Amazon is bringing its own-brand Fire TV models to the UK and Germany, expanding over the original US and Canada launches for these sets. Amazon says that Fire TV is a big growth area and is one of the biggest platforms for the UK and Germany, hence the introduction of its own TVs.

While we’ve seen Fire TVs from other brands, this is the first time that we’re getting access to Amazon’s own brand TVs outside north America. The Omni QLED Series is the flagship model, designed to give you the best experience. We set our eyes on it at launch to bring you our first impressions.

Design and build

• 43, 50, 55 and 65in sizes
• Slim bezels

The Omni Series of Fire TVs looks like the premium TV that it wants to be, with slim bezels framing the screen and with a pretty slim profile. It’s not quite offering the picture on glass design that you’ll get from the likes of LG, but it’s slim enough considering the price point.

There’s a simple two-footed stand arrangement, sitting either end of the screen, but with the popularity of wall mounting, we expect many would choose that option. The connections on the rear of the screen are set back from the right-hand edge, so once you connect all those cables it should look nice and tidy.

There’s going to be a full range of sizes available, expanding on the original selection that were announced in the US. You’ll be able to get this QLED TV in 43, 50, 55 and 65-inch sizes, covering a full range of options for those in the UK and Germany. The 75-inch model that’s available in north America isn’t making an appearance in Europe.

There’s a sensor box in the centre of the bottom of the frame, with the Fire TV logo sitting above it and this is about the only feature on the otherwise slim design that it offers.

Around the back there a four HDMI connections, optical, Ethernet and USB, so you’ll be able to easily connect the latest devices.

Display quality and performance

• 4K Quantum Dot display
• HDR10+, HLG, HDR10+ Adaptive, Dolby Vision IQ
• Full array, 80 zone dimming
• Adaptive brightness

We’ve not been able to assess the quality of the Omni QLED to a great degree, but from what we’ve seen, there’s a noticeable bump in quality compared to the Fire TV 4-Series. There’s great detail and brightness and a short session watching Wild Isles on BBC iPlayer in UHD gave great results.

The support that this display offers is encouraging, because you’re not only getting basic HDR support from HDR10+, but you’re also getting adaptive versions, including Dolby Vision IQ. This is the latest standard from Dolby that allows the display to adapt to lighting conditions so that the content always looks its best. There’s an ambient light sensor in the frame of the TV to aid this feature, while also allowing the TV to use the appropriate brightness when it’s in the Ambient Experience – which we’ll talk about in a minute.

This panel is a full array with 80 dimming zones, so that should mean that there’s plenty of control to get the best out of your content, whether that’s streaming or from an attached console or Blu-ray player. We didn’t get the chance to fully assess the performance across any great variety of media, but performance for the price so far looks great.

Content and services

• Fire TV user interface
• Freeview Play (UK)
• Supports Luna

As this is a Fire TV, the user interface is as you’d expect, that familiar Fire TV view that will give you access to streaming services and also live TV. There’s also support for Luna – Amazon’s cloud gaming service (subscription required) – as this is also launching in the UK and Germany alongside these TVs.

Fire TV offers access to all the UK’s streaming services, as well as a complete set of subscription services like Netflix, Apple TV+ and Disney+.

But unlike a regular Fire TV Stick, the Omni Series in the UK is fitted with a terrestrial tuner, so you’ll be able to access terrestrial broadcast TV too. That offers Freeview Play, so you’ll be able to load up the familiar Freeview Play EPG and browse the channels and decide what you want to watch.

There are no DVR functions – you can’t record that live TV – but the EPG will allow you to scroll back in time and launch the respective player if you want to catch-up on something that you’ve missed. That works well, but with many people now buying a TV just to stream content, you’re still well connect with all the options offered.

Alexa smarts

• Alexa Voice Remote
• Voice control
• Connected experience

As this is a Fire TV, you not only get all the functions you’d expect from a smart TV offering streaming services, but you also get Alexa’s skills. The Omni Series ships with an Alexa Voice Remote, and again this is slightly different to the remote you get with a Fire TV Stick as it includes numbers and everything else you need to manage your TV.

But it’s the voice part that’s interesting as you can poke the button to make voice requests from your TV and access Alexa’s search skills. This is a great way to find content – Fire TV will locate it and display your viewing options for whatever you’ve asked for – but it also means you can make the same requests you might make of any Echo device.

But you don’t need to use the remote. The Omni Series is basically a giant Echo device, so you can have handsfree control of the TV. You just ask Alexa and the TV will listen and respond. That extends beyond TV functions to everything that Alexa normally offers – so that might be the weather, playing music or viewing your smart home cameras for example.

Taking on Samsung’s The Frame

The Fire TV Omni QLED also wants to take on Samsung’s The Frame. Samsung’s TV wants to be hung on the wall and display art when it’s not being used to watch the latest Netflix series – and Amazon is offering the same here.

There’s a wide selection of art you can use as a background, including the option to access your own photography or to create something entirely new. Yes, Amazon is jumping on the AI bandwagon, allowing you to ask Alexa to create a generative AI image to use as your wallpaper. That could be anything you want it to be – just ask, and it will be created on demand.

At the same time, Amazon wants to push its Ambient Experience, making your TV more than just a blank square when it’s not in use. It essentially can be used as a massive Echo Show, you can have personalised widgets on display, showing you information you might want, so when you walk into a room, you can glance and get the details you might need.

First impressions

The Amazon Fire TV Omni QLED looks like an interesting addition to the TV options, especially for those spending more and more time streaming. With Fire TV Sticks being so popular, you can now jump to having that Fire TV experience across your whole TV, rather than just on one input.

The pricing is aggressive, starting at £549.99 for the 43in QLED, with pre-orders opening from 22 March 2023 and sets shipping from 12 April 2023. However, there are also introductory discounts, including £300 off the 65-inch model, so it’s just £699. We’ll bring you a full review, assessing the quality across this TV, as soon as we can.