Element Integrates Amazon Fire TV Into New Sets

Element Electronics has unveiled the first TVs to feature built-in Amazon Fire TV functionality.

Amazon's Fire TV media streamer has evolved into a pretty robust platform for watching your favorite online services through your TV, but it has thus far only been available on the Fire TV and Fire TV Stick. That changes next month with the launch of TVs with built-in Fire TV features.

Element Electronics's Amazon Fire TV Edition smart TVs have the features of an Amazon Fire TV media streamer built right in. The concept is similar to Roku TVs manufactured by companies like Hisense, Insignia, and TCL, which offer the same features of a Roku media streamer.

Element Fire TV Edition

Most TV manufacturers offer connected televisions that provide access to streaming services and apps. While historically manufacturers have developed their own platforms, like LG's webOS and Samsung's Smart Hub, Roku TV and Android TV have been picking up momentum as fully developed platforms readily adaptable to different manufacturers' specifications. The new Element line indicates that Amazon may be entering that field as well. As a connected TV platform, however, only Element has signed on to adopt Amazon Fire TV; whether other manufacturers do the same remains to be seen.

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The new Element models are 4K TVs equipped with 3GB of memory and 16GB of internal storage, which can be expanded with an SD card or USB drive. That's a notable upgrade from the Amazon Fire TV, which has 2GB of memory and 8GB of storage, and is significantly better than the 1080p-only Fire TV Stick and its 1GB of memory. The TVs use an unspecified quad-core CPU/GPU chipset, and can stream content at up to 4K just like the Fire TV.

Amazon has vastly expanded its Alexa voice assistant since its launch on Amazon Echo. It was added to the Amazon Fire TV and Fire TV Stick, and it will be accessible on the Element Amazon Fire TVs. Each TV comes with a Voice Remote with Amazon Alexa, a remote control similar to the Fire TV devices' voice remotes with additional buttons for controlling the functions of the TV itself. Alexa on the Amazon Fire TVs will support the full range of Alexa features including smart home control, and will enable voice control over the TV as well.

The new Element Fire TVs ship in June, and will be available in 43-, 50-, 55-, and 65-inch models. Prices will range from $449 for the 43-inch version and $899 for the 65-inch TV.

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