Amazon brings its own art gallery-ready TV to CES

The so-called “lifestyle” TV is a fast-growing category in the smart TV market, particularly those that can mimic works of art when they’re otherwise not in use. Samsung kicked off the lifestyle TV with The Frame, followed by LG and its new Gallery TV and Wallpaper TV, and now Amazon is entering the fray with its latest Fire TV-enabled set. Taking the spotlight at CES just as LG’s Gallery TV and Wallpaper TV make their debut in Las Vegas, the Amazon Ember Artline is a 1.5-inch thick 4K QLED TV with such typical bells and whistles as Dolby Vision and HDR10+ support, along with Wi-Fi 6 connectivity. But like Samsung’s and LG’s fine art-oriented TVs, the Ember Artline is designed to look good even when you’re not actively watching it. Slated to go on sale this spring starting at $899 in 55- and 65-inch sizes, the Ember Artline comes with a matte screen designed to cut down on glare, ideal for making artwork (a collection or roughly 2,000 works of art will be available for free via Amazon Photos) and digital snapshots displayed on the TV look more lifelike. You’ll also get your pick from one of 10 snap-on magnetic frames, available in colors ranging from walnut and ash to teak and black oak. Amazon Just how lifelike they’ll look is a key question; I haven’t seen either the Ember Artline or LG’s Gallery TV in person yet, but I have seen Samsung’s The Frame models, and they look startlingly real when they’re displaying paintings. During one demo, I had to reach out and touch the screen to be sure. Aside from displaying art and photos, the Ember Artline can also help pick which images to show. Just feed up to four photos of the room where the TV is hanging and the AI-powered set will suggest the on-screen art that would best match the decor. Other features on the Ember Artline include far-field microphones for chatting with Alexa+ from across the room, while the presence-sensing Omniscense tech can fire up the artwork or your photos when people enter the vicinity. Naturally, the Amazon Ember Artline boasts Amazon’s Fire TV interface, which is getting yet another makeover. This time, the Fire TV UI is getting a “more modern” design with rounded corners, a new typeface, and “optimized” spacing and layouts. Amazon is also promising a peppier interface experience—up to 20- to 30 percent faster, the company says—thanks to a rebuilt code base. Amazon Alongside the new look and speed gains comes the ability to pin more app to the homescreen—you can now pin up to 20, up from just six—while pressing the menu button will surface controls for games, art and photos, and the Fire TV Ambient Experience . Long-pressing the home button brings up a panel of shortcuts for oft-used audio and display settings, your Ring camera feeds, and smart home controls. Finally, the revamped Fire TV mobile app will let you browse shows and movies, customize your watch list, and play selected titles on your Fire TV device. The new Fire TV interface is set to launch in the U.S. next month on the Fire TV Stick 4K Plus, the second-generation Fire TV Stick 4K Max, and the Fire TV Omni Mini-LED TV series. The redesigned UI will roll out to more countries and devices in the spring, including on the Ember Artline at launch, Amazon says.