Amazon Fire TV 43″ Omni QLED Series 4K UHD smart TV, Dolby Vision IQ, Fire TV Ambient Experience, hands-free with Alexa

Just What I Wanted
Great Fire TV for the price and features. Picture and sound are both good on the 50” version that still has local dimming. Some infrequent blooming but overall another TV that proves less dimming zones isn’t a detriment with proper processing. Peak brightness isn’t as high as more expensive TV’s but is still noticeable with HDR content and very acceptable at this price. HDR10, HDR10+, HLG and Dolby Vision IQ all work well with good brightness range and color volume. Note: no Dolby Atoms for sound. I knew this, my TV is wall mounted high and tilted down slightly in a small bedroom and I have no need for a sound bar. NOTE: if using a sound bar with an optical cable, try turning the TV speakers off AND changing the output to PCM or Dolby Digital; and use HDMI 4 (ARC/eARC).This TV is a great value for my application and the budget I set for it.I’m just using the Fire TV interface and none of the HDMI inputs. So I can’t speak on Hue, Contrast and Color issues others may see. Out of the box, mine seems spot on and I currently have no want or desire to go in and adjust any settings based on the content from the various apps I’ve used.The interface isn’t as fast as the Fire TV Cube 3 or Fire Stick 4K Max but still pretty good overall. Note to new Fire TV users: the interface is slower when updates are being downloaded and installed. Check the Device Info for updates several times when first starting the TV. There will be several updates: some very big ones and 2 to 3 more little ones at the least. Keep checking back until it says that it’s “up-to-date”. THEN start to really enjoy the interface. Also the network connection and its QUALITY also plays a factor. This TV supports 2.4/5Ghz and wired (100Mbps).Ambient mode is great but just remember what the TV tells you. The power button on the remote TOGGLES between the Fire TV interface and ambient mode and that long pressing it turns the TV off. No issues with any widgets so far for me. Also, my TV easily recognizes when I enter and exit the room.If you have other Amazon products nearby that listen for “Alexa”, simply change the TV’s wake word to Computer, Amazon or Echo. Absolutely no issues with this.1. I haven’t found any “inescapable” ads to get to content. You can “click” on these shortcuts if you want but you can just user your voice to search for titles instead. Like every other TV interface or box, third party apps have their own interfaces, sign-ins, ads, etc. that can’t be controlled by Amazon, Apple, Google, TCL, etc. Third party apps also place their own ads onto the TV platform they are on based on the deals they have in place.2. The Fire TV interface is anything but complex. You can set it up anyway you want. Again, the various interfaces, profiles, etc. of third party apps are completely independent from Fire TV and on the makers of them and this would be the same on any other TV platform.3. YMMV on the interface. Third party crashes and bugs are possible too. Third party interface issues need to be reported to their makers. They manage the various versions of their app across various platforms and sometimes they aren’t all equal in performance or features offered by platform.4. It hasn’t quite been a decade for Apple to allow the removal of 1st party apps (2016) but maybe Amazon will allow certain apps to be deleted one day. But understand these devices are meant to interface with and promote Amazon products and services primarily.5. The remote button press sounds can be turned off in options for the main interface. Don’t know about the Alexa Home Theater mode but if there isn’t a way, find out if there is one and if not ask that it be implemented.6. Again, out of the box settings being what they may for everyone, at least there are detailed picture settings available for the TV and all of its inputs – all independent of one another to get things looking the way you personally prefer.

Update on Replacement Unit. ARC control is horrible. Some improvements in processing power.
2nd UPDATE: Near the end of July, I had enough with this TV. I decided to buy an new soundbar to replace the Alexa Home Theater and connected via the ARC input. Every so often, when using one of the inputs, the picture would go to black, restart, go to black, and restart again in a loop. I got in touch with Amazon and somehow got a live human on the phone and they replaced the TV with a refurbished model. Worked great for about a week. But it then developed the same problem. Sometimes it just won’t connect to the soundbar but will reconnect with just powering off and on again. Last night, I lost the sound again, and one of the inputs would do the “go to black and restart loop”. Got it back working after about 20 minutes of disconnecting and powering off devices. If I unplug the ARC connection, the TV works fine. But in a modern TV, where almost all have an ARC input, this is unacceptable. It’s not unreasonable to want to use a soundbar on a TV that has Dolby Vison. I am really considering just going out and getting a new TV to spare me of the frustration. Just a huge waste of time and money. And I think Amazon knows of the problems and keeps selling this model. AVOID LIKE THE PLAGUE!!!!!UPDATE: Dropping this review to two stars. I have been using a pair of Echo speakers for Alexa Home Theater for about 6 months with very few issues. Not sure if an update broke something, but the unit would stop playing audio through one of the speakers. Some times unplugging the unit would fix the issue, but often I would have to unpair the speakers and re-pair to get it to work, and even then, it often didn’t. I have had to unplug/plug-in the unit every couple of days in the last month. I even tried a different pair of Echo speakers and had the same issue. I have likely wasted three hours of my time over the last few weeks. I have replaced this set up with a new Roku Streambar, which so far is working. Very disappointed because Alexa Home Theater is advertised on the main page for this TV but it is a huge pain to deal with. Still happy with the picture quality, but this unit is on thin ice with me. Any new issues and I will request a refund. I really wish I had gone to Costco and bought a LG, which we have had good luck with as a brand. I would have spent less and probably had a better experience. Buyer beware!TL/DR: I would probably give this TV a 3 1/2 star rating rather than the 3 shown. I really like the picture quality and love being able to use my Echo speakers for better sound. But, and this is a big but, the TV is let down by a lack of processing power that makes watching live TV events painful. I added an Apple TV 4K and now I am very happy.Pros:- Easy to set up- Alexa integration is nice, although not a game change for me.- Connecting Echo smart speakers for the TV sound is a really nice feature. Very easy to set up and eliminates the need to buy a soundbar.- Four HDMI inputs- Videophiles may have quibbles with the picture quality, but I have zero complaints for a bedroom TV. I find it to be plenty bright enough.- The Ambient Experience is nice, but not game changing. I like having a slideshow of impressionist paintings on the screen when not being used.Cons:- This TV is severely let down by its lack of processing power. I really wonder what Amazon’s QC team was thinking when they let this product come to market. Many Fire TV apps, mainly those that do not have live video, work fine but are slower to load than my Fire TV 4K Max. The letdown is using apps where I watch live TV, especially sports. YouTube TV is painful to use. Using the internal guide is very slow and i notice a lot of stuttering during live sporting events. I use the Bally Sports app to watch my local NBA team and it’s awful. The picture freezes up every couple of seconds. This is not a problem at all on my 4K Max. If you watch a lot of sports, I strongly recommend getting a secondary streaming device. I added a $20 Android TV box from Walmart that works a million times better for these two apps. This is supposed to be Amazon’s flagship TV and this does not show off its operating system’s true potential.- I had an issue with a Yamaha soundbar that I connected via eARC. The volume levels would suddenly go down to zero. I have not had this issue with the internal speakers or the Echoes. I returned the soundbar to Costco.- I think the stock Fire TV remotes are not great. I can feel the battery door squeeze in every time I use it and the buttons are small and shaped the same. Easy to press the wrong button, especially in the dark. I paid for the Pro remote and it is vastly superior. Much better build quality and the backlighting helps prevent pressing the wrong button. I wish Amazon would include this with what is supposed to be their most premium TV in the Fire lineup.- There were some weird bugs that seemed to have been worked out with system updates. Ambient Experience stopped working for a few days.- I placed multiple calls to customer support to deal with with the picture stuttering and Ambient Experience. Their solutions are 1) Unplugging the TV and pugging it back in again, 2) Factory Reset, and 3) have the unit returned for a refund. They aren’t equipped to handle anything else. I suspect some of the issues with stuttering could be fixed with software updates, but I doubt much technical information is making it from their front line reps to their software/engineering teams.Bottom Line: I decided to keep the set because it works great with my Apple TV 4K connected and I am happy with the picture and the ability to connect my existing Echoes as speakers. The hassle of returning the TV was not worth it the less I used the installed Fire OS. If you treat this is as dumb TV that happens to have Alexa integration, then I think you’ll be happy. But if you are a Fire TV purist, I would get another TV and add a 4K Max stick and I believe you will be much happier. You can still use your Echo speakers for sound for the entire TV when connected to the eARC input. I hope someone from Amazon’s engineering department reads this, because there are some serious flaws for what is supposed to be their best TV.

Good Budget Tv ,With High End Specs.
In the past I have purchased FireTvs that were Okay but not Great.This one is a budget TV .That has a lot of Wow.to it.Bright Vibrant colors,Bold Sound(You really won’t need a sound bar) and Dolby Vision IQ. On certain apps which is like the Tv Calibrates itself.Niiiice.I bought this on a black Friday sale.Even Better And if you have Ring it seemlesly connects right to it.This is one this maybe a budget TV but it has a lot of Premium to it.