Amazon Hearth TV Dice (2022)

Verdict

A robust media streaming machine from Amazon that takes steps ahead in its processing capabilities and connectivity choices however a number of steps again with its lower than democratic and dense interface. These with out the necessity to combine a streamer inside a house cinema set-up will likely be suited simply tremendous by the Hearth TV Stick 4K Max as an alternative.

Introduction

Amazon’s third-gen Hearth TV Dice is its most premium and superior effort but, and proper from the off you must know that it’s not one for informal customers however dwelling cinema lovers seeking to corral each machine in the lounge into its an Alexa-centric paddock.

There’s not as a lot competitors at this value however what is obtainable is formidable within the type of the five-star Apple TV 4K. With a brand new look, extra highly effective processing, upgraded Wi-Fi and an HDMI enter, can the Hearth TV Dice fend off the competitors from Apple? And wouldn’t it have been too tough for Amazon to name it Hearth TV Cube³?

Design

• Natty new look
• Arms-free Alexa

This all-new model is decked in smarter apparel than its predecessor. The two^nd Gen mannequin’s shiny floor was a magnet for mud and smudges, however the 3^rd Gen’s wraparound material cowl is as if the Hearth TV Dice has placed on a jumper – and it appears to be like significantly better for it.

However video streamers aren’t meant to be ogled at. For many, it’ll reside behind the TV, however for many who discover smudges irritating (and I’m considered one of them), this natty apparel helps the streamer match alongside extra upmarket soundbars and TVs.

The enduring Alexa ribbon strip may be discovered on the entrance of the streamer, neatly built-in above the material cowl. On the highest floor are 4 buttons: quantity up/down, an motion button for Alexa and a mute button that turns off the microphones for privateness.

Controls similar to these are seemingly for use solely if you’re away from the consolation of the couch, in any case, the primary objective of Hearth TV gadgets is to permit for hands-free Alexa.

One other technique of management is the distant and the Hearth TV Dice helps two variations: the usual Alexa distant and the costlier Alexa Professional model.

Interface

• Too weighted in favour of Amazon/Freevee content material
• A lot of apps to select from
• Options don’t really feel too personalised

It’s apparent what you’re getting from a tool with Amazon within the title. The main focus is on Amazon content material and there are a number of adverts peppered all through the interface (however not as many as you may assume). The age-old argument is that some would like to not have adverts, however Amazon would argue they assist in discovering new apps and titles. I’d say that each arguments carry weight.

However in its present guise the interface is one thing of a jumble. Except for a number of sponsored and curated rows of titles for iPlayer, Netflix and ITVX, the house web page is dominated by content material from Prime Video and Freevee; titles from likes of Disney+ and Paramount+ are buried amid style particular rows (motion, thriller).

Extra apparent rows for the likes of Apple TV+ and Disney+ would assist, in addition to being positioned larger up the interface as presently what content material there’s from different providers is submerged below rows of Prime and Freevee. Sky Stream and Sky’s Leisure OS does a significantly better job of content material discovery in a non-partisan approach.

The ‘Subsequent up’ row may use some fine-tuning too, as what foundation there’s for its recommendations eludes me. It’s prompt I watch the primary sequence of His Darkish Supplies and Andor, each of which I’ve seen, and among the many different titles are Moonfall, A Personal Affair, Amsterdam, Elementary and The Final Ship. I can’t see a rhyme or cause behind that choice.

No less than the Hearth TV platform is dwelling to an enormous variety of apps. Netflix, Disney+, Paramount+, UFC, NOW, BT Sport, NFL, Eurosport, Spotify, Tidal, BBC Sounds, Deezer, ROXi, Amazon Music, Audible, Hayu, Peloton are among the many apps Hearth TV options.

And there’s additionally the Prime Video Channels the place you may subscribe to the likes of LaLiga TV, Mubi, BritBox and Lionsgate+ as add-ons to the primary Prime Video sub and cancel anytime.

Options

• USB and HDMI inputs
• Wi-Fi 6E help
• Helps Alexa Professional distant
• Alexa help over HDMI

Across the again is an HDMI output (for a TV) and an HDMI enter (for plugging a supply into the Dice), each of that are ratified to the HDMI 2.1 customary, and the Hearth TV Dice recognises gaming gadgets with its auto low latency mode.

There’s additionally a USB 2.0 port (an improve from mini-USB), IR extender port and a ten/100 Mbps Ethernet port for hardwired connection (the earlier mannequin required an Ethernet adaptor by way of the mini-USB port). Regardless of the constructive information on the connection entrance, much less welcome is that the Hearth TV Dice not ships with an IR extender cable. You aren’t supplied with an HDMI cable both, however that’s the identical because it ever was.

There’s additionally no help for Gigabit ethernet connections the 128GB Apple TV 4K field has, and storage is smaller than both Apple TV streamer at 16GB (technically 12.83GB).

Nevertheless, the three^rd Gen Hearth TV Dice is the primary streamer to supply a HDMI enter, permitting one other supply to be added if all those in your TV are used up. I’ve plugged in a PS4 and PS5 console and it’s labored each time with no points.

The brand new USB port additionally means you may add a tough drive and reap the benefits of the media participant to play movies, audio or view footage. Or you would join a webcam and switch the Hearth TV Dice into an Echo Present.

The Hearth TV Dice comes with the de facto Alexa voice distant, but additionally helps the Alexa Voice Distant Professional. The ‘Professional’ distant is obtainable individually at £34.99, an annoyance contemplating that is the premium Hearth TV streamer and I’d count on it to have every little thing. It makes the Hearth TV Dice really feel incomplete, and incurs extra expense on prime of the value hike over the earlier mannequin. The Professional Distant is suitable to make use of with different Hearth TV Sticks and older Cubes.

What you get with the Professional Distant over the usual model are two customisable buttons (labelled 1 and a pair of). These may very well be personalised for favorite apps, channels, Alexa routines and even provoke current voice instructions. A press and a maintain can reset it, however solely within the sense of selecting one other shortcut.

The Alexa Voice Distant Professional additionally helps motion-activated backlighting (helpful at the hours of darkness) and there’s a built-in speaker. In case you lose it, you may ask Alexa to find the distant and it’ll emit a bleeping sound that lasts for 30 seconds or so.

The Dice’s Wi-Fi connection has been boosted from Wi-Fi 5 to Wi-Fi 6E, permitting entry to 6GHz bands for sooner speeds and decrease latency. Nevertheless, W-Fi 6E routers are nonetheless costly even when there are extra cheaper choices than there have been when the Hearth TV Dice 2022 launched.

There’s the mixing of good merchandise from Ring cameras that seem as a pop-up stay feed to regulate over good lights. This may be completed from the Sensible Dwelling Dashboard when you’ve added gadgets.

And if that weren’t sufficient, the Hearth TV Dice can command different dwelling cinema gadgets. It’s in a position to management a soundbar, dwelling cinema receiver and the TV, or carry out actions similar to quantity and enter switching over HDMI (by your TV). The IR extender expands the streamer’s attain to regulate different gadgets it could’t do by HDMI.

Efficiency

• Glorious streaming efficiency
• Sooner navigation and Alexa response
• Audio efficiency just about an identical to older mannequin

The Hearth TV Dice must be positioned round 30cm from any speaker so Alexa doesn’t get confused by audio that might sound like a command. It additionally shouldn’t be enclosed inside a cupboard which is able to make it tougher for it to listen to what you’re saying.

Set-up is speedy when you have a) an Amazon account and b) had a previous Hearth TV streamer as you may switch your particulars over.

As soon as up and operating it’s noticeably sooner than the two^nd Gen mannequin. Scrolling by the menus and opening apps is speedier due to the octa-core processor, with no noticeable lag navigating the menus or with button presses. I’ve not encountered many points when it comes to streaming; the Hearth TV Dice (2022) will get up to the mark promptly. Buffering points have been uncommon – albeit that’s on a quick web line.

The Hearth TV Dice’s near- and far-field microphones simply picked my voice from a number of metres away, and she or he’s fast to reply and fetch outcomes. She appears to get the gist of what you’re saying higher than rival voice help. Looking for Disney+’s Andor has confirmed tough for different voice assistants to cope with, however Alexa obtained it first time.

By way of its AV efficiency, HDR10, HLG, HDR10+ and Dolby Imaginative and prescient help are all supplied. The inclusion of HDR10+ and Dolby Imaginative and prescient dynamic metadata permits your TV to supply an optimum HDR efficiency with suitable apps. In fact, your TV should help HDR10+ and Dolby Imaginative and prescient, and HLG help means you may watch 4K HDR content material on iPlayer (the Apple TV 4K doesn’t help HLG for iPlayer).

Image high quality is resoundingly good, although dependent in your TV’s efficiency, web pace and high quality of the supply. The Traitors (HD) on iPlayer featured secure black ranges, and the inexperienced and brown tones of the Scottish highlands come out nicely.

Giri/Haji on Netflix in Dolby Imaginative and prescient has an deliberately tender look however there’s nonetheless loads of element and readability within the stream to choose up on. Season three of Jack Ryan on Prime Video appears to be like spectacular in 4K HDR10, sharp and detailed in a approach that brings out the prime quality of the manufacturing. Wednesday in Dolby Imaginative and prescient on Netflix is stuffed with strong and wealthy trying colors and large contrasts on a Sony A8 OLED.

The Dice helps Amazon’s Tremendous Decision expertise, which ‘converts’ HD content material in 4K for “higher element, distinction and readability”, in addition to producing a sharper image. Watching The Bear on Disney+ and Gangs of New York (All4) and I battle to see a lot of a distinction with Tremendous Decision on or off. I can see no development intimately, readability or added sharpness. I ponder if it has extra of an affect on cheaper TVs, however I can also’t see this streamer being paired with extra inexpensive tellies both.

The audio efficiency of the Hearth TV steamers has, I’d say, been higher than the competitors, and the Hearth TV Dice (2022) continues that good run, although it’s not a lot completely different from the earlier Dice. In actual fact, I’d say they’re on par with one another.

Watching the primary episode of Wednesday in Dolby Atmos, each streamers sound close to an identical when coping with the readability of Jenna Ortega’s deadpan supply and positioning of results (if something the brand new Hearth TV Dice brings out just a little extra element within the surrounds).

Watching Final Christmas on iPlayer, the older mannequin was really louder. The opening scene in a bar featured raised voices (male voices had a bassier inflection) and I may select the background noise within the scene higher. I may hear an analogous distinction in ‘loudness’ watching Gangs of New York on All4 however with Atmos tracks each Cubes have been just about an identical.

Musically the Cubes are related too. Performs of the Harlem Shuffle, Lupe Fiasco’s Gold Watch and Rey’s Theme from The Power Awakens in Amazon Music all resulted in a like-for-like sound. Disappointingly there’s no bump in Hello-res audio help. It nonetheless tops out at 16-bit/192kHz, so UHD tracks in Amazon Music are downscaled.

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