Verdict
A canonical soundbar that boosts your TV sound , but the Fire TV Soundbar ca n’t quite run away 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 buy . It ’s fine for what it does but perhaps one to buy in the Amazon sales than to grab at its RRP .
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
I ’ve reviewed boob tube , wireless speakers , and telecasting streamers from Amazon , but the Fire TV Soundbar is the first of its kind – an factual soundbar from the shopping giant .
And it ’s a surprisal that it ’s take this long for an Amazon soundbar to look . Released in the US back in 2023 , it ’s taken almost a yr for this model to make its way of life across the pool . Compare that to its rival Roku , which has detect succeeder with itsStreambarand others .
The Fire TV Soundbar aims to be a heavyset solution to boost your video audio , but upon test it , it ’s not all I quite envisaged it would be .
Design
Amazon has put the disruption on style and focused on function with the Fire TV Soundbar . It ’s probably coarse to call it boring when it was never mean to excite , but characterless and anonymous are fair word to apply to its gray / shameful attire . It come with a wall - mounting outfit if you need to put it on a bulwark .
At 60 cm wide it ’s best suit to smaller - sized idiot box ( 50 - inches and smaller ) – it looks sassy enough , feels well work up for the price ( 18 % comes from recycled materials ) , and behind the covering is an light-emitting diode display . It ’s a serial publication of dots which are easy enough to empathise considering its simple mental process .
Set - up is well-to-do – this is fundamentally a hack and toy soundbar – though I did find that to get sound bet through the soundbar , I had to mute aSamsung QN90D TV , which was leftover , especially through an HDMI connexion . The emergence did n’t reappear with a Sony Bravia 8 .
In a sunken area underneath the bar are the connections , with anHDMI ARCport , digital optical output signal , and USB input . On top are controls for power , stimulation , Bluetooth pairing and volume control .
The remote is a small affair , one that might go missing if you ’re not careful with it . Everything cover on the soundbar itself form its direction to the remote , with added supernumerary in EQ options , freshwater bass control , and a spatial speech sound manner .
Features
Surprisingly , the Fire TV Soundbar does not feature Fire TV consolidation . Unlike theRoku Streambar , this is n’t a soundbar - cum - banner in one gimmick , which feel like a lose opportunity . Given how synonymous Amazon has made the Fire TV brand with video recording cyclosis , you ’d arrogate itsFire TV deviceswould factor it in some way .
There ’s no HDMI input so there ’s no mean value of adding a Fire TV Stick into the soundbar . You might take over Alexa integrating but she ’s not available , which mean no financial support for Alexa Home Cinema either . Amazon make empty the Fire TV Soundbar is for audio only , and yes while I understand that the Fire TV stigmatization has to do with television / home film , telephone this the Echo Soundbar would have made more sense .
The Fire TV Soundbar endorse Dolby Digital soundtrack , as well as DTS Virtual :X processing with DTS soundtracks . The Spatial audio mood expands the soundstage but do n’t confuse this with immersive audio formats such as Dolby Atmos and DTS : X. Even with Spatial sound activated , this is still a 2.0 stereo soundbar .
There ’s Bluetooth support for cyclosis from a roving gimmick , three EQ modes ( motion picture , music , and dialogue ) , bass EQ ( low , medium , high ) … and that ’s it on the feature of speech count . study the request Mary Leontyne Price , it does n’t feel like you ’re let much bang for your Pearl Buck .
Sound Quality
While the Fire TV Soundbar might err on the wrong side of the cost / value line , it ’s a decent - sounding effort as long as you ’re looking to boost your idiot box ’s speech sound and nothing more .
Does the Fire TV Soundbar offer elbow room - fill up sound in the way that Amazon ’s marketing materials would suggest . No , it does n’t . Is it an melioration over your telly ? If it ’s a inexpensive and tinny sounding one then yes it is .
Effects are commit accurately enough on silver screen , audio does n’t sound as if it’sjustemanating from the soundbar but from item on the cover too . Dialogue is clearly and smoothly reproduced in the bar ’s Movie modal value , and it extracts a adequate amount of detail from movies and telecasting shows , though in its stereo mode the soundstage has a squashed smell to it .
Switch to its Spatial Mode and the soundstage boom in width , although to be true that width should be equivalence for the course for any soundbar . Its merely ‘ decent ’ level of detail in its nonpayment mode become ‘ good ’ when find out Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes – there ’s more background detail and ambient to peck up – a dialogue scene where waves crash upon a beach becomes more noticeable – there ’s more room for core , medicine and dialogue to co - exist without step on each other ’s toes .
It vocalize clear and louder if a bit thinner too , the processing employ in its Spatial mode hook the soundbar of its smoothness and free weight , throwing a crisper tone into the mix .
Personally , with films I ’d switch to the Spatial Mode for that added width and crisper horse sense of detail and limpidity . There ’s no sibilance creeping in despite dialogue sounding slender with it on .
It offers three levels of bass from low , medium to high but none really tally more deepness or power . If anything it inure the soundbar ’s bass production , which makes the Fire TV Soundbar ’s output sound uncomfortable in moments when where more punch or rant is required .
Watching an instalment of Industry on the Player , it ’s a absolved and detailed operation with vocals sounding more or less instinctive . The Spatial Mode work again in terms of a bigger soundstage .
With music over aBluetooth connection , the Fire TV Soundbar sounds passable . Everything I mentioned above applies here with its stereo and spatial modes . Its sense of pizzaz is more noticeable with music than movies , even moving between quiet and loud is more slender than major .
Boosting the bass has a big essence with music , bringing more deepness and weightiness , and I ’d suggest playing with the presets available – the Music preset create audio crisper but the Movie mode adds fondness and smoothness .
Latest deals
Should you buy it?
This is a soundbar with few trumpery , which will befit those just looking to plug and play into their TV to boost the sound . Simple to use with a decent sound , though I ca n’t avail but feel it could have done more .
Despite the Fire tv set branding there ’s no real connexion with Fire TV streaming , noAlexasupport , nothing that signals this bar as all different from others for similar money .
Final Thoughts
Amazon ’s Fire TV Soundbar is both what I expected and I did n’t quite have a bun in the oven . It ’s a simple , uncomplicated effort with no built - in video streamer like on theRoku Streambar . If you ’re seem to advance your TV ’s sound recording and nothing more , that ’s all the Fire TV Soundbar delivers .
It ’s easy to operate and voice hunky-dory with movies , television series and euphony . It ’s arguably a picayune expensive – a £ 99 / $ 99 monetary value or less would seem more in telephone line with its feature set . There are other less expensive selection such as theMajority Teton Plus , though Majority ’s invention is n’t as convenient as the Fire TV Soundbar ’s .
Amazon has launch theFire TV Soundbar Plus , which has Dolby Atmos and DTS :X support for those who desire a higher quality home cinema operation .
I ca n’t quite veil my flimsy disappointment with the Fire TV Soundbar . It ’s fine but does n’t bedazzle enough to recommend it . A price reduction on Amazon Prime or Black Friday would make the Fire TV Soundbar a more sympathetic leverage but otherwise it experience you could get a similar execution for less than its RRP .
Trusted Score
How we test
We test every soundbar we survey exhaustively over an extended period of metre . We use industry standard tests to liken feature properly . We ’ll always tell you what we find . We never , ever , accept money to look back a product .
see out more about how we prove in ourethics policy .
FAQs
There ’s no Alexa desegregation with the Fire TV Soundbar . It ’s an audio - only gimmick .
