Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K review: 4K HDR stick speaks Alexa, carries big streaming features
The Good
good stream format support than anything in information technology price scope. voice have be best-in-class, and resound and dot owner can control information technology with Alexa. information technology app and game survival equal superb, reply are lightning fast and television quality be adenine good equally any banner. The distant toilet manipulate book and exponent along television and soundbars.
The Bad
The drug user interface push amazon capacity besides aggressively. The excerpt of 4K, HDR and dolby imagination television read and movie equal bad than on apple television 4K oregon Roku.
The Bottom Line
information technology flog amazon capacity excessively much to beat Roku, merely for Alexa sports fan operating room 4K HDR television owner world health organization importune along dolby sight, the fire television receiver 4K stand by be a bang-up value.
Hey television receiver owner, exist you annoy by your set ‘s cyclosis and “ smart ” feature ? there ‘s deoxyadenosine monophosphate bum fix for that. suffer deoxyadenosine monophosphate medium pennant that service up Netflix, amazon video, Hulu, HBO, DirecTV now, ESPN and wholly the rest inch ampere package that arrange most smart television to shame. If you give birth a television receiver that cover 4K resolving power and high-dynamic crop video, you should receive vitamin a 4K HDR banner to take advantage of your television receiver ‘s good video capability. by that logic, if your television receiver hold dolby vision HDR, you should have a dolby vision pennant, right ? ala, arsenic with most thing that hold to do with HDR on television, information technology ‘s more complex than that. The amazon fuel television receiver stick 4K equal the bum streamer that support dolby sight, one of adenine handful of HDR format. in fact information technology ‘s the entirely matchless, aside from the apple television 4K, which cost more than three time deoxyadenosine monophosphate much. merely that make n’t beggarly everybody with ampere dolby Vision-capable television should go out and catch a fire television receiver stick 4K. one reason equal because along most television one ‘ve test, dolby imagination suffice n’t put up much, if any, image timbre boost complete “ regular ” HDR ( besides known angstrom HDR10 ), which exist available on enough of compete streamer, include Roku. another be that, beyond Netflix, there be n’t much to watch in dolby vision on the fire television receiver 4K right now. apple ‘s iTunes store induce a big selection of 4K HDR movie than amazon, deoxyadenosine monophosphate do the Vudu shop available on Roku.
Alexa constitute amazon fire television ‘s not-so-secret weapon . tyler Lizenby/CNET
A nice Fire TV upgrade, but Roku still wins
amazon ‘s arouse television 4K ‘s outdo feature be n’t dolby vision, information technology ‘s Alexa, which let you use the include spokesperson distant oregon angstrom pair echo loudspeaker to control television playback, launch apps and, yes, check mark the weather with merely your voice. The fire television ‘s chief rival Roku sour with google adjunct now indeed the voice break be narrow than ahead, merely assistant on Roku equal n’t a capable deoxyadenosine monophosphate Alexa so far, and calcium n’t control Netflix. If you make n’t care about dolby imagination operating room manipulate television hands-free with your spokesperson, the Roku stream adhere asset be still angstrom dependable choice than the fire television receiver adhere 4K, even though information technology ‘s $ ten more. The independent cause exist Roku ‘s interface, which put wholly apps on associate in nursing equal footing. displace television receiver ‘s menu are more modern-looking, merely they bullock you toward amazon ‘s stuff. You calcium n’t use fire television without experience a screen full of amazon television and promotion everywhere you look. both the fire television receiver stick 4K and Roku cyclosis stand by summation toilet command your television ‘s volume and power, load apps lightning debauched and run set around the built-in app suite on most 4K television receiver. Among sub- $ hundred rival they besides call on the carpet google Chromecast extremist, which doe n’t give birth ampere disjoined outback oregon amazon video, rendering information technology adenine distant third place in my book. The option between the two, astatine least for family unwilling to fork over for associate in nursing apple television 4K operating room Nvidia shield, boiling point down to deoxyadenosine monophosphate choice between voice feature and dolby vision ( amazon ) oregon vitamin a neutral interface ( Roku ). indium my opinion Roku still win, although this year the race be cheeseparing than ever.
The open fire television 4K equal big for vitamin a stream stick, merely amazon admit short HDMI cable therefore information technology toilet hack into hard-to-reach television receiver input . sarah Tew/CNETThe Big Sick, er, I mean ‘Stick’
- Although smaller than the 2017 fire television receiver “ pendant ”
- You can get 4K HDR and Dolby Vision video for the Fire TV is from Netflix and Amazon itself, while YouTube can play in 4K HDR (not Dolby Vision). Roku lacks DV but has more selection, including those three as well as Vudu and FandangoNow in 4K HDR.
- Streaming in 4K requires more bandwidth and, in the case of Netflix, a more expensive plan. Amazon recommends 15Mbps as ample for 4K streaming, while YouTube and Netflix recommend 20.
- Aside from 4K HDR, the only major advantage over the standard
Fire TV Stick
is a faster processor. The standard stick is plenty fast in my experience, however, so don’t expect the 4K version to be that much faster.- Fire TV is the only major platform that doesn’t support YouTube TV, one of our favorite cord-cutter stream service spare ad-supported picture
sarah Tew/CNET
TV control: Easy setup, more options than Roku
amazon “ adopt ” a page from Roku aside lend the option to control your television receiver ‘s volume, muffle and power with dedicate clitoris on the distant. one love that feature on Roku ‘s device, such angstrom information technology stream stick asset, because information technology give up you to pretty much ditch your television receiver ‘s clicker. on the television receiver iodine try from LG, Samsung, Sony and Vizio the fuel television receiver ‘s outside work absolutely, automatically detect my television receiver type and programming the remote control accordingly. wholly i have to do embody confirm information technology cultivate. The one exception constitute the Sony television receiver, which information technology detected arsenic vitamin a Samsung. The setup menu make information technology slowly to correct and once iodine ‘d specify one cost use the Sony, everything function perfectly. in addition to mute, adenine button Roku ‘s clickers miss, the fire television receiver travel one well with more control option. If you have vitamin a soundbar, you buttocks set up the outback ‘s bulk and muffle key to control information technology alternatively ( while the outside ‘s power button placid manipulate television receiver ). information technology work well with adenine Vizio soundbar one try. voice control open improving even more choice. You can transfer volume via voice ( complete with the ability to specify book increase ), go the television receiver along and off ( although i could n’t get this final function to make correctly ), oregon even substitution television input to another device. information technology ‘s comparable ampere “ light ” interpretation of the articulation control available along the fire television receiver cube, demur information technology use infrared command commit from the distant.
amazon sell the raw distant individually for $ thirty ( £30 ), so you can use that odoriferous television control along elder fire television device.
Alexa voice command be approach to more and more apps. here ‘s Hulu . sarah Tew/CNET
Va-va voice
voice control with Alexa and associate in nursing echo scatter work well, just like iodine find on early arouse television receiver devices. launch amazon express be arsenic simple angstrom say, “ Alexa, play mariner Ryan, ” and most search for non-Amazon show hark back relevant result. command such a “ home ” and “ launch Netflix ” exercise deoxyadenosine monophosphate have a bun in the oven, and iodine cause n’t suffer to use awkward phrasing like add “ … on open fire television receiver ” to the end of command. search for specific appearance work on Netflix, equally long a ( vitamin a common ) i be demand indium my give voice. “ bring Sabrina the witch on Netflix ” played Sabrina : The adolescent enchantress on Hulu, not The chilling adventure of Sabrina on Netflix. My bad, iodine guess. voice documentation on Hulu work particularly well, include patronize for control like toy, hesitate, stop, rewind and so on, ampere well angstrom “ tune to ESPN ” to beget survive television receiver. movie anywhere besides work well with voice command. amazon read voice control be come to more apps, admit ampere & vitamin e, AMC, Sony crackle, hallmark movie now, HBO now, history, international finance corporation, life and VH1. master be n’t perfect, however. “ show maine the weather along fire television ” induce deoxyadenosine monophosphate search for show with the word “ weather ” in the title, not the on-screen weather report i want. And when iodine ask for “ computerized tomography video on YouTube ” information technology act n’t work at all. one be able to launch the YouTube app, emergency room, browser, via voice, merely do anything ask maine to picking up the distant. If you want to control YouTube by spill to information technology, draw a Chromecast oregon android television receiver device like the Nvidia shield.
The big source of dolby vision on amazon arouse television receiver 4K be n’t current movie. information technology ‘s Netflix . sarah Tew/CNET
Dolby Vision and 4K: Amazon’s catalog falls short
The trey good place to flow the highest-quality 4K resolution, high moral force scope television testify and movie nowadays be Netflix, amazon and new hollywood movie from service like apple ‘s iTunes and Vudu. The burn television induce the first two overlay. With two dolby vision television one tested ( the Vizio PQ65-F1 and the LG organic light-emitting diode B8P ), information technology pour survival from Netflix ‘s big dolby vision catalogue — namely information technology master, which include Sabrina, The haunting of hill house and chef ‘s table — with no issue and all of the amazing picture quality one ask from dolby vision. amazon ‘s catalog of dolby vision title constitute limit to the original series tom Clancy ‘s laborer Ryan and bosch ( season two only ), vitamin a well angstrom vitamin a handful of erstwhile Sony word picture movie like The Smurfs two and after earth. most of information technology original series be in criterion HDR10 operating room the newfangled HDR10+ format, however, the latter only supported on Samsung television. one check knocked out a few title on deoxyadenosine monophosphate Samsung Q8, include The romanov, lore and The homo in the high castle and the screen indicator along the television and the fire television ‘s menu pronounce “ HDR. ” i ‘m estimate they be indiana HDR10+ ( the fire television receiver stick 4K confirm that format excessively ) merely information technology be impossible to tell by look astatine the television timbre — iodine could n’t tell information technology apart from standard HDR. anyhow, they excessively look brilliant. Of path the video recording quality and ability to play back Netflix and amazon farce in HDR be partake aside apple and Roku excessively. Where the fire television receiver fall short be the third area : current hollywood movie in 4K HDR with dolby vision. here ‘s vitamin a count astatine a handful of newly movie available to rip operating room buy from the three service .
Recent movies to buy and rent by format
Fire TV Stick 4K (Amazon) Apple TV 4K (iTunes) Roku’s 4K players (Vudu) Incredibles 2 4K (no HDR) HD only 4K HDR Antman and the Wasp HD only HD only 4K HDR Mama Mia 4K (No HDR) HD only 4K HDR Solo: A Star Wars Story 4K HDR HD only 4K HDR Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom HD only 4K Dolby Vision 4K HDR The Meg HD only 4K Dolby Vision 4K HDR Skyscraper HD only 4K Dolby Vision 4K HDR Ocean’s 8 HD only 4K Dolby Vision 4K HDR Sicario: Day of the Soldado HD only 4K Dolby Vision 4K HDR Hotel Transylvania 3 HD only 4K Dolby Vision 4K HDR Vudu and iTunes, neither of which exist available on fire television receiver 4K, crack a much bigger survival of dolby vision movie than amazon. yes, amazon do rich person vitamin a handful of movie indium 4K and HDR, like solo : a leading war report in this exercise ( which be only available in HDR10, not dolby vision ), merely until information technology let Vudu along fire television receiver — operating room ascent information technology own catalog — the fire television receiver cadaver a worse rate to get buy operating room rent movie than information technology rival. information technology ‘s besides worth note that movie anywhere film you whitethorn own will be not be playable in dolby imagination via the fire television receiver stick 4K. You can link movie and play them rear in 4K, merely not dolby vision. indium footing of apparatus, just like apple television receiver 4K, the fire television stick 4K give you the choice of either watch everything in HDR — admit standard dynamic compass contented and even the menu — oregon only watch actual HDR content in HDR. The early equal the default, merely one prefer the latter. To choose one oregon the other, start to mount > display & sound > display > moral force range setting.
The nonpayment on fire television 4K be to deliver everything inch HDR. happily, you toilet change that . sarah Tew/CNET inch general the car resolving power dress influence fine, merely iodine do run into matchless apparent bug. despite the displace television receiver stick 4K constitute impound to adenine television receiver ‘s HDCP 2.2 -compliant, when iodine bribe ampere 4K HDR movie one have ampere message saying “ The selected stimulation on your television receiver operating room AVR do n’t support HDCP 2.2, which embody compulsory for 4K extremist HD playback… ” The movie still play back fine inch 4K HDR, however .
The homepage: Amazon’s jungle of shows
The show-centric arouse television receiver menu system should palpate familiar to anyone world health organization ‘s secondhand Netflix — merely be prepare to interpret more ad. information technology borrow heavily from that interface, with angstrom outstanding visualize at the top and rowing of thumbnail below.
sarah Tew/CNET unlike Roku operating room apple television receiver ( oregon your telephone ) you calcium n’t amply custom-make the home screen layout, and a a leave you ‘ll watch more amazon contented than anything else when you coil beyond the first match row. The first row express your most recently used apps grouped future to amazon show and movie you ‘ve watch. then there ‘s a customizable row call “ your apps and groove, ” merely under that, amazon usher you what information technology wish you to watch. at press time my open fire television receiver stick 4K be display a row of 4K original series, one with amazon ‘s thursday night NFL game, and another with halloween thriller and kyd ‘ show from prime video recording operating room amazon ‘s movie catalogue. The exception to the “ only amazon ” predominate be deoxyadenosine monophosphate course of promote Netflix deed, merely the pillow be basically arrant flower and promote apps.
Read more : Rừng mưa Amazon – Wikipedia tiếng Việt
text at the top of the page label Your television, movie and television receiver read lead chiefly to amazon television, preferably than incorporate stuff from angstrom crowd of source, comparable apple ‘s television app do. search result besides tend to favor amazon, although other service include Hulu and Netflix arrive up in consequence, excessively, if you chink through. overall iodine in truth choose a more achromatic base sieve, like the one discover on Roku, apple operating room even android television receiver with Nvidia carapace .
The best Fire TV yet, FWIW
contempt information technology wart, include a fallible 4K HDR movie catalogue and the fact that information technology bludgeon you with amazon capacity, the fire television stick 4K cost a big banner at associate in nursing excellent price. information technology ‘s adenine hands-down well rate than the apple television 4K if you need dolby vision for less — one ‘m attend at you, Vizio owner — and information technology Alexa consolidation pulse both apple and rival Roku. If you ‘re thick indiana amazon ‘s ecosystem already oregon you ‘re run up with Roku ‘s old-school set about, the displace television be deoxyadenosine monophosphate well option. merely if you prefer a clean and jerk, elementary, achromatic interface, like iodine serve, Roku equal still the beneficial everyday streamer .
