Amazon Fire TV (1st gen. 2014)

usability, price, design, size

reliability

89% of the reviews on Amazon.com give this product a positive rating.

Easy to set-up ; Decent enough HDR picture ; Fast input lag ; Alexa support

Upscaling should be better ; Below average sound ; Fire TV interface favours Amazon content ; Weak viewing angles

A tidy-looking budget TV from Amazon. The Fire TV 4-Series offers a colourful HDR performance, decent smarts and plenty of entertainment options as far as apps go, but it’s sound and upscaling performance could be better. A TV to have a closer look at...

Clear dialogue performance ; Dolby Atmos and DTS:X ; Affordable ; Smart looks

Bass can fall flat ; Not the most expansive performance ; Bluetooth sound is just ok

A surprisingly good and affordable soundbar from Amazon that delivers spatial audio. It’s good with dialogue and is improvement on a cheap TV. It’s not the most featured, lack of punch and power to the bass and its ok music performance are reasons to...

Bloom is limited well ; Decent picture performance ; Plenty of space for a soundbar

Fire TV OS is problematic ; SDR and HDR midtones are too dark

“The Amazon Fire TV Omni takes another step forward in performance, with a couple of stumbles.”

Decent sound ; Relatively affordable ; Simple to use ; Compact size

Lack of built-in Fire TV streaming and Alexa is a missed opportunity ; Lacks bass ; Stereo mode sounds small, lacks detail

A basic soundbar that boosts your TV sound, but the Fire TV Soundbar can’t quite escape the feeling that it’s a bit expensive for what it does and that Fire TV integration would have given this more of a reason to purchase. It’s fine for what it does...

Decent bass for a single speaker HDMI connection Effective virtual surround sound

Weak midrange performance Some missing instructions

“It doesn't get much simpler than the Amazon Fire TV Soundbar.”

Colourful performance (in the right mode) ; Slick Alexa integration ; Well stocked for apps ; Fire TV Ambient Experience

Feet not the most accommodating for placement ; HDR performance could use more finesse ; Rough upscaling with 480p content ; Competition is cheaper

An ambitious 4K HDR TV that doesn’t quite fulfil its potential, but puts in an entertaining performance, nonetheless. Some care needs to be taken with its picture modes, which require fiddling with to get the best image quality, but if your home is one...

Excellent Fire TV experience Great smart home hub Adequate picture performance Fun features

Lacks HDR punch Price-to-picture performance ratio is off

“A solid mid-tier TV with the best Fire TV experience yet.”

Fast performance ; Impressive list of apps, even at launch ; Voice search is convenient, fast and accurate

Voice search doesn't work within apps ; Onscreen keyboard is offensively bad ; Inconsistent gaming experience ; Carousel UI doesn't work as well on Fire TV as it does on tablets ; Many apps and games are buggy ports from other platforms

The Fire TV is a compelling proposition, so long as you're already locked into the Amazon ecosystem. It's fast, powerful and priced in line with its higher-end competition. The addition of a single game controller for $40 gives access to gaming that...

Sharp picture ; Excellent app support ; Great gaming features for the price

Middling audio quality ; Only one stand option ; Not as bright as some rivals

Amazon’s Fire TV Omni Mini LED is a solid entry point to the mid-range market

Nice, compact design, Comes with a remote, Great price

Sound lacks precision, Dialogue can be muffled, Surround virtualisation isn't great

Amazon's soundbar is impressively affordable, but its sound quality just doesn't match what we want – it's a bit too muddy, lacking precision. For a volume boost, or to upgrade an entry-level TV, it could work, but for better displays we'd advocate...