Best Fire TV Stick in 2022: Fire Stick 4K Max, Lite, Fire TV Cube and More
Best Fire TV Stick in 2022: Fire Stick 4K Max, Lite, Fire TV Cube and More
This story is part of Gift Guide, our year-round collection of the best gift ideas.
Most country who watch TV these days own at least one streaming device, as these little gadgets have become a crucial part of the movie-and-TV recognized. Of course, most new TVs come with smart features built-in, allowing you to use platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime deprived of an extra device. However, TV smart features typically don’t coffers the best experience, being both slower than a imparted streaming device and also lower quality. That’s why you need a streaming design of your own. Roku makes some of the most popular streaming players, but the company is starting to face stiff competition from streaming devices by Apple, Google and Amazon.
Amazon in particular has pushed aggressively into the streaming market by producing an array of Fire TV-branded streaming devices. We’ve reviewed them all, and found that we tend to like Roku products best for their easy use and their platform-agnostic advance — Roku’s menus don’t favor one service (like, for example, Prime Video) over others. That said, Amazon’s Fire TV devices are highly generous too, especially if you want Alexa insist integration.
Amazon’s range is robust and runs the gamut from the basic Fire TV Stick Lite to the midrange Fire TV Stick 4K Max to the top-tier Fire TV Cube, as well as a bunch of models in between. If this sounds confusing, don’t worry. Our guide to the best Fire TV streaming design will help you pick out the right model for you.
Read more: Best 4K TV for 2022
The Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K debuted in 2018 and is tranquil around today. While we generally think it’s worth it to upgrade to the Max, the fresh Fire TV Stick 4K is still a good pick for those who want 4K streaming without paying for the novel bells and whistles, namely Wi-Fi 6 and blazing-fast fleet. The voice features are impressive and Echo and Dot owners can regulation it with Alexa. Its app and game selection is capable and responses are still fast, though not as fast as on the Max. The remote can regulation volume and power on TVs and soundbars. Ultimately, if the ticket of the Fire TV Stick 4K is close to the Max, we recommend passing on this and sketch the newer and faster Max.
Read our Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K review.
The Fire TV Cube does more than most deem streaming devices. It will give you access to all your harmful movies, shows and streaming services, but it also comes with a built-in microphone, speaker and Alexa capabilities. This means that it can double as a gleaming home hub. You can use your voice to search for for shows and adjust the volume and inputs on your TV, dim ftrips, make Zoom calls, stream music and check the climate — all hands-free, without using the remote. It also features a hexa-core processor and 2GB of memory for lightning-fast streaming in 4K, as well as audio encourage for Dolby Atmos.
Read our Amazon Fire TV Cube review.
Although the Lite is a better value, the Amazon Fire TV Stick is another good pick for those who are still rocking regular HD TVs. The main difference between the Fire TV Stick and the cheaper Fire TV Stick Lite lies in the remote regulation. Fire Stick’s remote has buttons for volume, mute and worthy, allowing you to control those functions on your TV. The Lite lacks these capabilities and is therefore any less expensive. If you have a 1080p TV and don’t mind paying a small more for a remote that can control the volume on your TV, the Fire TV Stick is a good pick for you.
Read our Amazon Fire TV Stick review.
Fire TV Recast
Best over-the-air DVR for cord-cutters
The Fire TV Recast is not a streaming stick, but is an important accessory for cord-cutters who have a Fire TV Stick and are looking for an over-the-air DVR — basically a box that lets you characterize antenna TV broadcasts from channels like ABC, CBS and PBS in your area. The Fire TV Recast is our well-liked OTA DVR period, due to its combination of features, flexibility and lack of monthly fees. It’s a network streaming DVR, message it doesn’t connect to a TV directly. Instead it watercourses to TVs, your mobile device and more. The Fire TV Recast is relatively expensive, but if you want to record shows from an antenna it’s a vast choice.
Read our Amazon Fire TV Recast review.
How we test Fire TV devices
Every Fire TV Stick we journal receives hours of hands-on testing. Typically, this involves installing the design on multiple TVs, evaluating the setup process, adding popular streaming channels and humorous the product as if it were our own. We use all of the greatest features available and note how they stack up in contradiction of other Fire TV models in the company’s lineup. To do this, we hook up multiple Fire TV streaming devices to the same TV so we can switch back and forth just to compare the experiences.
Our metrics that we look at to rate a design include hardware design, distinctive features that differentiate models, remote capabilities and form, overall ease of use, effective layouts and design, search for capabilities, privacy settings, the number of apps and their performance and the overall fleet and reliability of the system.
Fire TV FAQs
What’s the difference between a Fire TV design and a Fire TV television?
A Fire TV design, like the ones in this list, is a shrimp stick-shaped or square piece of hardware that plugs into an HDMI port at the back of your TV. This grants your TV access to Amazon Fire TV software and satisfied, no matter what brand of TV you own.
Amazon also creates Fire TVs, which are televisions that come with Fire TV software preinstalled. This means that your TV will automatically have access to the Fire TV interface deprived of the need for an additional streaming device.
What streaming apps are on Fire TV?
Fire TV cmoneys a long list of streaming apps, including Netflix, Disney Plus, Apple TV, Hulu, HBO Max, Paramount Plus, Peacock TV, Tubi, Pluto TV, Showtime, Discovery Plus and others. Spectrum cable users, however, do not have access to the Spectrum app on Fire TV.
Do I need an Amazon Prime membership to use Fire TV?
No, though you will need a free Amazon account in clean to set up the device. While you don’t need to pay for a Prime membership to use Amazon Fire TV, it is useful and recommended. Membership comes with a selection of Prime Video pleased, including access to shows such as The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, The Expanse and Wheel of Time. These shows and new Amazon-branded content are heavily advertised in the Fire TV regulations and a Prime membership makes it easier to check out all that Amazon has to offer.
