Amazon Fire TV Stick Lite: Cheap Price, Good Streamer
Along the years, the offer of media streamers has evolved. In December 2022, in terms of both features and price, new releases in the $30 HD streaming category, like the Chromecast with Google TV HD, have surpassed the Fire TV Stick Lite. However, Amazon's very affordable streamer still has advantages compared to its competitors.
Likes and dislikes in short
Likes:
- Small price
- Includes Amazon Alexa control with voice remote
- Wide range of streaming apps, including HBO Max
- Integrates well with Echo speakers
- Plenty of apps and services
Dislikes:
- Voice commands don't work with every app
- More complex menus than Roku
- HDR without 4K is kind of pointless
- Remote doesn't have TV controls
- Interface is sometimes sluggish
Roku Express VS Fire TV LiteStick
With numerous different streamers currently available, as well as even more TVs and soundbars, Roku is the biggest name in streaming hardware.
Since the debut of Fire TV, Amazon has been competing with Roku. The $30 Amazon Fire TV Lite is the company's cheapest streamer.
It is also Amazon's reply to the $30 Roku Express. The Fire Stick TV Lite's biggest advantage over Roku is as you guessed, the Alexa voice assistant.
The Fire Stick TV Lite is, in my view, the better option, even though Amazon also offers a $40 version. The main distinction is that the more expensive Stick has a distinct remote control for your TV that includes power, volume, and mute buttons.
Unless you really want to have control of your expensive TV, using this streamer on a cheap TV is worthwhile. Actually, It will help you save money.
So, is the $30 Fire TV Lite an improvement over the $30 Roku Express? The two TV streamers largely share the same app selection since now Fire TV has Peacock. However major differences appear in the menu systems and voice support.
If you prefer speaking to typing when you search for shows and launch apps, the Lite's builtin access to Alexa is a huge benefit.
Although the Roku Express is still a great option, in the end, I preferred the Fire TV Lite slightly more. If your TV has an HDMI port, the Fire TV Stick Lite is a great way to empower it with an abundance of streaming programs for cheap.
What is the Amazon's Fire TV Stick Lite?
The Fire TV Stick Lite is a USB stick-sized that you can plug into a spare HDMI port on your TV. For only $30, it has a ton of features, including the dedicated voice remote that enables integration with the Alexa voice assistant.
The remote
Among the catalogue of thousands of apps available, there are also dozens of supported streaming services. Since the first Fire TV, the design of the remote has not changed much and the feel is not so enjoyable as with the Roku remote or new Google TV remotes.
Though Amazon's clicker lacks the shortcuts to Netflix or other often-used services, it does include a new live TV button.
Amazon's Fire TV Stick Lite's remote controller.
When you click the new bottom key, a grid-style live TV link appears that is pre-populated with channels of free shows from Starz and Pluto TV.
Despite having its own system grid once you open the app, Amazon's unique IMDb TV is oddly not a part of the live TV grid.
Even though it didn't work with Sling TV( users will need to use the sling app as usual), when you subscribe to YouTube TV, you'll also see channels and shows from that service in the manual.
Plugin your Fire TV Stick Lite
Amazon strongly advises you use the power adaptor that is provided with the stick.
Thus, you could power your unit using the USB ports, but I noticed that it could cause the device to behave weirdly.
For example, when plugged into a TV USB port, despite the device displaying "Dolby Atmos", Dolby Atmos content is not used, and the sound comes out as 5.1.
HDR connectivity is among the Lite's features list one that looks a little incoherent.
The device offers HDR but no 4K resolution. As such we can wonder what type of TV it is intended for. There are lots of 4K HDR TVs out there but a search on the Best Buy site reveals that only four 1080p TVs can do HDR.
For most people with 4K HDR TVs, we would advise getting a streamer that can really take advantage of 4K instead of a 1080p streamer like the Fire TV Lite.
Apps catalogue
The Fire TV supports a wide range of apps. The number of services that Amazon Fire TV supports is constantly growing, just like other streaming devices.
Nearly all of the well-known streaming services, including Amazon Prime Video, Peacock, HBO Max, Netflix, Hulu, Sling TV, Crackle, Pluto TV
and Tubi TV as well as Amazon Music, Pandora, Spotify, and a ton more, may be accessed by this device.
The new Live button on the remote summons a grid-style program guide.
How does it feel like to use the Fire TV Stick Lite?
A winning combo is obtained by the combination of the features' good complement, the voice commands' tight integration, and the equivalent speed.
Some pros
Opening software was generally quick, and the only time it may slow down was to occasionally navigate the home page tiles.
Alexa searches with the camera button were more flexible and pertinent than using the Echo as a go-between, and the Fire TV Stick Lite remote is easy to use.
I only occasionally wished there was a mute button, and those times were often during the autoplay videos that go along with the tiles on the home page.
I liked that I could control voice commands using an Alexa speech or a distant, but not every application I tried worked with an Echo speaker.
Some cons
For instance, when I tried to search for "JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure" on Netflix, I was only given the message "check your skills"( the Alexa app does not have an official Netflix skill).
Even though using the remote rather than a speaker was more powerful, it wasn't perfect. I had hoped that speech search may function more effectively now that YouTube TV is so well integrated.
For instance, when I requested "Lego city on YouTube TV," I only obtained "buy" links from YouTube and Amazon. However, Amazon Prime video worked well with Alexa voice.
Voice search
In contrast, Roku may not possess the same robust voice abilities, but text and voice searches via the Roku remote generally point less to "buy now" links, but more toward the free included programs.
Although the image and audio quality were excellent, there may have been some strange issues with the audio format control beyond "Best Available".
For instance, the new Fire Stick gave me the anticipated 5.1 tone, whereas with the Lite, The Legend of Korra on Netflix just provided stereo sound( though it should be capable to render in 5.1).
It was not a hardware issue because different series, like Reacher on Amazon, could be played on the Lite in Atmos. Additionally, when I reached Amazon for explanations, a representative confirmed the machine supports both 5.1 and 7.1.
So, the issue was more likely a Netflix one.
Navigation
When it comes to how streaming devices organize their content, there are two distinct options.
App-centric menus; Roku and Apple TV use them to display a grid of apps. Browsing for something to watch in an app-centric menu inevitably ends up leading you to click through to each app.
There is different approach to navigation used by Amazon Fire TV and Google TV.
It is a more content-focused approach in which many tiles come up on the home page. The Fire TV may be more appealing if you enjoy searching for information. Though the autoplay movie for "live tiles" can be annoying.
The Roku Express is probably a better option if you already know what you want to see, or at least what app. This is partly because Amazon's search results seriously favorits own content(often at an additional cost).
Should I buy the Fire TV Stick Lite?
The Fire TV Stick Lite makes perfect sense if you're looking for a streamer that's incredibly affordable, powerful, and integrated with Alexa and the Amazon-verse.
The Life TV Guide option is a real bonus for viewers switching from cable TV to streaming services while you might or might not miss the TV control features, it's a respectable streamer and excellent gift idea for $30.
There is absolutely no reason for you to purchase either of the 2020 models if you already own the 2019 Fire Stick. Dolby Atmos and/ or Dolby Vision do not really make sense for 1080p devices.
As a matter of fact, if you have a good 4K TV then maybe you should get a real 4K streamer. It only costs another $20.