Amazon's First Foray into Branded TVs: The Fire TV Omni
As we dive into the review of Amazon's latest offering, the Fire TV Omni, it's hard not to wonder why it took Amazon this long to enter the market with its own branded TV. After all, they've been making waves with their Fire TV OS and Alexa integration in other devices for quite some time now. But, as the saying goes, "better late than never," right? The Fire TV Omni is available for purchase on both Amazon's website and Best Buy's store, which is a surprising twist.
But what makes this TV special? Well, according to Caleb Dennison, the reviewer, the Fire TV Omni is meant to be an upgrade from the 4-Series TV that Amazon also offers. While the 4-Series TV has its own set of features, the Fire TV Omni brings with it a host of advanced features and improvements that make it a more compelling option for viewers. But does it live up to the hype? Let's take a closer look.
Picture Quality: A Mixed Bag
One of the biggest concerns when it comes to picture quality is brightness. The Fire TV Omni has a full array backlight system, but no local dimming, which means that black levels are not as deep and contrast is not as great. This can be particularly noticeable in dynamic scenes where dark areas are involved. Additionally, color accuracy is another area where the Fire TV Omni falls short. Two-point white balance measurements were poor, which directly affects color accuracy. While brightness is generally good enough for general viewing, it's not quite up to par with more advanced TVs.
Gaming Performance: Not the Best
When it comes to gaming, the Fire TV Omni has some limitations. It has reasonably low input lag and can handle 4K at 60Hz, but that's about it. While this might be sufficient for casual gamers, serious gamers might find it lacking compared to more advanced TVs.
But What About Features?
Now, let's talk about some of the features that make the Fire TV Omni stand out from the crowd. One of the most notable is the integration with Amazon's own Fire TV OS and Alexa platform. This means that viewers can access a wide range of streaming services, play games, and even use voice commands to control their viewing experience. The Zoom Cloud app, which allows for video conferencing, is also a nice touch.
Furthermore, the Fire TV Omni comes with an IR blaster that can connect to other devices in the home entertainment system, making it easier to control multiple devices with one remote. Additionally, it will automatically find and connect to Echo speakers on the network, providing a seamless audio experience.
But Is It Worth It?
So, is the Fire TV Omni worth the investment? According to Caleb Dennison, while some of its features are unique to this model, they won't be available for long. Amazon wants to make sure that as many customers as possible use these features, so it's likely that they will become available on other devices in the near future.
In fact, a more sensible option might be to buy a higher-end TV like the High Sense U7G and add an extra Fire TV Stick Max for around $120. This would give you almost all the functionality of the Omni, but with a much better picture quality and more advanced features.
Future Versions Will Be Better
Finally, it's worth noting that Amazon is not going to stop at this first attempt. Future versions of the Fire TV Omni will likely be even better, with improved picture quality and more advanced features. As the Fire TV platform continues to grow, we can expect to see even more exciting innovations from Amazon in the future.
In conclusion, while the Fire TV Omni has its moments, it's not quite the game-changer that some might have hoped for. However, it does offer some unique features and improvements that make it worth considering for viewers looking for a budget-friendly option with advanced capabilities.
"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enso to be honest i'm surprised it took amazon this long to come out with its own branded tv so i guess the question now is was it worth the wait welcome back everyone i'm caleb dennison and today we're going to dig into the amazon fire tv omni amazon also makes a less expensive 4 series tv but the omni here is meant to be the better performing tv and amazon upgrade if you will you can buy it at amazon or you can buy it at best buy surprisingly enough now this is not the first time we've seen amazon's fire tv os and a tv you can buy an insignia or toshiba tv with fire tv baked in if you want but this is the first time amazon has come out with its own name on a tv and it's promising some unique fire tv and amazon you know who integration is the tv worth buying i'm about to give you a very definitive answer before we jump into it though what's your favorite streaming platform these days you into the roku google tv android tv shield tv fire tv webos tizen let me know down in the comments which is your favorite or least favorite and why and while you're down there please smash that like button if you enjoyed this video and consider subscribing too because i'm all about seeing you right back here for more tv and tech fun also when we get to a million subs i'm gonna give something away and no it won't be my pride it will however be something much more valuable and probably at least in the shape of a tv so don't miss out on that business done now let's see what's up with this omni shall we you know i try to go into tv reviews with as few preconceptions as possible but ultimately i'm going to go in with some ideas already formed i mean can you blame me i look at a lot of tvs and i have opinions i expect an oled to look amazing i expect a sony to have excellent motion and surprisingly good backlight control i expect high sense to possibly try to singe my retinas sometimes and if i were to pull an insignia or toshiba tv in for review i wouldn't expect much to be honest those are just inexpensive get you by tvs i have an insignia in my rv for instance because do i care about black levels when i'm camping well as it turns out i do even though i thought i wouldn't so that tv is going to get replaced but my point is most folks wouldn't be so picky and those lower performing tvs absolutely have their place anyway i went into this review thinking this tv probably wouldn't punch too much above its price class but i also figure tcl probably actually made this tv so it's probably got to be decent right then i unboxed the tv set it up started watching it and at the end of that unboxing video link right here if you want to go see that i think my first impressions were not bad i honestly was expecting less then my friends well then i started to dig a little deeper i watched a bit more then i pulled out the measurement equipment and whoa um not what i expected so what are we dealing with here well first let me break down who i think this tv is for when i think about that i think about the amazon branded stuff i buy i buy amazon batteries because they may not be the best but they are far from the worst and the price is just right i buy amazon branded cables because they may not be the best but they are far from the worst and the price is right i even bought amazon branded golf pants and guess what they aren't the best but they are far from the worst and you guessed it the price was right that's what i went into this review hoping for with the amazon fire tv omni don't expect it to be the best but i figure it should be far from the worst and all that is definitely true but the price i'm sorry folks for me the price part of that magic combo is not where it needs to be the 65-inch amazon fire tv omni i have right here costs more than the tcl 5 series and just a touch less than the high sense u7 g review for that tv right up here but from a performance perspective the omni tv behaves more like the tcl5 series with the hisense u7g handily outperforming it like buy a lot at essentially the same price less than a hundred dollar difference let's dig into those numbers for a very brief second because yes even the amazon fire tv omni gets the numbers for knit nerds treatment using a spectracal c6 meter profile to an xrite i1 pro and calmland ultimate software i measured just over 380 nits peak from a 10 window in sdr and almost the exact same thing in hdr as well yes less than 400 nits peak 4 hdr that's not good in fact i'd argue that isn't hdr and it sure isn't good enough for dolby vision i changed picture presets and color temps and i was able to max out at just under 500 nits that's the brightest i could get and of course color accuracy took a hit in the process unfortunately color accuracy wasn't good to begin with the two-point white balance measurements were poor and therefore color accuracy was also no good and not that anyone is hiring a calibrator for this tv but you can't adjust the two-point white balance because that option doesn't exist in fire tvs now to be fair those measurements don't tell the whole story on average i'd characterize the omni's brightness as good enough for most folks general viewing it's like okay black levels though not good this tv has a full array backlight system but no local dimming so no backlight fluctuations to deal with but also milky blacks that means perceived contrast is not great which can really let you down in dynamic scenes so all that paired with not great color and very average run-of-the-mill processing means this tv just really isn't anything special from a picture quality perspective also it's not an especially advanced tv for gaming it has reasonably low input lag and can do 4k 60 but that's it now all that would be just fine if the price was right but again you can get much better for at or below the money you would pay to get this tv so in an effort to be balanced are there any redeeming qualities i mean all that fire tv os and amazon you know who integration must count for something right well right now i will say that it does eventually the zoom cloud app will be available and you can plug in a camera like the logitech camera amazon provided for this review and have yourself a video call with the tv no problem i think that'll be great that's actually a bit better than google duo on a tcl tv if you ask me lots more people zooming i think and since it does picture in picture for ring doorbells and other third-party security brands i'm hopeful you could play jack box games in a group while in a video conference that actually sounds pretty fun the tv will also find any echo speakers on the network and connect to them automatically so you could use them for tv sound that's got roku energy to it and i can see that being a really welcome feature also like the fire tv cube the fire tv omni comes with an ir blaster and can control other devices in your home entertainment system which when it works well can be a game changer for folks who like more elaborate home entertainment systems but just want super simple control here's the thing though while some of those features may be unique to the fire tv omni for now they won't be for very long amazon would love to see as many of its customers as possible using those features so really it's just a matter of time before all of it will be available on a fire tv cube or fire tv stick max which by the way comes in around the 50 mark frankly i would rather you buy a high sense u7g and add on a fire tv stick max spend about 120 bucks or so more have almost all the functionality of the omni here and a much better picture that idea makes way more sense to me also you get the bonus of being able to take that fire tv stick max wherever you want a little bit more money a lot more performance now i'm not counting amazon out this is the company's first go at making a tv future versions will be better they will have better picture quality they will have even more functionality because you know alexa and the fire tv platform are only going to grow as a matter of fact i can see amazon making its own brand of tv nearly impossible to beat one day but today today is not that day thanks as always for watching everyone what do you think about amazon making its own tv leave me a comment down below please consider liking and subscribing and here are two other videos i think you'll like\n"
