Hisense’s new 4K Fire TV (50U6HF) costs $529 and has a 50-inch 60Hz display with a borderless design. It uses Hisense’s proprietary ULED technology – a more affordable version of QLED that Hisense says improves color, contrast and brightness. The TV also comes with support for Dolby Vision HDR and Quantum Dot technology for color enhancement.
With Fire TV built in, you can expect everything that typically comes with Amazon’s Fire OS, including a range of streaming apps and an Alexa-enabled voice remote, so you can call on the smart assistant to control volume, playback, and TV. ability to regulate, as well as search for something to watch. You can also use Alexa to control all compatible smart devices in your home.
Outside of Google, Hisense has partnered with Roku to make TVs in the past. In 2020 a report from protocol revealed that Google is banning its partners from making devices that use a forked version of Android, such as Fire TV. Google reportedly told manufacturers it would revoke their software licenses on all Android devices they make — not just TVs — as a result of its partnership with Amazon.
Hisense’s foray into Fire TVs may mean Google has changed its restrictive licensing policies, while increasing regulatory pressure on anti-competitive policies. We’ll probably know if that’s the case when we see other Google TV partners lining up to make Fire TVs. Back in January, Hisense announced a slew of Google TVs, and some have already started shipping. The edge contacted Google to see if and when it changed its policy, but didn’t hear back immediately.