Roku or Amazon Fire stick?
 

I’ve just plugged our Amazon Fire stick into the TV at our holiday flat and found it is running interminably slowly. It has been attached to the TV in the spare room at home and I haven’t used it myself in quite some time. I’m assuming it has been updated into obsolescence by Amazon and is struggling with newer software that it can’t cope with.

Fortunately, a member of the family has left a Roku Express player down here - just the basic one, so it lacks the voice remote or 4K support but so far I’m impressed with how straightforward it is, and that it doesn’t push its own content as hard as Amazon does.

I’m resigned to having to replace the Fire stick when we get home, as it is now barely functional. While I am very tempted to get a Roku instead, I’m curious whether anyone else has any input before I buy? Are there any hidden pitfalls with the Roku that I might have missed?

Re: Roku or Amazon Fire stick?
 

It is all down to what you want to use it for. If the Roku provides all the content you need then great but the Fire devices can run most standard apks meaning more content and games and so on.

Firestick tip if you tend to run a lot of different apps go into settings and stop the ones you are not using otherwise they all just keep running slowing it down

As you said they also push all things amazon but I install adguard and do not get many on tin the menus and it blocks a good few when using Silk too

Re: Roku or Amazon Fire stick?
 

We have one purely for smartening dumb TVs, like the one in the spare room at home, or if we use our own holiday flat or an Airbnb. I’m not worried about the game content, side loading or any of the other crud people like doing with these things. :D

Re: Roku or Amazon Fire stick?
 

Well looks like you answered the question. Seeing as the Roku does not have the bloat and you do not want the extra features :)

Re: Roku or Amazon Fire stick?
 

I think they are both good, but Amazon has the nice new, modern user interface.

Re: Roku or Amazon Fire stick?
 

Words I'd use myself to describe the Roku interface.

Re: Roku or Amazon Fire stick?
 

Has the Amazon interface changed? I haven’t particularly noticed a change on our Fire stick, although that might mean there has been a further update they didn’t force on it. Based on this afternoon’s use of the Roku, I’m impressed with how clean it is. Obviously it’s also a lot faster than my Fire stick but that’s because the Amazon device is so old (I do periodically check and shut down memory hogging apps - it makes no appreciable difference sadly).

Re: Roku or Amazon Fire stick?
 

guessing your stick may be out of the updated interface loop as it is old

Re: Roku or Amazon Fire stick?
 

Have they changed it recently, then? I must confess I haven’t used mine for a good few months now as I can get all my apps on my Sony smart TV and the 360. The Roku stick was only about a year old last time I used it, and the interface was quite old fashioned, whereas the Amazon Fire stick reminded me of Sky Q technology.

Re: Roku or Amazon Fire stick?
 

It hasn't changed. It's just my idea of modern.

The screenshots/vids I've seen of the Firestick interface I can't say I like. It's all sparkle, clutter and poor usability from what I've seen.

But everyone's got their own preferences.

Once you load up an app the interface changes to that of the app provider, so simple, and clean is all that is required in order to launch it.

Re: Roku or Amazon Fire stick?
 

Yes, I think it’s down to personal preference. They are both good, though.

Re: Roku or Amazon Fire stick?
 

Well, having lived with the entry-level Roku Express box in our holiday flat for 2 weeks, I’ve ordered one for our spare room TV at home to replace our obsolete Amazon Fire stick. I’ve been very pleased with its simplicity and responsiveness. I was also pleased to find it on offer for £19.99 … at Amazon. :D

Re: Roku or Amazon Fire stick?
 

Gah! We got a new one at around the same time and it was £29.

Still pleased, it has Apps that aren't supported on our existing Roku as well as being more responsive.

Re: Roku or Amazon Fire stick?
 

Firestick interface was updated recently but not too drastically. It's great for casting stuff though like "The Chosen". Open app on table, select to cast to Firestick, select and play episode you want.


("The Chosen" is a brilliant crowd funded series on the life of Jesus, more especially those around Him. My favourite is S1E3 where Jesus interacts with children. S2 has just ended and last I checked they've raised enough to S3E4 and mostly there to S3E5. It operates on a pay-it-forward meaning it's free to view but you can pay to keep available to others. Worth watching. Worth watching the "extras" to see how they filmed Palestine in Utah and Texas in the winter - brrr!)

Re: Roku or Amazon Fire stick?
 

Thanks for letting me know it's something I don't want/need to watch.;)

Re: Roku or Amazon Fire stick?
 

How do you know what it like if you don't know it's there? As a Christian I want people to see good material about Jesus.



The point was that I start "The Chosen" app on my tablet, select cast icon and the Fire Stick shows up as a target without needing to touch the Fire Stick itself. I didn't need to pair things, install app on Fire Stick etc. Other apps may work in same way as may other devices.

Re: Roku or Amazon Fire stick?
 

I don't believe in fairytales. You can believe what you want and I won't knock you for it. Just don't try getting me to believe in something that doesn't exist. You (and your ilk) have totally missed and understood nothing of what Jesus (allegedly) was all about.

Re: Roku or Amazon Fire stick?
 

Needless to say I disagree … I’m tempted to put my newly minted theology degree to work here but I’ll have to take you up on that some other time. :D

For now this is all off topic. ;)

Re: Roku or Amazon Fire stick?
 

Fair play Chris. As a sidenote. I was educated by the Redemptorist Fathers with a view to becoming a priest. I would have no problem in discussing theology (or philosophy) with you some other place some other time. It might prove interseting for both of us.:D

Re: Roku or Amazon Fire stick?
 

I'm in processes of applying for a Graduate Diploma in Theology.


Must return to topic, must return to topic.

Re: Roku or Amazon Fire stick?
 

So, the Roku arrived and it’s all set up. Took about 20 minutes faffing about, not because of the Roku but because all the apps require signing in (even the free UK public service ones). Much referring back to my iCloud Keychain for passwords. It has impressed us all so much I’ve now ordered a second one, which will smarten an old tv that used to be in the spare bedroom and go in my girls room (which has never had an aerial input) so they can watch Love Island on something bigger than their phones.

Re: Roku or Amazon Fire stick?
 

So, how are you finding the Roku Chris?

When I put my new one on the other day I wa like "that's not my theme!" And a dig through the Settings I find a new setting for themed wallpapers that replace the default when there are big events on. Optional thankfully, though the Olympics one that was showing was nice, so I left it enabled.

Re: Roku or Amazon Fire stick?
 

I had only just changed the wallpaper on the one in the holiday flat when it automatically switched to the Olympic theme. I hadn’t given it any thought since, so I haven’t gone looking for a menu option to switch event themes off. I probably won’t bother either, as I won’t use either of the Rokus from day to day, as one is in the spare room and the other is going in my daughters bedroom. Maybe I’ll sort it out if they complain. :D

There are two reasons why I bought Roku rather than Amazon to replace our obsolete Amazon Fire stick. The first is that Amazon itself is responsible for forcing obsolescence on the Fire stick. It worked perfectly well and didn’t need whatever bloated system update they have forced on it that has reduced it to a crawl. I’m not rewarding that bad faith with another purchase (even though I bought the Roku from them, as it was going extremely cheap - I have to assume that their profit margin is much higher on Fire devices). The second is that the Roku interface isn’t biased towards Roku content. With the Fire stick there isn’t an Amazon Prime app. You’re always looking at the Amazon Prime TV Home Screen, just with third party apps included in the menu. I can’t be bothered staring at Prime by default because less than 5% of the tv we stream comes from Prime.

Re: Roku or Amazon Fire stick?
 

On the FireStick (and the app) I'd like to lock it down to "Free to me" so I don't even see what would cost me more but I guess that's part of what Amazon want to help cover costs for the free stuff.


Another annoyance is the amount of stuff we watch that suddenly goes "Not available in your region", especially irritating mid season.