Amazon Fire Tv (Box and Stick)
Pros
- Voice Search from remote
- Dolby Atmos Support
- Competitive Price
- Easy to Use
- Plays at 4K Ultra HD
Cons
- 8 GB Storage is a little low
- Lack of YouTube or Vudu support
- Video Subscriptions needed
- No integrated camera
- Controller costs extra
Amazon Fire TV in the eyes of a TechAdict
First Look
Amazon has been working hard to capture not only the smart speaker market but also the smart TV market. It’s been giving the Chromecast quite some competition with the Fire TV stick at $39.99. Now it is tackling the Apple TV and the Chromecast Ultra with the 4K ready Amazon Fire TV or the Amazon Fire Cube.
It is much cheaper than other 4K alternatives in the market such as those by Roku or the before mentioned Apple and Google. The Fire TV comes in at $69.99 with the HD antenna, including an Alexa-activated voice remote.
The Details
The design of the 4K version of the Fire TV moves away from the stick-like design and resembles the Chromecast quite a bit. The device is diamond-shaped and has a short HDMI cable to connect it to your TV. The device connects to your Wi-Fi network, though you can get a separate Ethernet from Amazon for wired connections. While the previous Fire TV stick could play 30 frames per second 4K, the improved processor allows this streaming device to play 4K 60fps and has support for high dynamic range. There is also support for Dolby Atmos, which enables surround sound if the TV supports this technology.
The Fire TV supports a variety of streaming services including Netflix, Prime Video, Hulu, HBO, SHOWTIME, NBC, and more. This a lot of content and could easily be enough. However, it does not support iTunes or Vudu, which have the majority of 4K HDR content. Another problem is that Google no longer provides support for YouTube on Amazon’s streaming devices. The device has 8GB of storage and you can use this to install apps for various services. The device does not come with a MicroSD slot, so you cannot expand this storage.
The Fire TV comes with an Alexa-enabled remote control. This allows you to control what plays on your TV with voice commands. You can resume shows on various services by just asking Alexa. The device can also give you answers to various questions or tell you a joke.
Conclusion
Overall, if you have a 4K HDR-enabled TV, the Amazon Fire TV is easily one of the best streaming devices available. With features like voice search, app integration, side-loading apps you could be able to cut the cord of cable. It is the cheapest device and can do almost anything the other devices can. However, if you require services like YouTube or iTunes Video, you may be better considering other options.
Hardware
- Octa-core Snapdragon 835 Processor
- Adreno 540 GPU (Video Processor)
- Non-removable Li-Ion 3300 mA battery
- IP68 certified – dust/water resistant
- Gorilla Glass 5; Super AMOLED touchscreen
- 3 inches screen; 1440 x 2960 pixels
- Iris scanner, fingerprint (rear-mounted)
- accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass
- barometer, heart rate, SpO2
Storage
- Internal storage 64/128/256 GB
- Internal RAM 6 GB; Dual SIM
- microSD up to 256 GB
Software
- Android 7.1.1 (Nougat), upgradable to Android 8.0 (Oreo)
- Samsung DeX (desktop experience support)
- Fast battery charging (Quick Charge 2.0)
- Bixby natural language commands and dictation
Camera
- Dual 12 MP rear facing camera
- 2x optical zoom, LED flash
- 8 MP – 1440p@30fps
