Streaming entertainment on their television has become so popular these days. Now you have different brands to choose from when it comes to finding a device to run streaming entertainment on your televisions. Between smart televisions, Chromecasts, Rokus and Apple TV boxes there are plenty of options. So what we did is asked a couple of friends who have recently purchased an Amazon’s 4K-capable Fire TV Stick. This is what we found out.
The Fire TV Stick is smaller than its remote, it’s capable of controlling everything from the television set to smart home devices. Some of our friends were mixed about the Stick’s physical design,most of them calling it “easy to use,” adding that it “plugs right into the HDMI port so it’s out of sight.” However, others were less satisfied. Some of the issues are having difficulty fitting the stick into their TV set, because the black box edge near the HDMI is too thick and gets in the way of any recessed edges. The form factor was “awkward in that it seems like the required power input is an afterthought, grafted onto the side, and requires a special dongle if you opt for a wired connection.
Remote
One of the standout features of the Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K is the Alexa-enabled remote control. Many users mentioned it specifically in their reviews as why they chose the Amazon device over other streaming options. I myself enjoyed the control’s simplicity and intuitive nature, I also personally like its minimalist design. Having a tiny remote serving 90% of the remote controlling needs is a game changer. Probably made up for any drawbacks Fire stick design offers. And the best thing is they “even use voice for searches from time to time, which is something I’ve never done with any other remote.” It felt different and one thing I would wish Amazon would improve on is remote built quality.
Apps
Most of my friends cited the available apps was one reason they chose the Fire TV Stick. The device ran “full Android and runs Kodi natively. Also with apps like YouTube and DailyMotion you don’t even need TV.” The stick “plays everything from Netflix, Prime, YouTube, fiber cable and a 3rd party software (eg. Kodi).” Some choose Fire Stick was being a Prime Subscriber it gives you access to Prime video. It also supports the apps Netflix, Hulu and HBO/Showtime as channels on Prime sub.
User Interface
Another aspect Amazon’s Fire TV Stick 4K could improve on is user interface. The menu system is just too chaotic and there are lots of ads promoting shows when one could wished to land on his favorite app. While others can’t stand the Amazon slanted content and terrible horizontal app list access. Honestly, the Users Interface is terrible. The main page layout is kind of busy though it could be customized.
One of the best assets of the Amazons Fire Stick TV 4K was the ease of use. There are lots of tutorials on how to customize it even installing a third party software will not be an issue. All of these opinions are coming from other users of Roku and Chromecast.
Amazon’s nearest rival is the Roku Streaming Stick+ – which is a good option if you don’t want to be tied to Amazon services. Further up the chain there’s the Google Chromecast Ultra (although there’s no Amazon Prime Video there), with the top price spot occupied by the Apple TV 4K (if you’re invested completely into the Apple ecosystem, anyway). Of them all, we think Amazon’s is the best balance of price to performance.
Image Quality of the Amazon Fire TV Stick
The good news here is most of the content that most people will delve into most often – Sky Now, BBC iPlayer, Amazon Prime, Netflix – looks and sounds really excellent, regardless of whether you have the 4K Dolby Vision/Atmos audio-visual setup.
There’s not a lot of movies and non-Amazon TV in anything other than your bog-standard 4K HDR 10. However a solid tranche is building up of Amazon Prime Video original content that supports Dolby Vision. Haunting of Hill House and Maniac are especially good examples and the Dolby Vision material looks suitably stellar. There’s also a way smaller number of titles that support Atmos.
However, I also gave the Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K a go on my rather elderly plasma, which is merely full HD, with Dolby 5.1 audio. Well, everything on the main apps looked absolutely spiffy. .
Price
The inexpensive price point featured heavily in the PRO column for the Fire TV Stick at $50. Comparing the lower-end Roku devices and the Chromecast. The Fire TV Stick offered the best value that it couldn’t be beat for price/feature content.
It’s the presence of 4K HDR content from Amazon Prime and Netflix that makes opting for the Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K worth it over and above the Full HD version – so long as you have a compatible TV, of course.
The value of the Amazon’s device can’t be questioned – compared to a device like the Apple TV 4K, the Amazon offering is far cheaper. The only justification for buying the Apple TV or Apple TV 4K is if you’re invested completely into the Apple ecosystem and regularly AirPlay stuff to your TV. Equally, if you have an Android phone and you use Google services like Google Photos then you may be better off with the Chromecast Ultra – simply because it’s a more seamless experience with your device.
Overall, though, the Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K is the ideal one-stop shop for all your content needs. If you’re a Prime member then you get access to lots of great shows in superb quality. Otherwise if you don’t have that Prime member option then the 4K Stick is still a great access point to other streaming services, such as Netflix.
So you want 4K HDR streaming, use Alexa a lot and like Amazon’s Prime Video ecosystem then there is nothing better out there. And given how good some Prime content is right now, that makes this device a very compelling proposition indeed.
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