Amazon enters TV and games jungle

The launch of the Omni QLED shows the media corp is getting serious about the TV biz, says Steve May, and it has its eye on joystick junkies too

- Steve May

AMAZON HAS LAUNCHED its own range of Fire TV-powered flatscreens in the UK, led by a QLED flagship 4K model dubbed the Omni. The move is a serious escalation by the online giant, as it looks to establish itself as a genuine force in connected TV.

We've seen sets running the Fire TV OS before (from the likes of JVC and Toshiba), but this is the first time Amazon is using its platform to compete with the likes of Sony and Samsung - and it's not content with being a budget-priced pick-up either.

The new own-brand Fire TVs don't skimp on features. At their European unveiling, I had a chance to take a close look at the range, and was impressed by both their functionality (not always a strong point when it comes to Amazon Fire TV media players in the past), and general picture quality.

The range-topping Omni is available in 43in, 50in, 55in and 65in sizes, priced £550, £650, £750, and £999 respectively. Its QLED panel features variable full-array local dimming, with up to 80 zones on the largest set, and built-in support for both the HDR10+ and Dolby Vision HDR formats. There's also an Adaptive Brightness feature to dynamically adjust brightness levels depending on ambient lighting conditions. My impression was that these are screens designed for bright-room viewing.

Ready for an Ambient Experience?

The Fire TV platform has been a huge success for Amazon, with over 200 million Fire TV devices sold worldwide, plus licensing of over 260 TV models with Fire TV built in.

Yet with these new, own-brand TVs, there's the promise of even greater personalisation and innovative new features, including Al generative art - just ask Alexa to create an Al image as a TV backdrop, and a few moments later a custom piece appears on your screen. And, yes, you can do this hands-free rather than using an Alexa Voice remote, as the Omni has built-in far-field microphones.