Review: Amazon Fire TV Stick Lite
Amazon has locally released its Fire TV Stick Lite in Australia but is 1080p video resolution enough?
Amazon is getting serious about promoting its Prime Video offering with the release of its Fire TV Stick Lite devices in Australia. Fire TV is a little adaptor that you plug into one of the HDMI ports on your TV set. You also connect a micro USB cable to power it.
The latest adaptor is Fire TV Stick Lite, a cheaper stick that displays content at 1080p high definition at 60 frames per second rather than at 4K, which an earlier adaptor does.
Plugging in a Fire TV Lite seems a bit like plugging in a Google Chromecast but there is actually a big difference. Google Chromecast requires that you “cast” content from an Android phone or tablet. Fire TV is more like a regular set-top-box; you connect to your home internet, install apps and stream content with no phone required. A basic remote control is included.
To place a fully functioning set-top box on a stick that you plug into your TV is clever. Note the stick is reasonably wide; depending on your TV it might hog space. It’s not as installation friendly as a Chromecast dongle where you plug the ribbon end into the TV’s HDMI port with the Chromecast dongle a few centimetres away. Things fit more fluidly.
It goes without saying that Amazon uses Fire TV to promote Prime movies and videos. Choose the “your videos” menu option, and your TV screen is full of them.
Software set-up is simple. You link your Amazon account and Wi-Fi signal, let the Fire TV download and update its firmware/software, and choose apps to appear on the main menu.
The Fire TV Stick Lite supports both 2.4GHz and 5GHz Wi-Fi bands and HDR streaming, and has a 1.7GHz quad-core processor.
There are the usual suspects such as Netflix, Stan and YouTube and all Australian catch-up TV services including ABC iview and SBS On Demand, along with Prime video and audio
If you’re a news junkie, there’s CBS and NBC News, Aljazeera, Fox TV, Bloomberg and more.
There are dozens of apps in categories such as finance, communication, cooking, education, entertainment, games, health & fitness, music and audio. The collection has been built up over time with 100 million devices sold.
Fire TV has been available in the US for years and there is a bias towards US content. It could be for you if you are a US election junkie.
It uses Amazon Alexa. You can use the microphone button to issue commands both to control your Alexa devices on the same home Wi-Fi network and to control the TV through the Fire TV interface.
I could switch on and off smart lights in the home using voice commands through the remote. I could ask Fire TV to open an app, and search for Prime movies featuring a particular star. You can ask Fire TV to play a particular movie on a service – for example play a nominated movie on Netflix, and scroll through content menus.
For $59 Fire TV Stick Lite is a steal for the access to apps it offers an older-style TV which may lack them.
Amazon is promoting the Lite 1080p stick in Australia. Search online and you can find a 4K version for anything from $79 on special to $119. It’s a pity 4K isn’t a feature of this new Fire TV Stick, as sharp 4K resolution is the norm now; with the Lite version you depend on your TV’s upscaler to get 4K resolution.
Amazon promises an update with a major redesign by year’s end.
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