Amazon Fire TV Cube Media Player

I just got the Amazon fire TV cube this last Friday and spent some time with it this weekend. Here are my thoughts: ** Installation and Set-up: Set-up was a breeze, simply plug in an HDMI cable (not included) and power cable and you are good to go. Set your TV to the correct input and follow the on-screen instructions. As long as the device was purchased with your Amazon account the device will be pre-loaded with your account email and password which hurries installation along. I also connected a Sonos sound bar in just a few clicks. Device can easily be set-up by anyone that is unfamiliar with technology. My only gripe about the installation was there was not a clear way to pull through apps, games, and logins from my previous fire TV. This means you must re-download all your streaming apps and re-sync them which is a time consuming. Maybe there is an easier option but I could not find one. ** Pro’s - Ask “Alexa, what’s the weather” and a 7 day and your TV will turn on and show you the 7 day forecast. Alexa will answer audibly as normal as well. - Ask “Alexa, play must by [Adele]” and your TV will turn on and show the album artwork, song, artist, and scroll through the lyrics karaoke style. - Ask “Alexa, when is Jurassic Park Fallen Kingdom playing” and you guess it, your TV will turn on and visually show you movie times at local theaters. - Basically, most things you are used to asking Alexa will likely turn your TV on to show you a visual component as well. - I had my Fire TV cube about 1 ft. or less away from my Sonos play base speaker and Alexa did not have any trouble hearing the wake word. - You can set your flash news briefing to sites that support video news which is a cool feature. - If you are trying to purchase something Alexa will show you the options, prices, etc. on screen which is nice to double check and know what you are ordering. - Play music through your TV/stereo system instead of a little Alexa Speaker for better audio. Since I hooked up a Sonos play base speaker all audio comes out of the playbase instead of the fire TV cube. - Have you ever play jeopardy and could not understand the question? Most games have a visual component now where questions and information will appear on screen which is a big plus. - You can also control cable TV. If you say, “Alexa, tune to EPSN” the Fire Tv will switch inputs and bring up your cable box which you can still control via voice commands. This does not work with programs/movies/shows only channel numbers and names. Say, “Alexa, go home” and you will be back to your fire TV. - If you have a compatible smart camera, you can says things like, “Alexa, show me the front door” and your security camera will pop-up on the TV. ** Con’s - Not sure if this is an option but Alexa will turn the TV on quite a bit to show you something. It does not appear that Alexa will turn the TV off afterwards as I constantly noticed my TV was on this weekend. I would imagine there is an option or this will change in an update, alternatively I could set my TV on a sleep timer as Alexa is not displaying content to turn off. - After saying the wake word it takes an extra half second or so before there is a visual display to begin talking. I noticed, I can usually start talking before the visual indicator and Alexa will still hear the whole thing but it makes you pause before saying Alexa which does not happen on the normal Alexa devices. Again, likely a software update coming soon I would guess. - If you do not know what you are looking for the process is a bit intense. For example, “show action movies”, there will be numbers next to each movie so you could say, “play movie 4” for example or, “swipe right”, “select movie 15”, etc. If you are unsure what you want to watch the remote is much more graceful for searching through the Amazon library. - HDMI cable not included. Sure everyone has a million of them but for people that do not have a spare I am sure it is frustrating to learn one is not included as you are trying to set up. ** General list of commands I found myself using most. I will post a link at the bottom to a more exhaustive list of commands but here are some examples of how you would use and navigate with the product: * Searching for a movie/series: “Alexa, Search for [Action Movies] with [Bruce Willis]” or “Alexa, Search for [title / actor / genre]” Up to ten results will display on screen with corresponding numbers next to each result “Alexa, Show more” or “Alexa, Scroll right” “Alexa, Play #5” or “Alexa, Play [Die Hard]” * Know what you want to play? Say things like: “Alexa, Play [Game of Thrones] on [HBO Go]” “Alexa, *Tune to [ESPN]” (*Tune indicates a switch to your cable box, you can say a channel number or channel name only at this time.) “Alexa, Launch [Showtime Anytime]” to launch an app. * Turn on or off: “Alexa, Play [Game of Thrones] on [HBO Go]” will automatically turn on your TV and launch the show on specified app. “Alexa, turn on TV” will bring you to the Amazon home screen. “Alexa, turn on cable” will turn on your TV and cable box. * Common commands while viewing: Alexa, Turn up the volume Alexa, Mute Alexa, rewind 5 minutes Alexa, Jump to 25 minutes Alexa, fast-forward 25 seconds Alexa, Next Episode * Non movie/series related commands or questions: “Alexa, play music by [Adele]” or “Alexa, play my [Adele] station on [Pandora]” “Alexa, What’s the weather” or “Alexa, what’s traffic like now?” or “Alexa, Will it rain tomorrow?” “Alexa, show me [Garage] camera” to display your security camera with Alexa enabled cameras. “Alexa, what’s my flash briefing?” “Alexa, order/re-order toilet paper” You can find more comprehensive list here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=GK5A3XSKT5RWB39U ** Conclusion: Overall, I really like the Fire TV Cube. My main gripes is it seems to be a bit laggy with commands compared to the standard Echo. I am hoping this will improve with future software updates. Second, it can be cumbersome to use the voice commands if you do not know what you want to watch. In this scenario, I will continue to use the included remote. However, if you have misplaced your remote, or are too lazy, tired, the voice commands work great in all aspects. I replaced a Fire TV Gen 2 and Echo Dot with the Fire TV cube in my bedroom and am overall quite pleased. The Fire TV cube hardware seems fantastic and the few operational / software issues I have will likely get better with time. It will be exciting as well to see how app developers begin to use the new features and system to build out new and exciting games and content. This device will 100% replace both your Echo and Fire TV and if you are looking for a new streaming device for any room in the house there is no reason not to get this. Even if you do not play on using Alexa it is great functionality to have. For an extra, $40 it is an easy decision for me. Now, if you have an Echo and a Fire TV in the same room already this likely will not be a worthwhile upgrade for a lot of people. For me, having Alexa work through my Sonos Sound bar to improve audio quality for music, and automatic input switching alone is worth the upgrade but you will have to decide for yourself if it is worth replacing existing equipment.