Apple TV 4k vs Fire TV Cube! Which Should YOU Buy?

should you buy the new Apple TV 4K or Amazon's new Fire TV Cube both are great devices we're going to do some comparisons talk about what's new take a look at the interface on each of them and finish with some video tests make sure to stay the end so you can hear my recommendations now before we go through this I am a long time Apple TV user since 2011. I did make a video on why the Apple TV is the best streaming device you can check that out at the end of this video or in the description I do my best to try to present all the features and information as objectively as possible but I do also share my preferences as we go through this stuff so just factor that in as you watch this video because you may think completely opposite of me when it comes to streaming devices first let's talk about what's new with each of these devices starting with the Fire TV Cube this is 139.99 if you're not familiar with the Fire TV Cube it's basically a combination of a Fire TV stick and an echo dot with this you have hands-free Alexa so you can make requests and control your TV there are some New Ports this year starting first with a USB a on the back this is meant so you could hook up additional storage or you can even hook up a camera and do Zoom calls from it there's also the addition of an ethernet port I highly recommend hard wiring whenever you can that way you could get maximum speed and the best picture you you can out of these streaming services there's also an HDMI in and this is meant to meant so you can connect cable boxes Blu-ray players gaming consoles and other devices to the Fire TV Cube then you can go in and change the input to that device use it and not have to leave the Fire TV Cube interface so you don't need another remote to change inputs on your TV if you'd like to learn more about this feature definitely check out my fire TV Cube video in the description after this one's done though don't don't do it right now one thing I do want to point out on the hardware side that really is nice about the Fire TV cube is that it has an infrared emitter so that means it can serve as a remote control for most TVs receivers sound bars and some other devices there is also an updated remote with the Fire TV Cube that added the quick shortcut buttons to launch these apps but this isn't the pro remote that allows you to program buttons and gives you the option to have buttons to trigger routines to get that remote you can either buy it separately or bundle it with this at the time I purchase now the Apple TVs has been upgraded this year they did see a nice price drop from previous years the base model starts at 129.99 that gets you 64 gigabytes of storage it is Wi-Fi only Wi-Fi only is new this year previous models have always had an Ethernet on it for the Smart Home Folks there is no thread router in this model so if you want the ethernet and the thread router you do want to go for the 128 gigabyte model for 20 more so it's not too bad other than that there's not a lot of changes to the Apple TV this year it did see an a15 bionic chip when it comes to streaming and stuff you're not going to really know as much of a difference over previous years that chip though is going to help with a little bit of future proofing because you never know what Apple's gonna add to these devices in the future so it never hurts to have some extra processing power other than the processor the remote has been updated to USBC there's no USBC in the box so if you're still using just lightning you'll need to buy one they also added support for HDR 10 plus now if you're not familiar with the Apple TVs they do serve as a home kit Hub so if you buy one of these you can pair supported devices to it and what's cool is there's a new matter standard coming out so we're going to see more devices work with the Apple TV and Apple's home kit and you're going to be able to move between assistants easier so that's going to be really nice for the smart home when using these they both feel quick and snappy I found requests to Alexa really uh triggered quickly um I have no complaints from a performance standpoint I would say if anything that makes the Fire TV Cube feel slow it's the interface next let's talk about the ecosystem that's gonna play a big part in the direction you go if you're an Android user PC user it may not make any sense to go with an Apple TV although if you are using an iPad you already have an iCloud account you can get one of these and have a great streaming device you don't need to go into all the Apple Services you are an Apple user with a bunch of Apple devices what's nice is how it connects across those your TV app syncs across all your devices I like how you can air play and do screen sharing from your iPad computer your phone the integration across the Apple Space is really nice you can do things like pair your Apple watch to the fitness Plus app and see your stats right up there on the screen or play your iOS game with a controller right on the Apple TV now the Fire TV Cube being an Amazon device is part of a big smart home ecosystem you have Alexa and The Echoes to be able to connect up with all of this and then on top of that you have ring and arrow so you got your Wi-Fi covered you've got your home security covered and you can take advantage of all those things where working together when it comes to Smart devices you have so many more choices of devices that work within that Amazon ecosystem if you've already started an echo home it probably doesn't make sense to switch over one thing I will say that I really do appreciate about the Amazon ecosystem is that it's the most open so if you are an Apple user if you are an Android User you really have more options in that ecosystem I will say I think Alexa is a better all-around assistant but series good at executing commands and you have that integration across all your Apple devices so that brings its own value there something else to think about with both of these devices is the direction the companies are going Apple seems like they're finally getting really serious about the smart home where Amazon just there's articles coming out now that they have lost over five billion dollars with Alexa and The Echoes they're actually cutting back staff working on this so I know folks that are long time Echo users that are starting to get frustrated with the changes that are happening I'm getting frustrated with some with the ads I'm seeing who knows what direction that's going to end up going now before we continue if you haven't hit that subscribe button please do and click the notifications that way you're notified of the next video next let's look at the interface and using these devices the interface is a big part for me I want a minimal design that helps me find the content that I watch for me this is where I have a big bias I'm gonna put it out right now so no one gets to throw back at me I really prefer the Apple TV interface I think it's a much cleaner interface you only see your apps on one screen they can be organized into folders you can hide apps whatever you want to do to have that screen clean no sponsored ads on it and then you have your content screen and a big thing is that up next section that helps keep the shows that new episodes are coming out it shows me them at the front of the list it shows me the most recent items I've watched it really helps me keep track of content across all my different Services now when it comes to the Fire TV interface I really struggle with it because I feel like it's cluttered and trying to do too much all in one screen and then you toggle over to the different screens just not a big fan of it the biggest turn off to me is all the sponsored sections and the different ads I saw a truck ad the other day with the Fire TV interface it feels like I didn't buy the device I'm constantly paying because I'm constantly getting ads served to me where it's like the interface is a service you got to pay for with that where the Apple TV is just clean I know they have featured content from different providers but it's only video content it's not any truck commercials so who knows maybe Apple TV will do that later at the end of the day that's just a preference you may love the look of the Apple TV interface but this doesn't work in your world in the way a fire device would next I want to talk about this smart home interface and again this just kind of separates the two for me with both of them you can access your different devices right from the TV you could push the Alexa button on the remote and you'll just see the little menu pop up you can select your devices um it just feels so minimal so limited and it takes you away from what you're watching with the Apple TV you can actually bring up the sidebar and you can access your devices there you can trigger scenes you can bring up cameras and you can leave cameras just playing in a picture in picture on Halloween I had my front door camera playing constantly in a picture while I was watching TV so I could see people coming to the door I just feel like it's an easier quicker experience controlling devices from the Apple TV okay now the most important thing when it comes to streaming devices video quality with either of these you are going to do great they both support the 4K Ultra HD Dolby vision and you have HDR 10. you now have her 10 plus support out of this here's a look at both devices on my LG C2 TV the TV is set the same for both boxes and on the left is the Fire TV Cube and on the right is the Apple TV 4K both of the images look good but looking at the colors from the Apple TV they just look a little more deeper and saturated and part of the reason they may look a little bit better is Apple TV has color balance which uses your phone to analyze the colors of your TV then the Apple TV will make the colors accurate to the Hollywood standards that they use for movies both of them do look great you're not going to go wrong for streaming content on either one now another great feature that was introduced last year is Arc support and if you're not familiar with that that stands for audio return channel so what that means is there's a port usually on your TV labeled Arc or e-arc you would plug in your streaming device into that now anything else plugged into the other ports would then send sound back down that Art Port to your device the way I use that in here is I have a single home pod that's paired up with my Apple TV then my Xbox Fire TV Cube and whatever else I may plug in there goes into the other ports then the sound comes back to my Apple TV and comes out the homepod you can pair Echoes with the Fire TV Cube or Fire TV stick 4K Max and do the same thing if you'd like to check out the videos on pairing your speakers with your streaming device I'll put links to those in the description with both of these you can use them for gaming with the Apple TV you can play your iOS apps on here I have my asphalt racing game that I can take a controller pair it up and just play it on my iPhone or my Apple TV Amazon also has games that you could download for the Fire TV Cube but beyond just those games both apple and Amazon have gaming Services Apple has Apple arcade and Amazon has their Luna gaming service and that Luna gaming service is console-like gaming that happens in the cloud now for recommendations if you're looking at purely streaming you're not going to go wrong with either of these devices but if you want to save some money and you want the best value I do recommend the Fire TV stick 4K Max it does all the same supported Services as you're going to get with the Fire TV Cube you're not going to get that hands-free control you can push the Alexa button on it to make requests and control your TV you can also pair an echo to this for hands-free control this is less than half of the price of the Fire TV Cube so this is what my mother uses she has an echo house and it just makes more sense a cool feature Amazon introduced with the Fire TV Cube that Apple doesn't have is hearing aid support so if that's something that you might be able to take advantage of consider the fire tvq now one thing I didn't cover in My Fire TV Cube video that is not something that I personally use but I've heard from a few people in the com comment it is the ability to be able to load third-party apps directly onto the Fire TV cube without being limited by an App Store so like in Apple's case there's no way to put apps on here except to go through the Apple Store um people have gotten creative with what they're able to do with the Fire TV sticks by bypassing the the Amazon app store for Apple users I say go for the Apple TV you're just going to get more integration with your other Apple devices you know it's nice to be able to just cast something to the screen it's nice to have everything sync across your Apple devices seamlessly the smart home features are really nice for Android users if you use an iPad and you have an iCloud account already set up you can take advantage of this and have a clean interface a great streaming device and if you add some Apple devices be able to do even more with it one of the cool features I like to recommend to people with the Apple TV is is spatial audio what that does is it allows you to take a supported pair of air pods put them in you'll see a little little pop-up on the screen ask if you'd like to connect them push the little button on the remote sound transfers over to your airpods and you get a virtual surround sound it sounds like the voice is coming from the TV and things are coming from around you it's pretty cool um I it's one of those things I can't do on this now what streaming device are you using let us know in the comment section next make sure to check out this video over here so you can see why the Apple TV 4K is still the best streaming device out there I'll see you over there thanks for watching bye

Channel: Craig's Tech Talk

Views: 85,297

Keywords: #CraigsTechTalk, smart home, tips and tricks, amazon echo, amazon alexa, homekit, homekit apple, smart home devices, apple tv 4k, Fire TV Cube, Fire TV, Fire TV Stick, Fire TV Stick 4k Max, Fire TV 4k, Apple TV 2022, New Apple TV 4k, Apple TV 4k 3rd gen, Apple TV 4k 2022, Spatial audio, ARC

Id: 5mP3sAbuLxs

Length: 13min 55sec (835 seconds)

Published: Sun Nov 20 2022