Before I got a Fire TV, I didn’t think I would ever buy a Fire TV. I have had many smart TVs over the years, but never anything in the Amazon ecosystem. I’ve had Samsung, Google, and Roku, and all of these TVs have served their purpose well. The thing with smart TV interfaces is that the best compliment I can give them is that they are at their best when they don’t get in the way. When I look at them like that, Apple comes out ahead of the competition due to the completely ad-free interface.
All the other interfaces have varying degrees of ads, and I’m just looking for a way to get around them to watch what I want to watch. Amazon is one of those interfaces I just hate to trudge through, but there’s a bright side. My Amazon Fire TV QLED has a hands-free Alexa mode built right into the TV. What I mean by this is that I’m able to walk into the room, turn the TV on, and switch to a specific HDMI all without using the remote. I know this has been possible with external devices like Google Homes and Alexa devices, but this time, it’s all part of the TV. I use this feature so much now that I think it’s become underrated. I’d even value it over having a better screen. Yes, really.
Convenience is worth quite a bit
This isn’t always the case
I’m typically somebody who values having the best screen I can have, but I’m willing to make a concession here. The Fire TV I’m talking about here is the 65-inch Omni QLED that typically retails for $850. At that price range, you can typically find a Mini-LED TV, or even a smaller-sized OLED. Both of those would be better panels than what you get with the Omni QLED, so I definitely wouldn’t fault anybody for going down that path. If I were talking about a TV going into my living room as my main TV, I’d be inclined to agree with that line of thinking.
I have this Fire TV in my spare bedroom, and I’m willing to deal with the drop in quality there in favor of some more convenience. I love that I can walk into a room and automatically swap to the HDMI setting I want to use with my Xbox One that I have plugged in. I haven’t actually had to use the remote in a long time. This TV is used mostly for gaming, and I have a different console plugged into each of the HDMI ports. The only thing I have to do is sit down and ask the TV to switch to a specific port, and I can start playing. Yes, the QLED display doesn’t pop as much as an OLED would, but it’s no slouch, either. This TV has Dolby Vision, and since I’m able to easily control the brightness of my room, I think things look pretty good on it.
I don’t think this TV is ever going to get high marks for its picture quality, but that’s perfectly okay. For most people, I assume this TV is more than good enough, and there are a plethora of picture modes you can cycle through that help your image look better. I like to tweak all the settings myself, and I’m quite satisfied with the result of these tweaks. If you don’t expect the best of the best, then you can get a lot of value out of something like a Fire TV. The hands-free Alexa will just be a cherry on top, and I can tell you that it’s a very delicious cherry.
You might not feel the same
Voice controls aren’t for everybody
TVs and a lot of technology today are full of gimmicks. I haven’t fully gotten on board with things like Google Gemini on my Pixel 9a, for example. There’s a lot of stuff that comes out that goes under the radar for me, and hands-free Alexa was definitely on that path. When I was reviewing this Fire TV, I noted that I didn’t like that the TV was always listening in, since you have to leave the mic turned on for the feature to work. I was afraid that I’d constantly activate the TV and make it talk to me during a show. That hasn’t been a problem whatsoever, so I started leaving the mic on all the time, and now I use it more than ever.
The question that you have to ask yourself is whether you value things like voice control over having a better panel. I wouldn’t if this were my main TV, but since it’s in my spare room, I’m willing to put up with that. I don’t think QLED displays look bad by any means, but you can get better visuals from a similarly priced Mini-LED. It’s really down to your own preferences, so pick what you value more.
