On June 30th I announced that I now had a Fire Tv Cube. I have been negligent in providing an update. The bottom line is… Apple TV is vastly superior.
I have been an Apple fan since I bought my first MacBook over a decade ago. And a MacBook Pro, and a couple of iMacs, and another MacBook… along with assorted iPhones and Apple TVs. But Apple is sometimes slow to deliver innovation. While it fretted on privacy, security and making the best home audio solution, out came Amazon with the Echo powered by Alexa.
I bought one, and then Dots, and then a Show. Our house lighting became voice automated with LIFX bulbs everywhere. I bought Buttons to play games on. We fully embraced Alexa. So it was natural to replace one of our Apple TVs with the Alexa powered Fire TV Cube.
Sadly, this product disappoints. The voice control is nice. Turns the TV on and off, including speakers, volume control on my attached receiver, and changes channels, all with voice… mostly. But it is rather clunky. Still need to use the remote on too many occasions. The real downfall is the cheap components it was built with, and the sub par software. It results in a stuttering and slow experience.
Finally, I gave up on the Fire TV Cube… for now. I plugged my Apple TV back in for a much richer, smoother, fast experience… just without the same voice control.