Meet the new Amazon Fire TV, same as the old Fire TV

But still worth picking up

Readers have become skeptical over the years regarding the blogosphere’s opinions on Amazon, mostly due to partnership links and the like. I can’t speak to anyone else, but my affinity for Amazon pre-dates my game writing career, when I became a Prime member many years back.

As such, I’m invested in the Amazon ecosystem. It makes sense then, that the Amazon Fire TV would cater to most of my media needs. The new model, debuting this month, is roughly the same as the one that arrived earlier last year, albeit with a few upgrades.

My recommendation is basically the same — if you’re really into Amazon, get it, otherwise think about springing for a Roku.

So what’s new? The main draw is 4K support, which is becoming ever so relevant these days (I haven’t taken the plunge yet), as well as Alexa voice integration, 75% more processing power, 2GB of memory, 8GB of internal storage with microSD support, and an improved Wi-Fi signal (802.11ac). As you can clearly see this upgrade may not apply to a lot of you out there who don’t have 4K TVs or Alexa, which is only going to get most of its improvements next year. For now, it’s basically the same as the microphone button you saw in those Gary Busey commercials.

The better quad-core processor though is notable, as the gaming portion of the Fire TV has been noticeably improved. Framerates are generally smoother, things load faster, and there’s less lag between button presses. I think at this point the Fire TV can be considered a viable gaming platform, with plenty of iOS and Android hits, as well as a few exclusives.

Having said that, I have hit a few snags with the media side of things, as some of my existing apps were buggier and quit out on occasion — primarily Hulu. Dolby support also shamefully was absent until a content update this week, which makes it look like Amazon rushed it to market. Media does look a tad sharper thanks to the HEVC codec, but again, I only noticed this for first-party Amazon content from its video marketplace, not third-party apps. Your mileage will vary if you already own a ton of videos from Amazon. Otherwise, other devices will suit your needs just fine, though the app count is impressively over 3,000 at this point on the Fire TV.

Right now, I’m not exactly thrilled by the marginal upgrade from the new iteration of the Fire TV. There are also a few other variables to consider — who knows what the future will hold when it comes to the new Apple TV. I’m not a fan of the device’s past iterations despite the fact that I’m embedded in iOS elsewhere, but maybe it could turn things around. For now, I’d suggest the Amazon Fire TV if you’re heavily into gaming and streaming alike, the Roku if you just want to watch videos, and Apple TV or Google Chrome dead last — unless you’ve poured hundreds of dollars into either ecosystems.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the unit provided by the publisher.]}