There are several popular brands of streaming devices in the market and one of them is Amazon. They have been releasing dependable streamers until now and they finally up their game by introducing a new way to control your TV. Two of the brand’s most popular items are Fire TV Cube vs Fire TV 4K with similar yet also different capabilities, if you are confused about which to choose or want to know their difference, go check our article below.
In this article, we are going to give you information about:
– What are Fire TV Cube and Fire TV 4K
– What Fire TV Cube and Fire TV 4K Look Like
– What Fire TV Cube and Fire TV 4K can offer to you
– Fire TV Cube vs Fire TV 4K
About Fire TV Cube
The market for media streamer is sure always interesting to watch because almost every year we are introduced with new products with better capabilities than the former models. Many companies like Amazon also keep continuing to upgrade their streamer to provide and offer better ease of use as well as functionalities. Their new release, the Fire TV Cube is an example of how advanced technology has benefit us in various ways. What’s great from this device is now you can control your TV hands-free from across the room without using a remote anymore.
Fire TV Cube Design
Fire TV Cube is already looks futuristic even from the outside. Unlike your traditional dongle or TV boxes, this one is shaped just like the name in cube and it is should be placed near you TV but not near enough that it will mix the sound with your command. It has a glossy black finish on the side and to notice whether the device is currently listening to you on not, there is an LED at the top. You will also find several buttons on the top surface consisting of volume control, mute, and activation button.
Fire TV Cube Features
To fight the current competitors in the market, Fire TV Cube is able to offer a great performance right out of the box because not only it has the capability to play that eye-catching 4K content at 60 fps with HDR support but it also offer the Dolby Atmos that will sure attract those audiophiles who would like to immerse themselves in a movie or TV show’s soundtrack. To provide these capabilities, it comes with Quad core ARM Cortex-A53 1.5GHz, Mali-450 MP3 GPU and Amlogic S905Z SoC that can runs smoothly through the OS.
After you are done setting up the device, now is the time to see what you can find inside. As for the channels, thankfully you get all of those popular big name providers such as Netflix, HBO, Hulu, Starz, PlayStation Vue, and Crackle together with other smaller services like NFL Network, CW, AMC, and many more. What’s lacking here is YouTube and iTunes. For YouTube it is because Amazons relation with Google is currently collapsing while iTunes is of course reserved for Apple TV users. Read also: Fire TV Cube vs Roku Ultra here.
What’s a bit tricky about Fire TV Cube is the placement itself, as it has been mentioned earlier, you have to place it near the TV but not too close. What you will need to pay attention is it should be in range of your soundbar, AVR, and TV because it will need to control them via the infrared blaster and HDMI CEC.
About Fire TV 4K
Fire TV Cube is sure an interesting streamer and more modern if compared to its peers in the market but the price is also not so affordable and if you are also having a tighter budget, you probably will need to find another streamer because there are actually many out there that offer similar capabilities yet with friendlier cost and one of them is the Fire TV 4K. Just like the name suggest, this streamer is already able to stream 4K content and equipped with a fast connectivity.
Fire TV 4K Design
If you already familiar with the earlier model, we are sure you can already notice the difference between the two. This streamer is redesigned to be more compact and easy to install without needing much space. It is plug and hanged in your TV’s HDMI port and it will need another source of power to operate as opposed to the older unit. It is very small measuring only at 65 mm x 15 mm, so it won’t stick out too much even if it is on display.
Fire TV 4K Features
Besides all the new design upgraded from the predecessor, Fire TV 4K is also carry another upgrade inside the unit because it is now equipped with High Dynamic Range which then will allows this streamer to produce better or more pronounced contrast levels between light and dark to give you a more lifelike colors. Taken from Techradar, when tested across the channels, the new upgrade seems to work properly and give an impressive result even when you already have both HDR and Smart 4K TV because the Amazon and Netflix’s apps may not have been updated yet.
In content, what’s great about this streamer is it already offer Amazon Prime Video access if you are already have the subscription. Just like Netflix, this service also have a good amount original programs like American Gods, Transparent and the Grand Tour, etc. However, it is different from Netflix since you can either rent or buy more recent shows and movies with an additional fees.
Even though Fire TV 4K already support HDR10 which is already good enough actually, it still can’t provide Dolby Vision quality. While this is not an issue for many people, those who have a great interest in movies probably will be disappointed.
Comparison
Now, let’s compare Fire TV Cube with Fire TV 4K. As it has been mentioned earlier, the prominent difference between them aside from the overall design is the voice command capabilities. Fire TV 4K is actually also has voice command but through the remote, so it is still not hands-free while the other is easier to use since it can control soundbar and AVR beside TV from afar without remote even though it also has one if you prefer.
Fire TV Cube vs Fire TV 4K
Conclusion
All in all, the decision is all yours to make. In our opinion, it is good to follow your preference or taste but if you need to find the most modern streamer that can be commanded with voice easily, we will highly recommend you Fire TV Cube.