Amazon just unveiled a new addition to its Fire TV lineup, Amazon Ember Artline.
Unlike other Fire TVs designed by Amazon, this new plug-and-play telly can display artwork and photographs when not in use. The matte screen is designed to reduce unwanted glare, replicating the appearance of an actual painting whenever you’re not watching television.
If that sounds familiar, Samsung popularised the idea with its bestselling The Frame lineup.
Rather than looking at an unsightly black rectangle in the corner of the living room when it’s not in use, these matte screen models double-up as famous paintings or photographs. It’s become such a runaway success for Samsung that rival LG announced plans to launch its own artwork-equipped flatscreen in the coming months.
At 1.5 inches, the teams at Amazon have worked hard to ensure nothing about the hardware betrays the illusion that this is a piece of artwork hanging on your wall
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And now, Amazon is bringing the fight to both brands with its newest Fire TV.
Amazon Ember Artline is tightly integrated with Amazon Photos, so you’ll be able to load any images stored in this cloud backup solution with a few taps. By default, Amazon Prime members enjoy unlimited photo backup to Amazon Photos as one of the perks of the £95-a-year loyalty scheme.
If you’d rather display a famous piece of artwork instead of a family snap, Ember Artline owners will find more than 2,000 pieces of free art that can be displayed on-screen. You can search by style, nature, or photography.
Amazon has created a range of frames that snap to the Amazon Ember Artline to complete the look that you’ve just got a piece of artwork hanging on your wall… not a 4K Smart TV
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Samsung also offers a selection of free artwork for owners of The Frame, with paintings from some of the best-known artists reserved for a separate subscription, dubbed Art Store Subscription. You can also pay for individual artwork in the Art Store if you’re looking for something specific.
To complete the transformation from telly to painting, Amazon will launch 10 easily-adjustable frames that snap to the Ember Artline using magnets to blend in with the décor of your home. Colours include Walnut, Ash, Teak, Black Oak, Matte White, Midnight Blue, Fig, Pale Gold, Graphite, and Silver.
There’s no word on pricing for these snap-on frames as yet, but you’ll be able to choose between one of these options at checkout when you buy the Smart TV.
What about when you switch on the telly?
The all-new Amazon Ember Artline boasts a 4K QLED panel with support for Dolby Vision and HDR10+ picture standards — perfect for your next boxset binge or movie night. Streaming is handled via Wi-Fi 6, which should provide a more stable connection, especially in homes with lots of devices connected to the same network.
At just 1.5 inches in depth, the Amazon Ember Artline really puts the “flat” into flatscreen. That should ensure the illusion that this is a piece of artwork hanging on the wall isn’t broken by a bulky design.
Like its bestselling Echo speakers, Amazon has equipped its newest television with far-field microphones, so you can switch on the TV from the other side of the room, pause your show, change channels, launch a new streaming app, search for a sports fixture, and much more, all with a voice command that uses the wake word “Alexa…”.
For those who constantly misplace their remote control down the back of the sofa, this feature could be a real lifesaver.
Omnisense technology lets the Smart TV detect when someone is in the room, so it can switch off power-hungry features — like its always-on display — when there’s nobody there to see it
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Amazon’s Omnisense technology, which made its debut in the £849 Fire TV Omni Mini-LED series that tops out at an eye-watering £1,599 — making it the most expensive Fire TV that you can buy from Amazon today, is also present in the new Amazon Ember Artline.
This relies on a variety of sensors to detect when someone is in the room.
Using this feature, Amazon will automatically enable its Ambient Experience on and off when people enter or leave the room to conserve power. As you wander into the room, your chosen artwork will be displayed on-screen.
Starting today, Amazon shoppers can sign up for updates about when the Amazon Ember Artline will be available to purchase.
Expect the new flatscreen to be available “later this spring,” Amazon says. It’ll be available in 55” and 65” screen sizes. You’ll need to spend £949.99 for the smaller of the two sizes, rising to £1,199.99 for the biggest.
At checkout, Amazon will let you pick one of the 10 adjustable frames for the Smart TV.
It’s not just artwork, with a few taps you can load any of the photographs that you have stored in the cloud via Amazon Photos
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Amazon Ember Artline is powered by the same Fire TV operating system found on Amazon’s bestselling range of Fire TV Sticks.
Aside from Amazon-owned services, like Prime Video, Luna, and Amazon Photos, it offers access to dozens of the most popular streamers in the UK, including Netflix, Disney+, BBC iPlayer, ITVX, Apple TV+, Channel 4, and, of course, GB News. You can also download games, social media services, and productivity apps. You can search through everything or control features using the chatty AI assistant Alexa, which is built-in by default.
Amazon has sold over 300 million Fire TV devices, including streaming media players, televisions built by its partner brands like Toshiba and JVC, and its own custom-designed TVs like Fire TV 2-Series, 4-Series, and Omni QLED.
That’s quite a step-up from the last milestone revealed by the company: 250 million units sold at the launch of the Fire TV Omni Mini-LED series back in November 2024.