Amazon Fire TV Omni QLED - An Ai Art TV & Cloud Gaming Machine!
Fire TV Omni QLED is a first-party Amazon TV. It is the most premium Amazon TV ever made. And the world's first to have some excellent amazon fire TV features. At launch, they retail between £549 and £999 here in the UK.
What type of panel
The size options are 43, 50, 55 & 65" sizes. The displays support HDR 10+, Dolby Vision IQ and sensors for Adaptive brightness across the front.
It is a full backlit QLED panel. Put simply. It has a quantum dot layer that enhances the colour depth significantly. And one advantage of LED backlit panels is, of course, the peak brightness. And as it does have a full array backlit panel, it can dim down parts of the display to create a better contrast between light and dark. If you were wondering, there are 80 dimming zones on Omni's panel.
Speakers & Audio
It has stereo 12 watts for built-in speakers, which provides acceptable sound quality. But, of course, you can connect amazon's echoes in a stereo-pair format. But if you want a good home cinema audio experience, there is one HDMI 2.1 port: an Enhanced Audio Return Channel (EARC). This means the TV can output an uncompressed Dolby Atmos signal to a capable receiver.
There are 4 HDMI ports, one of which is the above 2.1 Earc. So you will need to use that wisely. There is also an Ethernet, optical out and two USB 2.0. As well as an AV input and IR extender output.
Cable management
Of course, when you have that many ports, cable management is essential. If you plan to use the provided legs, the best way to hide the cables is to run them wire down the back of the feet on the left side.
Physical buttons
In terms of Physical controls, there are just two. There is an on-off power button, and the all-important privacy switch is front and centre on this bar, which is the sensor array.
Alexa is built in by far the easiest way to control Fire TV, and the Far-field voice mics can pick up from great distancesā¦.so if you're extremely rich and live in a castleā¦lend us some money. Secondly, the mics can pick up from a significant distance and remember mics in the remotes.
How it's different
Let's talk about what makes Fire TV Omni QLED different from others. It's the first to have Amazon's Ambient experience with a selection of over 1700 pieces of art. Many are National gallery artworks from around the world, and even custom Super Mario wallpapers are much better than Picasso's. And the best is they're all free of charge.
Now here is where it gets interesting. You've probably seen Ai art by now. If you're unhappy with your picture-perfect portrayal of a pristine Picasso, you can ask Alexa to create something more unique. And the Ai learning model will create it. So yes, the Fire TV Omni is an AI artist. But this feature is in the concept phase and will not ship with the TV at launch. So keep an eye out for the update.
And Amazon has integrated some of the Alexa features into the ambient display. So you can have the Alexa widgets on the screen to help streamline your life. And just quickly going back to the sensor array. This LED tech will allow the Tv to adapt to your house and daily routines.
Game On
Ok, now let's step into my world. You could hook up a PS5 or Xbox via the HDMI 2.1 port. But first, you've got to buy one.
But why do that when you already have Amazon's Lunar game streaming services if you buy an Fire TV Omni QLED? I was over the moon when I heard about this. Lunar is coming to England and Germany, it has been available in the US for a while but this is big news for us here in Europe.
Prime members can play games for free. The selection is limited and refreshes every month. But there is a Luna plus subscription, which consists of 150 more retro and indie games for £9 a month. Then there's a more premium Ubisoft subscription for £15. Which will bring some triple-A titles to the table or, should I say TV stand. And you can play online and even Co-op with anyone with lunar service.
And there is also a more affordable service called Jackbox for £4 a month, which is the budget option and is primarily a collection of party games. So when you've worked all day, it's time to play. You can game into the night under the pale moonlight...because Lunar means moon in Latin. Like what I did there?
And a couple of side notes, Twitch is built into the Lunar service, and your phone can act as a webcam in tandem with TV if you're a big-time or aspiring gamer.
Official Lunar Gamepads
And you're more of a casual gamer. You can even use your phone as the controller if you have no gamepads. But here is something else that's new: the are first-party Amazon Lunar controllers available from £59 here in the UK.
As someone who has spent half their life on game consoles, Amazon has done a great job or the ergonomics of their controller. The vibration intensity is right too. But one of the standout features of the pad is its unique and proprietary connectivity. It has BT and USB C, just like a generic pad, but its secret weapon is the direct cloud feature. The Lunar controller doesn't need to connect to the TV physically or wirelessly because it can connect to the Lunar servers directly, reducing the possibility of cascading input lag when it comes to input responsiveness.