Streaming Services.
Premium:
Netflix, Amazon Instant Video, Hulu, HBO Go, HBO Now, MLB.TV, NFL, NBA, NFL Sunday Ticket, MLS, WWE Network, UFC, Showtime, Showtime anytime, Sling Television, Gamefly Streaming, Movies anywhere, PlayStation Vue, DirecTV NOW, Starz, CBS All Access
Other:
YouTube, Pandora, Spotify, Twitter, and more
Description. This Amazon Fire TV with Alexa Voice Remote is a small, thumb-drive sized media player. The unit contains a micro-usb power port, one HDMI input, and lacks an Ethernet jack. The Fire TV with Alexa Voice Remote comes with a relatively simple remote that operates via Bluetooth rather than infrared (IR). It has a circular navigation control, a built in mic, and a dedicated button to go to the voice search.
Setup. This player is generally easy to set up. There is an onscreen setup guide the first time you power up the player that syncs the Bluetooth remote and then automatically scans for available Wi-Fi networks, and it support WPS connections that let you pair the device without entering a password. Since you are buying it right from Amazon, if you have a Prime account, your account information and any content stored in the Amazon Cloud Drive or Amazon Music services will be automatically loaded onto the player. At the end of the setup, it even has a tutorial video that shows you how to use the more advanced features, including the voice search. We found updating the player's firmware was easy thanks to automatic prompts.
Ease of use. For everyday use the box is generally easy to use:
Interface. The main home screen uses a list to go through the main categories (home, movies, TV, apps, etc.) and graphic tiles divided into sub-sections (most popular, recent, new releases, etc.). All of the movie and TV content displayed on the home screen is from Amazon Instant Video and will load almost instantly. It allows manually organizing your apps which makes it easier to use to get to a favorite app. If used often it will stay in the "Recent" section of the home screen. It also has a very responsive voice search function that will search a few of the video streaming services and your Amazon Music account for content. The voice search now also uses Alexa, Amazon’s answer to Apple’s Siri, to add to shopping and to-do lists, find out the current weather and news, and other information. Thanks to its quad-core processor, we found this player's response to be noticeably fast, which made navigating the menus and content pleasing.
Remote control. The provided remote is very simple, with few buttons. The buttons' size and labeling is good, with high enough contrast that they can still be seen in a room with low light conditions. The remote uses a Bluetooth connection so it doesn't require line of sight to control the box. It also has a built in mic and a dedicated button to easily bring you to the voice search. You can download an iOS, Android, Windows or Fire OS app that lets you use a phone or tablet to control the player, use the device's mic for voice searches, and use the device's QWERTY keyboard to enter text, making it easier to enter passwords.
Picture quality. In general we found the streaming picture quality for HD to be excellent. HD content is better than standard DVDs but not quite as sharp or detailed as from a HD Blu-ray disc content. However, the quality of the video that you'll get is largely dependent on the speed of your wired or wireless network.
Audio. This player will output multichannel digital audio via its HDMI output.
Connections. It supports the latest Wi-Fi standard (802.11ac), which supports dual-band: 2.4Ghz and 5GHz networks. DLNA is supported allowing access to play music, photos, or videos directly through the player but will require App download to gain access to content. It supports "casting," which allows you to load content from Netflix onto the player and control the video from the app on your mobile device. It supports screen mirroring, so you can mirror the screen of any Android, Fire OS, or Windows device on to your TV via the player.
Miscellaneous. Nothing significant.
Firmware Version. All players are evaluated using the latest firmware version available at the time of testing.
Firmware version for the Amazon Fire TV stick with Alexa voice remote is: Fire OS 5.2.6.2 (587700720)
