It's a powerful voice assistant that can provide general information, bring up different apps and content, and control your smart home devices. Just press the microphone button on your Fire TV Stick's included remote, speak into it, and ask Alexa for whatever you want. On the plus side, Fire TV features Alexa, Amazon's voice assistant. The only big hole is Google Play services, which severely limits the available apps compared with the Chromecast, and prevents you from streaming content from Google Play. The platform has thousands of different apps, including Apple TV. Obviously, as an Amazon platform, Fire TV is focused on delivering Amazon content through Prime Video (as well as Prime Music and Amazon Channels), but it also does a very good job of aggregating other movies and shows from other major streaming services like Disney+, Hulu, and Netflix. The Fire TV platform is based on Android, but Amazon has been developing and refining it so much that it's completely distinct from Android TV and its new Google TV front-end. The Fire TV Stick has an infrared emitter for controlling your TV, while the Fire TV Stick Lite doesn't. The difference between the Fire TV Stick and Fire TV Stick Lite is entirely in the remote. The difference between the Fire TV Stick 4K and the other two are clear: It can output video at 4K, so if you have a 4K TV, you should seriously consider spending the extra $10 or $20 on it. If you want to spend even less, the $29.99 Fire TV Stick Lite offers similar performance and capabilities to the 1080p Fire TV Stick, but comes with a remote that can't control your TV. The Fire TV Stick 4K offers 4K streaming for $49.99, while the standard Fire TV Stick supports 1080p streaming for $39.99. Amazon Fire TV Stick LiteĪmazon's Fire TV platform is popular, powerful, and affordable, with three different tiny Fire TV Sticks that plug into the back of your TV for under $50. We're comparing them here to help you decide which one is right for you. They all have different platforms with different feature sets, as well as different apps and available streaming services. For $50 or less, you can get a Fire TV device from Amazon, a Chromecast With Google TV from Google, or any of a plethora of Roku media hubs. There's suddenly a wealth of affordable media streamers on the market, with multiple options from Amazon, Google, and Roku. Best Hosted Endpoint Protection and Security Software.

Chromecast v firestick