Amazon Fire TV 4-Series Review: Underwhelming Ultra HD

Best Prices Today: Amazon Fire TV 4-Series

$259.99

You’re spoiled for choice with budget TVs nowadays. There are so many to choose between and even if you want a big TV, you can have one – if you’re prepared to make some compromises.

Amazon’s Fire TV 4-Series range comes in 43, 50 and 55in models and has the Fire TV interface – from the company’s popular Fire TV Sticks – and Alexa built in.

Although it’s a step up from the 2-Series, that’s mainly because of the screen sizes: don’t let the naming fool you that these are mid-range TVs: they’re basic models in the great scheme of things.

But does having Fire TV and Alexa make the 4-Series a good buy? Read on to find out.

Design & build

• Plastic frame and feet
• Option to wall mount
• Alexa via microphone on remote control

When you get the Fire TV 4-Series out of its box you notice how lightweight it is. That’s partly because it’s fairly thin but also because it’s clad in plastic and has glossy black plastic feet.

Four screws is all it takes to attach them to the base of the TV if you’re putting it on a TV bench rather than wall mounting it. The feet are 980mm apart, so your bench needs to be at least that long.

The detachable power cable plugs into the left-hand side (when looking at the TV from the front) and all other ports are on the right.

The bezel isn’t too thick, and has the same gloss black finish as the feet.

Jim Martin / Foundry

Specs & features

• Standard LED backlight
• Support for HDR10, HLG
• Fire TV software

For what is otherwise a relatively basic model, it’s good to see a quartet of HDMI inputs, and with the same specs as the Omni QLED – three HDMI 2.0 and one HDMI 2.1 eARC.

Jim Martin / Foundry

You get a breakout cable in the box with composite video and stereo RCA audio connectors for old equipment, but Amazon doesn’t supply the IR extender cable for controlling AV boxes in cabinets. That’s £14.99 / $14.99. However, you may not need it if you equipment is out in the open.

The 4K panel runs at 60Hz, which might be enough for some people but gamers wanting to connect a 4K console will almost certainly prefer to opt for a TV that goes up to 120Hz. That said, with Amazon’s Luna gaming service built in, the 4-Series is fine for more casual gamers and you can pair the official Luna controller via Bluetooth.

Bluetooth can also be used to pair headphones, speakers, hearing aids and other devices. There was no audio lag at all using Amazon’s Echo Buds 2, but if you do have issues, you can adjust the Bluetooth audio delay in the settings.

Just note that you can’t have the TV speakers on at the same time as using Bluetooth audio.

Unlike the more expensive Omni QLED there’s no ambient light sensor or presence sensor so the 4-Series can’t adjust brightness according to the lighting in your room, nor can it turn off if no-one’s around to watch it. This also means it doesn’t support Dolby Vision IQ – it doesn’t support Dolby Vision at all: just HDR10 and HLG.

Jim Martin / Foundry

There are no built-in farfield microphones so you have to use Alexa via the remote by pressing the Alexa button: there’s no hands-free option here.

Jim Martin / Foundry

The other features missing from the 4-Series that you’ll find on the Omni QLED are the option to connect a webcam for Alexa calling and Ambient Experience. However, there is still the usual Fire TV screensaver where you can see nice stock photos, or your own photos that are stored on Amazon Photos.

Of course, the attraction here is that the TV uses Amazon’s Fire TV interface. This is designed primarily for streaming content and advertises shows on Prime Video and Freevee (both owned by Amazon), which some people find a bit annoying. Plus, there are actual adverts, as you can see below.

Jim Martin / Foundry

However, Fire TV is easy to use and there are installable apps for Netflix, BBC iPlayer, ITV X, Channel 4, Disney+, UK TV Play and loads of other popular services. Strangely, though, My5 – Channel 5’s streaming service – was “unavailable” at the time of review. I asked Amazon if this was a temporary problem before publishing this review, but am still waiting for a response.

Jim Martin / Foundry

If you already own a Fire TV Stick, you can choose to have the 4-Series set everything up as you have on that. This means apps will be installed automatically, though you’ll still have to sign into them all again, which is the frustrating part of getting a new TV. Hopefully Amazon can solve that particular gripe.

The interface can lag quite badly when navigating around, and the 4-Series didn’t feel as responsive as even a basic third-gen Fire TV Stick.

Live TV on UK models comes from a built-in Freeview Play tuner and the programme guide is nice and clear. You can’t record anything, despite the USB ports which you’d think might be for a USB thumb drive.

Jim Martin / Foundry

In fact, there are two despite Amazon’s website stating there is just one, and you can connect a USB drive and use the Media Player input to see photos and watch any videos stored on it: most of the popular formats are supported.

Jim Martin / Foundry

Plus, like the Omni QLED, there’s proper AirPlay support so you can beam videos and photos from your iPhone and iPad to the Fire TV and see them on the big screen. The usual AirPlay restrictions apply, so some apps won’t let you watch video over AirPlay, such as Channel 4 and Sky Go.

Picture and sound quality

• 60Hz refresh rate
• Dolby Digital Plus audio
• 8W + 8W speakers

Overall, picture quality is good but unexceptional. If this is your first 4K TV, you’ll be happy with the clarity when watching 4K Netflix, Amazon Prime or wildlife shows from BBC iPlayer.

Colours are fine but don’t pop like they do on QLED models. They’re only fine, though, as long as you’re sat square-on to the screen. Move off centre and they quickly start to fade and look noticeably washed out if you’re watching off to either side.

Jim Martin / Foundry

The top brightness of 300 nits is relatively low, and rather dismal for an HDR TV. Although the Fire TV 4-Series supports 4k HDR in the HDR10 and HLG formats, you’ll be hard pressed to notice the difference. Really you need double the brightness (or more) for highlights to really shine.

As the 4-Series doesn’t have full array local dimming, there’s also a distinct lack of deep, inky blacks.

The screen isn’t too reflective, but it’s best to avoid place the TV facing a window as the low brightness means it can’t overcome the reflections during the day.

Jim Martin / Foundry

As with the Omni QLED, picture settings are saved per input, so you can (and need to) adjust those settings for digital TV, streaming media and the HDMI inputs individually. By default Action Smoothing is set fairly high and it’s something you’ll want to reduce or turn off completely, especially if you’re watching movies. But it’s great for sports as it smooths out any judder between frames.

Jim Martin / Foundry

There are various presets you can play with for each input that adjust these settings to what Amazon considers the most suitable. There’s Standard, which is one of the brightest, Movie Bright, Movie Dark, Vivid, Sport, Natural and Eco (which is the dimmest).

Sound from the dual 8W speakers is pretty thin but par for the course. If you care about sound quality, connect a decent sound bar to the HDMIU eARC input. The Fire TV can control a lot of sound bars this way without any extra setup, meaning you can adjust volume using the Fire TV remote.

Price & availability

The Fire TV 4-Series range starts at £429.99 / $369.99 for the 43in, £499.99 / $449.99 for the 50in and £549.99 / $519.99 for the range-topping 55in.

You can buy them all from Amazon, of course. See the 4-Series in the UK, and if you’re in the US, you’ll find them here on Amazon.com.

Like the Omni QLED, the 4-Series has a paltry one-year warranty as standard. In the US, though, you can pay extra for a total of four years’ cover, from $40 for the smallest size to $70 for the largest.

This option isn’t yet available in the UK where, as you’ll have noticed, the TVs cost quite a bit more than in the US.

At the time of review, Amazon was offering some hefty discounts in the US with around a third off all sizes and up to 14% off in the UK.

Since it launched the 4-Series Amazon has run fairly regular discounts, so if you don’t need a TV immediately, it can be well worth waiting for one of these sales.

There are, naturally, many alternatives if you’re not set on an Amazon-branded Fire TV with other manufacturers such as JVC, Hisense, Toshiba and Pioneer all making their own TVs that have Fire TV and Alexa built in.

The Hisense U6, for example, is a QLED model available in 50- and 58in versions. When we checked, the smaller of these was on sale on Amazon for just $339.99, making it a much better option for those who want better image quality than the 4-Series can provide.

That isn’t available in the UK, but TCL’s 50CF630K is, another budget QLED TV that was only £359 from Amazon at the time of review.

For more options, including TVs without the Fire TV interface, take a look at our roundup of the best budget TVs. Or, if money is no object, we’ve also selected the best TVs.

Verdict

At full price, the Fire TV 4-Series is difficult to recommend. Yes it has the Fire TV interface and Alexa, but you can have better picture quality if you shop around at the same price.

At the discounted prices, which can seemingly be had regularly, they are better value, especially in the US for those who aren’t after the ultimate in quality.

For telly addicts in the UK, the higher prices are tougher to stomach, and the discounts aren’t as generous. If the convenience of having a Fire TV Stick effectively built in appeals and you don’t mind that Alexa isn’t hands-free, you might be perfectly happy.

But if you care about image quality, want proper HDR and are happy to pay more, then you should probably look at the Omni QLED range – or elsewhere.