This is the Fire TV Soundbar from Amazon. I believe it’s been available over in the States for some time, receiving mixed reviews but it’s just landed this side of the ocean so I thought I’d check it out. Amazon can do tech right, their Echo devices, tablets, TV’s of recent, But yeah, they can do tech, their Echo devices do sound good, and they can deliver good performance so in theory, they can move that into a soundbar form factor.
Unboxing the soundbar, it looks like any other soundbar, it’s not flash, it hasnt got a display, it’s black, it’s minimalist and will just blend in nicely with your tele. It’s compact, it’s only 60cm long which I do like and it weighs about 1.5kg, which is good, it feels heavy, and robust and overall it feels well built. It’s got buttons to the top, although a remote is provided so chances are you won’t really use them. It has a cut out at the rear for the inputs, power HDMI, optical and USB. There are screw holes to the rear, so you can wall mount this if you wanted to. In the box, you get the soundbar, power lead, HDMI cable, remote with batteries and some instructions.
Moving onto spec, this is a 2.0 soundbar, so there are two channels, two speakers in the soundbar bar only, no bass driver or separate sub woofer. Total output is 40watts. It is compatible with Dolby Digitial and DTS Virtual X, so if you’re TV and the content you’re watching uses either of those audio formats, the soundbar will be able to deliver those for you. There are three levels of bass control, there are also 3 EQs for dialogue, music and movie. Inputs I touch on earlier, HDMI eARC will likely be the most used option but optical is there, plus Bluetooth if you wanted to connect your phone or another device.
This is named Fire TV soundbar which could be misleading. This doesn’t include Fire TV, there isnt a Fire TV stick built in this, unlike their Teles where they actually do. So this is purely a speaker, there is no Fire TV interface or software built in. However, Amazon say this is designed to complement Fire TVs and you’ll be able to control both devices from one remote. Fine, great but when I plugged it into my Panasonic TV, I could still control the volume, which 9 times out 10, is enough.
It terms of navigating options or modes, there are three indicator lights behind the mesh on the front of the soundbar. These light up, depending on what you’re doing. For example, as you increase volume, the lights will go from one, two and then three, with three being the highest volume. This is also the same for bass, you’ve got 3 levels of bass, 3 being the most bass. You get the gist. When cycling through modes i.e. Bluetooth, optical, or EQs there are voice prompts so you don’t need to guess.
The remote is the best way of controlling it and although very basic, the remote just works and it has everything you need. A dedicated Bluetooth button which is great, rather than scrolling through the inputs. Bass, EQ buttons, content control, volume, it’s all there and all in this tiny little remote.
Let’s move on to performance and given its price tag, size and features, I think it’s pretty good. For context, I’m usually using the Sony X8500, which is a bigger soundbar, 2.1 channels more expensive, so some sort of comparison but not really a fair one.
The movie performance is good, we’ll mixed and by that I mean the dialogue is clear and loud enough. It’s not unbalanced with really quiet dialogue and booming explosions, none of that, it’s nicely balanced. That is with movie mode active by the way. With dialogue mode on, there is a slight increase, less bass in my opinion but I rarely used that mode when watching a movie or series. Loud, very loud if you want it too and the quality is sort of retained at the top volumes. For me, low to mid volume, one or two indicator lights is the sweet spot. Perfectly loud enough for a movie experience, not too loud that it wakes the kids up and not too overpowering that the bass lacks. Because that is where the quality drops off at the higher volumes, the bass. If anything, the bass is the weak part in the set up and I would never have it set less than 3 indicator lights, full bass. For music and movies. You’ve got to remember there is no bass driver, no separate subwoofer so given that, the bass is more than acceptable but if you want that rumble, this may not be for you. I watched a few movies, TV shows like The Bear Season 3, which was a bit off, I didn’t enjoy it that much but thats a good example where the dialogue is more important than say watching the new Planet of the Apes film on Disney.
Music, is equally as good and enjoyable at low to mid volumes, but if you want it loud, it can certainly fill your house, so you’re shouting over each other to have a conversation. We did use this alot for music as it has Bluetooth and it’s quite centrally positioned to the house and entertaining spaces. It’s easy to connect, and can run Spotify via my phone, great, perfect for everyday listening.
So there we have it, that was the Fire TV Soundbar from Amazon. Good value for money, good features, simple to use. Keep it low to mid volumes, don’t buy it expecting a big boomy cinema experience and I think you’ll really enjoy this and get alot of use out of it. I will also say this is a huge improvement over my built-in speakers within my tele, huge. I dont think there are any negatives really.
You know what Amazon are like, this currently retails for £119 here in the UK, which is competitive in the market but you know when there is a Prime Day or black friday event, they will drop this to less than £100 and that makes it even more appealing.
