Top positive review
812 people found this helpful
Wish I would have done this sooner!
By Astrohman on 9/7/2016 2:27:40 PM
Cord cutter here. We had been wanting to dump cable for some time but were scared to leave our comfort zone. Since we are Prime members, we finally decided to give Amazon Fire TV a shot. We've been using Fire TV for two weeks now and we'll never go back to cable!
PROS:
Ridiculously easy to set up and small form factor which takes up very little space.
Simple remote (and a free app so you can turn your cell or tablet into a remote).
No buffering issues have yet come up (although that may be because I have a very strong internet connection).
Seamless interaction with our Prime Video account and Amazon Music, across all devices. For example, if I download a movie from Prime on my tablet, watch some of it during my commute - when I get home and turn on Fire TV, I can pick up right where I left off from my tablet...seamlessly without having to manually sync.
Comes with thousands of channels/apps loaded including all of the the major services we use.
Can be used for games (we haven't tried any games yet)
The voice command feature is outstanding. Speak the name of a show or movie and be taken instantly to it, with multiple options for buying, renting or just viewing for free if available. I've never been a big voice command user with other devices but this one works so well that using it has already become a habit.
Using the Amazon Photos app you can instantly upload all of your digital photos from your phone or tablet to your Fire TV for large screen viewing of your photos.
CONS: No way to customize the home screen layout (at least no way that I've been able to figure out).
OVERALL: I'm kicking myself for not doing this sooner. Since we use Prime and Amazon Music, its a no-brainer for us to use the Fire TV. Everything syncs automatically and transfers from device to device seamlessly.
Edited to add the following section after reading some of the 1 and 2 star reviews:
If you are a first-time cord-cutter, considering cord-cutting or new to streaming TV services, here are a few things to keep in mind.
1) Make sure you really take the time to do research and due-diligence on cord-cutting. Just google "cord cutting" to get started with several good articles. I'm seeing a lot of 1 and 2 star reviewers who seemed surprised that they actually have to pay for things like Netflix, Hulu, etc. Fire TV (and all of the other streaming services like Roku, Apple TV, etc.) do not just give you free access to all content. They allow you to pick and choose what you want to watch and pay for as opposed to making you pay a big fee for a huge amount of channels you will never watch. If you do it right, you'll have access to the content you want for a substantial savings over what you were paying with cable.
2) Make sure you have a strong (and fast) internet connection. This is very important. We dumped our cable company in its entirety (including internet service) and upgraded to a faster dedicated line internet service with another company. We have up to six devices simultaneously streaming at any given time in our house and our internet service can handle all of that as well as the streaming Fire TV. So make sure yours can as well. If you're not sure, call your internet service provider, tell them you are planning to switch to streaming television and ask them about your current speeds.
3) Some apps require a cable subscription. You can purchase a streaming service like Sling which will bundle several of the channels you likely want but you may find yourself unable to access certain apps. For now password sharing with one of your friends may solve that problem but I suspect its only a matter of time before that loophole gets closed. So do your research and make sure you can access the channels you want.
4) Give yourself time to adjust to the new interface. It took some getting used to when I lost my ability to surf the cable channel guide. But the fact is, I'm no longer wasting large chunks of time mindlessly surfing the guide. Rather than surf, I'm turning to specific apps to watch specific programs. Its liberating in a way that I didn't expect. Besides, I can now surf all of the Amazon Prime content by simply using the voice command on the remote.
PROS:
Ridiculously easy to set up and small form factor which takes up very little space.
Simple remote (and a free app so you can turn your cell or tablet into a remote).
No buffering issues have yet come up (although that may be because I have a very strong internet connection).
Seamless interaction with our Prime Video account and Amazon Music, across all devices. For example, if I download a movie from Prime on my tablet, watch some of it during my commute - when I get home and turn on Fire TV, I can pick up right where I left off from my tablet...seamlessly without having to manually sync.
Comes with thousands of channels/apps loaded including all of the the major services we use.
Can be used for games (we haven't tried any games yet)
The voice command feature is outstanding. Speak the name of a show or movie and be taken instantly to it, with multiple options for buying, renting or just viewing for free if available. I've never been a big voice command user with other devices but this one works so well that using it has already become a habit.
Using the Amazon Photos app you can instantly upload all of your digital photos from your phone or tablet to your Fire TV for large screen viewing of your photos.
CONS: No way to customize the home screen layout (at least no way that I've been able to figure out).
OVERALL: I'm kicking myself for not doing this sooner. Since we use Prime and Amazon Music, its a no-brainer for us to use the Fire TV. Everything syncs automatically and transfers from device to device seamlessly.
Edited to add the following section after reading some of the 1 and 2 star reviews:
If you are a first-time cord-cutter, considering cord-cutting or new to streaming TV services, here are a few things to keep in mind.
1) Make sure you really take the time to do research and due-diligence on cord-cutting. Just google "cord cutting" to get started with several good articles. I'm seeing a lot of 1 and 2 star reviewers who seemed surprised that they actually have to pay for things like Netflix, Hulu, etc. Fire TV (and all of the other streaming services like Roku, Apple TV, etc.) do not just give you free access to all content. They allow you to pick and choose what you want to watch and pay for as opposed to making you pay a big fee for a huge amount of channels you will never watch. If you do it right, you'll have access to the content you want for a substantial savings over what you were paying with cable.
2) Make sure you have a strong (and fast) internet connection. This is very important. We dumped our cable company in its entirety (including internet service) and upgraded to a faster dedicated line internet service with another company. We have up to six devices simultaneously streaming at any given time in our house and our internet service can handle all of that as well as the streaming Fire TV. So make sure yours can as well. If you're not sure, call your internet service provider, tell them you are planning to switch to streaming television and ask them about your current speeds.
3) Some apps require a cable subscription. You can purchase a streaming service like Sling which will bundle several of the channels you likely want but you may find yourself unable to access certain apps. For now password sharing with one of your friends may solve that problem but I suspect its only a matter of time before that loophole gets closed. So do your research and make sure you can access the channels you want.
4) Give yourself time to adjust to the new interface. It took some getting used to when I lost my ability to surf the cable channel guide. But the fact is, I'm no longer wasting large chunks of time mindlessly surfing the guide. Rather than surf, I'm turning to specific apps to watch specific programs. Its liberating in a way that I didn't expect. Besides, I can now surf all of the Amazon Prime content by simply using the voice command on the remote.
Top critical review
59 people found this helpful
As of 2020: slow piece of junk, an even older Fire Stick is MUCH faster (sadly)
By One for All on 5/28/2020 1:26:23 AM
I have used this device for just over 3 years. The first 2 were great. The last year has been a slow mess. Factory resets, disabling everything, replacing my router, hooking up to a LAN plug ... nothing helps. The response time is just horribly slow to do anything. I finally hooked up an old Fire Stick I had in a closet that is even older, and guess what ... it is MUCH faster with all other variables in the equation being equal.
Amazon: shame on you for releasing buggy software that has ruined this device. I am fairly hooked on the Amazon ecosystem, but I will tell anyone: DO NOT BUY THIS MISSTEP FROM AMAZON - AS OF 2020 IT SUCKS.
Amazon: shame on you for releasing buggy software that has ruined this device. I am fairly hooked on the Amazon ecosystem, but I will tell anyone: DO NOT BUY THIS MISSTEP FROM AMAZON - AS OF 2020 IT SUCKS.
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