I've never tried a firestick, but we have roku installed on both our older tvs and it has been working mostly really well for us.
The TV in the room where I work out is older and doesn't have wireless connectivity. I've had an Amazon Firestick on it for a while now. In another room I have a TCL TV which has Roku built in. This morning when I went to get a workout in, the Beachbody on Demand app was missing from my Firestick. I contacted Amazon customer service via chat. After working with several different people they basically came to the conclusion that Beachbody must have recently updated the App and that my Firestick isn't supported anymore. I have 2 firesticks but I was using the newer one which is only 3 years old.
Just to make my morning more complete, I tried 2 browsers (Silk and Firefox) on the old TV via the Firestick and neither was useful because they couldn't figure out the edges of my TV and I couldn't scroll left to right (which BBOD site needs). I lost about two hours of my day and I missed my workout and was basically pretty annoyed.
Of course they then told me that they would give me a 15% discount on a new 4k capable Firestick. We have plenty of Amazon stuff in our house (2 firesticks, Echo Show, Echo, 2 Echo dots) but before I blindly just order a newer Firestick, I can't help but wonder a few things:
1) How long before the next one becomes useless (note the one I have now has become VERY slow)
2) Should I just order a Roku instead?
- The newer TV with Roku works really well and includes an App for Amazon Prime Video
3) Will the Roku have a longer useable life than the Firestick?
Anyone else been through this and know the answers or have other suggestions?
Thanks
I've never tried a firestick, but we have roku installed on both our older tvs and it has been working mostly really well for us.
If you are in the apple ecosystem, I’d recommend the AppleTV device.
Hard to answer #1, but for 2 and 3 I would suggest going with the Roku. Because of its huge market share Roku tends to be better supported and older devices remain supported longer. I'm still using the Roku I bought ~8-10 years ago without any problems whatsoever (although I am approaching the point where I need to replace it as it occasionally acts a little janky, but I could probably get several more years out of it if I needed/wanted to).
I've never used a Firestick so I'm not familiar with any reasons someone might prefer it to a Roku, but my advice is to go with the biggest brand in the market for the advantages that come with that status.
Ditto on what Acymetric said. Been pretty happy with Roku. Simple and reliable (mostly - the first couple free Roku movies I watched sometimes crapped out at the first forced commercial break, but the last one I saw did not). Mostly we use it to access Netflix, PBS Passport, and of late, I watch Reuters news on it.
Thanks for the feedback. I have to admit that the Roku interface on my TCL TV is pretty good. Also, I kinda don't like that my current Firesticks are pretty useless after 3 years so the idea of sending them another $50 isn't appealing to me.
I have a few of both. Like my Rokus much more. The only thing about the Firestick that is better would be the voice control (Alexa.)
Now that I think about it, the battery life on Roku remotes is horrible. Have to replace several times a year. Not sure what that is about.
Last edited by devilish; 07-15-2020 at 08:10 AM. Reason: Remote battery
Just to clarify, I think Roku does have voice control - though it may not be very good, IDK - I turned mine off (nominally; who knows, right?).
As for batteries we've not had that much of an issue, but we run rechargeables anyway so NBD. It's possible that if the thing is on all the time listening for a "wake word" then it's going to run down batteries quickly.
The bluetooth explanation makes sense.
On a somewhat related note, because my Premier League schedule lists Peacock as the viewing method for today’s matches, I just tried to download the new app and it apparently is not available on either platform. Seriously, what is NBC thinking?
One of my Firesticks has voice control but I never use it. I think it's one of those things that I'd probably love it I ever learned to use it properly.
I'm leaning towards the Roku at this point.
As for soccer, I wish the NWSL games were on CBS or CBS Sports (live) instead of just CBS All Access (app/subscription). They are showing some replays on the CBS Sports channel.
From what I gather, Roku takes a cut of ad revenue from apps on their platform, and NBC doesn't want to give it to them. Same with the new HBO service. I think the dispute with Amazon (Firestick) for both is similar, and also related to their content being directly available in Prime Videos rather than just through the dedicated app.
I can't imagine the demand for the NBC Peacock platform is going to be high enough that it forces their hand, I suspect eventually they cave as they don't get the subscribers they were hoping for. HBO may be a different story.
I guess that’s why NBC is making Peacock the exclusive platform for Premier League. It’s a shame because they do such a great job with their broadcasts. Premier League Mornings is the best pregame show for any sport on any network. I wonder if they are going to continue their NBC sports Gold package?
Yeah, I've got about 6 FireSticks in my house having switched to YTTV after dropping DirecTV. ranging from the early model (tiny remote, minimal buttons) to the 4K model. The initial model is now REALLY slow and clunky. I suspect that the newer models will get there eventually. I have waited until there were deals so I've not spent more than $30 on a device. But I agree that it is frustrating to have to replace a device within just a few years. Fingers crossed that the current versions last a bit longer than that, but I'm not optimistic.
I do like the simplicity of the setup for the FireStick. But it does sound like the long-term functionality of Roku is better.
I have been rocking the Google Chromecast for years with good success. Now that I have a smart TV, and a PS4, it's pretty good redundant.