I've seen ads for pore strips, cars, sports equipment, home-theater gear and even other TVs showing up in the banner ads that are interspersed through the home screen. And it's not just Amazon content and services. While some content recommendations and advertising are fairly common on smart TVs, Amazon's approach is far more aggressive than the competition. MORE: 11 Best Amazon Prime Video TV Shows You're Not Watchingįinally, Amazon is a retail business above all else, and Fire TV will never let you forget that. It doesn't solve every problem we had with the Amazon Fire TV OS, but it does fix one of the biggest issues. This means Fire TVs will get official YouTube apps, including YouTube Kids, YouTube Music and (most-critical for cordcutters) YouTube TV. As a consumer, I don't care about any of the behind-the-scenes jockeying by Amazon and Google I just want Amazon to get it together and give me the services I want.Įditors' Note: (Updated April 18, 2019) The Fire TV just got a little better, with Amazon and Google publicly agreeing to work with each other again. Amazon tries to have its cake and eat it to, serving up a YouTube browser bookmark on its homepage, but it's an awkward end-around to solve a simple problem. That means no Google Play Store for TV shows and movies, and no YouTube (whether that's standard YouTube, YouTube Kids, YouTube Music, YouTube Red or YouTube TV). Search is almost useless unless you can look up an app by name, and scrolling through the hundreds of apps in each category will often leave you backtracking to see app icons that failed to load before you scrolled by.Īmazon also has an ongoing feud with Google that leaves key Google apps out of Amazon's streaming ecosystem. In our most recent look at the app selection, we found apps spread across 27 categories, including some hard-to-parse groups like Business, Reference and Transportation. Categories are poorly defined and curation seems almost nonexistent. The Amazon app store has a huge selection, but in the present form its vastness also makes it difficult to navigate. If I were Amazon, I would be begging TCL to make the next Fire Edition TV. Given how many other TV manufacturers have added Alexa compatibility to their TVs (Vizio, LG, and others), if you're already adding an Echo Dot or a similar device, you might as well do it with a better budget TV. If you want the hands-free experience you'd get on an Amazon Echo or a similar device, well, you'll need to add an Amazon Echo. That built-in Alexa voice assistant is great, but without far-field microphones, you'll be stuck controlling the TV through the remote, pressing and holding a button each time. Still, Amazon has some pretty huge wrinkles that need ironing out with its smart TVs. And if you're already using an Amazon Echo or a similar device at home, compatibility is guaranteed, with easy setup.īut there's also big problems (including ads) If you've been wanting to get a voice assistant or a smart speaker for your home, this can be a low-risk way to jump in. It comes baked into the Fire TV Edition TVs, letting you use the remote control's built-in microphone for all of the capabilities Alexa offers, from simple content search to hundreds of specific skills that work with all sorts of smart-home devices and services. The biggest benefit of Amazon's smart ecosystem is the inclusion of Alexa, the company's industry-leading voice assistant. The selection in the Amazon app store is extensive, benefiting from Amazon's history with Android-derived tablets and other TV streaming devices. Navigation is simple and intuitive, thanks to the ring-shaped directional controls on the remote, and voice control is top-notch. Amazon's interface is fairly well-polished, with rows of apps, recommended shows and movies, and several popular apps like Netflix, HBO Go and PlayStation Vue in addition to the expected Amazon Prime Video.
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