In a slew of back to back announcements, Amazon has now announced a brand new Fire TV family, which includes the first-ever Amazon-built smart TVs — the Amazon Fire TV Omni Series and 4-series smart TVs, as well as the new Fire TV Stick 4K Max. The company has also announced that Luna, its cloud gaming service, will be coming to Amazon’s Fire tablets and Chromebooks.
The new Fire TV Omni lineup will bring smart TV features like Alexa based voice control, 4K Ultra HD and Dolby Digital Plus starting at $409.99. The TVs will be available in 43”, 50”, 55”, 65”, and 75” model sizes, with the 65″ and 75″ models getting a slimmer bezel as well as added support for Dolby Vision.
The Fire TV 4 series aims to bring smart TV features to an audience on a budget with 4K resolution, HDR 10 and HLG starting at $369.99. The lineup will include 43”, 50”, and 55” and a fully integrated Fire TV experience with new features, smart home capabilities, and many of the same Alexa features as the Fire TV Omni series.
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The Fire TV Omni Series
As mentioned above, the series comes in 43”, 50”, 55”, 65”, and 75” model sizes starting at $409.99. 4K support, HDR10, and HLG are standard in all models with the 65″ and 75″ models getting a thinner bezel and support for Dolby Vision.
Apart from this, users can get Alexa control over their TV, even if it’s turned off or connected to an HDMI output. You can even link up your Echo devices to the TV for a better audio experience.
A smart home dashboard is also coming to the TVs later this year, which will allow you to view and control smart devices across your home straight from your TV. You can use the Fire TV Alexa Voice Remote to slide out a shortcut panel at the bottom of the screen to help you keep an eye on your smart devices and things like the news, weather, communications and more.
And lastly, the lineup is also getting Zoom video call support later this year. However, you do have to plug in an external webcam for this feature to work as intended.
Following are the prices for each model in the lineup.
- 43″: $409.99
- 50″: $509.99
- 55″: $559.99
- 65″: $829.99
- 75″: $1099.99
You can also save $110 on the 50″ Omni TV for a limited time during the introductory period. All models will be available next month in the United States exclusively on Amazon and Best Buy.
The Fire TV 4 series
The 43″, 50″ and 55″ models in the Fire TV 4 series share the same features from the Omni series, with some of the fancy things taken out to cut costs. However, you still get 4k, HDR10 and HLG support in all three models. They also share a ton of Alexa voice control features with the Omni lineup, which can be accessed using the Fire TV Alexa Voice Remote.
Following are the prices for each model in the lineup.
- 43″: $369.99
- 50″: $469.99
- 55″: $519.99
Once again, the TVs will be available starting next month in the United States exclusively at Amazon and Best Buy. Users can also save $110 on the 4-series models for a limited time during the introductory period.
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The Fire TV Stick 4K Max
In what Amazon is calling its best Fire TV Stick ever, the latest offering has support for 4k streaming, Dolby Atmos and Vision, as well as WiFi 6. The device is powered by a 40% more powerful quad-core 1.8GHz processor and 2GB RAM to allow for better app performance and an overall fluid user experience.
Apart from WiFi 6 powered by the Mediatek MT7921LS chipset, you also get HDR and HDR10+ streaming, Picture-in-Picture mode as well as support from Alexa Home Theatre, where you can pair up the stick with your existing Echo devices. Lastly, there’s support for Amazon Luna as well.
The Fire TV Stick 4K Max will be available in the US starting at $54.99. However, no release date has been announced yet.
Luna expands its userbase
Amazon has also announced that Luna, its cloud-based gaming service, will be coming to Amazon Fire tablets and Chromebooks. The company is also looking to open up new ways to try the platform without paying the $6 or $15 monthly fees.
Getting Luna on an Amazon device is incredibly easy. However, if you don’t have one, you can try the new Luna Couch mode that lets you accept an invite code from a friend to play local multiplayer games such as Overcooked 2 and Team Sonic Racing, even if you aren’t a subscriber.
What’s more is that until 15 September, anyone with a Prime subscription in the US can play Resident Evil 7, Metro Exodus, Katamari Damacy Reroll, and Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom for free without the need for a Luna account at all. The price of Luna’s Ubisoft channel is going up on 30 September to $17.99 a month. If you’re a lapsed subscriber, you’ve got until the 29th to lock in the existing $14.99 price.
There’s also a new $2.99 Family channel with 35 games, including SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom – Rehydrated, Garfield Kart – Furious Racing, Space Otter Charlie, DreamWorks Dragons: Dawn of New Riders, Transformers: Battlegrounds with Skatebird coming later this month. Lastly, you have the $6 a month Luna+ collection of games.
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