Amazon Fire TV Box or Fire Stick

[AlbaCrush]

I'm trying to decide between the two and would appreciate feedback and recommendations from others.

Currently I have Verizon Fios, Netflix, and Amazon Prime. I do have a Sony 4K TV and I know the Fire Stick doesn't stream 4K. There really isn't much 4K so not a biggie there.

I here you need to download Kodi for both, will that give me access to lots more 4K? Is it worth spending the $89.99 for the Fire TV or just pay $39.99 for the Fire Stick?

Feedback is appreciated?

Thanks

 

[bloom2708]

If you only need one, I would go with the Box version.

Faster, more RAM. Browsing, navigating and transitions are faster on the Box.

We use sticks on smaller/less often used TVs. I have not used Kodi. Seems hacky. I don't want to be in the gray areas of what is legal/not legal.

I think it is worth the $50 (extra) one time purchase.

 

[Tailgate]

+1 for the box... I have 2 and 2 sticks... box is faster.

 

[FIREmenow]

Box is supposed to be getting Alexa soon.

 

[Pilot2013]

If you only need one, I would go with the Box version.

Faster, more RAM. Browsing, navigating and transitions are faster on the Box.

We use sticks on smaller/less often used TVs. I have not used Kodi. Seems hacky. I don't want to be in the gray areas of what is legal/not legal.

I think it is worth the $50 one time purchase.

I just cancelled a 3rd Firestick order on Amazon and replaced with Fire Box based on the comments. I also plan to move the Internet Modem to where the main TV is and use ethernet to it, so should be much faster. Will use the Firesticks on other 2 TV's with less than 4K resolution.

$89 though, not $50.

 

[bloom2708]

$89 though, not $50.

Sorry, meant $50 extra as compared to the Stick.

 

[txtig]

I've got several of each (box and stick) and the box definitely outperforms the stick. If you're using it for your main tv, I'd go with the box. I recently bought a new stick for our motorhome, but don't watch a lot of tv in the RV, so I'm ok with it for that application.

 

[AlbaCrush]

Thanks for the feedback. I just ordered the Fire TV Box for $89.99. I went a head and got the Amazon Prime Visa and got an instant credit of $70.

 

[bradaz2488]

Just purchased my 2nd FireTV box for the master bedroom. The other one is in the living room. Love this little box. Very fast, powerful and easy to use. I have a older Fire Stick in one of the guest bedrooms. Not near has fast as the box because it has the slower core and it is wireless only. I got the Box vs the Stick because we "cut the cord" and the LAN connection is better (not perfect) if you are watching/streaming "live" HD-TV. It also supports Kodi side load for our PVR interface with WMC on WIN7 PC. My goal was to get all of our TV watching (OTA, Netflix, Prime and PVR) onto one box and the Fire TV does the job for us. I will probably upgrade the guest bedroom with the latest FireTV stick with faster core. Great product and if you are a Prime member it is even better. Still learning and finding more capabilities.

 

[flintnational]

We dropped cable earlier in the year. At the time I researched both the stick and box and decided on the box. It has preformed well.

FN

 

[omni550]

I'm new to FireTV and am considering gifting a Fire box to my BIL for his upcoming birthday.

I see that Amazon used to sell a bundle (box, with cablE and HD ultra-thin flat antenna). This bundle is no longer available. The antenna is only available from 3rd party sellers.

My question -- do you need this antenna or how are you using the Fire box?

How easy are these to set up? (I live 3 hours away and would prefer not having to drive 6hrs r/t to set this up. He and my sis are not very tech-savvy.)

omni

 

[AlbaCrush]

I'm new to FireTV and am considering gifting a Fire box to my BIL for his upcoming birthday.

I see that Amazon used to sell a bundle (box, with cablE and HD ultra-thin flat antenna). This bundle is no longer available. The antenna is only available from 3rd party sellers.

My question -- do you need this antenna or how are you using the Fire box?

How easy are these to set up? (I live 3 hours away and would prefer not having to drive 6hrs r/t to set this up. He and my sis are not very tech-savvy.)

omni

My Fire TV Box doesn't arrive until Friday. You do need a HDMI cable to connect. You can find videos on youtube regarding set-up. You don't need the antenna for Fire TV. I think that has something to do with local TV stations who have no cable access. I have FIOS so I'm not worried abut that.

 

[flintnational]

I'm new to FireTV and am considering gifting a Fire box to my BIL for his upcoming birthday.

I see that Amazon used to sell a bundle (box, with cablE and HD ultra-thin flat antenna). This bundle is no longer available. The antenna is only available from 3rd party sellers.

My question -- do you need this antenna or how are you using the Fire box?

How easy are these to set up? (I live 3 hours away and would prefer not having to drive 6hrs r/t to set this up. He and my sis are not very tech-savvy.)

omni

When we dropped cable earlier in the year, we purchased both the fire box and the HD antenna. The fire box allows you to stream internet programming like HULU, Netflix, etc. You need an internet connection for the fire box. The HD antenna lets you pick up local broadcast channels assuming they are in range. But, you can do either of these or both. We use both instead of cable. The fire box set up was very easy. Plug it in and follow the prompts. The HD antenna can be easy or difficult depending our where you mount it. Ours is in the attic.

 

[Cobra9777]

Just purchased my 2nd FireTV box for the master bedroom. The other one is in the living room. Love this little box. Very fast, powerful and easy to use. I have a older Fire Stick in one of the guest bedrooms. Not near has fast as the box because it has the slower core and it is wireless only. I got the Box vs the Stick because we "cut the cord" and the LAN connection is better (not perfect) if you are watching/streaming "live" HD-TV. It also supports Kodi side load for our PVR interface with WMC on WIN7 PC. My goal was to get all of our TV watching (OTA, Netflix, Prime and PVR) onto one box and the Fire TV does the job for us. I will probably upgrade the guest bedroom with the latest FireTV stick with faster core. Great product and if you are a Prime member it is even better. Still learning and finding more capabilities.

We have same exact same set-up, including running Kodi on both Fire TV boxes for live TV and EPG/DVR functionality. We have an old Windows 7 desktop running WMC that does all the work, along with a pair of HDHomeRun tuners. We never switch inputs on the TV. It stays on Fire TV. To view live or recorded TV, we just launch Kodi on the Fire TV box.

We love the box itself as well as the remote. It's fast, responsive, lots of eye candy, and probably the best way to get maximum value for your Prime subscription. Even the Netflix app looks amazing on Fire TV. We get lots of use from the voice search on the remote with Alexa. It searches across all apps, which makes Fire TV feel more integrated than other streaming boxes, which tend to be just a patchwork of apps. Similarly, it also merges watchlists and recommendations from various apps on the homepage.

 

[Dawg52]

We love the box itself as well as the remote. It's fast, responsive, lots of eye candy, and probably the best way to get maximum value for your Prime subscription. Even the Netflix app looks amazing on Fire TV. We get lots of use from the voice search on the remote with Alexa. It searches across all apps, which makes Fire TV feel more integrated than other streaming boxes, which tend to be just a patchwork of apps. Similarly, it also merges watchlists and recommendations from various apps on the homepage.

Agree on all. I always recommend the Fire TV when someone has questions about cord cutting.

 

[omni550]

You need an internet connection for the fire box. The HD antenna lets you pick up local broadcast channels assuming they are in range. But, you can do either of these or both. We use both instead of cable.

Thanks, Flintnational.

Next Question: Does the internet connection for the Fire box need to be a hard wire/cable...or is WiFi somehow an option?

omni

 

[flintnational]

Thanks, Flintnational.

Next Question: Does the internet connection for the Fire box need to be a hard wire/cable...or is WiFi somehow an option?

omni

Omni, we are using the ethernet cable. But, I found the following from Amazon. Apparently Wifi works. https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=202104860

"Amazon Fire TV
You can connect your Amazon Fire TV device using a Wi-Fi or wired (Ethernet) connection.

To connect to a Wi-Fi network:

Select Settings > Network from the Fire TV menu. Your device automatically detects nearby networks (that broadcast their network name).
Select your preferred network. If you don’t see your preferred network, it might be hidden—try selecting the Join Other Network or Rescan options at the bottom of the list.
Enter the network password, if needed. Some networks are open for everyone to join, while others require a password to connect.
You'll see a confirmation message on-screen when your device is connected to your selected network.
Note: If you're switching from a wired connection to a Wi-Fi connection, first make sure to disconnect the Ethernet cable from your Fire TV before trying to connect your device to Wi-Fi."

 

[bradaz2488]

We love our Harmony remotes but they do not work with FireTV (Bluetooth). The new Harmony remotes do support Bluetooth but do not want to spend another $250/each. I'm going to try this device for $22. Seems to be a good solution for IR programmable remotes to control FireTV and other Bluetooth devices. Will use a USB extender cable to bring device from FireTV box (hidden) to in-line of sight for the IR Harmony remote. The FireTV remote is a great "simple" remote to navigate the FireTV but does not control volume and some other features we like when watching live TV. I'll let you know how it works.

https://www.amazon.com/FLIRC-Genera...coding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=4DZDW0TK3CQD4V4EPWGZ

 

[txtig]

We love our Harmony remotes but they do not work with FireTV (Bluetooth). The new Harmony remotes do support Bluetooth but do not want to spend another $250/each. I'm going to try this device for $22. Seems to be a good solution for IR programmable remotes to control FireTV and other Bluetooth devices. Will use a USB extender cable to bring device from FireTV box (hidden) to in-line of sight for the IR Harmony remote. The FireTV remote is a great "simple" remote to navigate the FireTV but does not control volume and some other features we like when watching live TV. I'll let you know how it works.

https://www.amazon.com/FLIRC-Genera...coding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=4DZDW0TK3CQD4V4EPWGZ

I bought one of these about a year ago for the same reasons you cited. But, I'm a bit embarrassed to admit that I haven't yet attempted the installation. The setup is somewhat complex, and the FLIRC device needs to be programmed with your computer. Please let us know how your installation goes.

 

[Pilot2013]

Received the Fire Box yesterday, put in use last night. Better picture than the stick, and much faster. I am using WiFi at the moment, but plan to move modem downstairs and will tie in ethernet, might speed up some.

One thing I found out, some apps are not live streaming on Fire Box or stick. For example, Fox Now will not live stream, have to watch shows delayed. I have apple tv, and it seems to live stream during prime time only.

Cable and Sat are going to hinder cord cutting if at all possible. and yes, I have tried HD OTA antenna, btu I am smack in a valley between foothills so issues. Not such a big deal to watch delayed for me, but wife is kind of perturbed by that, along with "learning another system".

I keep reminding of the savings.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

I think I am the out of the norm, but I don't really see any degradation in using the stick vs. the box. As a matter of fact, the newer box has a known issue with sound drop outs when used with older TVs (we have a plasma that is about 10 years old) that gets very annoying. If I was going to use it for some of the games/etc, I would probably prefer the processor speed of the box, but for just viewing (Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, Directv Now) the sticks have been great.

Also, for the current Fire/Alexa owners, you can now use Alexa to control the Fire TV. I haven't messed with it too much, but it's a pretty cool update.

https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2017/8/1/16075272/amazon-fire-tv-echo-voice-control-alexa

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

Received the Fire Box yesterday, put in use last night. Better picture than the stick, and much faster. I am using WiFi at the moment, but plan to move modem downstairs and will tie in ethernet, might speed up some.

I wanted to mention that the "better picture" would most likely be do to processor speed (and because of buffering). The better resolution of the box would really only be realized if you had a 4K TV and the stick performs to the 1080p level. So...for most folks, they will not see a picture difference between the two *unless* they are watching on a 4K TV.

 

[Pilot2013]

I wanted to mention that the "better picture" would most likely be do to processor speed (and because of buffering). The better resolution of the box would really only be realized if you had a 4K TV and the stick performs to the 1080p level. So...for most folks, they will not see a picture difference between the two *unless* they are watching on a 4K TV.

Yep, I meant to mention that the TV that I tied to the Fire Box is a 4k. But now that you mention it, I need to look and see what the "settings" have. I seem to remember that is still said 1080p at start up. DOn;t think there's a lot of 4K content yet.

 

[Tailgate]

Not such a big deal to watch delayed for me, but wife is kind of perturbed by that, along with "learning another system".

I keep reminding of the savings.

We're in the learning curve of our new system right now. From Suddenlink Cable w/everything, to 2 Fire TV's, 2 Fire Sticks, antenna for OTA, & Tivos for DVR of the OTA's, plus an Apple TV for new movie access.

I started prepping my DW about two weeks ago, telling her that 'you're going to hate it for awhile' at least a dozen times.

We're saving about $1,200 a year. Payback on equipment is about 9 months.

 

[AlbaCrush]

I just installed my Fire TV Box today and have my Prime and Netflix accounts set-up.

Do any of you have a VPN? If so, which one did you use? I'm looking at a VPN because I want Kodi and some other add ons.