Amazon Fire TV - what's the deal?

[SanDiego619]

I saw on amazon they are selling Amazon TVs:

4K Ultra HD, Dolby Vision, HDR 10, HLG, and Dolby Digital Plus

They also have eARC and all the bells and whistles, just like my new Samsung TV. The 65" is $499, the 75" is $749

Those prices are below market. Who makes the panels? Are they good? Are they as good as my Samsung? They seem cheap, is this the typical case of "you get what pay for"?

[WoodTurner]

I'm not familiar with these TVs but I know other Amazon devices do a cheaper price by having built in ads. They have Amazon fire tablets like this.

[MrFancyPants]

I don't know which mfg panels Amazon is using, I'm not able to find that info yet, but they get decent reviews. Of course those reviews are pretty subjective, most people looking at any HD panel will say it looks pretty good.

Personally I shop for specs and performance when buying a TV based on its intended usage. When I was shopping for a new TV for my office to play my PS5 on, I wanted the best performer for the money, and I ended up with a TCL 5 Series QLED 55 inch, which is one of the best gaming TVs out there, with HDR10+, FALD, VRR, eARC and Dolby Vision, and an incredibly low latency. For $399 you won't do better.

I think the Amazon TVs aren't as feature packed, so they're probably good enough for watching shows, and generally good enough for a majority of consumers, but for performance oriented usage and gaming they probably fall short.

[ibanezfoo]

Probably rebranded Hisense or TCL...

[hermosabeach]

You can get a 75" at costco for the same $!!

[OlderThanDirt]

Amazon loads their devices with apps where you get a free trial that turns into a subscription service. I have a tablet that I use just for display purposes and limited home automation and it came loaded with useless apps that I had to remove.

Amazon probably also integrates Alexa and a camera so Big Brother can track everything you say or do.

[MrFancyPants]

Originally Posted by ibanezfoo

Probably rebranded Hisense or TCL...

Doubtful, the specs and features don't match up. Even the TCL mid grade panels outperform the Amazon TVs.

[SanDiego619]

I wouldn't buy one, I was just wondering what the deal was. I know Amazon isn't manufacturing LCDs... or at least that would greatly surprise me. I assume someone else is making the electronics for them.

[MrFancyPants]

Here's a good resource in general:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List..._manufacturers

Originally Posted by ibanezfoo

Probably rebranded Hisense or TCL...

Turns out maybe I was wrong. The suspicion is they are using TCL panels, but what's odd is according to this article, the Amazon TV panels are noticeably subpar compared to TCL models.

https://www.theverge.com/22785648/am...i-review-alexa

They don't even include many of the same core features and only operate at 60 Hz, so it would seem TCL is running dedicated (poor quality) production panels for the Amazon TVs different from their own TVs, possibly to keep the Amazon TV cost very low, and not eat into their own market.

[ibanezfoo]

Originally Posted by MrFancyPants

Here's a good resource in general:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List..._manufacturers



Turns out maybe I was wrong. The suspicion is they are using TCL panels, but what's odd is according to this article, the Amazon TV panels are noticeably subpar compared to TCL models.

https://www.theverge.com/22785648/am...i-review-alexa

They don't even include many of the same core features and only operate at 60 Hz, so it would seem TCL is running dedicated (poor quality) production panels for the Amazon TVs different from their own TVs, possibly to keep the Amazon TV cost very low, and not eat into their own market.

From what I'm told about the Amazon branded products is they find the crappiest stuff that sells well, buys the rights to it, slaps their brand on it and resells it. No idea if that is really true but thats what I was told by a couple people that work there. Never cared enough to look into it more than that.

[sigstroker]

Originally Posted by MrFancyPants

Here's a good resource in general:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List..._manufacturers



Turns out maybe I was wrong. The suspicion is they are using TCL panels, but what's odd is according to this article, the Amazon TV panels are noticeably subpar compared to TCL models.

https://www.theverge.com/22785648/am...i-review-alexa

They don't even include many of the same core features and only operate at 60 Hz, so it would seem TCL is running dedicated (poor quality) production panels for the Amazon TVs different from their own TVs, possibly to keep the Amazon TV cost very low, and not eat into their own market.

Factory seconds, maybe?