Fire TV Stick 4K streaming device with Alexa Voice Remote (includes TV controls) | Dolby Vision

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• 

  BPonkow

  5 out of 5 stars

  Does Exactly What We Need

  Reviewed in the United States on March 15, 2019

  Configuration: Fire TV Stick 4K

  Verified Purchase

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  There were two reasons we made the jump to Fire TV, cutting the expensive "cable" to satellite or cable tv and the voice command feature.

  I'll start with the voice command feature first. We have a blind individual in our household. We needed something simple to use that would get her to content without having a tremendous number of remotes or devices. The firestick fit the bill. It allows her to tune to live tv just by asking Alexa, but she can also access Sirius XM using the same remote. Alexa has excellent voice recognition which makes life much simpler for her. Works beautifully. The remote having just basic functions allows her to easily control volume and power as well - if she doesn't use Alexa directly.

  I found that we were streaming more and more television. With our prime membership it allowed us to watch a lot of content for free. I was already enjoying originals like Homecoming and Bosch but with the Fire Stick I could also start getting live tv through Hulu. I have a 4k tv but it is a little older so Hulu live was not directly compatible with my tv. The Fire Stick solved the issue. I have found it fun to be able to ask questions of Alexa like where a city is located if I am unfamiliar. When I'm done, Alexa continues the programming directly where I left off. I leave my tv on the Fire Stick as the default because all my services are available through it. I only go to the other inputs when I want to watch a Blu-ray or play on my Wii-U. Cutting the cord saves me $50 per month - I would imagine that others could save even more.

  A great plus is all the apps available. I use OANN, Netflix, Hulu + Live TV, Amazon Prime, Sirius XM, Pandora. There are many others. I can say that I am watching Amazon Prime and Hulu + Live TV much more than Netflix now. Amazon has upped its game with it's new originals.

  The remote does work with our Blu-ray but some of the features still need the use of the original remote but that's a minor caveat.

  Summing up Firestick TV:

  1. Allows viewing of content at a much reduced price

  2. Has excellent voice command capabilities

  3. Has an excellent selection of apps for various capabilities, including shopping if you want to

  4. Has the ability to benefit disabled persons, especially the blind

  5. Simple remote that has lots of compatibility

  6. 4K ability allows 4K televisions to stream 4K content at no extra cost

  7. Setup requires plugging into the power source and a HDMI input. Our tv immediately paired and did not require any further setup. Our Blu-ray was also incredibly easy to setup so no complaints there.

  The only con is that some TVs may still need the use of the original remote for some functions - like settings. The same is true of other devices used with the tv.

  I highly recommend this device to anyone looking to save money or that has a physical limitation. It works as advertised and actually has surpassed our expectations.

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• 

  Unik

  5 out of 5 stars

  🤔 6 Months Later... 📺 Some glitches but STILL GREAT!!

  Reviewed in the United States on October 26, 2019

  Configuration: Fire TV Stick 4K

  Verified Purchase

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  This firestick is great but not perfect. I had this Firestick device for about 6 months and replaced it for my Xbox, which I only used to watch movies and Youtuber LOL. I wanted this Firestick device for streaming and this is super quick access to everything!!! Netflix, Hulu, Premium channel apps (IE: HBO, Cinemax, Crackle), Youtube, all the popular apps are already pre-installed on this stick (expect Kodi). So if you want to plug this into your tv's HDMI port and get started in under 10 minutes, you definitely can.

  FREE CHANNELS?

  Although everything is pre-installed, this does NOT include any "free" subscriptions, you have to pay for everything. Unless you have Amazon Prime (where you can watch Prime Video for free), you will not have access to anything "free" unless you go on Youtube or use the free trails some apps offer. My firestick came with a free 3-month trial with SlingTV, live tv subscription, which I did not use so I don't know if that's worth it or not. If you want to install Kodi (VPN protection needed) you can but I would watch a Youtube video on how to install that since I haven't done this.

  ALEXA VOICE FUNCTION???

  Alexa, the digital voice personal assistant, acts "right" most of the time but she does have her glitches LOL. I would say 70% of the time she listens and is accurate but sometimes she is so off it's comical. You press/hold-in the mic button at the top of the control to reach Alexa. Alexa is only able to find/play music and movies (that are usually included in Amazon's Prime Video or Paid Music services), open the pre-installed apps or authorized apps (Amazon has approved). So you can ask Alexa to open downloaded games, Youtube, play a song, find a movie, search the internet (in Amazon's own internet browser called "silk), order/find stuff on Amazon.com, do basic task (close, open a program, turn off, go to sleep, etc) and ask her questions like you can with Google (Example: Who, what, when, where, and why questions). However, she can do anything too advance like open settings, provide too many additional options for your questions, or make any phone calls or turn on/off lights (but you can buy other Alexa operated devices that do so you can do them from this Firestick device too).

  THE CONTROLLER

  The controller is the most glitchy of it all. Sometimes it freezes and some buttons simply don't work until you unplug to reset the Firestick device. I had the Firestick for 2 weeks before I had problems with the controller and had issues with the Firestick device not connecting (remote to the device). So there was a lot of unplugging to reset the device, which only required you to disconnect the device not literally reprogram the remote/device again (I only had to program the remote once in 6 months). The batteries (two AAA) included have NOT died in the remote yet... so yeah LOL.

  THE BLUETOOTH CONNECTION???

  Every single time, you have to reconnect/repair your Bluetooth devices (if you turn them off) to the Firestick device. This is super annoying but only takes a few seconds to do. However, there ARE times that the Bluetooth devices (IE: wireless headphones) do NOT want to connect until you unplug the Firestick device. Again you only have to unplug for a few seconds and replug then you are good. Once you replug the firestick, magically the Bluetooth device reconnects WITHOUT having to pair it again.... STRANGE. The Bluetooth connection stays connected until your device turns off, so there is a strong connection WHEN connected.

  THE WIFI CONNECTION????

  I have this Firestick device connected to a WiFi modem and have NO ISSUES AT ALL with a lost internet connection. I've had more issues with my Xbox losing its wireless internet connection than this Firestick. So I would rate the wifi connection great.

  THE SET-UP / WIRING

  So the Firestick needs to be plugged into your tv directly via an HDMI port. Then the other end of the connected Firestick device needs to be plugged into the wall for power. You have a decent amount of cord but you want to put this directly into the wall and not into a cheap extension cord (power surge also will work). Obviously, you need to have your tv plugged in and then the Firestick plugged into the wall to work properly. Then you need to connect your wifi, sign in to your Amazon account, connect your remote, and you're basically done. This was easy to do, self-explanatory and you don't need the manual as its all prompted step-by-step on your tv screen.

  OVERALL

  I would recommend this Firestick device as you're getting a lot for $50 (even though cheaper during black Friday and on Prime Day), especially conveniences and a space-saving device. This makes your tv's color quality significantly better (especially if you don't already have a 4k tv) and it makes you want to watch all your movies on this device (instead of your computer). It's a lot more simply than streaming from your computer and takes up a lot less energy/space. This device is for the beginner too and it's not hard to set up. The Bluetooth is descent (paired with Sony headphones) and the wireless connection is strong. I would reorder again if need be, especially if they have better remote control and an upgrade to Alexa (which are glitchy). I'm not a tech person (I'm a female but so what LOL) but I think this is a great product and better than the $400 RVEAL device I bought in the past. I would recommend $50 without question. I hope this helps :)

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• 

  Veronica M.

  5 out of 5 stars

  LOVE IT! So should have purchased one sooner.

  Reviewed in the United States on March 2, 2020

  Configuration: Fire TV Stick 4K

  Verified Purchase

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  I did a lot a LOT of research on this before purchasing as well as the new one and the Ruko as well.

  Reasons for the purchase:

  - We are Amazon Prime members. So it would go great with this service and others we already had.

  - It was between this one and the other newer one. But this one had a discount on it. But still did everything we needed.

  - For Our Needs and the features it had were better than those of the Ruko.

  - Also we LOVE LOVE LOVE the Amazing Customer Service we KNOW we get from Amazon. So that in it self had me leaning towards the Amazon Fire Stick.

  - It would go not only with services we already have but also future ones we plan on getting in the future.

  - Quality we can trust. I have purchased other Amazon Label products from Fire Tablets to Trash Bags and all have been just great and even more so for the price as well.

  Now other things since our purchase. One reason I so so LOVE it is that it solved a couple serious problems we were having. #1 We were having issues with our remote working very well that came with our VIZIO Tv that my nephew helped me pick out because I know nothing about smart TVs. I wanted good quality. But didn't get totally what I wanted from a TV (which isn't much because I don't watch TV myself on the TV, more of on my laptop). I would have to point the remote directly at the lower left hand corner of the TV with the remote the TV came with and even then I would have issues. I did contact them about this and even questioned on the Q&A area. and pretty much I was told I could purchase a new remote that would work with the TV but i would have the same issue. Also even if I bought the VIZIO in 2019 but it was a 2015 model there would be no upgrade in the Apps. So we would have to find another way of hooking up Disney+ to the TV. Which was me having to take my Laptop and using a HDMI cord and hookign it up and watching it from the browser. Which is what we did for nearly 3 months. Because the Company VIZIO from what I read online was only going to be updating the apps from the TVs that were 2016 or newer and not until this past January. Which maybe they did. MAn I spent alot on the TV and they not going to send out a update of the apps including Disney + but had the Hulu and ESPN. :0( very heart breaking. So the Amazon Fire Stick fixed both of these issues for us. I dont' have to give up my Laptop to the kids to watch Disney + on the Big TV as a Family even. But also i tested out the Fire stick and i can even point it at the ceiling and it STILL works. I can have the remote backwards as well and still USE IT!!!!!

  When you got munchkins this is a plus. Or Boys that want to be Monkey Butts. no matter if one of them stands or sits in front of the lower left corner of the TV the channel or volume can still be adjusted. and with these 2 sticker butts there is less arguments of them wanting the other one to move out of the way. hehehehe For this Momma with 2 Handful Boys this is a LOVE LOVE LOVE.

  Now also I dont' have to give up my Laptop. and can go back to multi tasking alot better. I use my laptop a LOT for Business, but also we are Homeschoolers and I also have my own classes I take online as well. So the Fire Stick came to the rescue to free up my laptop a bit.

  O.k. nothing is perfect. So there is only one thing I have a issue with but it is workable even if it can be a pain in the butt. and that is the parental control on there so no purchases are made. I keep having to punch in the code just to switch from say Amazon to HULU to Disney + even if we are not trying to purchase any thing. But Also some times even in the same app to go back to the home screen or something. Like Disney +. I'm so worried that i might get so use to just punching the code in so many dang times that I might end up just do it for one of the boys and not knowing and end up purchasing a movie or TV series i totally did not want to pay of it and over withdraw my bank account and get fees or something or a bill might not get paid.

  This totally needs to be fixed.

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• 

  David S.

  5 out of 5 stars

  The best streaming stick available in 2020

  Reviewed in the United States on August 17, 2020

  Configuration: Fire TV Stick 4K

  Verified Purchase

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  We already had an Amazon TV Fire Stick 4K in the living room but it was time to replace the Amazon Fire TV Gen 1 stick in our bedroom as the Gen 1 stick couldn't load the Apple TV+ app, the menus had gotten slow and we were getting some glitches in the playback of content from all providers.

  Before just getting another Fire Stick, I evaluated the Tivo Stream, Roku and Fire Stick streaming devices to see if I wanted to make a change.

  The deal breaker with the Tivo was the lack of dedicated play/pause/fast forward/rewind buttons on the remote.

  The deal breaker for the Roku was the lack of dedicated volume buttons on the remote.

  The Fire Stick remote has both dedicated play/pause/fast forward/rewind buttons as well as volume control buttons yet still maintains a comfortable size.

  Also tipping the scales in favor of the Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K was the Alexa integration, that we already knew the user interface for the Fire TV Stick and remote, and that I had such a great experience with the initial setup of the one in the living room - especially the seamless configuration of the remote controls for the TV and soundbar.

  Also helping the cause for the Fire Stick was the fact that Amazon offered a an upgrade credit if our Gen 1 stick was still working and we had all the pieces (which it was and we did) and we set it to them. As a reminder, if you take the upgrade route, remember to reset the Gen 1 stick to factory settings before you box it up so all of your personal information gets wiped.

  I did end up having one glitch in the setup of the new Fire TV Stick which ultimately turned out not to be the fault of the Fire TV Stick. The catch was that when the setup process got to the audio I wasn't getting any sound. I went through all 36 options for the vintage JVC receiver we have but none worked. I then tried the audio setup again choosing sound bar rather than receiver but none of the six options worked. Somewhere in the back of my mind I vaguely remembered that there was an issue when I hooked up the optical audio to RCA converter I use to connect the television to the JVC receiver. Turns out the converter can not handle Dolby audio so I was able to go to the Fire TV Stick settings, then to audio settings and change the audio output from Best Available (which defaults to Dolby) to Stereo. Then the sound started working and I was then able to go into devices in settings and add a new device using receiver and JVC and got everything working.

  I did have to reload all of our apps for things like Netflix and set up the logins again but I would have had to do that if I had swtiched to a different brand so that was a wash.

  As expected we are now enjoying all of the benefits of a new Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K:

  Smooth playback of content

  Crisp menu performance

  Availability of apps for all the services we subscribe to

  Ability to control the television, sound system and stick with just one remote control

  Alexa integration

  Bottom line: This was a significant upgrade from our Gen 1 stick and we are happy with the purchase of our Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K and would do it again.

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• 

  MA573RM1ND

  4 out of 5 stars

  Very good for the price! Only 1 small con

  Reviewed in the United States on January 3, 2019

  Configuration: Fire TV Stick 4K

  Verified Purchase

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  I purchased 3 of these altogether after buying 1 and trying it out and liking it for the most part. Mostly pro's here but a few cons. I never purchased a fire stick in the past due to their limited hardware and I never was a stream freak but for years I streamed music and movies locally from pc to pc using windows smb and kodi media center for htpc client in the living room. This year I remodelled the living room completely and parted ways with the laptop, 3dtv, and 5.1 surround sound. With new walls, flooring, and new furniture I decided to get a new tv and hanging shelf and do away with anything clunky and un-used. I purchased a Samsung QLED Q9F 65" and wall mounted it above a hanging shelf and around that time I noticed as I was doing some shopping on Amazon that this new 4k fire stick had just released and it could run kodi with not much effort and handle 4k streams. My tv already had lots of online streaming apps but afaik not capable of running kodi or if possible it could I still didn't want to use a 3rd party app to download and install it on the tv memory so I chose the fire stick. All the online streaming apps run great and so does Kodi. The only con is that it doesn't have a good enough gpu and/or cpu to handle 4k remux or complete 4k bluray iso files without skipping. I had to encode to crf 17 and I think at that resolution the highest bitrate that works is 30MB/s or less. It bothers me that it is sooo close to being perfect but for the price it is totally worth it. It will play full 1080p remux and bluray img files flawlessly it's just that it wont quite do lossless 4k. It does however handle atmos 7.1 with no issues as far as I can tell and HDR as well. It also pairs well with my tv for the fact that it is almost the same remote in size and by design and for most functions it will even serve as the tv remote for almost everything. If you are bothered by the volume control on the Q9F remote then it helps to use the fire stick remote to turn the volume up or down instead of using bixby voice to do it in increments that you set. I havn't tested the wifi due to purchasing the ethernet jack but I do run a 5ghz wifi network and it should perform well due to being close to the access point but with local streaming I've always preferred wired. I'm amazed at what it does handle due to being small in size and fairly cheap in price but a future 4k fire box is in need of for anybody serious about lossless streaming. I'd say 8gb of ram/quad core intel cpu/gpu capable of rendering 4k res at full bitrate/and built in gigabit or 10gig ethernet and it should be able to monster everything around. In the meantime if you are running kodi from a pc for 3d and/or 1080p and you are looking to do 4k, then stick to pc with a 1080ti or better and lossless 4k aint a problem, but otherwise encoded 4k movies using profile main 10 with a crf of 17 will run perfect throughout the entire movie on this 4k fire stick. It is easy to setup hardware wise and during the on screen setup it's very straight forward. I'm only giving it 4 stars cause I think it should've had more ram, more memory for apps and storage considering solid state and thumb drives store so much in a small form factor these days, and gigabit should've been fit to the device directly and/or at least offered in addon adaptor. Even with a slightly higher price these perks could've put it at the top of the streaming tech race but if you don't have a fire stick at all and you have amazon prime, netflix, 4k movies of your own and time to encode them then don't hesitate to buy. It's totally worth it at it's current price.

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• 

  Cynema

  5 out of 5 stars

  A FORMER ROKU USER CONVERTED TO FIRESTICK! ... SOME HELPFUL TIPS MADE MY 4K SETUP SO MUCH EASIER

  Reviewed in the United States on February 27, 2020

  Configuration: Fire TV Stick 4K

  Verified Purchase

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  When service for my older Roku ended a couple months ago, I had no idea which way to go with a new streaming device. I went into my typical research mode and was still undecided, but a couple perks suddenly made it easy to choose the 4K Firestick. As a Prime member, I love the convenient integration of all the subscription premium channels that Amazon offers, as well as being able to choose the standalone apps that were on Roku. Even though I don't yet (or may never) have a 4K TV because no one is currently broadcasting in 4K so why bother, it seemed a no-brainer to get the most updated version and streaming quality of picture afforded by the 4K stick, so the choice was easy and I've not regretted it.

  However, the stick comes with VERY MINIMAL INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS. I'm one of those users who likes to familiarize myself thoroughly with a device and its capabilities before installation, and the 3 steps in the enclosed installation manual left me more than puzzled about customizing the settings. So, I did what I encourage all of you to do -- call $K tech support and have them walk you through ALL THE STEPS. You'll be glad you did. Some things (that I didn't want) were turned on as defaults on the stick, and frankly, it wasn't clear what certain settings even meant or what would be optimal for me. Even going through the entire setup process onscreen doesn't explain many of the choices that can be tweaked. For instance:

  1) The remote comes preset to turn on your TV and the Firestick app automatically. I didn't want that. I turn on the TV separately from wanting to stream, and also use my sound bar for all my fine-tuned sound and volume preferences. In fact, I prefer using all my individual remotes. In particular, my TV settings for sound and my sound bar would have been in conflict with the 4K remote default setting, and caused so many more ridiculous steps to turn the TV on or off, the app on or off, or make any volume choices. If you don't mind this default feature then there's nothing to change, but it wouldn't bothered me right out of the gate.

  2) I only bought one Firestick because my other TV has built-in apps that are still being maintained by the manufacturer. However, they're two different manufacturers. You cannot use the Firestick interchangeably between different brands (say a Sony and a Samsung) without going through setup each time you switch because setup requires brand selection and only holds one in memory at a time. Plugging the stick into a different maker requires setup EACH TIME you switch from one TV to another, which would be a nuisance. There's a workaround that I learned only from the tech support guy who guided me through setup. During setup, I selected a TV brand that is neither of my two TVs. Therefore, I can easily switch the stick from TV to TV without setting it up each time. No matter how many TVs you have, the trick is to choose a brand that is none of your TVs. Works like a charm, but if I hadn't done setup with tech help, I would never have known that I could switch the stick between TVs and would have just left it on one TV.

  3) Some reviewers complain about buffering issues and dropped signal only happening with the stick, and not other devices in their homes. Well, once in awhile I've had a dropped signal, but it comes right back and I've never had buffering issues. Maybe less than 1/2% of the time has this happened, so not a problem, and once the signal is restored it never drops again during the duration of current use.

  4) The streaming and picture are spectacular.

  5) I waited to get this stick until Google and Amazon ironed out their differences at the end of 2019 so that the YouTube TV app (the best streaming app out there) is now downloadable on the stick.

  There's a reason for these issues that the tech explained to me: 4K takes ALOT OF INTERNET. It doesn't matter if you have 200 Mb speed, you may encounter buffering and dropped signal frequently, depending on how many other devices in use at the time. Ironically enough, I have a ridiculously slow internet speed that I've never upgraded because I have absolutely no problem running TVs, laptop, tablets, phone, streaming all at the same time here in LA. But, the key here is how much internet you're using at the same time when using 4K ANYTHING, not your speed. I think many of these critical reviewers have 4K TV, plus the stick, plus run alot of stuff at the same time because they have max speed, but they can actually have problems for using too much internet at once, while I have no problems. So bear that mind.

  I'll admit I haven't yet used the stick's Alexa feature yet because it doesn't matter to me for watching TV, and I have my Echo Dot anyway for other things. I love this 4K stick over any other device, am so glad I went through a formal installation process because (AGAIN) I tweaked even more settings than mentioned here during the process that I wouldn't have known to do or not, plus I have no issues with buffering and dropped signal that affect my use of the device. I intend to buy another stick soon, so I don't have to switch back and forth between TVs if I want, rather than use my pre-installed individual apps. It's so convenient to go in and out of NetFlix, Prime, premium movie channels, Vudu on the stick rather the individual apps, but I have the option of doing it either way..

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• 

  Kudjo Thomas

  5 out of 5 stars

  Best budget media player on the market? I think so.

  Reviewed in the United States on March 25, 2019

  Configuration: Fire TV Stick 4K

  Verified Purchase

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  I have to say: I'm pretty impressed with the new FireStick. I previously owned a FireTV 2nd edition, which to this day no other Fire TV seems to hold a candle to, so I have to admit I wasn't expecting much out of this device.

  I've pretty much tested it into the ground at this point but I'm still no where near complete as I don't have some of the necessary features like Dolby Atmos and an HDR tv to really see what it can do. Even with that being said, I can attest that it does hit the 4k resolution as promised.

  I unfortunately could not connect this directly to my receiver(a pioneer vsx 520) as it would not pick up the 4k resolution. I opted to use the ARC function available, and that at least gave me some functionality though it doesn't quite seem to work well with anything other than the regular dolby digital 5.1 format.

  A few times I found it dropping the ARC connection from the TV but I honestly don't know how much of a role the stick is playing in this occurrence. I was pretty surprised how well the Wifi handles on this device. At close distances it was able to use all of my 300mbit connection down but for some reason it split the upload speed in half.

  Going much further out, about 40 ft, I definitely saw a huge drop in the connection showing about 40mbit down and up which was still good enough for streaming much of my media. I own an HDHomeRun Connect OTA which ran fine after an update.

  I'm a big KODI user, and though Amazon doesn't support the application, I found it pretty easy to get around this and install it using the Downloader app. This allowed me to test most of my personal media. Initially, I was having issues playing my DVD iso's but after updating KODI to 18.1 RC1, things started to work. I did, however, have to take off the hardware codec as the movies were choppy for some reason. Apparently, this has been an ongoing issue.

  If your not into DVD menu's like myself, you can just use the MKV format with the mpeg-2 codec and things will run fine. I also tried a few Blu-Rays as well. The H.264 codec with the MP4 format worked without a problem but using the MKV format with the VC1 had stuttering issues.

  If you have a good media server, than I just recommend transcoding with Plex or Emby as converting can take forever. The device did a great job with switching resolutions and frame rates for 24fps mode so if you have a TV that has these functions available, breath easy.

  Lastly I tested out some games. The FireStick unfortunately only supports three controllers at this time the Xbox One, PlayStation 4(ver 2), and the Matricom(I specifically used G-PAD BX). I grabbed RetroArch, a great multi emulation application.

  It would seem the PlayStation is far as you are going to get for good performance on 3D accelerated games. I tried out the Run-Ahead feature for latency reduction on some of the older titles and it worked pretty well baring a few issues with certain games. I do believe that some N64 and PSP games can work with the FireStick but it is recommend you use the separate emulators rather than RetroArch to run them.

  I'm no where near done with trying things out but as you can see, the FireStick 4K does hold up pretty well for the price. The interface is snappy and integration seems to be pretty painless so if you're looking for a budget media player you can use for the mean time or for a secondary room this is definitely the one I recommend.

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• 

  VintageVet

  5 out of 5 stars

  So Easy, So Good, and So Complete Cable TV Is Truly At Risk...

  Reviewed in the United States on July 3, 2020

  Configuration: Fire TV Stick 4K

  Verified Purchase

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  I have an older Samsung 3-D Smart TV purchased for its other attributes that were bundled with 3-D only and the Smart part has long since been abandoned by Samsung making the acquisition of Disney+ near impossible and way overly complicated to access if I did manage to pick it up---answer: the newest generation of the Amazon's FireStick TV 4K.

  First, connectivity:

  Exactly everything I needed to connect the Fire Stick to my old Samsung was in the box. The thoughtfulness that went into the contents of the box is impressive, especially the HDMI pigtail that was included to provide maximum installation flexibility. Connection is a total no-brainer.

  Second, set up:

  At first I was concerned it was going to be a hassle but you just follow the on-screen prompts. The only sorta confusing part was pairing the Fire Stick remote with my old TV and my ZVOX Sound Base but once I realized that was what was going on, it was easy as pie even though I had to suss out the code numbers for my stuff out of the list provided on-screen by Fire Stick. You simply pick your TV model and Sound system (if you have one) and the Stick gives you a code number that you select and the rest happens automatically, including an simple operational test to vet the pairing. Voila, the Fire Stick remote controls my TV's power-on/off, selects the right video input/source HDMI port, and controls the volume level on my ZVOX Soundbase.

  It took all of three minutes to figure out how navigation works on the remote using the buttons and even less to figure out how to use the remote's built in Alexa voice control module to navigate. Depress the microphone button and talk to it telling it where you want to go in the menu(s) and/or what specifically you want (where to go or what you want to watch). Amazing!

  Third, performance. The Fire Stick just blows away the Samsung "Smart" modules in both my old Smart TV and newer Samsung Smart BlueRay/DVD player in streaming speeds, buffer capacity, and video playback speed and quality. A few seconds of trial and error navigation and the menu structure becomes almost intuitive and so easy to navigate. Finally, loading the Disney+ application was a no-brainer too as was selection of my subscription type and payment means. I happen to have an Amazon Prime membership and the content included with that membership, Netflix, and now Disney+ means I'll never run out of entertainment options.

  Lastly, my recommendation. Amazon's Fire Stick is so good I am truly considering dumping cable TV and will likely never purchase a "Smart" TV again. A simple one-time purchase of a good high gain HDTV antenna and I will have all the local TV channels I would possibly need and with Fire Stick TV system by Amazon all the free and premium services I can afford and could possibly want.

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