Amazon bets big on Alexa smart TVs with huge Fire TV Edition rollout

(Image credit: Amazon)

Not content with being embedded into smartphones, tablets, web browsers and your home's smart speakers, Amazon is continuing its push into televisions with the announcement of a number of new Fire TV Edition sets destined for the UK, Germany and Austria.

The retailer giant has launched more than 15 new Fire TV Edition products (one of which is a new soundbar) which see Amazon's Fire TV streaming technology and Alexa smart assistant come built-in.

Amazon has teamed up with television manufacturers JVC, Grundig and Toshiba to bring its fleet of new Fire TV Edition sets to market.

4K JVC Fire TV Edition in the UK

For those in the UK, you will be able to get your Fire TV experience fill thanks to a partnership between Amazon, JVC and Dixons Carphone.

The JVC Fire TV Edition Smart 4K Ultra HD HDR LED TVs are the first in the UK to come with Amazon's experience, and will be available at Currys PC World and Amazon.co.uk.

There's support for HDR10 and Dolby Vision, for an enhanced viewing experience, and you'll be able to pick from three sizes; 40-inch, 49-inch and 55-inch.

You'll also get access to a host of apps including Prime Video, Netflix, YouTube, ITV Hub, All 4, My5 and more.

Prices will start from £349, but we're still waiting to hear when the JVC Fire TV Edition will go on sale.

OLED Fire TV Edition

Potentially the most interesting of the bunch are four OLED Fire TV edition televisions from Grundig, but they'll only be available in Germany and Austria for now. Whether they'll roll out to other countries remains to be seen.

Two of these four feature far-field voice control - a world's first - allowing you to harness the power of Alexa to power on/off, change channel and adjust volume without the need to lift a finger.

The Grundig OLED Fire TV Edition Hands-Free with Alexa (what a mouthful) will be available in 55-inch and 65-inch models, starting at €1,299.99 (around £1,200) and will begin shipping on November 21.

In total there are 11 new Grundig Fire TV edition sets, which means the firm's entire range now ships with Amazon's smarts inside.

The full Grundig Fire TV Edition range is as follows:

  • 55-inch Grundig OLED Fire TV Edition Hands-Free with Alexa
  • 65-inch Grundig OLED Fire TV Edition Hands-Free with Alexa
  • 55-inch Grundig OLED Fire TV Edition
  • 65-inch Grundig OLED Fire TV Edition
  • 43-inch Grundig Vision 7 Fire TV Edition
  • 49-inch Grundig Vision 7 Fire TV Edition
  • 55-inch Grundig Vision 7 Fire TV Edition
  • 65-inch Grundig Vision 7 Fire TV Edition
  • 32-inch Grundig Vision 6 Fire TV Edition
  • 40-inch Grundig Vision 6 Fire TV Edition
  • 43-inch Grundig Vision 6 Fire TV Edition

A number of other manufacturers have also been given clearance to produce Fire TV Edition sets, including Skyworth, Arcelik, TPV, Compal, and Imtron - which means we'll likely see even more televisions with Amazon's smarts arrive in Europe over the coming months.

IFA 2019 is Europe's biggest tech show, and the TechRadar team is in Berlin to bring you all the breaking news and hands-on first impressions of new TVs, laptops, wearables and other products as they're announced.

John McCann
Global Managing Editor

John joined TechRadar over a decade ago as Staff Writer for Phones, and over the years has built up a vast knowledge of the tech industry. He's interviewed CEOs from some of the world's biggest tech firms, visited their HQs and has appeared on live TV and radio, including Sky News, BBC News, BBC World News, Al Jazeera, LBC and BBC Radio 4. Originally specializing in phones, tablets and wearables, John is now TechRadar's resident automotive expert, reviewing the latest and greatest EVs and PHEVs on the market. John also looks after the day-to-day running of the site.