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I have just cancelled my BT TV subscription which means the recorder and App box is going back. We have a HD, 32" sony TV which is still just fine, and may be looking to buy a larger smart TV in the future, maybe.
Ideally, something with voice control, able to run the usual terrestrial, free-to-air streaming services and redbull tv.
We don't have any paid subscription channels, but might be tempted by prime/netflix, possibly.
First impressions re much of a muchness, but the firestick is a little cheaper during the Prime thing currently on.
Thanks
Firestick works fine and if you have an Amazon Prime subscription already it's a no-brainer.
Current sale is for Prime members only so I'm guessing this applies to you.
Firestick user here. Works as it should. I haven’t tried accessing any of the more dubious sources though.
We don't have Prime, I thought those prices were available to all....maybe I'm confusing it with their black friday thing.
I'd go for the fire stick based on your needs. I have a fire stick, google chromecast with tv, and just retired a roku.
The chromecast has a better user interface and remote, but the fire stick has more apps including now tv and channel 4
If you don't have prime i wouldn't bother with the fire stick. I'd be going for the roku then
Get a free trial. Buy discounted stuff. Profit.
We don’t have Prime, I thought those prices were available to all….maybe I’m confusing it with their black friday thing.
May well be! They've just been plugging the current sale as Prime members only.
Try adding one to you basket and see what happens! 🙂
Fire TV Stick 4k version is showing at £29.99
Roku has been brilliant for the last 4 years, got all the apps we need (NOW, Apple, Disney, Amazon, bbc, all4, Netflix etc.) plus casts from iOS in a very stable manner which has been brilliant for the newly discovered BFlix!
Being the Imelda Marcos of streaming sticks I have all of them including tv apps. As they pump through my home theatre the Roku seems to have the best picture and sound, for some reason.
Roku seems to require an upgraded remote for voice control, another £20?
I liked the Roku Express we had for a while - nice easy interface, not provider-centric like the Fire stick.
Apple TV is ace though if you're already in that world (phones, etc) and don't mind the upfront cost.
Do BT actually want your box back though? I've never been a subscriber but I had one of their boxes for TV recording and the apps etc (other than things like BT Sport) all worked fine for me.
Yep, they are sending me a jiffy bag to send it back to them in.
Apple TV, not thought of that and we have apple phones...and a possible free three month trial.
Apple TV works through Roku via the app though…? Or is there something else I’m missing?
yes, just checked, both on Roku and Fire...and coincidentally, started a new job just under three months ago that came with an apple phone and I've been deleting the 3month free trial offer emails....just got signed up in time to run that.
FireStick 4K is fine. Like folks say, buy a fire stick in the sales - only a few weeks to Black Friday if you're not a Prime member.
I find that the FireStick loses syncing with Apple TV+ at times. Rebooting makes it OK again.
Also, the fanciest FireStick is flaky and needs an occasional reboot to run smoothly.
Otherwise, AOK. I have a couple of older Apple TVs and rarely use them for TV, mostly for music streaming.
Looked into Roku - seemed overpriced.
Firestick is a great bit of kit, Ive just got the standard 4k one for my dumb bedroom TV.It's only a 1080p screen but figured I might upgrade the TV at some point.
I do have Prime also, which certainly swayed me in that direction anyway, but I find myself watching iplayer and ukPlay apps on it more than prime video, hahah!
Loads of good documentaries and comedy shows on ukPlay.
I find myself watching iplayer
Ah! That is the one drawback of the FireStick. iPlayer content is rendered in sub-SD like mp4 stylee. It looks foul. iPlayer is the one app that we revert to our LG TV's inbuilt app set for.
Apparently some BBC/Amazon file type incompatibility.
Takes about 5 minutes to jailbreak a firestick and install kodi alongside the other apps.
Chromecast here. Seems great even working with an iPhone
Channel 4 I have to cast from my phone, which I guess is the main down side
We used to have a Fire stick and it was a slow, useless, piece of junk!
We now have an Apple TV, which is a joy to use, fast, responsive, never buffers and it ties in with the rest of Apple world so you can look at your photos on the TV, which our kids love doing.
Refurbished ones are cheaper, but still not cheap:
https://www.apple.com/uk/shop/refurbished/appletv
Came on here to say similar to shinton, no problems with mine
Roku just does everything well and works with no bother. Plus it’s got loads of utterly mad channels. You won’t watch any of them but they’re just there!
has been brilliant for the newly discovered BFlix
That just led me down a rabbit hole!
Shame the UI is only in Korean.
Edit: Oh.... The website. I see now!
Our telly is ancient and we haven't had an aerial for ages so we stream everything and I've tried all the boxes. Firestick is basic but worked well until we somehow completely lost the remote. Roku was a bit faffy, the buttons on the remote with sponsored buttons at the button annoyed me and the family complained about it (possibly all the apps and channels was a bit bewildering). Found a cheap Apple TV and wouldn't go back. Super fast and great for flinging up photos from a day out for everyone to laugh at.
I use mine as a HomeKit server as well so I could kind of justify the extra expense.
Two almost dealbreakers for me are the lack of subtitles on iPlayer, and the touchpad remote that old people just can't use, at all. New ones have an updated remote though.
tl;dr get a Firestick unless you always buy Apple things.
prettygreenparrot
Ah! That is the one drawback of the FireStick. iPlayer content is rendered in sub-SD like mp4 stylee. It looks foul. iPlayer is the one app that we revert to our LG TV’s inbuilt app set for.
Hmm, mine seems okay.
Maybe it only affect certain generations of Firestick?
Found this which mentions the G1 only
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/help/questions/features/uhd-amazon-fire
Just about to post something similar to the above. Here is a link to devices which support 1080p streaming on iPlayer.
Also, firestick supports GCN app
I think our 4k Firestick supports 4k on iPlayer now? Whenever we start iPlayer it says 'optimising for UHD playback' when it didn't seem to before. Looks lush on the big telly, the only 4k playback we get is from the XBox and through the Firestick.
I gave up on Firesticks as the UI was nasty - it always seemed to be pushing content that wasn't included with my Prime subscription. And eventually a software update would slow it down so much it'd become unusable.
Switched over to Roku 4K stick thing which is brilliant. Super quick and rock solid. Nice simple UI too.
Also have an Apple TV 4K but that's solely for Zwifting in the garage.