JVC Fire TV 50'' Smart 4K Ultra HD HDR LED TV
JVC Fire TV is a new generation of television featuring the Fire TV experience built-in and including a Voice Remote with Alexa. With true-to-life 4K Ultra HD picture quality and access to movies and TV shows you love, JVC delivers a TV experience that gets smarter every day. The Voice Remote with Alexa lets you do everything you’d expect from a remote—plus, easily launch apps, search for titles, play music, switch inputs, control compatible smart home devices, and more, using your voice.
Smart but simple in every way. Just plug it in, connect to Wi-Fi, and enjoy.
Endless entertainment – Live TV, streaming movies and TV episodes
Fire TV brings together live broadcast TV and streaming channels on your home screen. Connect a TV aerial and use Alexa to instantly search for and watch live broadcast TV, or choose from a vast catalog of streaming movies and TV shows from Netflix, YouTube, Prime Video, BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and more. Plus, you can subscribe to Discovery, Eurosport Player, Hayu and others to stream even more of your favourite live TV shows (Subscriptions may be required and fees may apply). You can also connect your cable/satellite box or gaming console through one of the TV’s HDMI ports.
| | | | |
|---|---|---|---|
Control your TVUse the included Voice Remote with Alexa to easily control TV functions like power, volume, navigation, playback, and input switching—plus, easily launch into Prime Video, Netflix, Live TV, and Apps with quick access buttons. | Find new favouritesWant to watch something new? Press the microphone button and say, “Find dramas,” and Alexa will show you search results from a universal catalogue of integrated apps and channels. | Control your smart homeEnhance your entertainment experience by easily controlling your compatible smart home devices with Alexa. Simply use your voice to do things like adjust the lights, set the temperature, check your cameras and more. | Get more out of AlexaGo beyond streaming with Alexa skills. Want to order pizza? Check the score? Play a game? Alexa can do that too! |
| Dimensions: | 121 x 75 x 12.5 cm; 15 Kilograms |
| Model: | LT-50CF890 |
| Batteries Included: | 2 AAA batteries required. (included) |
| Manufacture: | JVC |
| Origin: | Turkey |
Great picture, ok sound (so using a sound bar), but integrated Firestick is the real bonus. All wrapped up in a bargain price. One thing to note is, I have failed to bring the TV out of standby with Alexa, it controls it fine when the TV is on and turns it off ok. But when the TV is in standby Alexa does not connect to turn it on, I suspect the Corded NIC and WiFi adapter in the TV get powered down when in standby. Small quibble but otherwise great value TV!
For the price, this is a bargain, is at its best when connected to my PS4 pro, games look stunning, tho the smart side can be a bit sluggish at times, might be down to my slow internet connection, my Alexa echo can turn on and off the TV, would’ve been nice to be able to have full functionality with the Echo, for those times I can’t find the remote.
Another minus is the lack of physical controls/buttons on the tv, pretty having with the TV overall
A very good cheep television that does what you require
Love this telly, purchased at currys, good sound and picture. Fits well with our integrated set up. One small flaw is the tv guide lags sometimes but this is more to do with the freeview play app. Very impressed, great price.
We had an old Toshiba that was state of the art 28 yrs ago. Just started to lose the picture . So getting a new one now. Is no comparison. But I like all the features this offered for the price. As I think technology moves so quick and nothing is built to last a long time. This price was very good. It has so much on there we only just learning all of it. The picture quality is clear. I got a sound bar to boost the sound quality. On normal tv mode. Would recommend this tv.
Undoubtedly beyond expectations. I upgraded to this TV after suffering with a bland, cheap flatscreen for over 2 years.
The picture quality is immense, echo integrarion with Alexa is a formidable force to utilise, and the sound is brilliant.
Arrived next day in good condition. Set up and installation was very quick and easy. Picture and sound quality is very good. With Amazon Fire and Netfix all built in everything is all in one place, no extra boxes or cables needed. Great buy.
initial order was damaged in transit so had to be replaced. Next one ideal – bought for elderly parents and found it easy to set up (with the help of a 14yr old!) features as described – alexa feature brilliant – older parents struggled initially to navigate around the features but will in time – remote very small for those with difficulty reading
I am very impressed with this TV for the price. It is especially good having all the fire stick apps included and is so easy to use. I would recommend this TV
First TV arrived damaged … kind of expected it after all the reviews, second TV was fine. The TV is great value for money. Whatever is causing so many to be delivered broken needs to be reviewed and sorted. The return/refund takes ages!
Everything as stated except for Alexis does not change HDMI settings every time. Changing stuff time consuming. But excellent value for money for what you get.
So far the tv has been ok the picture is ok I would say it’s not brilliant but ok. The Alexa in the tv is ok. The fire tv is ok .
I brought this tv for my mum as she is used to the fire stick and can easily use the interface.
There are literally no professional reviews of this tv going around just sales blurb. I read that this is a Curry’s tv as they own JVC who use poor quality displays manufactured in Turkey. I found that a bit disconcerting. I was worried that what your paying for here is just a 4K fire stick integrated with the cheapest possible display. But that is not the case.
I have to say I’m pleasantly surprised.
The display is impressive for this price range. And holds its own with other more prestigious brands.
I tested the first episode of Hunters on amazon prime, one of the first scenes is at night outside a theatre with lots of fluorescent lighting. This popped nicely on this HDR display.
You often hear that HDR and Dolby vision isn’t that noticeable on cheaper displays with low nit brightness, but it is at least noticeable (270 nits here), which is an achievement I guess. But obviously it isn’t going to compete with higher end models. It’s adequate, satisfactory for the money I would say.
On black background you can make out the edge lighting of the panel, there is some noticeable bleeding at the corners of the display. But this isn’t noticeable playing content.
4K content looks excellent though. Blacks are strong and I doubt this tv has local dimming but for example, Every star in the background of Netflix’s ‘The Search for Life in Space’ are pin sharp with no light bleed around the edges and details are crisp and vibrant.
Build quality is decent enough, the stand is solid but there is no swivel.
Sound isn’t too bad, It’s clear with limited bass but I didn’t expect anything else tbh.
Overall I’m Not disappointed. Would recommend.
Excellent product and this smart TV has an App Store so you can download any apps some smart TVs don’t have an App Store you are only able to have the apps already on the TV.
This is a superb TV for the money!
I purchased the 49″ unit from Curry’s and it has been fantastic!
I mean, granted it has a few teething issues, for example it can be a little slow sometimes when loading up apps or giving it commands, but as a pilot TV it is to be expected.
Hopefully, JVC and Amazon will regularly update the software as they have said they will to make the experience even better!
Apart from that, the television has amazing picture and a brilliant range.
Also, with 4K titles, you MUST have a good internet connection to stream in 4K
Overall, this is an amazing tv for the money with lots of handy features!
Great value for money TV all my friends have said it’s a great picture.
I tell my nearest Echo dot to get the TV to turn on and off without me being in the room and my dad thinks that it’s haunted because he dos’t know it’s me doing it. MU-HAHAHA!!!
“The future is now old man!”
Awesome in every way. Except when PDP deliver it as it was smashed to bits and I mean smashed not just a little crack. So because it was from market place I could only get a refund. So bought it elsewhere.
Bit slow to startup.Not yet used Alexander however overall very pleased with the TV.
I’m very pleased with this tv. I was worried that I would have a problem connecting my BT You view box. I didn’t have any problems at all. Just had to switch to the HDMI outlet I was using for it. I can ask Alexa to do this.
if you want a 4K TV get this one. The menu has a layout of amazon prime which is easy to use and understand. for the amount of money i payed this has change the way i watch tv and play games.
I bought this television and was absolutely clueless…I paid an independent woman from Curry’s 60 to set it up and everything is great while they are there. But the problems start….A lot to do with Virgin who can be so incompetent.
All I would say is Get somebody that knows what they are doing. Its a great TV and having fun with Alexa and people do actually listen in..But have fun with it..If you have more than one box Please do not go to independent person from Currys as I forgot to tell her about my other TV’s. I gave her a brilliant review BUT NEVER AGAIN…With me I was getting a new router and that had to be tuned in…Lady was lovely but as soon as she leaves your house, you are on your own.I am 66 years of age…I was excited and of course I wanted it done ASAP. But I had other problems with Virgin. So all I can say is after one month of constant two hour phone calls to Virgin I have nearly got my equipment sorted ( apart from my landline which has been off for 2 weeks…But for the price its a nice TV.It says it is JV C but when I looked further into things it said ” MAKE UNKNOWN” so I really do not know what that is about.These days its all the same. At the time you receive a book with over 90 pages and you think Wtf? But any hubbies, handymen/ women it should be a straightforward matter…I love it now it is all working but if I had one complaint I would say ” the sound’ does not seem as good as my other JVC upstairs.I am no expert but its like anything just be careful and do not let anybody fiddle around with it…At first it seems like a nightmare ( well it did to me) but because I had ongoing probs with Virgin and their incompetence you can get really stressed..But now its all working I LOVE IT…hope that helps lol
A fantastic TV for the price. I have multiple consoles running through it, including the latest and they look great. I love that you can set individual settings pet each HDMI port. I don’t watch live TV and having the ability to access the Internet and apps on my TV itself rather than the previous method of using a firestick allows me to free up a port for other devices as well a s ring more convenient. For the price the picture is beautiful, the TV (as most smart TVs) does slow down a lot if you don’t regularly manage your internal memory. So long as you can clear the caches every few weeks it is fine and remains responsive. Another handy feature is the ability to instantly throw my phone to the large screen, this is helpful when demonstrating apps to friends or streaming from mobile devices, also allowing for the streaming of consoles from room to room (you need a fast network for this and I also accomplish this on other TVs with a raspberry pi).
I live in a small flat, the size is not too overbearing and fits nicely in the corner, it does not make the room feel small as others so claim it would.
Bought this for my daughter and set it up for her. So easy just like a Firestick, everything you could want and for such a good price. Easily the best value for money TV out there – no comparison.
Love it, great picture, sound is poo as all flat screens are, the Alexa works but is a little buggy but I’m sure amazon will do updates too sort this out but is work and for a great price. Love i
I use it in my room and it was a perfect add to finish my room off, works amazingly well, I can download whatever I want on it, and great quality.
Great value for the money.
A lot of built in features. Easy to use.
I’m not very technical…..not a problem! This TV is so easy to install and has Alexa enabled features and very straight forward set-up with access to apps, internet, a broad range of channels which are easy to navigate. Also had great and very prompt support from seller advising on blue tooth connectivity.
The picture quality is great, I love my echo dot so this is great because I can control it though Alexa. It’s a gives a great picture experience
Great TV for exactly what it is. A 49″ 4K Smart TV for 299!!! Easy to setup, pre loaded with the most common apps, tonnes of connection possibilities. Fantastic picture quality however not sure if the Hz’s are enough for fast action films or sports as we use this at work so not tested. The TV is slightly thicker than TV’s 4x it’s price, but it is things like this you need to weigh up for what you want from a tv before you buy. You have to remember this is a 299 TV and for that its worth every penny
so easy to set up and integrate.
picture quality on the ‘hub’ screen slightly light – but brilliant when in programme – especially for sports!
the 55″ a real winner in our family lounge
Very good in all aspects easy to plug n play
Not the best, not the worst.. Good value…. Easy to setup… Sound and picture needed some adjusting.. Overall pleased with purchase
I researched the TV before buying it. There are other makes available but for double the price. The TV works superbly with Alexa as does the built in Amazon fire stick. Extremely happy with the TV.
It’s a TV. It’s not top spec but for the price is fine.
I like all the features listed above but the only thing I dislike is it takes quite a bit of time to come on when the TV is first switched o
Good product for the price. Picture quality is not the best but you get what you pay for. A good budget buy.
I bought one from another retailer specifically for the bedroom just to use for Streaming etc. I have to say it has been bloody brilliant. Picture is excellent, features and connectivity are top notch. I particularly like the Bluetooth connectivity, I can lie in bed with Bluetooth headphones on and not disturb the wife’s kip.
Very impressed with quality of screen. Given the price I was dubious as we are cynical in life as we get older. All in all very good value and can’t complain with the quality of the screen or sound.
After adjusting picture quality to our personal satisfaction, we have an excellent picture !
The item was first class but the delivery firm left a lot to be desired with three failed delivery and a final cancellation of the delivery forcing me to seak a refund ,Amazan were very good and sorted the problem
I was a little apprehensive at first, based on some of the reviews, but they were unjustified.
You are not going to get the best picture ever on a 400 TV but you get a whole lot more than I expected!
The picture quality is really good. As good as, if not better than the 1000 TV it replaced.
The sound is OK. As good as most of these type of TVs can do but I hooked mine up to a soundbar anyway. (which the TV remote can control (as well as with voice) via ARC)
The software is great. It’s quick and responsive and easy to navigate.
If you already own a Firestick (or any other Fire TV device) you will feel right at home. It is more than capable of doing anything they can..and more.
The Alexa integration is great and adds to my ever growing collection of Alexa enabled devices.
If you have an echo, you do not need to use the remote for anything. You can switch channels and inputs, adjust the volume and power, all with only your voice.
The TV can be added to routines. (i.e. to switch everything off when you go to bed)
All in all a very good, capable smart TV and a bargain too!
The only thing missing in my opinion is Apple TV. But apparently that is imminent.
What an absolute brilliant tv for the money I’m absolutely delighted with it….great picture and superb sound the Alexa built in makes it so easy to operate….I would more than recommend it.
Easy setup, reliable software and smart features. Can stream 4k video at bitrates of at least 80mbps without issue. H.264 or .265. Extremely cheap compared to other models. Picture will not beat top end HDR OLED screens but if your streaming media you’re unlikely to notice a difference without doing a side by side compariso
This is a superb TV for the money.. I seriously doubt for the price you could get anything better. The image quality really surprised me, I’m a photographer by trade and have since I bought the TV have rigged it up to my PC and use its an additional monitor for picture editing (Having first used a photography screen calibrator). The integration of apps is seamless and Amazon service doesn’t hijack or prioritize themselves in the interface. The audio quality was much better than expected too with rich crisp well separated audio channels. This really delivers a great viewing experience
It is a very good tv, although we are yet to utilise the smart application fully so therefore I cannot comment on that part. The only downside is that we wish we had bought a bigger one as this looks a little lost now that we have wall mounted it. Would recommend it no problem.
I’m sure I’ve reviewed this before but in case I haven’t picture quality is good sound quality is great and I love that amazon prime tv is all included. Lots of great apps.
I absolutely love this smart tv, the remote once set up is so easily accessible and can take you to different apps so rapidly, the screen is big and has such a good picture on it, I find the remote so easy to use and I can navigate around to different places swiftly. I already want another one for my other room! – update; I liked it so much that I purchased anothe
Very happy with TV. Easy to set up. Good picture quality with excellent functionality.
This smart tv feels like it has limitless features. Watching anything in UHD makes normal life look fuzzy afterwards. The only point against it is the Alexa function, you have to press a button on the remote instead of Alexa recognising your voice. No biggie, you just have to find the remote first.
We really like the integrated firetv. It makes everything work from one controller and alexa for voice control.
Only three issues: 1) The speed of the menus is slower than the stand alone firetv box. 2) The live tv can take 5-10 seconds to load up. 3) the tv guide doesn’t always fully populate.
In Spite of these issues I would recommend it.
he TV remote control is far to small for use
once I set it up picture quality good sound good a bit slow getting to live tv other than that it’s good set haven’t read all of the manual yet so I have no doubt once I have things will be bette
Great TV. I use Fire TV in every room and I am forever looking for the 2nd remote. This tv puts everything in one place on one remote. This combined with live tv integrated into the Amazon Fire experience just adds to the pleasure.
I have installed all custom apps in the same fashion that I would on a firestick; Kodi etc.
The TV is a little bit slower when navigating around the apps than the latest fire stick etc but it is still great. The Digital TV is a bit slow when changing channels but does the job. I tend to use apps most of the time such as Netflix, Prime and catchup.
Got this TV for my elderly Mum so that she can mostly control it using her voice wit Alexa through a connected ECHO dot. Was a bit of a faff to set up, mainly through the documentation being a bit basic. Not a lot of information online regarding the Alexa integration so a lot of trial and error. Lots of available apps, good picture quality and a nice design. Mum is very happy with it which is the most important thing
Amazing TV but came with a dent in the Scree
Easy to set up and is great value for money will consider a smaller version for another room
My goddess I adore this TV completely amazing I am in love
This is an excellent TV for the price. The sound quality is much better than my previous Sharp 46″. However, the default picture quality is not great. It can,however, be improved by manual settings. I have not used the Alexa feature nor have I tried 4k content so cannot comment on this. The ability to download apps from the Amazon Store provides a good selection. Also other, non amazon store apps, can be downloaded using the downloader app and some knowhow. I now have little need for my android tv box as all the apps I need are on my TV. As others have mentioned in reviews, the remote control is way too small but works fine. To get the best out of this TV, an Amazon Prime account would be advisable, and a basic Amazon Account is necessary to get anything other than live TV.
Very easy to set up and use , picture and sound are what you’d expect, it’s a good value for money tv .
Really good TV – picture quality is outstanding. Make sure you get the correct bracket if mounting on a wall!
Good tv not too sure on tv setting some genres differ on settings
I bought this TV as the sound went on my last one. I was skeptical and wasn’t sure if I had made the right decision… That is until I got it set up. It’s fantastic, and I couldn’t be happier with this new TV. The sound is good quality, the picture quality is amazing. I would recommend this TV to anyone looking to buy a new one. The 4k is a definite upgrade from the usual HD and is a great price. For the quality I would be expecting to pay more.
Really simple to set up, a star screwdriver is all that’s needed.
Setting the apps and TV up is also really simple, syncing up the TV remote with the TV was the only thing that caused a delay but I overcame this by holding the home button for 30 seconds, switched the power off from the wall then switched it back on. The remote had already then synced and then already having Amazon prime I simply signed in and that was me good to go.
The features on the television are extremely easy to use… Love the self timer that turns the TV off on its own, so I can fall asleep watching TV knowing it’s not gonna be on all night.
I’ve watched 4k and it is really crisp… You will certainly notice a difference when watching 4K.
I mostly use the YouTube, Amazon Prime and Xbox to watch the Television. I haven’t actually watched national TV channels on it as of yet… I did see one channel and the television was giving the channel a signal strength reading n quality reading in the bottom right hand corner. Both were in the high 90s to 100. A TV Ariel is needed for those channels then just go to settings, input and choose ariel for those channels.
I can’t fault the television, I’m glad I bought it… The Witcher 3 and Red Dead Redemption 2 look absolutely amazing on it.
I’ve not seen any of the issues that other reviews have stated, it’s a top notch TV and it delivers, a lot of reviewers aren’t very bright when it comes to TV remote issues or colour issues… Not with mine nor have I messed with colour settings.
It’s a fool proof television and it comes with instructions which I didn’t need. Excellent for gaming and watching box sets and 4K.
Great price for a great product. I m really happy to have chosen this jvc instead of more expensive TVs, with the exact same features. Clean and elegant black design, with few alluminium inserts.
Easy to install and set up excellent picture quality ,just be mindful when downloading apps as it can be confusing and you can be charged for apps that you wrongly think are free.Amazon are great though and reimbursed me the money. Love Amazon.
The panel itself looks rly good, 4K content looks brilliant. This won’t have any of the crazy pixel processing stuff that more expensive brands like LG or Samsung will have but for sub 300 for a decent 4K (and HDR) tv is amazing. Other additional things I’ve noticed is the 1080p content, which is most common for my use, looks much better then on my previous 1080p. Consoles outputting 1080p look a lot nicer on this tv also. The amazon fire integration is good however this tv is under 300 so the processor for the smart features is very weak, handles the fire os reasonable well, but if you use plex it can struggle with direct play. It resets completely if I try 4K direct play. I have noticed similar but not as frequent occurrences of restarts in YouTube, for Netflix and amazon prime fine so far. 4K content from amazon prime however won’t let me stream at 4K due to bandwidth issues but I do have the bandwidth so I’m not sure what’s happening there.
With these little problems aside, I mean I can always use those apps on my consoles, the picture quality is very good for the price. 4K HDR at this price is a amazing. I would strongly recommend as an upgrade to an older 1080p screen and for someone on a budget. If you are concerned they have these on display in Curry’s pc world (at the time of writing) and you can go see the picture quality in person.
This is a cheap and cheerful tv (40 inch) so don’t expect picture , etc. quality to equal that of models two or three times the price. It is an OK basic device.
It is flimsy in construction, so handle carefully. And I would not follow the order of fitting the neck and base given in the handbook: it is a thousand times easier to screw the neck to the base and then the combined thingummy to the tv.
A number of people have complained about the washed out colours, but to be fair you can alter the colours by holding the home (up arrow) button for 2 secs while tuned in to the input you are watching, and you will get a menu. Note that the menus are specific to each input, not linked overall. I have no complaints over sound, but you can add external equipment should you wish.
The fire tools, including Youtube, are virtually the same as on a Firestick.
I use a Sky plus box with mine, linked to an HDMI port by a cable. The code for pairing the sky handset with the tv is 0065, as confirmed by Currys. Make sure to select as input the number of the HDMI port you have connected to.
I would refer you to the outstanding review by Mr P Sleight for detailed technical info.
Tv is awesome, great value for money and is good for casual gaming despite reviews saying otherwise
Great set but sound is lacking depth apart from that it’s a great package at this price poi
Budget tv with Amazon’s fire tv smart system at its core. Picture quality is as good as you can expect at this price point,Dolby vision and HDR 10 on board but not very effective due to limited brightness and contrast. But still a very watchable and enjoyable picture. Sound is poor but no worse than any other modern tv so a soundbar would be a must. All in all a fine tv for a second room or a bedroom. Probably good enough for your main tv set if your not obsessed with HDR picture quality. Generally speaking this is a very likeable tv. Reccomend
The tv is easy to set up and has a great picture. The remote is easy to use and one of the best TVs i’ve bought and it’s cheap for a 43″ tv. Would highly recommend.
Il liked the whole tv package it was quick and easy to assemble the instructions were easy to follow also reasonably priced I’m very impressed with the picture quality and channels available.
Very pleased with this, perfect size and great picture and sound quality
it will do for the bedroom…. ye bit harsh after a few days living with it seems ok , the one remote is great thoe..
Brilliant TV for the money. Easy set up, and picture and sound quality really very good for the price. The Alexa voice control is really handy and works very well. Really pleased with the TV. Recommended
It’s decent enough but could do with better apps , like BT sport’s , premier sports and/or Allow streaming the above apps to the TV
Who ever is moaning about this TV and rating it a 1star has got nothing better to do and probably an upper class snob!.
This is TV is perfect it’s so easy to navigate and set up from the start the picture quality is fantastic and the sound is great and with Alexa and an abundant of apps you can download it’s great
Ignore the negative comments for the price of this TV it’s a bargain you can pay 800 for a Sony smart TV with less features minus the Alexa aswell on it or pay 360 and get an abundance of apps and high quality virwing.
5star from me
Good product, still navigating my way around it, endless possibilities & choice selections.I would suggest this product may not be suitable for anyone seeking a basic plug & watch television, complicated piece of kit !
great product, works perfectly and easily. bought this for my parents, who can have a difficult time navigating remote controls with 100 buttons or interfaces with loads of menus and options. this is just simple and easy for anyone to use. the only thing i would see as a ‘negative’ is that the sound lacks any bass, so can be slightly tinny depending on what you are watching, but it is not a big issue. for anyone where sound is a major issue, they would already have separate speaker systems anyway. another plus is that the tv is very lightweight and slimline. a great additio
One question though..my original firestick
Does not seem to work in my old tv when it did before? I put old well 4 yr old tv in my bedroom..please advise..great jvc tv..
Excellent TV at a bargain price very fast at loading anything from Netflix to prime good detailed picture blacks could be better but it’s led and not a plasma and no new TV can compete with a plasma for blacks or motion rate not even an oled
Very light compared to my previous 32″ Panasonic – VERY EASY to set up. Does everything I need it to and picture quality is great – the ONLY drawback is that I can’t get my Soundblaster Speaker to work with it so will eventually buy a soundbar. Sound quality, however, is still pretty good!
As its on offer for 250 its well worth the money no the picture quality isnt the best thing but for a UHD 4k smart tv at this price point its well worth the money. it has a BASIC alexa feature built in.
Its perfect as a bedroom tv or budget living room tv.
DON’T BUY THIS TV THINKING ITS GOING TO HAVE A PICTURE QUALITY OF A 500-600 TV
but at this price point its really good.
I had been looking for a 2nd TV for the bedroom and decided to get this one (it was on offer ), I’m glad I did, Nice TV with a decent picture quality and surprisingly good sounds quality. The only let down for me is, as others have said, you can’t adjust the picture settings for the built-in Fire TV part, you can adjust the settings for anything that you plug in via HDMI etc, but since I’m using this TV exclusively for the smart features (no DVD player or broadcast TV) then it’s a bit of a let down that I can’t change the settings – it’s worth noting that the picture setting in the fire TV side are not bad… Just would be nice to alter them.
Other than that, this is a cracking 2nd TV and would recommend it to anyone.
Was not sure what to make of this tv before i made the decision to get the 55 inch to replace my high end lg that had poor black levels.firstly i wanted the amazon operating system as already own the cube and a dolby atmos soundbar the good part is connected via arc only one remote is required for tv blu ray fire cube and soundbar even better was that via arc was able to get dolby atmos from tv netflix and prime even though the tv supposed does not support it via tv speakers it does via atmos soundbar..the operating system is great it takes a while to configure and get pic settings right but its quite good black levels for budget tv not quite figured out auto luminance settings yet but contrast is good for the price of tv..i think you can add usb to increase storage too ok the build quality is not the greatest it does look good with a samsung esque stand design its quite sturdy overall quite impressed especially as there are likely to be frequent updates with amazon too so all in all a good purchase for the price of the tv plus the remote is great and even alexa voice control so not bad indeed
Once you put the stand on (always the tricky bit) it actually sets up pretty quick and easily links up with existing Alexa. One small hiccup – as with most TVs now it still needs a soundbar. Our old soundbar would only link to it via bluetooth so as to operate the voice volume, the SKY remote for the TV volume etc. But once you have synced the bluetooth the link drops out occasionally, which sets it out of sync. So it’s either keeps syncing or go back to the optical cable. Not sure whether this is a function of my old soundbar (about 2-3 years old), but we went back to the optical cable and manual volume/on.
TV is impressive though, well ahead of my last Panasonic which was less than 3 years old and probably about twice the price and smaller.
Is it perfect? – No but it will probably be good enough as a main tv for many homes and a cracking 2nd/bedroom/office tv, even for those with a premium brand main tv like me.
I already have 2 top draw 55″ 4k tvs, the Panasonic CX802 (arguably the best tv from 2015) and the LG OLED E6 (arguably the best tv from 2016) but wanted a 3rd tv for my office, as my daughter has now got my older HD tv in her bedroom.
In addition to the JVC Fire TV Edition, I considered the (50″) Hisense B7500 (349), the Phillips 7 and 8 series (c. 500) and the Panasonic GX 800 (C. 600). I have no doubt that the Panny and Philips have a superior picture but they both have poor SMART functionality and Philips tvs have an inherent issue with washed out HDR. The Hisense is also pretty basic in its SMART functionality and unlikely to be much better in terms of picture quality, as well as reported lip sync issues. So, I took a punt on this one, admittedly with some trepidation, as I am quite picky when it comes to audio/visual stuff.
I need not have worried, as this has a surprisingly good picture, very good sound for a budget flat screen tv and the Fire TV OS is on a par with LG’s WebOS but without the irritating lip sync issues that tend to plague LG tv video apps.
The only issue of particular note I have had appears to be with the Fire OS when playing 4K HDR content. It appears to stretch the processor, RAM and storage to the limit and can cause picture stutter and freezing with Amazon Prime content and slow Fire OS response. Clearing the cache in the Amazon Prime app under settings and/or rebooting the tv resolves this and it is best not to use the menus too much when playing this content e.g. to check picture and sound settings). Hopefully, a firmware update may resolve this going forward.
I am also a bit disappointed the tv does not appear to handle the HDR 10 plus format, as Amazon Prime has recently started using that, rather than Dolby Vision. However, the HDR 10 plus videos in Prime do play in standard HDR 10 instead, so you are still getting HDR, just not quite as good. Probably a cost issue and could possibly be upgradeable through firmware at a later date, as the fire tv cube has it.
Below are my more detailed comments on the tv and set up, as the manual may be large but doesn’t explain what a lot of the settings do.
Picture Quality
Pretty good out of the box, with the movie setting being the most accurate. However, I have done a basic calibration by tweaking the contrast, brightness, backlight, colour etc., which has improved the picture further. The picture does not “pop” with vivid colour like some high end tvs, particularly with sub 4K sources, but I found the colours to be impressively accurate and natural for a tv at this price. The greens (least important) are the only area that it struggles with a bit, as do most budget tvs. The image is very good indeed when fed a 4K HDR source, which gives that extra “pop”, regardless of whether the HDR type is HDR 10, Dolby Vision or HLG.
Upscaling to 4K – adequate but not the best.
Black levels – surprisingly impressive, particularly if you tweak the picture settings properly (mine is a VA panel but I understand these are shipped randomly with either VA or IPS panels – VA panels have better blacks). Understanding a little of how VA and IPS panels are manufactured, I imagine you may be more likely to get a VA panel with the 40″ and 49″ and least likely with the 55″ but I can’t be sure.
Viewing Angle – very limited. Anything slightly off central viewing results in faded colours, the more off axis you go, the more faded the picture. However, it appears to retain colour accuracy pretty well off axis and is certainly watchable. If you get an IPS panel, this should be much improved but at the cost of poorer blacks. I prefer the better blacks and ensuring I don’t watch at an angle.
Motion handling – the tv does not have any motion interpolation to remove judder and blur, which is a common feature of most other tvs. However, this feature rarely works without adverse side effects and many switch it off, so not a loss for me. I have found the motion during action scenes and fast sport to be very acceptable, particularly at this price level, although if this is something that really bothers you, you may wish to look elsewhere.
Backlight Functionality – this is a fairly basic direct lit LED tv, so there is some backlight blooming and you can sometimes see individual lights on in some scenes. However, I was expecting much worse at this price and I imagine it will be perfectly acceptable for many people.
Picture Settings
The auto backlight works quite well but, if you switch it off to try to get a better picture for your room, the backlight automatically sets to the maximum of 100 and the picture, particularly in dark scenes, will look awful. For all non-HDR content, you need to drop the backlight to somewhere between 40-55 in my experience. I have mine at 45 in a lower than average brightness room. When HDR kicks in, the tv automatically recognises this and resets the backlight higher, as this is needed to properly experience HDR. Don’t worry, though, as the picture does not suffer similar problems when in 4K HDR. It looks great, even in a darker room.
There are several picture modes but I found movie to be the most accurate and best for viewing.
You can get more vivid images out of the picture by turning up the colour control to around 70 but this will be at the cost of colour accuracy, which starts to reduce around 52-53 on my set. Mine is set to 52.
You need to set backlight (unless using auto modes), brightness and contrast according to your particular room conditions but, for what it is worth, I have mine set to 45, 51 and 48 respectively.
The sharpness control appears to do virtually nothing, even with a calibration disc/slides I could see no difference between min or max settings. I wouldn’t worry too much about this, though, as professional advice is usually to switch it to zero anyway.
Colour temperature – I have mine set to warm but cool, standard and user all look fine too and and can be customised.
Picture format – for best PQ, use auto mode.
Advanced picture settings – the tv provides a full suite of calibration options, should you wish to fine tune your picture further but I would advise not playing with these unless you know what you are doing. However, also included in this menu are a few picture “enhancements” that you may want to experiment with, as purists would switch all these off! In particular, I have switched off adaptive luma control, local contrast control and blue stretch. I have left on both noise reduction functions (to reduce picture noise in various situations) and have these at “auto” and “low” respectively with no noticeable detrimental effects.
I recommend setting DI Film Mode to “auto”, as this will ensure films display with the correct frame rate.
There are game and PC modes that should only be switched on, if you are gaming or connecting to a PC.
HDMI RGB should be set to auto but may need to be set to full when connected to a PC only.
HDMI input mode – leave at auto unless you get no picture, in which case switch to 1.4 (non UHD sources) and 2.0 for UHD.
You need to set each input separately and can’t copy over settings automatically across all inputs. Also, there appears to be no way of adjusting the picture settings for the tv’s own inbuilt apps at all, only the external inputs such as HDMI. I would normally be concerned about this but, having watched a variety of content in different apps on the tv, it all looks really good, so Amazon have probably set this up pretty well themselves and tried to keep this simple for users.
Sound Quality
I was very surprised at how good the audio is on this tv. The advertised spec promotes its DTS HD and Virtual X capabilities and completely ignores its Dolby audio capability. In standard Dolby (smart) mode, the tv has a good, balanced sound with clear dialogue (further dialogue enhancement options also available) and, surprisingly, the tv was able to play the Dolby Atmos soundtrack from Jack Ryan, indicating it may have (unadvertised) Atmos capability. I tried the DTS Virtual X (a pseudo atmos-type effect) and this certainly added some real dimension to the sound but at the cost of some vocal clarity. All in all, this was a real surprise, as I was expecting to need to buy a soundbar but am happy to do without. Lip sync has been absolutely fine with all content, from the tv or via HDMI. it doesn’t do deep bass, of course.
Fire OS – apart from the resolvable glitch mentioned above, it is one of the slickest systems around on a tv. Really good.
Build quality – uses cheap, slightly flimsy plastic but overall seems to be fine. My top bezel was slightly loose but has no detrimental effect. I am very happy for the price.
Love it ! good picture good sound easy to set up so easy to use just tell Alexa what you want her to do and she does it brilliant and such a bargai
Integration with fire tv is flawless, the picture and sound quality is everything you would need from a television.
Cons
Mounting the tv to a bracket can lead to covering up some of the hdmi slots or the Ariel slot depending on how high/low you want the tv to be
I got the 49″ which fits lovely in my front room .. looks stylist and modern .. great sound and colour .. it’s great that everything is in 1 place prime, Netflix ,music ,live tv ,got sky running off HDMI cable .. over all very impressed
A fire stick HD + ethernet adaptor would cost about 45 on a sale day, so it’s around 205 for a 4K HDR TV = good. 1 star off for its flimsiness.
Feb 2020 UPDATE: After more than a month I’m still very much enjoying my JVC Fire Edition television, and I see that the price is now noticeably more than I paid in December 2019. With its voice-friendly features and gorgeous screen/picture, JVC has got a well deserved hit on its hands and is slowly edging up the price. A recent firmware update has made navigation from apps to live TV a little faster, thus improving what had been a noticeable delay. It’s great to know that JVC is still making such improvements to make happy customers even more so. However, unlike my no-delay LG in the bedroom, from cold, the JVC can take about 1 minute before apps like Netflix or Sky News become accessible, so some might find this too frustrating a wait. I will update this review further if anything else becomes worthy of reporting. Michael Jackson had a thriller hit, and so has JVC!
June 2020 ‘lockdown’ update: I’m still loving this TV, overall, but I’ve decided to deduct a star due to the persistent annoying delays of approximately 8 seconds when changing from apps to live channels. The various software updates have not yet fixed this problem. My LG does not have this problem.
The sound is OK but on most Led/LCD TV’s, except the high end sets, I have found the sound to be average, so I have used an old AV reciever and speakers which was very easy to set up.
The built in media player is not the best and I have found at times the Fire Interface to be a bit sluggish compared to the dedicated stick.
The Freeview guide though is quick and easy to use.
In terms of build the set is quite light and though the frame is plastic it does not look to bad and unless you sit just a few feet in front of it you will not notice.
The connections on the rear are clearly labelled and easy to access.
I have given 4 stars for the sluggish interface, which Iam hoping will be fixed in future updates, but iverall I am happy with the TV and would recommend it.