The Echo Present 15 is the largest good show in Amazon’s present good show assortment, however regardless of its distinctive design, massive display and Alexa smarts, it at all times felt prefer it wanted to supply extra.
Amazon seemingly acknowledged this and promised an enormous replace at an announcement in late September that may convey its Fireplace TV interface to the Present 15, bringing with it help for a lot of extra streaming providers reminiscent of Netflix, Disney+ and Now TV together with an upgraded interface and, after all, help for the Fireplace TV distant.
Amazon wasn’t too forthcoming about after we ought to count on the replace on the announcement, promising a obscure ‘later this 12 months’ reasonably than a month or date to stay up for, and nothing has been mentioned since, regardless of us (and presumably each different Echo Present 15 proprietor) continuously pestering Amazon for information.
So it was a pleasant shock to discover a message on my Echo Present 15 this morning prompting me to replace. A couple of faucets and a fast five-minute obtain later and the replace had been put in, full with a shortcut to the Fireplace TV interface within the top-right of the Echo Present 15’s UI.
Lewis Painter / Foundry
It’s nice that Amazon has caught its promise of a late 2022 launch and is rolling out the replace in time for Christmas. I’m within the UK, nevertheless it’s protected to imagine that it’ll even be rolling out within the US and different areas the place the Echo Present 15 is in the stores.
I’ve requested Amazon for clarification on the rollout and can replace this text if I hear again.
As anticipated, turning the Echo Present 15 right into a Fireplace TV actually does make it a extra compelling providing. It’s now capable of take full benefit of that giant show, and no extra workarounds utilizing net browsers to get YouTube – arguably the largest omission from the Echo Present 15 till now – and different content material. It’s a specific boon for many who wish to use it as a small kitchen TV to observe information and extra.
As Fireplace TV helps person profiles, totally different members of your family can check in to see their private content material libraries for every person of the Present 15.
Basically, it has gone from a sensible show that may sometimes remind me about procuring lists and upcoming occasions to a product that I actively wish to use.
Lewis Painter / Foundry
You may pair an Alexa Voice distant with the Present 15 for simpler management than utilizing your voice (or the touchscreen) – and also you’ll be prompted to take action through the setup course of – however there’s additionally a digital Fireplace TV distant that seems on-screen in apps which are designed round distant enter reasonably than contact.
When you don’t see the on-screen Fireplace TV obtain immediate in your Echo Present 15, you’ll be able to attempt to pressure the replace by heading to Settings, choosing Machine Choices and tapping Examine for Updates.
Are you able to sideload apps onto the Echo Present 15 with Fireplace TV?
One of many massive perks of the Fireplace TV interface – on the devoted Fireplace Sticks, that’s – is the flexibility to sideload apps not formally out there from Amazon’s Appstore. Apps can vary from streaming apps like Kodi to apps like Google Images that allow you to show photos out of your smartphone with out counting on Amazon’s Images app, additional increasing simply what you are able to do with the machine.
Nevertheless, that’s sadly not the case with the Echo Present 15 with Fireplace TV. When you can allow the flexibility to put in apps from exterior Amazon’s Appstore utilizing Developer Settings on the Fireplace Stick, that very same choice isn’t out there inside the Developer Settings of the Echo Present 15 post-update. It’s possible right down to the Fireplace TV being launched extra as an app or extra function reasonably than an overhaul of the bottom working system that the Echo Present 15 runs on.
With that mentioned, should you have been hoping to side-load Kodi onto the Echo Present 15 to stream your private film library, I’m afraid you’re out of luck!
Are you excited concerning the new Fireplace TV performance, or is it not sufficient to tempt you to purchase the Echo Present 15? Tell us on Twitter.