Even after your movies end, these art televisions look stunning on any wall.
- Design is beautiful, especially when mounted on a wall.
- One free set of bezels.
- Alexa+ is integrated and chatty.
- Video artwork looks stunning.
- Mounting is easy.
- Affordable price.
TIRED
- Picture quality is middling.
- Alexa+ is not quite as powerful as Google Gemini.
- Refresh rate is low.
I wasn’t sure about the Amazon Ember Artline at first. Having tested several Amazon Fire TV televisions over the years, I knew the screen tech was roughly the same as those models with average contrast ratio and middling picture quality. Yet, I was won over by the design aesthetics, an option for a free bezel, and support for unique AI features.
A little thicker than The Frame Pro at 1.5 inches, the Amazon Ember Artline still looks stunning with the brown bezels I selected. Like The Frame Pro, the Ember Artline sits mostly flush against the wall once mounted.
The install process was easier than any of the art televisions I tested, mostly because there is one bracket to screw into the wall and super-clear instructions. There isn’t a breakout box to connect peripherals, but you can easily access the four HDMI ports by gently pulling the TV out from the wall mount. The familiar Amazon remote has a big blue button for Alexa+ and it’s intuitive to use.
Amazon includes 2,000 free art images and photos. I was impressed by what I’m calling moving artwork—paintings and photos that have subtle animations and video elements. One scene involves a mountain vista with smoke gently rising in the background. The Frame Pro requires a paid subscription for most art but has more masterpieces—and around 5,000 images total.
Picture quality is about average for a QLED television and better than the TCL NXTVISION. All of the paintings and photos appear clear and crisp, even in a sunny room. I streamed Game of Thrones from the HBO Max app and felt the contrast was a bit of a problem for some dimly lit scenes with a fire raging in the background. The Frame Pro has better picture fidelity and contrast—the same scenes were much easier to see.
With a refresh rate of 60 Hz, gamers will want to pass on the Ember Artline. Playing Forza Horizon 6 on a high-end Acer Nitro gaming computer felt a bit laggy at times. On the gacha role-playing game NTE, the bright colors had a vibrancy that won me over a bit more, even if Crimson Desert didn’t look that realistic. If you’re looking for an art television that will work for games, the higher refresh rates of The Frame Pro (at 240 Hz) and the TCL NXTVISION (at 144 Hz) will be better options.
Where the Ember Artline shines, though, is with AI features. I discovered that Alexa+ can generate an AI image by voice. Speaking “Create an image of cows in a farm field with a sunset in the background” actually worked. The other art TVs did not allow that. A nifty feature called Omnisense turns the display off when you are not in the room, then resumes when you return. However, it didn’t always work during my testing period. Another AI feature lets you snap pictures with your phone and have Alexa generate art with similar tones.
