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Amazon Fire TV Stick Review: Outscores Its Competitors

Virginia D'Cruz December 11, 2014 04:07 AM EST

The Amazon Fire TV Stick is a cheaper version of the Amazon Fire TV set top box, but it doesn't stint when it comes to specs and delivers the best streaming content as it ties into Amazon's content library.

Reviewers have also given it top marks and described it as a better option than the Roku Streaming Stick and Chromecast from Google.

When comparing the Fire TV Stick from Amazon with its competitors, it surges ahead on the strength of its unique specs. Its processor is a dual-core Capri 28155 1GHz A9 from Broadcom which is combined with a VideoCore4 GPU. Also on the Fire TV Stick is 1 GB of RAM and 8 GB of storage which actually is the same amount offered by the costlier Fire TV box.

The storage on the Fire TV Stick is considerably much more than what is being offered by Chromecast, which has 2 GB and Roku which has 512 MB, so this means users get more space to store movies and games. As for the quality of the audio and video, it can stream content with Dolby 7.1 surround sound and has great resolution of 1080p at a high speed 60fps.

Operating the Fire TV Stick is pretty easy as it comes with a MicroUSB cable and HDMI extender cable. Power to the stick is provided through the side facing MicroUSB cable while the HDMI extender cable comes in handy if there isn't any space to connect the Fire TV Stick to the TV directly. Once plugged into the HDMI port of a TV, the Fire TV Stick becomes operational. Since it relies on WiFi to download content it can become quite slow on home networks if there is a lot of traffic. This is not a problem with the Fire TV box as it has Ethernet connectivity which is very reliable compared to the WiFi only Fire TV Stick.

The cost of the Fire TV Stick works in its favor as it is priced at $39.99 and comes along with a remote which can be upgraded to include a voice search.

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