Westinghouse 55-Inch Amazon Fire TV Edition - Review 2022

We've seen Roku TVs before, but Amazon Burn TVs are new. Rather, televisions with the Amazon Fire TV platform integrated are new. Amazon's Fire TV media streamer has been around for a few years, and now Chemical element Electronics has incorporated that technology directly into its latest Goggle box. At $649.99 for the 55-inch model we tested, it'south certainly a wallet-friendly way to become a connected 4K television. But it lacks HDR, and its functioning simply doesn't compare with our Editors' Choice, the Roku TV-based TCL P-series, whose 55-inch model is the same price.

Editors' Note: This review is based on testing performed on the Chemical element 55-Inch Amazon Fire TV Edition, a $649.99, 55-inch Chemical element-branded model. Westinghouse Amazon Burn down TV Editions are identical to Element Fire Television Editions in all characteristics aside from branding. Every bit such, weste wait the $649.99 Westinghouse 55-Inch Amazon Burn TV Edition to accept similar functioning.

Design

The Element favors dark gray over the typical blackness design of most TVs, with a apartment, gunmetal-colored plastic bezel that measures simply a quarter of an inch on the sides and tiptop, and half an inch on the bottom of the screen. A notable bump in the heart of the bottom bezel holds the Chemical element logo. The TV sits securely on a pair of sparse, 5-shaped metallic legs.

A small four-direction joystick sits on the lower right corner of the back of the Idiot box, letting you navigate the Amazon Fire Television receiver menu system (though the included remote is of form much easier to use). A few inches farther in from the edge of the TV, four HDMI ports, a USB two.0 port, a USB 3.0 port, and an SD card slot face correct. An Ethernet port, antenna/cablevision connector, component and composite video inputs, optical sound output, and iii.5mm headphone jack confront down, from the same department of console as the other ports.

Vocalism Remote and Alexa

The included remote holds an Element logo, but will otherwise be familiar to Amazon Burn Television set device users. It's a slim, 6.3-inch wand with a prominent, round navigation pad flanked by carte and playback controls. The power push button and microphone push button sit above the pad, along with a hole for the built-in microphone. Pressing the microphone push lets you use voice search or the Tv set's Alexa features. A volume rocker and three dedicated service buttons for Amazon Prime number Video, Netflix, and Amazon Music sit beneath the direction pad. The remote connects wirelessly to the Idiot box, letting y'all control everything without pointing at the screen.

As an Amazon Fire Goggle box device, the Element also features Amazon's Alexa voice assistant, which you tin can use by pressing the microphone button on the Vocalization Remote and speaking into it. Y'all can ask Alexa to tell you about upcoming appointments, the atmospheric condition, and even order items from Amazon. Alexa's voice search feature also lets you lot bring up content from Amazon Video and Prime number Music using your vocalization. If you have smart home devices that are compatible with Alexa, yous can also control them using the remote. TV controls are bachelor through Alexa also, letting yous change inputs or conform the book using your voice.

Element 55-Inch Amazon Fire TV Edition

Amazon Burn down TV

Nosotros've seen the Fire Tv interface in a variety of Amazon-fabricated media streamers similar the Fire Tv and the Burn down Television Stick, just this is the first time we've seen it built right into a television. It's a similar execution to the Roku Telly platform, taking a familiar menu organisation and installing it directly, with a handful of additional menus and connexion options for accessing TV-specific features non used in media streamers.

If you lot've used an Amazon Burn TV device before, the Chemical element'southward interface will be piece of cake to pick upwardly. Apps, services, and connections are displayed as big tiles arranged in a serial of rows including Recent, Your Apps & Games, Inputs, and On Now.

Recent and Your Apps & Games are standard lists for Burn down TV streamers, providing easy admission to your favorite apps and content. All the big streaming names you lot can utilise on a Fire Tv device are bachelor here, including Hulu, Netflix, Sling TV, YouTube, and of grade all Amazon content. The Fire Tv platform is almost as robust every bit Roku's, with hundreds of apps and services. Because the system is based on Android, yous tin can sideload your own APKs if y'all can't find what y'all want in the Fire TV App Shop. Don't count on sideloaded apps to work reliably, though; almost Android APKs are designed for impact-screen use, and won't part properly on a TV.

Element 55-Inch Amazon Fire TV Edition

On At present and Inputs are Tv-specific. On At present shows you what alive Television receiver is currently bachelor over the air or through your ClearQAM Cable connection. We plugged in an OTA antenna and picked up a few dozen channels, some in high-definition. Nosotros tested in Manhattan, and the channels available in your area might greatly differ. The Inputs row simply lets y'all admission the HDMI, component, or composite video inputs, along with any OTA/cable programming available.

Pressing the Dwelling push on the remote takes you to the Element's Fire TV main menu, letting you admission connected features and media. Property the Home button for a moment pops up a more than TV-specific side menu. This lets you access a conventional program guide for alive television set and change display settings; the Settings tab in the main bill of fare is only for Burn Television set settings similar network information and firmware updates. It lets you admission display settings apace, simply like Roku TVs, the actual picture show settings you can piece of work with on the Element feel a bit sparse. You tin make basic adjustments like brightness, contrast, and cull from 1 of 3 color temperature presets, but beyond that at that place are no deep scale options.

Performance

We test TVs using a DVDO AVLab 4K exam pattern generator, a Klein K-10A colorimeter, and Portrait Displays' CalMAN 5 software on a Razer Blade Pro notebook. Later a bones dark room scale adjusting effulgence and contrast using PLUGE charts, the Element showed a expert 344.03cd/chiliad² tiptop effulgence and a middling 0.07cd/m^two black level for a 4,915:ane contrast ratio. This is solid performance for a budget television, merely the TCL 55P607 blows information technology out of the water with a 507.85cd/m² peak effulgence and 0.02cd/mⁱⁱ black level for a dissimilarity ratio over 5 times greater. And unlike the TCL, the Element doesn't support HDR.

Element 55-Inch Amazon Fire TV Edition

The chart above shows Rec. 709 colour values every bit boxes and measured color levels equally dots using the warmest color temperature preset. The TV tin reach a bit further past standard color levels with greens, simply its whites skew slightly light-green and reds are a bit undersaturated and yellowed. The TCL 55P607 reaches well past the standard color gamut while keeping colors much more than accurate than the Element. The LeEco Super4 X55 also shows a far wider range of color while remaining accurate, with contrast levels similar to the Chemical element's.

Planet World II on Ultra HD Blu-ray looks very good on the Element despite its lack of HDR. Apart from panning sky shots that catch the sun, the scenes don't look particularly bright, merely shadow details remain intact in the shade and you can catch fine textures of nighttime fur and feathers. The Goggle box'south slightly greater achieve into greens makes the lush jungle pop out, and the browns and grays of the footing and blues of the sky wait balanced and vivid.

The slightly undersaturated reds of the Element are apparent on Deadpool on Ultra Hard disk Blu-ray. Deadpool's red costume looks natural but not especially vivid, and the ruby plaid of Wade'south sherpa jacket at the kickoff of the movie appears slightly drab. Skin tones also expect just slightly yellowish-red under warm lights in indoor scenes, though they generally appear natural in virtually other lighting weather condition.

The Cracking Gatsby on Ultra HD Blu-ray further highlights the Element's minor color accuracy issues and shows off the TV's mediocre blackness level. Pare tones occasionally skew slightly pink or yellow depending on the scene, appearing natural simply most one-half the time. In high-contrast scenes with lots of shadow, the general contours of the black suits can exist seen, simply the texture of the material and the individual cuts and creases are sometimes lost in muddied blackness. The tinting isn't overwhelming, and the shadows aren't overly muddy, merely it isn't quite as nice a picture as it could be.

Input Lag and Power Consumption

Input lag is the amount of time between a TV receiving a signal and the display updating. In the Custom picture manner, the Element shows a loftier 70.7ms input lag. The PC/Game motion-picture show way doesn't do much to aid, displaying a 70ms input lag. The LeEco's Game picture manner shows one-half as much input lag at 36.7ms, while the TCL'southward halves that again to xv.1ms.

Nether normal viewing conditions, the 55-inch Element consumes 125 watts, and has no power-saving picture modes or settings to speak of. This is in line with both the TCL and LeEco's calibrated moving-picture show settings. Y'all can manually plow the backlight down to 70 per centum to reduce the power consumption to 83 watts, darkening the screen slightly only keeping it very watchable.

Conclusions

Element's Amazon Fire Television receiver Edition offers 4K resolution and all of the benefits of an Amazon Fire Television media streamer, including a microphone-equipped remote that lets you lot use Amazon'due south Alexa voice banana, all at a very reasonable cost. However, the Roku TV-based TCL P-series merely has a far amend picture for the same price, and that'due south one of the near of import things to consider when shopping for a Idiot box. The Element is by no ways a bad option, simply the TCL is a better buy, and remains our Editors' Option.