Amazon Fire TV 2-Series (40-Inch)

Almost all TVs available today are 4K, but you can still find 1080p (and lower) models if you’re looking for smaller screens and lower prices. The Amazon Fire TV 2-Series is available in a 40-inch, 1080p version for $249.99 and a 32-inch, 720p version for $199.99. The 40-inch model is the cheapest TV we’ve tested in years—and it mostly performs like it. The 1080p resolution isn’t its main problem, though; it looks perfectly fine because the screen is fairly small. Instead, the TV's big weakness is a very dim panel (that is even dimmer than the disappointing 4K Fire TV Omni). If you can increase your budget, the 2-Series is far outshined in terms of both picture quality and features by the $449.99 43-inch Fire TV Omni QLED.

Design: Basic Black Bezels

Even though it’s an entry-level budget TV, the 2-Series isn’t an ugly, chunky-looking device. It lacks the nearly bezel-free design of most higher-end TVs, but its flat black bezel is narrow enough (0.3 inches on the top, 0.4 inches on the sides, 0.8 inches on the bottom) to almost disappear around the screen. It sits on two short, V-shaped black plastic legs and can be mounted on the wall.

(Credit: Will Greenwald)

The TV’s ports face right on the back of the screen, inconveniently closer to the center than the side, so you have to reach a bit deeper behind it to plug anything in. They include three HDMI ports (one ARC), one USB port, one optical audio output, one 3.5mm headphone jack, one 3.5mm IR blaster port (not included), an Ethernet port, and an antenna/cable connector.

The included remote is the same Fire TV Alexa Voice Remote Enhanced that comes with the Fire TV Omni. It’s a skinny black candy bar of a remote with a circular navigation pad near the top. A pinhole microphone for Alexa sits above the pad, along with Alexa and power buttons. Menu and playback buttons are below the pad, with volume and channel rockers further down and dedicated service buttons for Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, Hulu, and Netflix near the bottom.

(Credit: Will Greenwald)

Features: Hands-On Alexa

Like you might have already figured out from the name, the Fire TV 2-Series uses Amazon’s Fire TV smart TV platform and effectively acts as if a Fire TV Stick was plugged into it. Fire TV is a capable system that covers all major streaming services including Apple TV, Crunchyroll, Disney+, Max, Netflix, Twitch, and YouTube, and of course Amazon Prime Video. It’s similar to Google TV in design and implementation, but obviously more Amazon-focused. It lacks any phone-streaming features like Apple AirPlay or Google Cast, but it does support Miracast/WiDi for wirelessly connecting your computer.

(Credit: Will Greenwald)

Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant is built into the Fire TV platform, and you can access it on the 2-Series by holding the Alexa button on the remote and speaking into it. You can use Alexa to search for content, control the TV and any compatible smart home devices, get general information like sports scores and weather, and use a variety of other functions. It’s handy, but not as convenient as it is on the Fire TV Omni models that have far-field microphones for using Alexa with just your voice. In comparison, you need to hold the remote when you want control to the 2-Series with your voice.

Performance: Shedding Little Light

The Fire TV 2-Series is a 1080p LED TV with a 60Hz refresh rate. It supports high dynamic range (HDR) content in HDR10. It has an ATSC 1.0 tuner for over-the-air broadcasts. It does not have an ATSC 3.0 tuner for 1080p and 4K broadcasts.

We test TVs with a Klein K-10A colorimeter, a Murideo SIX-G signal generator, and Portrait Displays’ Calman software. Contrast is usually the first quality to be compromised when making a cheap TV, and that’s certainly apparent on the 2-Series. Out of the box, in Movie Bright mode, we measured a peak brightness of 252 nits with a full-screen and 18% white field using both an SDR and an HDR signal. It’s dimmer than the Fire TV Omni (334 nits, 18% field), and much dimmer than both the Fire TV Omni QLED (474 nits, 18%) and the Hisense U6K (591 nits, 18%). At 0.06 cd/m^2, black levels are a bit better than the Omni (0.11 cd/m^2), but notably worse than the Omni QLED (0.04 cd/m^2) and the U6K (0.015 cd/m^2). These test results give the 2-Series a very low 4,200:1 contrast ratio, behind every other TV we’ve tested in the last few years except the Omni.

Colors are quite good on the 2-Series out of the box. The chart below shows colors in Movie Bright mode with an SDR signal compared against Rec.709 broadcast standards and with an HDR signal compared against DCI-P3 digital cinema standards. SDR colors are very close to ideal, though reds are a bit undersaturated. HDR colors are very close to SDR colors and don’t attempt to hit digital cinema levels, but they’re still fairly accurate. Whites are spot-on with both signals. 

(Credit: PCMag)

BBC’s Dynasties shows the strengths and weaknesses of the 2-Series. The good news is that the TV’s solid color performance comes through in the well-balanced and saturated greens of grass, blues of water and sky, and tans of lion fur. Because the screen is so dim, though, even daylight scenes look fairly dark and don’t give any sense of sunniness. Shadow details like the leaves on trees silhouetted against an (actually dark) stormy sky can be clearly discerned, as can the texture of black fur on lions’ ears, but they look a bit washed-out as well.

The Great Gatsby is watchable on the 2-Series, but the weak contrast is even more apparent here. The whites of shirts and balloons aren’t very bright, while black suits can appear either muddy or washed-out depending on the frame. Skin tones at least look natural.

Demonstration footage on the Spears & Munsil Ultra HD benchmark disk looks good on the 2-Series, even though the limited contrast holds it back. Colors are again balanced and saturated, but shadow details either look more gray than black or are lost in darkness depending on the frame, which is very apparent in time-lapse footage of a mountain range from early dawn to dusk. Some sunny outdoor shots look just bright enough to seem natural, at least more than they do in Dynasties. High-contrast images of colorful objects against black backgrounds look appealing, but the backgrounds definitely appear a bit more dark gray than actually black.

In all of these cases, I didn’t notice a big drop in sharpness from 4K. The higher resolution obviously has four times as many pixels and is quantifiably sharper, but on a 40-inch screen viewed from a comfortable distance, there isn’t much of a visible difference. I didn’t find the downconverted 4K test footage I watched to be particularly softer or more jagged than when I watch in native 4K on a larger (50 inches or bigger) TV.

Gaming: It's Slow

This isn’t a good TV for video games. The panel has a 60Hz refresh rate and no gaming features like variable refresh rate (VRR) to speak of, and its input lag is uncomfortably high.

We tested the 2-Series using an HDFury Diva HDMI matrix and measured a latency of 27 milliseconds in Game mode. That’s almost three times the 10ms threshold a TV needs to be under for us to call it good for gaming. For comparison, the Fire TV Omni has an input lag of only 2.6ms.

For Small Budgets and Spare Rooms

The Amazon Fire TV 2-Series is a cheap TV that performs like one. It offers strong color performance and isn’t unpleasant to watch, but it’s very dim and it lacks some of the extras that slightly higher-end, 4K budget TVs like the Fire TV Omni and the Hisense U6K have, like hands-free voice control. We don’t mind that it’s 1080p instead of 4K considering its size, but its poor contrast makes it difficult to recommend. If you want a really inexpensive TV for a spare room, the 2-Series might fit your needs. If you want a TV in a more prominent location for watching most of your favorite movies and shows, we recommend spending more on the Fire TV Omni QLED. Or, if you're willing to further increase your budget and have enough space for a 55-inch panel, the Hisense U6K is our Editors' Choice for affordable TVs thanks to its excellent color, strong contrast, and low input lag.