Amazon Fire TV Review - If Alexa controls the home, then Fire TV will control the TV. How to Set Up Your Amazon Fire TV Stick for Great Media Streaming Fire TV vs. Apple TV: Movies & TV Shows

About Amazon Fire TV, which studied in detail all the nuances of the new media set-top box and drew parallels with Apple TV, compared both products. We decided to translate it for you, dear readers.

Amazon's Fire TV is a response to Apple's Apple TV and rival products like the Roku 3 and Google Chromecast. The set-top box gives you access to Amazon-branded features such as Instant Video, Showtime Anytime, and a variety of games on your big screen TV. Of course, it will not be able to play content from iTunes, which means the uselessness of all your movies, music and applications purchased on the iPhone or iPad. However, if you don't have a big iTunes "legacy" or want to try something new, you have a choice!

Apple TV vs Amazon Fire TV: Design and initial setup

When I opened the Fire TV box, I was surprised by the small size and flat form factor. It is slightly larger than the Apple TV, but thinner than the latter. Thanks to this, the prefix looks very cool and, importantly, it does not take up much space and fits on any surface. To start using your Fire TV, simply plug in the power cord and HDMI cable.

In the case of Apple TV, the installation process is completely similar, we connect two cables and you're done.

Winner: draw.

Fire TV vs. Apple TV: Remote control

The convenience of using a media set-top box largely depends on the remote control. Personally, I hate the Apple TV remote because it always slips and gets lost among blankets and cushions. As a result, you always have to put it “face down” somewhere in the living room. However, it is very convenient and easy to use. Also, the advantage of Apple TV is the many shortcuts that allow you to quickly navigate between popular features. Well, do not forget about the Remote.app application, which greatly facilitates text input and gesture control.

The Fire TV remote looks thicker than the Apple one, but I think this is more of a plus. It is much more comfortable to hold in your hand and does not get stuck in sofa cushions. But the key feature of the Fire TV remote, without a doubt, is voice control. You can search by series, movies, actors, and more. Want to see all the movies with Christian Bale? No question, just say his name and Fire TV will give you a complete list of them. The only downside is that at the moment, the set-top box is looking for information only on Amazon services. That is, even if you are logged into Netflix or Hulu Plus, using voice control, you won’t be able to find anything in them - you will have to search in them manually, using the appropriate applications.

Both remotes are easy to learn and convenient, but Fire TV has more to offer out of the box without the need to install additional apps. We consider this a plus, since voice search is easier than manual text entry.

Winner: Amazon Fire TV.

Fire TV vs. Apple TV: Interface and design

Navigating the Apple TV interface is done using a list of icons that you can customize in preferences. The top row stays the same and contains shortcuts for quick access to the iTunes Store, iTunes Radio, music, and media from other computers on your home network (via iTunes, of course). You can arrange all other icons as you like or hide them altogether. Anyone who has used iOS devices will be familiar with the Apple TV interface.

Fire TV, on the other hand, uses a vertical menu categorized on the left side of the screen, leaving the lion's share of the space to preview the content contained in each section. Scrolling up or down immediately displays all content from the respective category. Such an interface is very visual and focuses more on the content that is always in front of your eyes. Sometimes, when moving through the Apple TV menu, it slows down a little, Fire TV is free from this drawback, which is good news.

The Apple TV interface is a bit dated (but this should be fixed in an upcoming update) approx. per.). But the Fire TV shell, on the contrary, was a welcome breath of fresh air for me.

Winner: Amazon Fire TV.

Fire TV vs. Apple TV: Movies & TV Shows

Both iTunes and Amazon offer a huge selection of movies and TV shows. Which service is best for you depends largely on your preferences and the ecosystem you surround yourself with. If you have an Amazon Prime subscription, you can watch movies for free on Amazon Instant, which are often available there before iTunes.

On the other hand, if you've been purchasing content from iTunes for years, it will be fully available on Apple TV via iCloud as well. Music and movies from all your iPhones, iPads and Macs will also be available from anywhere.

Both services are good and offer content for all tastes, so it all depends on who you prefer to give your money to.

Winner: draw.

Fire TV vs. Apple TV: Music

Apple TV gives you access to iTunes Radio and all content from iTunes Match - hundreds of radio stations for every taste, always at your disposal. If you have an iPhone or iPad, you can use AirPlay to stream music from any service directly to your Apple TV.

Fire TV supports Pandora, iHeartRadio, TuneIn Radio, VEVO, and more. But given its recent release, we can expect more streaming services to come soon. In the meantime, thanks to the support of iTunes, Apple TV remains the leader without a doubt. Also, I wonder why Amazon hasn't introduced its own music store and services yet.

Given the integration with iTunes and AirPlay support, which opens up access to many alternative services, Apple TV wins on this point.

Winner: Apple TV.

Fire TV vs. Apple TV Apps

In the case of the Apple TV, you only get the apps that come out of the box. Sometimes Apple enters into partnerships with new partners and all of a sudden you have new apps or support for new services. And although their list is quite extensive, Fire TV offers us a great alternative. Already at the time of launch, there are hundreds of applications, and soon there will be even more. All Fire TV apps are essentially the same Android apps that scale to fit the screen. However, they don't look bad and work great.

Also, do not forget about Amazon Coins, which are awarded when you purchase content and which can be spent on your future purchases. This is a great way to get legal games and apps for free. Who would refuse such a thing?

Apple is well positioned in the battle for apps on mobile devices, but for set-top boxes, Amazon is currently in the lead.

Winner: Amazon Fire TV.

Fire TV vs. Apple TV: Games

Amazon optionally equips its Fire TV with a dedicated game controller. There are quite a lot of games now, and in the future there will be even more. For these games, you do not need to have a gamepad at all, you can also play them using the included remote control. I don't think Amazon is going to offer Xbox level gaming (especially for the money), but for non-gamers, the Fire TV's gaming capabilities will be enough.

There are rumors about an SDK for developers of games and applications for Apple TV, but at the moment only the "boxed" applications described above are available to us. Although if you have an iPhone or iPad, you can easily play any of the installed games on the big screen using AirPlay.

Winner: Amazon Fire TV (AirPlay does not count).

Fire TV vs. Apple TV: Accessibility

Thanks to the VoiceOver feature, Apple TV has a fairly wide range of possibilities for universal access. This function has practically no analogues, not only among media set-top boxes, but also among mobile devices. You can launch any app or shortcut with one touch. When VoiceOver is on, the name of each menu will be spoken. All this allows visually impaired people to use Apple TV without any inconvenience.

I couldn't find any additional accessibility options on the Fire TV. Both consoles support subtitles, but this is unlikely to help visually impaired users. If this is critical for you, Fire TV will not be the best choice.

Winner: Apple TV.

Who Should Buy an Apple TV?

Apple TV is about to be updated, but the current generation should not be written off either. All users tied to the Apple ecosystem will prefer the features that Apple TV introduces: iTunes Match, iTunes Radio, iCloud - it all works great. Also, it is very beneficial to use Apple TV to mirror your iPhone and iPad to the big screen. For people with visual impairments, it will be the best option thanks to the Voice Over feature.

If you already own other Apple products and are a frequent content purchaser or iTunes subscriber, Apple TV is the best buy for you.

Who Should Buy an Amazon Fire TV

Anyone with an Amazon Prime or Kindle Fire subscription will no doubt love the Fire TV. Despite the fact that this is only the first release, it can already offer quite a wide range of opportunities. Immediately after the launch, Amazon managed to provide users with a lot of content, including applications and games. If you're not tied to iTunes and the Apple ecosystem, Fire TV can be a great addition to your home media system.

If you want to add video streaming or special media features to your TV, there are Apple TVs or Chromecasts available for sale. The two devices are noticeably different from each other, and they are also aimed at different use cases. Amazon also does not want to be left out of the streaming market, the company introduced a new set-top box Fire TV, officially announcing it in Europe. Sales of the new device were very successful.

If you order a set-top box today, due to demand, you will not receive it until mid-December. Enough time to learn all the advantages and disadvantages of the set-top box.

Hardware

Let's start with the hardware. It plays a rather important role compared to the competition, since the Amazon Fire TV will not only play movies and music, but also work as a game console. Games should be handled by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 APQ8064T processor, which, for example, is used in the Samsung Galaxy S4 smartphone. The 4-core SoC relies on four Krait 300 cores clocked at up to 1.7GHz, but more important is the Adreno 320 GPU, which delivers decent 3D performance.

Additional components include 2 GB of RAM, 8 GB non-expandable internal flash memory, dual-band 802.11n and Bluetooth 4.0. Among the interfaces are HDMI, Ethernet, USB and optical audio output. But the set-top box with dimensions of 115.0 x 115.0 x 17.5 mm and a weight of 281 grams does not have an infrared port, the bundled remote works via Bluetooth. This principle of operation has the advantage of not requiring a line-of-sight condition between the remote control and the TV Fire. At the same time, radio communication consumes more energy than classical control via infrared rays.

The remote itself has few keys, though it doesn't look as spartan as the Apple competitor's. Eight buttons and a cross in the form of a ring are offered for operation.

But after the first use, it still becomes noticeable that the Fire TV set-top boxes are far from everything that the user may need. For example, the Amazon set-top box does not have an off toggle switch. After 30 minutes of inactivity, the set-top box automatically goes into standby mode, if necessary, it will download and install updates in it. Fire TV consumes little energy, so we do not see any special problems.

Software

Amazon relies on its own proprietary Fire OS operating system based on Android. Version 3.0 is installed on the devices, which is based on Android 4.2.2. As with Kindle tablets or Fire Phone smartphones, Google apps are not preinstalled, but can be downloaded from Amazon's own App Store. But in the case of Fire TV, everything is somewhat complicated by the fact that the choice of applications is significantly less than that of a tablet and a smartphone.

But a tech-savvy user can download and install apps on their own via APK files. In this way, you can install third-party programs. In this, the Fire TV bypasses the Apple TV and similar devices, and the possibility of modification is also worth noting. The most popular example is the XBMC shell. This media center can be installed on a set-top box, and then play multimedia files over the network. Unfortunately, connecting a USB storage device to the set-top box is not supported. There is a USB port, but on the Fire TV it cannot be used for flash drives and hard drives.

The interface bears little resemblance to the typical Fire OS look. Amazon for Fire TV has opted for a tiled interface, as well as division into sections. On the left side of the home screen, you can see the menu items: Prime video, movies, series, Watchlist, but also games, applications, music, and so on. Some of these items are further divided into sub-items, for example, you can display only new movies or those that meet certain criteria. Visually, the interface looks very modest, it is dominated by gray and black shades. In direct comparison, the Apple TV interface seems friendlier, but it's also not always intuitive.

But after installing several applications, the clarity of the interface is lost. For some reason, the Fire TV box likes to arrange icons in different places, copying them several times. And the problem with the growth in the number of applications is only getting worse. After installing ARD and ZDF libraries, news apps, photo browsing, Spotify, and a few others, the interface becomes cluttered.

In work

The company put a lot of effort into the development of Fire TV. Although using the remote control is not as easy as the Apple TV, but the built-in search function made us happy. It allows you to search not only by the word typed traditionally, but also supports voice recognition. After pressing the corresponding button on the remote control, the system can dictate the name of the actor, the name of the movie or genre. The system will look for recognized words in Amazon Instant Video and the list of applications, but not within the applications themselves. We were pleased with two features. Firstly, the recognition of titles and names in English is really very good. Secondly, the system performs recognition very quickly - although the data is sent to the cloud for processing.

But UI navigation doesn't work so well anymore. Despite the presentation of different categories, horizontal scrolling does not work on the home screen, you must first select a category that will be displayed in a separate screen. The "Back" and "Start Screen" buttons make navigation somewhat easier.

Amazon did a good job with the initial Fire TV setup. You can quickly set up an account and access Wi-Fi, with the main features shown in the form of animated videos. We only had complaints about setting up a wireless network. We were able to connect the set-top box to our Fritz!Box wireless router only on the third attempt, and no error messages were displayed.

The third generation of the Amazon Fire TV set-top box was a bit of a surprise. It was expected to be a streaming gadget or a more powerful set-top box. Instead, we got a similar Chromecast Ultra, with a user interface from Amazon.

As streaming devices become more powerful, the need for set-top boxes is decreasing. But, let's take a look at the new generation of Fire TV and find out all its features.

The new Fire TV comes with a variety of accessories neatly packaged in a cardboard box.

For the price of $70 (4,000 r) we get a kit that includes:

• Amazon Fire TV box.
• Long USB cable.
• Power adapter.
• Remote control with Alexa integration.
• A pair of AAA batteries for the remote.
• Setup Guide.

The kit may also include an Amazon Basics HD antenna, but the price will increase to $75 ($4,500).

Set-top box setup

To connect an Amazon Fire TV, you need to find a free HDMI port on the back of your TV (soundbar, A/V receiver, etc.) and plug it in.

It is recommended to connect the set-top box using the supplied power adapter, as using the USB port means that when the TV is turned off, the set-top box will also turn off, and it will take additional time to boot it up the next time you start it.

The Fire TV's weight is a bit of a concern as it can put unwanted strain on the HDMI ports on both the TV and the set-top box. To reduce it, it is recommended to attach the gadget to the TV using double-sided tape or Velcro.

Once the device is installed and turned on, the Amazon app will guide you through a simple setup. You will need to pair the remote and set-top box. To do this, press and hold the Home button for 10 seconds.

After connecting, you need to enter the password for your WiFi network and select the necessary applications that will start downloading immediately.

Management and support

To control your Amazon Fire TV with Alexa, you need to install the Amazon Alexa voice assistant app.

Alexa Assistant can launch Spotify playlists, Pandora channels, and other content. There is one drawback, it cannot play a certain movie or TV show through the Netflix or Hulu applications and is almost useless for the Russian-speaking population.

Alexa services are also not designed to set alarms or timers. Here you can not control the volume of the TV using a voice command. For those who have never used this voice assistant, I will say that it is the same as Siri in Apple products or Google Assistant in Android.

Equipment performance

Amazon Fire TV is fast, whether you're scrolling through menus or downloading 4K HDR content. On an Amazon video adapter, it usually takes about 15 seconds to play 4K HDR video. It also depends on the Internet connection, with a good speed, Fire TV can provide excellent picture quality.

When watching movies online or playing games, there will be no delays, provided that you connect the system to the power adapter, as the instructions say. When I tried to run the set-top box via the USB port, the performance really slowed down.

The Fire TV supports video streaming at up to 2160p (4K) at 60fps and is HDR10 compatible. This means you can watch HDR videos on Amazon, Netflix and other services that use HDR10. However, Fire TV doesn't support Dolby Vision or any other HDR standard, so any 4K movies you watch in other enhanced modes will play at standard dynamics.

An Ethernet connection ensures that 4K Ultra HD viewing starts almost immediately after being turned on (given sufficient bandwidth). Within a radius of five meters from the wireless router, you will have to wait up to 40 seconds until the content works at full resolution. In homes where WiFi is less stable, this will be a real problem.

Warranty for Amazon Fire TV

Amazon offers a one-year warranty, with the option to purchase an extended two-year and three-year warranty for $9 or $10 respectively.

Outcome

Amazon Fire TV is powerful, portable and simple to use anywhere. There's good app support and Alexa integration, so if you've got smart home components, the Fire TV will fit the bill.

If Amazon decides to add support for Dolby Vision or releases a more powerful set-top box (Ultra variant), it is possible that this Fire TV will be phased out within a year of the release of an improved version. But, this is an extremely powerful device with a good package that will last at least two to three years before you want to replace it.

Is there an alternative?

If you have a large library of 4K Dolby Vision-enabled movies, the $70 Chromecast Ultra is a better choice. If your media is mostly on iTunes, then you need an Apple TV 4K.

There are also many Chinese Android TV boxes with enhanced features, as well as a remote control that can control games.

Benefits of Amazon Fire TV

• Fast work.
• Stable connection.
• 4K and HDR10 support.
• Slim and stylish design.
• Simple interface.

Disadvantages of Fire TV

• Only Amazon content is prioritized.
• Slightly updated, not new equipment.
• An external power adapter must be used.
• Most of the functions are useless for the CIS.

Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV 3, Chromecast - what to choose?