Amazon Fire TV Stick Review — Primed to Entertain

[Marshall Honorof]

A focus on Amazon apps makes the Fire TV Stick a good choice for existing Amazon customers and less compelling for others.

Amazon Fire TV Stick Review — Primed to Entertain : Read more

 

[Lighthammer]

Don't know what remote app you used but the fire tv app remote works excellently no lag and very easy to use a great addition along with the physical remote.

 

[Tim W]

I've been using the Fire Stick and it's been very smooth experience for me. I definitely got a good value. It only cost $19 + tax. Prime membership has its perks.

 

[Jperrn]

This pathetic device wasn't worth the $19 I paid for it. I was hoping it would improve navigating to Amazon Prime shows - I can get my kids show started in 1/2 the time and with 1/2 the clicks on Netflix as it takes on Amazon (one show they like isn't on Netflix anymore). Thought the Fire stick would help - but it can't handle streaming Amazon. I have streamed Netflix for years and Amazon Prime for almost a year on a Wii just fine. Got the fire stick - it can't _really_ stream Amazon Prime TV shows - constantly buffering (the Wii doesn't), also looses it's connection to the network a lot (it's just over 60" from the wireless router (other side of the TV) and closer than Wii. Laptops, nooks, phones have no problem picking up and keeping my WiFi all over the house. We also stream Netflix/Amazon on two devices at a time on my internet connection pretty regularly - and have no problems. But with the Fire Stick as the only streaming device - it still needs to buffer all the time.

 

[Robb Nunya]

I now have 3 of these. They work fine. Stream HD with no problems, and beyond an occasional pause because of network issues, run mostly problem free.

Caveat: These aren't ready to be my travel-device yet. Why? Because many hotels use Wifi without security, and rely on the router's web companion-app to make you log in. This device has no way to do that as of this writing. Hopefully Amazon will fix this. I don't want to have to set up my travel router as a bridge every time I go to a different hotel.

 

[Issalla]

I cannot get a full screen picture with Netflix using the Amazon Fire Stick. It has a large black band at the top and at the bottom. Does anyone know how to remedy this situation?

 

[larysius]

What this review fails to mention is that you can sideload android apps onto this stick because it's running a version of android. This increases the value of the unit making it, in my opinion, worth much more than the $19 one of the other reviewers complained about it not being worth. For it's intended purpose and use, even at it's $40 price tag, it's worth more than the chromecast or roku. I've tried all 3, and this one is, by far, the best.

 

[larysius]

I cannot get a full screen picture with Netflix using the Amazon Fire Stick. It has a large black band at the top and at the bottom. Does anyone know how to remedy this situation?

If you're referring to what I think you're referring to, then the answer is based on the abilities of your television. What you're viewing is a widescreen presentation of the film and the bars on top and bottom are normal. I do not know if the netflix app has zooming or panning options, but assuming it doesn't, your tv may or may not have picture options to scale or zoom in on the picture. That's about your only recourse.

 

[larysius]

Caveat: These aren't ready to be my travel-device yet. Why? Because many hotels use Wifi without security, and rely on the router's web companion-app to make you log in. This device has no way to do that as of this writing. Hopefully Amazon will fix this. I don't want to have to set up my travel router as a bridge every time I go to a different hotel.

That's should not be true actually. You can sideload apps onto the device, which include browsers. Though I haven't personally tested that aspect yet, I can tell you I've used a hospitals wifi with the stick recently and I was enjoying my home stuff while staying with my wife there. They didn't use browser authentication though, so I cannot confirm this, but seems like it would work.

 

[Sylvia_4]

I have been having a problem with my Utube App. When I open it and go to my local history it just goes back to the home screen again. That is , it returns to the beginning to open the app again . Any ideas on how to fix the problem??