- Viewers have been asking me to do a breakdown
of all the major Fire TV devices.
So, that's what I'm gonna do today.
We're gonna get into the basics of each of the five devices.
What makes them similar?
What sets them apart from each other?
And which device might be right for you?
So, let's dive in.
(upbeat music)
Now, as we get started,
just keep in mind that this is a Cord-Cutting 101 video,
so we're not gonna get super technical.
Instead, I'm gonna concentrate on keeping things basic.
Just trying to answer the question of which device
is the right one for your situation.
So if you have a more detailed question,
throw it in the comments,
and either I or maybe somebody else will answer it.
Now, let's get into the devices themselves.
There are five major Fire TV devices,
and we're not counting the smart TVs with Fire TV built-in.
Those are kind of in a category on their own.
We're just gonna deal
with the five stand-alone Fire TV devices.
We'll go from cheapest to most expensive here.
It starts with the Fire TV Stick Lite, the Fire TV Stick,
the Fire TV Stick 4K, the Fire TV Stick 4K Max,
and the Fire TV Cube.
Yeah, that's a lot of devices.
And they're going to be easier to keep track of
if we split them into three pricing tiers:
low, mid, and high.
The next step is we need to decide what's most important
as we're shopping for one of these devices.
Do you want something that's cheap,
something that's powerful,
or something that's well-integrated?
Now, I'll tell you what I mean by all of those.
Let's start with the cheap category.
This is the easy one, sort of.
If you're going as cheap as possible,
then yeah, you'll look at the lower tier of devices.
It makes sense.
The Fire Stick Lite and the Fire Stick are nearly identical
with 1080p resolution with HDR,
and they go for 30 or $40, respectively.
So, what do you get for the $10 difference
if you spring for the full Fire Stick
versus the Fire Stick Lite?
Well, first of all, the Fire Stick Lite
ships with a super basic remote
that does not have TV controls,
like power and volume.
The regular Fire Stick does have that.
The Lite version also doesn't support Dolby Atmos sound.
So while the remote, I think, is a fairly big deal,
I don't think the Dolby Atmos thing
is going to be a deal breaker.
And these are the two major differences.
Really, that's what you're getting for 10 bucks.
And honestly, if you're sweating over a $10 difference
on a streaming stick,
then I doubt that you have
a state-of-the-art 7.1 surround sound system
that would really benefit from the Dolby Atmos.
So, frankly, I'm not really much worried about it.
But yeah, having a remote with TV controls is nice.
It might be worth that 10 extra bucks, maybe.
Now, I called this the cheap category.
But the only problem with calling it the cheap category
is that Amazon is constantly running different deals
on different devices.
So, while the Fire Stick usually goes for 40
and the Fire Stick Lite goes for 30,
there's actually a deal right now
as I'm recording this
to get the Fire Stick 4K for 25 bucks.
But again, as I'm recording this,
I have no idea how long that deal will last.
The point is, I'm giving you general pricing guidelines,
but make sure before you buy anything,
poke around to see if there are any excellent deals going on
when you're ready to make your purchase.
Okay, onto the powerful category.
If you want a step up in your device,
you need to move to the next pair:
the Fire Stick 4K and the Fire Stick 4K Max.
Now, I did a close look at the 4K Max recently
when it was released,
and I compared it in detail to some of the other devices.
So you can have a look at that video if you'd like.
For now, again, let's keep it really simple.
This category gets you 4K compatible devices
that are noticeably faster than their cheaper counterparts.
The 4K thing is pretty self-explanatory.
If you have a TV and an internet connection
that can handle 4K streaming,
then getting yourself a 4K device,
that's a great idea.
Simple as that.
Now, when I say that these devices are faster though,
here's what I mean:
powering on, loading apps, playing video,
even something as small as how long it takes the device
to register a click on your remote.
Everything you do is faster with the 4K sticks,
and the 4K Max is even a bit faster
than the regular 4K stick.
The Max also is Wi-Fi 6 compatible,
which probably won't affect a huge number of people yet.
But if you do have a Wi-Fi 6 router,
then you'll find that your connection to the stick
is faster and more reliable.
Now, how big a deal is speed as I've presented it here?
Well, it depends on your own preferences
and how much you'll be using the device.
Maybe you don't really care about a little extra lag
when you press the buttons,
but maybe you do.
And if you're watching a lot of TV daily,
and this is the device you'll be using to do it,
then I think it's worth an extra five bucks.
I mean, deals aside.
Normally, it's $5 more,
just to make your daily experience a little smoother
with the 4K Max.
But again, that's just my opinion.
So, go sound off in the comments.
But there is one more category.
We've had cheap and we've had powerful,
now let's talk about integrated.
The Fire TV Cube could actually win in the powerful category
because it is slightly more powerful
than the Fire Stick Max 4K.
But I do mean slightly,
not enough to justify the price jump.
But when it comes to smart integration,
the Cube is in its own category
for the simple reason that it's a full on Echo device
as well as a streaming box.
It's basically like taking an Echo Dot and a Fire Stick 4K
and kind of mashing them together.
So, your Fire TV Cube cannot only stream your shows
in 4K, in HDR, Dolby Vision, and Dolby Atmos,
et cetera, et cetera,
it can also control your smart devices
and it'll do a picture-in-picture for your ring doorbell.
That sort of thing.
And it can do all of these things hands-free.
The Fire TV Sticks can do most of that stuff, most of it,
but you have to set them up with an existing Echo device,
so there's an extra step there.
You'll have to have your TV turned on
and press the remote button to these voice commands.
So there's definitely a convenience factor here
with the hands-free Fire TV Cube,
but you'll pay a decent amount more for that convenience.
The Fire TV Cube retails for $120.
But again, keep an eye out for deals
or grab a refurbished unit or a nice discount.
Anyway, there's your broad overview of Fire TV devices.
You've got the cheap ones.
You've got the nice ones.
You've got the well-integrated one.
Which one is right for you
will depend entirely on your own situation.
So I'm curious to hear from those choosing between them.
Let me know in the comments
which one you're leaning toward and why.
On your way down there,
don't forget to give this video a thumbs up
and subscribe for more videos like this one.
All right, thanks for watching, everybody.
I will see you next time.