Updated Dec 2020
Amazon FireTV's - Tech Specs (click)
Android TV benchmarks compared to every Fire TV — 2020 Chromecast, Shield TV, Tivo Stream 4K, and Mi Box
Mini review - 2020 Amazon Fire TV Stick Lite:
So why did I buy it ?
- well mainly to sideload the
SmartTubeNext App to Nuke increasingly annoying Google YouTube Advertising....
- plus I knew it's limitations.....
- and it was ($17.99)
dirt cheap....
The Very Good:- Amazon really know how to design a remote, it's responsive, great to hold, and I've had no problems with Bluetooth RF interference
- HDMI CEC control with my Panasonic OLED is excellent. (TIP: pressing the Home remote Button auto switches back to Stick's HDMI input)
- Runs Android v9.0 Pie and a v4.4 Linux Kernel under the hood.
- Auto Frame Rate Matching for smooth video playback in Kodi, Plex, Emby, Prime Video, SmartTubeNext, there are prob others.. (not Netflix)
- Auto Dynamic Range switching (SDR / HDR) for HDR capable internet streaming Apps. (not Kodi)
- Surprisingly in Kodi, I get flawless, correct, Full Motion Deinterlacing for 25i (mpeg2, h.264) Broadcast TV viewing from my TvH server.
- AC MIMO WiFi is excellent & fast too.
- 1080p Picture Quality looks very similar to my Apple TV 4K - likely because both use an Imagination Tech. PowerVR GPU.
- I like the clean looking, pretty snappy, new FireTV Graphic User Interface (click)
Limitations:- 1080p only, but you do get 1080p HDR from Internet streaming Apps - including HDR YouTube.
- 1GB of RAM only with 5.5GB of internal (expandable) storage space out of the box.
- Kodi cannot auto switch to output HDR. However - Prime Video, Netflix, Apple TV, YouTube can.
- The "Lite" version of the stick cannot natively decode DTS, DD, DD+, DD+/Atmos - that type of audio has to be passed through to a Dolby Audio licenced receiver/TV. The majority of TV's are Dolby Audio Licenced anyway so it's not a problem.
- What that does mean is audio volume control of those codecs has to be done from the TV or AVR's remote control.
- Apps like Kodi can decode/transcode all types of audio into 2.0 PCM or 5.1 Dolby Digital for output anyway.
- The "Lite" version of the Stick's remote has no Volume, Mute or Power OFF/ON buttons. The Fire TV Stick 3 & 4K and the Cube v2 does.
- (untested) - like all Amazon devices, NTFS formatted, connected - USB storage likely does not work.
- Like all budget Android devices, there is no VC-1 encoded video playback support.
What will annoy Power users- 1GB RAM limitation, auto kills Kodi when you leave the App itself, so it has to relaunch from scratch when selected again.
- You cannot rent or purchase content from within the Apple TV App itself, only stream pre-purchased ATV+ & iTunes content.
- Limited Chromecasting and NO Airplay2 support at all.
- (untested) Kodi HD audio support is likely problematic.
What does work:- An OTG Y - cable and my old ASIX chipset equipped, Ugreen USB3 > GigaE Hub adapter.
- DD+/Atmos audio passthru using Kodi
- HDR10+ & Atmos from some content on the Amazon Prime App
- YouTube Casting
Summing Up:
If all you do is mostly home network or internet stream 1080p content - Amazon have here the the best Bang for the Buck, 1080p, 5.1 (Atmos) audio - Kodi media player on the market. It all works nicely indeed. It surprised me.
The new Amazon FireTV sticks are better than the new Chromecast GoogleTV dongle due to better Kodi support.
Unlike the CCGTV dongle, they do actually have support for some auto Frame Rate Matching that is very welcome in 50Hz territories of the world.
Better WiFi connectivity and stability as well.
Yes Amazon Sticks have some limitations but the latest versions will all be surprisingly snappy, polished and well supported performers for the price paid, especially now the new 2020 FireTV GUI has/is being added - AND it has NO unrelated advertising.
PS: and yes, the SmartTubeNext App did Nuke Google YouTube Advertising, with bonus auto Frame Rate Matching !
W.
Amazon’s new 2020 FireTV GUI:
Google TV’s (Android TV) new GUI
Amazon old 2016 Fire TV GUI: