this TV helps issues like HDR10 and Dolby Vision to deliver improved image high quality, these software program options cannot overpower the dearth of {hardware}. Don’t get me flawed. A video that features the assist of the identical customary seems to be nice. Still, the truth that the Omni Series makes use of an LCD panel and lacks native dimming means the general high quality is not going to win any awards.
LCD panels can look nice, and this one does for essentially the most half. However, with the TV missing the power to dim the display screen individually the place scenes aren’t as vibrant, as a substitute of providing a normal brightness throughout your complete show, signifies that a part of the image high quality suffers. This primarily comes at the price of brightness and distinction.
For instance, say there’s an space of the scene that needs to be at like 20% brightness and one other needs to be 60% as a substitute. The result’s all scenes find yourself at round 40% brightness. Not precisely, however I hope you get the thought.
The LCD panel does imply that the Omni Series TV cannot provide true blacks. Parts of a scene that needs to be black as a substitute are darkish grey. To get these true blacks or actually, actually darkish grey, you may spend much more and have to go together with an OLED or a QLED TV. For the informal viewer, this is not an enormous deal. Again, this can be a 65-inch, 4K TV with Dolby Atmos, Dolby Vision, HDR10, hands-free Alexa, and extra at the moment promoting for $500.
While the {hardware} downfalls aren’t particular to this TV, what is restricted is how the software program handles. All in all, it does a fairly good job. But the spotlight function of hands-free Alexa has some irritating quirks. One is that after I added person profiles for my youngsters, after I requested Alexa to activate or off the TV, it instructed me that it does not see any TVs in my profile, and I’ve been unable to determine tips on how to resolve the problem.
The different drawback is that when the TV is turned off, the hands-free Alexa is spotty. Sometimes it responds as anticipated, and the whole lot is okay. Other occasions it can take a very good 10 seconds to acknowledge that I’m attempting to speak to it. Sometimes, Alexa will not react in any respect when I’m talking inches from one of many microphones. Perhaps this can be a software program bug and can be mounted in an replace, or that is simply the way it goes with the hands-free Alexa function on the Omni Series TV.
Amazon Fire TV Omni Series 65-inch: Competition
There isn’t any scarcity of fantastic streaming units — Fire TV or in any other case. As talked about earlier than, if it is a tv with Fire TV built-in that you really want, there are a number of selections from manufacturers like Insignia and Toshiba. But these do not provide hands-free Alexa. You can entry the voice assistant on a kind of merchandise simply the identical as you’ll from a Fire TV Stick.
Plus, going with one thing just like the Fire TV Stick 4K Max on one other TV brings you the entire options the Omni Series provides, which you’ll be able to plug into any tv with an HDMI port — however the hands-free Alexa will nonetheless be lacking.
Suppose you are not offered on utilizing Fire TV as your streaming platform. In that case, there are many wonderful Roku merchandise, each built-in and through a separate gadget. Then, after all, you possibly can additionally choose to go together with a Google-developed selection just like the Hisense H65 series TV if you’d like the all-in-one choice, or one thing just like the Chromecast with Google TV to get your Google TV goodness.
However, all of those choices will lack the hands-free voice assistant you get from the Amazon Fire TV Omni Series. These platforms assist almost the entire identical streaming apps and choices to supply comparable options like HDR10, 4K UHD, Dolby Vision, and extra. It actually is determined by whether or not or not you wish to keep within the Amazon ecosystem with Fire TV on a TV set that may operate as a wise speaker as nicely.
Amazon Fire TV Omni Series 65-inch: Should you purchase it?
You can buy this if…
- You are in search of a brand new sensible tv and need like Fire TV.
- You need options like Dolby Vision, HDR10, Dolby Atmos, and extra for an reasonably priced worth.
- You need a TV that may double as a wise show.
You should not purchase this if…
- You need the best potential show high quality.
- You want Alexa to answer hands-free requests when the TV is off constantly.
- You do not wish to use Fire TV.
For the value of this tv, the Omni Series TV brings so much to the desk by way of options. The software program options, paired with the {hardware}, present some nice viewing experiences, however they are not one of the best. This is a fault of the {hardware} restrictions, however once more, at this asking worth, these might be forgivable except you want top-notch. Having Alexa constructed straight into the TV is nice, because it lets the tv act as one other sensible speaker with some device-specific options. However, it may be inconsistent when the TV is off.
Putting Alexa on the most important display screen in your house
Is Amazon going to take excessive spot in one of the best tv on the planet? No. But on the worth of $500, and even the launch worth of $830 for this TV — it is not attempting to. What you get within the Omni Series 65-inch TV is a large-scale tv that gives an excellent viewing expertise with software program that’s each simple to make use of, and in addition useful.
The hands-free Alexa function is not only a gimmick, because it does and may provide some helpful help. It’s the quirks like sporadic operation when the TV is off, or the lack to regulate core features of the tv when there are person profiles, that maintain it from being nice.
Amazon has accomplished a strong job with this TV and the bigger 75-inch sibling, and if you’re out there for a wise TV and wish to give Fire TV a attempt, it is a good choice. If you find yourself liking the TV however not the OS, then simply plug in a Roku or Android TV dongle in one of many HDMI ports.
Amazon Fire TV Omni – 65-inch
An Alexa-powered worth
For a TV that’s beneath $800 usually, this can be a fairly good TV selection. When it is on sale it is an excellent purchase, because of the wonderful image high quality, built-in Fire TV, hands-free Alexa, and extra.