Roku vs. Amazon Fire TV Review

So how one can you select? To begin, understand they’ve extra similarities than variations.

• Both are super-affordable, beginning at $30 for Roku and $40 for Fire TV.
• Both have entry to roughly umpteen zillion TV apps, together with the entire main ones. Most apps look and behave principally the identical on each.
• The newest fashions of Roku and Fire TV are just about equally fast, responsive, and dependable as long as you’ve got a solid internet connection.
• Both (apart from the most cost-effective Rokus) provide remotes with TV volume and power buttons to control TVs, so you possibly can ditch the remote that got here together with your TV.
• Both have a number of fashions, beginning with fundamental streamers as much as 4K-compatible variations with voice, gadget control, and headphone jacks built into the distance.

Best for Home Screen Navigation: Roku

A Roku might be a better alternative if keeping track of things is vital to you. This is because, like your smartphone, Roku allows you to arrange all of your apps on the home screen. If you use Netflix more than any other app, for example, you might want to put it in the first row so you don’t waste time hunting for it.

In addition to the apps, the Roku home page displays all the tabs on the left side of the screen. You can either browse the Featured Free category for completely free movies and TV series or use the Search option to look for specific movies and TV shows. If you can’t recall the title, you can also search for a film based on the actor or director.

Roku has emerged as a strong competitor to Amazon and Google in recent years. The Roku Streaming Stick+ was the first 4K streaming stick available in the UK and supports 4K and HDR10. It is much smaller than the Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K, making it easier to fit into your TV’s HDMI port.

One key distinction between Roku and Amazon is that Roku does not produce its own television programming. Instead, Roku has launched a free, ad-supported TV streaming channel in the UK and the US. With a Roku device, users can access over 10,000 movies and TV shows of varying quality. Roku does not heavily promote specific content since it doesn’t have its own programming to push. As a result, the content browsing experience on Roku is significantly cleaner and more organized compared to Amazon. Navigating through different streaming apps and menus is also straightforward and fast.

Roku provides access to popular streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, Apple TV, Google Play, HBO, Hulu, Showtime, YouTube TV, Sling TV, Fubo, and NBC. Additionally, Now TV (UK), Vudu (US), and Google Play are available on Roku but not on Amazon Fire TV devices.

Apart from voice controls, the free Roku mobile app serves as a remote control and allows you to control and stream videos from your smartphone or tablet. It offers convenient features like the ability to listen to audio through headphones, ensuring other family members are not disturbed.

Unlike the Fire TV, the Roku Streaming Stick+ does not come with an HDMI extension cord in the box. Roku’s website offers one for free, but it may not be the best option. However, the Stick+ is more convenient than the Fire TV as it is powered by your TV’s USB port.

While Roku has a solid foundation and offers a range of additional features, Amazon Fire TV surpasses Roku in terms of voice commands, Prime Video content, and overall performance.

Fire Stick

Amazon Fire TV additionally affords handy residence display screen navigation, however differently. Instead of permitting you to rearrange your apps, The Fire Stick exhibits you an inventory of your frequent and up to date apps. You may also maintain down the mouse button to enter an inventory of grasp apps.

Below your favorite apps, Fire Stick exhibits your suggestions based mostly in your beforehand seen motion pictures and TV exhibits. It additionally exhibits you new movies from Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, Hulu, or no matter channels you’re subscribed to. So, if you wish to keep up to date on new movies or uncover motion pictures from any style, the Fire Stick could be a greater choice for you.

Best Remote Control: Amazon Fire Stick

Both Roku and Fire TV embrace distant controls to your TV, so that you don’t should switch between the TV distant and the streaming gadget distant.

Roku

The microphone button on the Roku remote gives you the ability to search for movies and play them by speaking the names of the titles into the microphone. In addition, Roku has shortcut buttons for popular channels like as Netflix and Disney Channels. These shortcut buttons will actually come in handy, but unfortunately, they cannot be reprogrammed to switch between different stations. Therefore, if you don’t use the channels on your Roku remote, these buttons may be even less useful to you than they already are.

Fire Stick

Best Voice Control: Amazon Fire Stick

It is going to be such a hassle to reach for the remote control, especially if you are already comfortable on the couch or on your bed. The good news is that each Roku and Fire TV Stick will enable you to manage your television by giving voice commands. However, which streaming media player is better for you—a Roku or an Amazon Fire Stick—depends entirely on the voice assistant that is already installed in your home.

Roku

Roku works with each Google and Alexa, however, Google doesn’t work with the Amazon Fire Stick. So, when you have Google Home sensible residence speakers, Roku is the higher choice for you.

However, you need to say “Roku” every time you ask Google to launch apps or play motion pictures on a Roku gadget. For instance, you may say, “Google, open Hulu on Roku,” or “Google, pause Roku.”

If you don’t have Google or Alexa, you may nonetheless launch apps and seek for content material utilizing the microphone button in your Roku distant or through the use of the Roku cell app. You can discover completely different genres, actors, or play TV exhibits on a selected channel. Just say, “Play Happy Feet on The Roku Channel,” and Roku will play the film for you.

Fire Stick

The Fire Stick is an excellent streaming device if you already own an Amazon Alexa smart home speaker. Connect Alexa to your Fire TV Stick and you’ll be able to watch whatever you want without ever reaching for the remote.

Simply say, “Alexa, watch Friends,” and the Fire Stick will automatically begin playing the game. The Fire Stick even has a fascinating feature that lets you rewind a video by simply saying “Rewind 20 seconds.”

You may also ask Alexa to perform various things with your Fire Stick. You may also control additional smart home gadgets with your remote, such as smart light bulbs. You may also ask Alexa weather-related queries, and the answers will be presented on your TV. Alexa may be able to respond to you through your television speakers. So, when it comes to Roku vs Fire Stick, it all comes down to the type of speaker you have. On the other side, the Fire Stick features better voice controls.

Best Apps: Roku

Roku

Aside from streaming motion pictures and TV exhibits, Roku and Fire Stick allow you to play video games as well. Roku permits you to play along with your video games along with your family and friends or by your self. You can try the Games web page on their web site and discover a whole lot of video games obtainable.

Likewise, you may switch to the Apps tab on the identical web site and flick through hundreds of various apps. There you will discover film guides, film and TV present channels, and even digital sceneries to play on your TV.

While Roku doesn’t help as many video games and apps because the Fire Stick does, you do get entry to The Roku Channel. This free app has a wide array of ad-supported motion pictures and collections. You may also discover lots of movies for kids and different free reside channels, similar to ABC News, WealthNation, and extra. So, in the event you’re into motion pictures and exhibits greater than video games, you would possibly need to go along with Roku.

Fire Stick

You may view cable channels on a Fire Stick, such as Cinemax and HBO, and you also have access to films that Amazon Originals has produced in their own right. However, in order to take advantage of these benefits, you will need to sign up for Amazon Prime.

Additionally, Fire Stick comes with its own website where you can download apps and games to use on your television. In addition, in contrast to Roku, Fire Stick allows you to play a greater variety of games, some of which are significantly more well-liked than the games that can be found on Roku. Consequently, if one of the primary reasons you want a streaming device is to play video games, you should probably go with a Fire Stick rather than another option.

Content discovery

The flip side is that Amazon’s Fire TV interface is better at suggesting what to watch without making you jump in and out of different apps. Keep scrolling past the app list, and you’ll find row upon row of suggested movies and shows to watch. Most come from Amazon’s own Prime Video service, but you might also get recommendations from other apps, such as Netflix or HBO Now. While this approach can feel inscrutable—mostly because Amazon doesn’t let you customize the recommendations that appear—it is helpful for those times when you’re feeling indecisive.

Roku’s content finding efforts are far more conservative. On the home screen, there’s a “Featured Free” section that highlights free movies and TV episodes to watch, but that doesn’t help you find out what’s new on Netflix or Hulu. While Roku offers editorially chosen “zones” for various genres, getting to them requires searching and drilling through numerous menu layers. As a result, you’ll likely spend more time in your favourite apps rather than exploring what else is available.