(New) Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max (2nd Gen) (Damaged Packaging)

So, I at first had some color issues and finally figured out it was one of my HDMI ports being faulty, not the stick. Moving on from that, I will cover comparing with the Roku express 4k. My other issues were with color discrepancy but they’re mostly even now. I find the Roku to have a slight bit more pop but it’s at the expense of detail. Roku has a sort of over contrast and sharpness effect many modern TVs have that gives almost a smearing look to certain things and shows peoples pores, darkens shadows too much, etc. The fire is a bit smoother without sacrificing quality or fine detail, even if a dash more dull and a touch softer than reality at the same time. I find it a little more pleasing to look at. So, the ambient experience. it’s an alright feature. Very pretty. Havent figured out how to use the AI mode but I haven't tried very hard. I hide the widgets because I don’t want to worry about burn in. There’s a lot of options for time on and how fast to switch between images. There aren’t options to pick your images or custom screen savers that I could find. Roku has lots of screensavers (although some are paid) in very roku style as default. I also set my tv to turn off after a certain amount of time because if you don’t let the stick keep on ambient indefinitely on my Samsung it pops up an annoying searching for source message that is incessant and again, I worry about burn in. The fire stick does generally have some more setting options than the Roku for fine tweaking things, though. I did prefer the previous fire layout. With this one the ads are extra large, there’s some annoying auto play you can’t turn off sometimes as well. Most of the other space is taken up by suggestions from all your apps. The actual apps are just a thin strip and you have to scroll to another section to see the rest. I find it a little annoying. Roku lets you just scroll down the grid of boxes and customize your layout. Customization is limited here. The remote has a slick user experience where the Roku is a little more clunky. In fact it wasn’t working right at first until I restarted it. Both have similar functions. You can also make it so Alexa switches between sources although it’s a bit hit or miss. I recommend turning off the clicks on either remote because they are loud, especially on the fire. One neutral feature is that on the fire software it offers lots of suggestions as you flip through your apps, some including your keep watching (with priority to Amazon shows). If you have trouble figuring out what to watch, you might like this. It does give me ideas sometimes. The Roku is less obtrusive though (an ad on the side usually that won’t auto play unlike fire), which some might find nice, others not so inspiring. The fire is flashy. VERY. Big bummer, airplay mirroring from Apple devices isn’t supported on fire but is on Roku. It makes it seem like it is but it just doesn’t show up as an option on my Mac. Tried a lot of trouble shooting and after lots of googling it seems like in order to do it you need to pay for apps that are hit or miss. However, there is a browser on Roku and I was able to load some free content sites that don’t have apps which is mainly what I’d want to use mirroring for anyways. Not helpful if you need it for meetings, etc, though. If mirroring is important to you from a Mac, go with Roku. Ultimately, I almost gave up on this thing because of the tv issue I was having. Now that I solved that mystery I’m thinking the Roku is going back instead due to the image quality and access to a browser. If you made it this far I commend you! Hope that’s helpful to someone!