- You know, I've reviewed a lot of streaming devices
over the years,
and there's an issue that keeps popping up
with a lot of them.
So I thought I would highlight that today.
And that is, you should always, always, always
buy the 4K version
and the reason why is both complex and technical,
but also really, really simple.
So let's dive in.
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All right everybody.
Thanks for joining me today.
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where we do fun Q & A stuff
and giveaways for devices a lot like this.
So yeah, hope to see you there.
So why should you always buy the 4K version
of a streaming product?
Well, let's get the technical explanation
out of the way first.
Basically, we're going to be looking
at a few different things when we look at the tech specs
for a device like this.
First of all the CPU, the central processing unit,
the RAM is number two, that's also known as the memory.
And then there's the WiFi performance.
Now, obviously WiFi performance
determines how quickly your device receives data.
The CPU and RAM performance
are all about how quickly the device itself operates.
The better both of those categories
are the less time you'll spend scrolling, typing,
and loading and the more time you'll spend watching.
Now, the thing we're not looking at today
is picture quality, because it's kind of self-explanatory.
If you're after 4K or Dolby Vision or HDR10 or whatever,
then that's pretty easy to tell from the box
whether you get it.
But my point with all of this is
even if you feel like you just need 10 ADP,
you should still buy the 4K device anyway.
And here's why, let's look at the specs.
Now, the lineup of devices,
that it might be easiest to see this with is the Firestick
and Fire TV Cube.
So as we look at these, let's go back to our three metrics.
The Firestick, the regular base version,
the 1080PHD version has a quad-core 1.3 gigahertz processor
with one gigabyte of RAM,
that's DDR3 RAM and 802.11 AC WiFi.
Now that may all be great to you and that's fine.
I can't pretend that I'm super technically savvy,
but let's look at it in comparison to the Firestick 4K.
It also has a quad-core processor,
but this one is capable of 1.7 gigahertz speeds.
It also has 1.5 gigabytes of RAM, and this is DDR4 RAM.
So this is basically the next generation of RAM
and it's got the same WiFi capabilities.
So already we can see that the Firestick 4K
is capable of more than the regular Firestick.
It's got a better processor, it's got more RAM.
It's got better RAM.
It's just got more guts, I mean much like myself.
Now we could stop there,
but let's actually take a look at the Fire TV Cube as well.
It actually has two processors.
It's got a quad-core, 2.2 gigahertz processor,
plus it's got a full two gigabytes of RAM.
Now what does this actually mean?
Well, the Fire TV Cube is a little bit different
because it's not just a streaming device,
it's also got an echo built right in,
and that thing is always running.
So that's why they need that extra processor in there,
need a little bit of extra RAM
because she is always listening,
but still we can see just from the numbers that, yeah,
the Fire TV Cube, you're paying more,
but you're getting more for it as well.
So the Fire TV line is a really great example of all this,
but there's also a new device on the block.
A couple of weeks ago,
I did a review of Walmart's new streaming devices,
the Onn Streaming Stick and the Onn Streaming Box.
They both come with ARMS A53 processor,
which is capable of about 1.8 gigahertz,
but the streaming stick has one gigabyte of RAM,
while the streaming box has two gigabytes of RAM.
Now Roku also shows this pattern up to a certain extent,
the Roku Express versus the Roku Express 4K+
is a great illustration.
The base model comes with the A53 processor
and 512 megabytes of RAM
whereas the Roku Express 4K+ comes with the A55 processor,
the nextgen with a full gigabyte of RAM
and better WiFi reception.
Now this is a little bit unfair
because that original Roku Express,
I think this is a four or five-year-old model now.
That one just isn't going to have the same guts
as some of these other newer types of devices.
But that's the thing about Roku.
They are continually updating their equipment.
So case in point is the Roku Streaming Stick+,
which still has an older processor, one gigabyte of RAM,
but it does have the newer WiFi system in there.
But just based on the numbers,
it actually isn't quite as good as the Roku Express 4K+.
So what does this mean, practically?
What does this mean for you on a day to day basis?
Obviously by the numbers 4K devices perform better than HD1
especially when it comes to CPU and RAM.
This means that every time you turn on your device,
you're gonna wait a little bit less.
Every time you click on a navigation button,
you wait a little bit less.
Every time you open an app, you wait a little bit less,
maybe a lot less in that case.
Now WiFi is a little bit different story
and it's somewhat less important.
The only device on the list without the latest WiFi standard
is the Roku Express that old four year old model.
So it looks like there's no difference between the others,
but as Jared Newman over at tech hive has noted,
there is a big difference in WiFi performance
between sticks and boxes,
with boxes outperforming the sticks by a wide margin.
The theory here is that the boxes have more room
to optimize the antenna placement insight,
very possibly true,
but Jared's tests showed that most devices
in most situations
got well over the 25 megabits per second threshold,
which is what you would need to stream 4K video.
So the Roku Ultra got 50 megabits per second,
and the Fire TV Cube got 190 megabits per second.
And while that sounds impressive,
it's not going to have that much impact
on your actual viewing quality because even a 4K stream
only needs that 25 megabits per second.
So yeah, it really does come down to the processor
and the RAM
and how much speed you're able to get out of that device
because yeah, on a day-to-day basis with all the clicking,
all the navigating, all the typing that you're doing,
if it's slow, if you have a half second
or a full second delay every time you click the button
or if it takes 25 seconds instead of six seconds
to pull up a Netflix title,
yeah, it's gonna get real old, real quick, I promise.
But that's all the technical stuff.
I also said, there's a really simple reason
to pick up the 4K device instead of the HD1
and that's price.
Now they do usually cost more.
Usually though the difference in the price
is a matter of five to 10 bucks,
getting the on streaming box is only $5 more than the stick.
The Firestick 4K
is usually only about 10 bucks more than the HD version.
So in my mind, it's kind of a no-brainer.
Certainly a no brainer
if you're thinking about a Roku Express
versus the Express 4K+, I mean, they're the same price.
Now, on the other hand,
if you're bumping all the way up to the Roku Ultra
or the Fire TV Cube, you're gonna pay more
than just a few bucks extra,
but you're probably doing it for more bells and whistles
than just a bump in speed and performance.
So let me know in the comments,
if you have any thoughts or experience
with this particular topic
and let me know if you agree with my assessment
or if you're wrong.
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Anyway, thanks for watching everybody.
If you liked this video, then yeah,
go ahead and give it a like.
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and don't forget to subscribe
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I will see you there.