Verdict
A tidy - appear budget idiot box from Amazon . The Fire TV 4 - Series offers a colourful HDR performance , decent smarts and plenty of amusement options as far as apps go , but it ’s speech sound and upscaling functioning could be good . A TV to have a close aspect at during Amazon ’s Prime event discounts .
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
Everyone is looking for a bargain , especially with television , and Amazon is the current king of bargains . So it make mother wit that when shopping for a new TV , you look for what Amazon has to tender .
The on-line shopping heavyweight has given its TV line - up a refresh with an ‘ all - new ’ Fire TV 4 - Series that replaces the late model we reviewed andawarded four - stars to .
The changes include a slim design and a brighter moving picture , but is it all that much better than before ?
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Design
Assembling the Fire television 4 - Series could n’t be prosperous or quick . Screw the groundwork in and it ’s ready to be powered on in about 90 seconds .
The overall soma quality is solid . The bezel that surrounds the TV is slimmer than the old model but there ’s not much else that ’s dissimilar aside from a blink of an eye of silver on the bottom bezel . It ’s a neat and tidy effort .
The viewing angles disappoint though . It does n’t take much shifting from a heads - on lieu for the colours to fade . consider that the projection screen I have in for review is the biggest in the 4 - Series range , you ’ll have to be huddle together in tight for the best picture quality .
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Connectivity
There ’s not much alteration from the late model as the Fire TV 4 - Series still barrack an Ethernet , three HDMI 2.0 port , aHDMI 2.1 eARCport for connecting a soundbar ( like the Fire TV Soundbar Plus ) , a sole USB remark ( down from two ) and a digital optical out .
That ’ll do for most the great unwashed , though gamers after a TV withVRR supportshould give the ( more expensive ) Fire television receiver Omni Mini LED TV a closer look .
There ’s Wi - Fi for cast and there ’s Bluetooth for streaming to the TV , though there ’s no mention of it on the Amazon product page as far as I can see .
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User Experience
I could rinse and repeat what I ’ve write before about the Fire TV interface , as while it offer slew of entertainment options and built - in Alexa voice controller , it is odd in its approach to all thing Amazon .
It take a while to find somethingnotfrom an Amazon service , and a slightly annoying feature of the Fire TV port is the luggage carousel at the top not only automobile - play video but drops down to swallow up most of the filmdom too . It always feel as if Amazon is slightly disturbed you ’re not enlist and then tries to force the issue .
There are course upon rows upon rows , though scrolling through them does n’t feel as long as before . I think Amazon ought to consider quality over quantity as the pick provided is overwhelming .
What Amazon want you to do is to apply Alexa to find thing . As always she ’s helpful and relatively speedy to fetch your requests , open an app , or switch betweenHDMI input .
There ’s no hand - free Alexa dominance for the 4 - Series TV , though – everything is done through the reactive and easy - to - use of goods and services remote control . I do wish it had ‘ setting ’ and ‘ Inputs ’ buttons . To me , it ’s more convenient than remembering to control the ‘ base ’ button down .
you may upgrade to the Alexa Voice Control Remote Pro , but that ’s optional and costs more .
There are ads but you ca n’t turn them off . away from the carousel I do n’t feel them too intrusive , and Amazon argue they pop the question more curated programming choices ; though unsurprisingly most of it seems to be Amazon - related .
Features
As far as HDR support goes the Amazon Fire TV 4 - Series comes with HDR10 andHLGbut not advanced formats such asHDR10+orDolby Vision .
It ’s a 60Hz , unmediated - illume LCD TV with no local dim zones . You wo n’t get as precise smuggled spirit level or as high a level of luminance as , say , aMini LEDTV .
On the legal front , it ’s a 16W speaker organization with living for Dolby Digital Plus audio . With that eARC porthole you could lend a soundbar and hearDolby Atmossound .
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Alexa smart home bread and butter means you may bestow smart tv camera , control any compatible bright lightness , agree your thermostat and more from the solace of your sofa . There ’s also support for the Fire TV app but that ’s more or less a ascendance app in character the strong-arm remote is lose .
There is support for games through theAmazon Lunastreaming service , and they can be stream from the app store but any gamer looking for more modern features should look elsewhere . I assess input retardation at 10.1ms , which is very fast so at least for gamers with aPS5orXbox Series Xconsole connected to the Fire telly 4 - serial publication , you ’ll get speedy performance .
Picture Quality
The forgetful version of Amazon Fire TV 4 - Series ’ impression quality is that it ’s good enough , but does n’t live up to Amazon ’s claims of vivacious colour and vivid picture tone .
It ’s just not bright enough to pump out a “ graphic picture quality ” . In its Standard motion-picture show mode , the Fire TV 4 - Series registers 429 nits of brightness level . That ’s bright enough to getcloseto HDR but you ’d want a TV that rack up over 500 nits . Any time the TV has to deal with a bright object , it starts to clip ( lose detail ) .
That say , it ’s not a complete washing with HDR cinema . A 4 K Blu - shaft of light of La La Land see very estimable on this television set with sporting clean tones and expressive reds , blueing , and purples .
Into the Spider - Verse is another film where the gloss palette stands out equate to a Sharp QLED TV sit next to it , with a more varied and wide range of colours the Amazon is capable of , make the Sharp look a little dull .
The TV finds itself cling in something of a No Man ’s Land . It ’s more colorful than less expensive telly , but not as expressive as more expensive model , specially with colour gradation ( the range of whole tone it can show ) . This television receiver is close to reach HDR but not quite there .
It ’s in the main good in terms of pungency and detail for a 55 - inch screen but lacks proper contrast and brightness which can make images attend a little flat at time . calamitous levels lack deepness and can veer towards more grey but I find with Into the Spider - Verse that pitch-dark levels can hold up quite well without crushing ( losing ) detail in dark scenes .
The TV does have movement processing but you ’d be better served with action smoothing off . The performance is comme il faut but there is some noise and judder , along with a couple of moments of retardation . Turn it off and the TV looks more natural , less contrived .
There are other circumstance that do n’t help the Fire TV 4 - Series cause , such as the Dynamic Backlight which try on to promote contrast but dispatch point in the darkest parts of the prototype . There is also some DSE ( Dirty Screen Effect ) with some noticeable horizontal lines across the blind , and some backlight haemorrhage ( a blu - ish light ) towards the edges of the screen door .
Upscaling
With a Blu - ray of Tron Legacy , Blade Runner 2049 and DVDs of Drive and Spider - Man 3 , the one invariable is some slight noise that I did n’t see on any other TVs I was examine at the same time .
change the scene did n’t have an effect , and the TV is not as colorful in its SDR picture modes . peel shade can look less natural , detail and sharpness levels seem to drop with a somewhat fuzzy look in shoes along with some softness as people walk across the screen . It ’s as if the colour look a little drain .
The scene where K travels across the city in his spinner wait mirky and fuzzy , and the TV suffers more when dealing with dark scene . Even streaming Veronica Mars TV series fromPrime Videothere ’s a piffling flake of visible softness and noise , although streaming depicted object does depend sharper , more detailed , clearer with more expressive colours . It ’s almost as if this telly was made for cyclosis …
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It ’s watchable but for the terms , I await more .
Sound Quality
Audio is an arena where the Amazon Fire goggle box 4 - Series sound restrained .
Whatever I listen to through the TV ’s 16W speakers sounds hem into the middle of the filmdom . It rarely expands beyond the four borders of the TV , and even with the volume grow up to 70 , the Fire TV 4 - Series sounds shallow , miss heft and weight unit .
Blade Runner 2049 is a pretty loud picture show but does n’t vocalize gimcrack at all on this TV . There’ssomepunch to the bass but the problem is that there ’s not much bass to get down with . As K and Sapper duke it out in the farm , their punches register as dull thuds – it ’s not the excitement the scene warrant .
The TV handles negotiation fine but you ’d require a soundbar to go with this TV . Amazon’sFire television receiver Soundbar Plusis a pretty upright pick for the money .
Should you buy it?
At it ’s lower Mary Leontyne Price , the Fire telly 4 - Series becomes much better time value , you could forgive its flaws more when you ’re saving over £ 200
Most people still check a lot of SDR content over HDR , and the Fire tv set 4 - serial ’ upscaling functioning is a small noisy and fuzzy in station
Final Thoughts
The Amazon Fire TV 4 - Series is what you ’d expect for a model hoping to up with the bestcheap TVs , even if it ’s far from perfect . It does n’t have the brightness to do HDR proper , but in most other motion picture timber area , it ’s competent .
Even though I ’ve taken knocks against the motion processing and upscaling , these issues are n’t out of the ordinary for affordable telecasting . If you require better , you require to browse at high prices .
For those looking for a thebest 55 - inch TVaround the £ 500 monetary value point , the Amazon Fire television 4 - Series does a job . I still recall the Fire video interface could use a refresh , and it ’s not the most feature article - pack , but the Fire TV 4 - Series ( 2024 ) is worth a look , especially during Amazon ’s Prime events .
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How we test
We test every television receiver we refresh good over an extended period of time . We employ diligence received tests to compare feature right . We ’ll always tell you what we discover . We never , ever , consent money to review a product .
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FAQs
There ’s no Dolby Vision support for this model , only HDR10 and HLG .
Test Data
Full Specs
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