It also has most apps, but TV boxes remain a side project for Apple. Apple TV has a slick interface and Apple's usual gloss.If you buy or rent a lot of movies from Amazon, and subscribe to Prime, the Fire TV is appealing. Unfortunately, it sometimes feels like an ad for Amazon stuff more than a diverse ecosystem of apps and content. Amazon Fire TV is geared toward those who really enjoy Amazon's ecosystem, and it will quickly point you to its content.The only problem is that these don't manage storage quite as well. With its newest Chromecast, we stopped seeing the bugs and problems that used to plague the platform, and it includes basically every streaming app out there, as well as YouTube and Spotify. It's been around for years, but it just recently (in 2020) nailed the experience. Google TV, formerly called Android TV, is Google's latest streaming OS.You can also do this with Apple TV's Airplay 2 functionality, but you need an iOS or macOS device. Though that's no longer its main draw, it has the added benefit of letting you send web pages or other content directly from your smartphone (it's easiest on an Android Phone), which is sometimes quite handy. Chromecast used to eschew an interface altogether (and older models still hold true to this), but the newest version has Google TV built-in.The company survives solely on how well its streaming device platform performs. Roku also isn't made by one of the major tech companies. Plus, if you decide to switch TVs, you can just move your Roku to another TV in your house at any time. Roku is our favorite streaming OS because it has just about every streaming app there is, and setup is hassle-free.And despite its rock-bottom pricing, the device delivers a good experience and access to all popular streaming services.įinally, if you prefer Roku's style of content delivery without overwhelming choices, Apple TV 4K (2022) is the closest you can get on that front, but you'll have to shell out a pretty penny for it. At just $20, it can stream in 4K and comes with the Google TV interface. Value-conscious buyers or people on a tight budget will appreciate the Onn Google TV 4K Streaming Box. It offers 4K streaming from all popular services and can play PC games in 4K HDR via GeForce Now. It offers a modern user interface, a snappy performance, and access to its solid voice assistant.īut if you need power and versatility, it's hard to go wrong with Nvidia Shield TV Pro. Our editor's choice, the Chromecast with Google TV (4K), has a lot going for it. But if you want to switch, plenty of excellent alternative streaming devices are on the market. Roku media streamers have several advantages, with the easy-to-use interface being one of the big ones. Replace your Roku with a new media streamer The Fire TV Cube (3rd Gen) makes sense if you care for a smart speaker and value hands-free access to Alexa voice commands. All these features and functionalities will set you back $140, plus the cost of an Ultra High-Speed HDMI cable, as one is not included in the box. You can use it to find or play content, control smart home devices, and do much more without needing a remote - something that's impossible on other Amazon Fire TV streamers. The Amazon streamer offers hands-free access to Alexa voice assistant thanks to its smart speaker internals. The HDMI input comes in handy if your TV lacks HDMI inputs. ![]() There's also an HDMI input to pass through a gaming console, router, cable TV box, or another device's output through it to the TV. Other Cube highlights include the ability to play 4K video, Dolby Vision and HDR10+ support, and Wi-Fi 6E connectivity. As a result, it's quick, and you won't face any lag or slow-down. It's also the fastest and most powerful media streamer in Amazon's portfolio. The Fire TV Cube (3rd Gen) differs from any of our other recommendations because it does the double duty of a media streamer and a smart speaker. Also, the Ethernet port and thread networking support is limited to the more expensive 128GB model. And you'll need an Ultra High-Speed HDMI cable to fully realize its potential. Unfortunately, Apple doesn't bundle an HDMI cable in the box. The Apple TV 4K also supports all major HDR standards, including HDR10+ and Dolby Vision, and it can decode or pass through Dolby Atmos surround-sound audio format. The 3rd generation Apple TV, the latest version of the device, is considerably cheaper than its predecessors and starts at $129.įor this price, you get a powerful Apple A15 Bionic chip to keep everything running smoothly, an extremely easy-to-use user interface, a well-stocked app collection, and support for game controllers. If you are already a part of the Apple ecosystem, there is no better Roku alternative. The Apple TV 4K (3rd Gen) may be more expensive than every Roku streaming device, but it's one of the best media streamers on the market, if not the best. $148 at Amazon $150 at B&H Photo Video $130 at Best Buy
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