Hands-free Alexa and Fire TV is for more than the Echo Show 15. Amazon has announced the newest version of its Fire TV Cube media streamer, along with an upgraded Alexa Voice Remote for Fire TV devices and a new line of QLED Fire TVs.
The new Fire TV Cube has an octa-core 2GHz processor that Amazon claims is 20% more powerful than the previous version (which, to be fair, was launched in 2019). More interestingly, it adds what Amazon calls Super Resolution Upscaling, an image-processing system for upconverting HD content to 4K. It should, according to Amazon, result in sharper details of 1080p movies and shows on 4K TVs.
The new Fire TV Cube works with Wi-Fi 6E, the first media streamer in the industry to support the latest Wi-Fi network standard, Amazon says (until Wi-Fi 7, or 802.11be, rolls out).
This isn't the first time Amazon has highlighted the latest Wi-Fi technology in a Fire TV device. Last year it boasted about the Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max's Wi-Fi 6 support. In our tests we found that it was a nice-enough upgrade for $5 more than the Editors' Choice Fire TV Stick 4K, but the speeds Wi-Fi 6 can reach well exceed what 4K HDR content currently requires, and we found no significant difference in performance between the two.
Amazon Fire TV Omni QLED Series
Amazon is also updating its Omni line of Fire TV televisions with QLED panels. The new Amazon Fire TV Omni QLED Series features quantum dot technology that can improve color range on LCD and OLED screens. The new line also features an LED backlight system with 96 local dimming zones, and support for Dolby Vision IQ and HDR10+ Adaptive. Like the original Omni TVs, the Omni QLED Series has far-field microphones for hands-free Amazon Alexa.
Alexa Voice Remote Pro
Amazon also announced the Alexa Voice Remote Pro for Fire TV devices. This new accessory provides new features for current Fire TV media streamers and TVs, including a remote finder and two customizable shortcut buttons. It also has a motion-activated backlight that lights up the remote when it's picked up. It sounds similar to the Roku Voice Remote Pro, though curiously it lacks a mid-field remote to enable hands-free Alexa like the Roku remote has for voice search and TV control. It also doesn't have a headphone jack.
The Amazon Fire TV Cube is available for preorder for $139.99 and launches on Oct. 25. The Alexa Voice Remote Pro is available to preorder for $34.99 and lands on Nov. 16. The Fire TV Omni QLED Series is up for preorder for $799.99 at 65 inches and $1,099.99 at 75 inches. Both versions launch on Oct. 27.