Question Should I buy the Amazon Fire Cube 2024 (3rd Gen) or wait?!

[UncleJohn]

WAIT!!! I have the Fire Cube 2024, and I am disappointed with it. There are very good deals on it right now at Amazon so if you ABSOLUTELY NEED a streaming box then it is a good (not great) box. The reason to WAIT is more technical...Wifi 7 is released and the current fire cube has only USB 2.1. What does this mean? Wifi 7 is already hitting our homes in the form of Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, which supports Wifi 7 in 2.4/5/6Ghz! This means maximum speeds go from 10Gb (Wifi 6E) to 40Gbps (Wifi 7). Now BE CAREFUL when buying "Wifi 7", you need to make sure that what ever equipment you purchase supports 6Ghz, not all do! Don't be fooled by "triband", shady marketers like to say 2.4Ghz, 5.2Ghz, and 5.8Ghz is "triband"...it is NOT! That is DUAL BAND! (2.4Ghz and 5Ghz). There's a LOT more bandwidth that is not currently cluttered by other devices in the 6Ghz range. With that said, I just purchased a Wifi 7 Dual Band AP for $40 because it is cheap and we need to give some time for the manufacturers to get up to speed with the 6Ghz devices and for the free market to drive down the costs. So $40 is disposable and gets me from Wifi 6 up to "Wifi 7". Second reason to wait is the stupid USB 2.1 port (REALLY?!). It should have at least been USB 3.1 if not 3.2 (USB C). There are power issues with 2.1 that will require you to use an external power adapter for anything over a jump drive. So here is my Svengali prediction: Amazon is dumping the Fire Cube 2024 now because they need to update the cube to compete. The longer Amazon waits to introduce a new cube with Wifi 7/USB C the more market share they will loose to competitors. I really like the Cube, but it is FAR from being a great product. Amazon's web browser Silk SUCKS!!! It is CONSTANTLY CRASHING! I am out looking for another streaming device specifically because of how often Silk crashes. I would purchase a Cube 4th Gen if it has USB C (a very low bar to cross there) AND with the expectation of returning it if Silk continues to crash and there is no other decent alternative browser (Chrome, FireFox, etc...). So if you can wait, I say wait. As for my Cube 2nd Gen and 3rd Gen, I will be using the trade-in program to get at least some of my money back.