Bottom Line: The Amazon Fire Stick is a great media source for streaming content.
The big three devices for streaming media content are Apple TV, Roku, and Amazon Fire. I don’t have any experience with Apple TV, but I did receive a [easyazon_link identifier=”B00UJ3IREE” locale=”US” tag=”backyardmov05-20″]Roku 2[/easyazon_link] as a gift and liked it, so I bought an [easyazon_link identifier=”B00GDQ0RMG” locale=”US” tag=”backyardmov05-20″]Amazon Fire Stick[/easyazon_link] when they were first released so that I could expand the number of TVs in our house with streaming capability.
Why a streaming device?
While many TVs these days are smart TVs, many legacy TVs are not and you pay a little more for TVs that have connectivity than those that don’t. These devices turn any TV into a smart TV. Also, many smart TVs have a clunky user interface and it is not possible to add channels not provided by the manufacturer. Finally, a streaming device allows you to take some of your favorite streaming services on the road with you. I recently went on a work trip and took my [easyazon_link identifier=”B00GDQ0RMG” locale=”US” tag=”backyardmov05-20″]Amazon Fire Stick[/easyazon_link] with me. I was able to plug it into my hotel TV, connect to the hotel wifi, and I was able to access all of streaming services from the road, to include DailyBurn workouts, HBO access, etc. These devices also allow you to bring online available content out into the backyard without being dependent on running long cables, etc.
Amazon Fire Stick:
For the [easyazon_link identifier=”B00GDQ0RMG” locale=”US” tag=”backyardmov05-20″]Amazon Fire Stick[/easyazon_link] to be useful to you, you need 3 things:
- An HDMI capable TV
- A Power Source
- WiFi internet
The [easyazon_link identifier=”B00GDQ0RMG” locale=”US” tag=”backyardmov05-20″]Amazon Fire Stick[/easyazon_link] is approximately 3 inches long X 1 inch wide, it is designed to plug into an HDMI port on your TV or projector. If you have other large devices or too many devices plugged into your TV, an extender is provided so that you can still use the [easyazon_link identifier=”B00GDQ0RMG” locale=”US” tag=”backyardmov05-20″]Amazon Fire Stick[/easyazon_link] which is a little wider than the HDMI end. There is a power cable that plugs into the side of the [easyazon_link identifier=”B00GDQ0RMG” locale=”US” tag=”backyardmov05-20″]Amazon Fire Stick[/easyazon_link], this must be plugged in and it won’t operate on battery power. You must connect using WiFi, there isn’t space on the Fire Stick for a LAN cable. [easyazon_image align=”none” height=”500″ identifier=”B00GDQ0RMG” locale=”US” src=”http://www.backyardmovies.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/41KqCrQ2fuL.jpg” tag=”backyardmov05-20″ width=”500″]
The Fire Stick comes with a remote, this is your primary interface with the Fire Stick. The remote is very simple in design and its operation is intuitive. There is also a [easyazon_link identifier=”B00ZVJAF9G” locale=”US” tag=”backyardmov05-20″]voice activated remote[/easyazon_link] that can be purchased as well as a video game controller. There are a few video games that you can play with the provided remote, but the player experience is less than ideal. I don’t have a lot of experience with the games, but it is a feature that the Roku stick does NOT offer.
The Fire Stick offers 1080P quality and is closely tied in with the Amazon ecosystem. If you buy most of your media through Amazon.com it is the obvious choice of all the media streamers. The interface is really slick and pretty responsive. It is also the easiest way I have found to navigate the clumsy Amazon Prime Video Library. However, the cost of the very polished look is that the Fire has a smaller selection of channels than the Roku and tends to get new additions a little later. That being said, the Fire Stick has all of the major players (Netflix, HULU, HBOGO, NBC, YOUTUBE, etc.) It is also compatible with the PLEX media server, which I use and enjoy. The Fire Stick does allow you to side load some applications like “Kodi”, which the Roku stick does NOT.
My Fire Stick appears to be a little more finicky about the WiFi connection than the Roku stick. However, the Fire Stick was able to connect to the hotel WiFi,where I was staying, which required logging in through a landing page, I am not sure that the Roku stick has this capability.
The Amazon Fire Stick is a versatile gadget in a portable package that lets you bring streaming capabilities to a multitude of devices. What it lacks in channel selection it makes up for in sleek interface, integration with the Amazon ecosystem, and variety of applications (i.e. video games). Unless you know that there is a channel you need not offered on the Fire Stick, I would recommend you consider buying one.
Do you have a favorite streaming device? Good experience with the Amazon Fire Stick? Bad experience? Did I leave something out? Let me know in the comments section below.
Pros:
Small
Contains a HDMI extension
Easy to operate interface
Kodi compatible
Integrates with Amazon account
Video Games
Voice Controlled Remote
Portable
Cons:
Not as many channels as Roku
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