Thoughts on next gen firetv 4k stick (announced Oct 2018)?

Channels Fire TV
#1

Hi there - just saw Amazon announced their newest 4k stick today (here). It looks pretty interesting given the new remote, more powerful CPU, etc.

I use Apple TV with channels today, but at some point I may consider jumping over to fire tvs given how much more cost effective they are. Any thoughts on the fire tv’s new CPU (looks like quad-core 1.7 GHz and a GPU called IMG GE8300)? I know it’s just specs for now and hard to gauge the real world performance, but curious if we think this will put the experience in terms of performance on par with the Apple TV or if there’s still some gap.

#2

None of the devices on the market match the performance of the Apple TV, except maybe the SHIELD.

We’ll have to see how this new stick works when we get our hands on it. The current generation stick is a disaster and cannot even decode interlaced mpeg2.

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#3

I just found the following specs: https://developer.amazon.com/docs/fire-tv/device-specifications.html

Specifically I see, “MPEG-2 video/mp2t Hardware accelerated up to 1080p @ 60fps “?””

Does that seem new/different re: MPEG2 from other fire tvs in the past? Could be interesting? (although looks like the specs for FireTV Cube say the same thing re: MPEG2)

#4

The question mark at the end is not exactly confidence inspiring.

The problem in the past has been 1080i deinterlacing. The new pendant and cube are pretty good at deinterlacing, but they use an AMLogic chipset and this new stick is using something different. We’ll just have to see how it works when the device ships.

#5

@tmm1 Please keep us looped in on this when you find out more. Personally I was considering “upgrading” from the pendant to the new stick (Dolby Vision and the new remote are useful for us), but if the upgrades come at the cost of poor Channels performance it would probably be a deal breaker.

#6

Sure. I have one on pre-order and will know how it works pretty quickly once I get my hands on it.

#7

Just saw the article below which looks like it will support hardware deinterlacing of 1080i… “the new device does support hardware accelerated MPEG-2 video for smooth 1080i viewing at up to 60 fps. Amazon has told me that they’ve specifically tested the new Fire TV Stick 4K with HDHomeRun network tuners and have found no abnormalities playing 1080i content”

http://www.aftvnews.com/amazon-fire-tv-stick-4k-will-support-hardware-1080i-deinterlacing-for-ota-tuners/

#8

Goods news, I think. I imagine with their entry in to this space (Amazon Recast) they’d be looking to make sure they’re Fire hardware is up to the task. Aman will let us know for sure when he has his to play with, but maybe he can chime in just based on what that (and any other) article says.

#9

If it doesn’t exceed the performance of the latest 4K pendant, you may consider just purchasing the new remote, which adds volume and power control of compatible TV’s, etc. We literally just purchased a pendant a week ago on Prime discount, and upon noticing it is now discontinued and replaced with the 4K stick, contacted Amazon customer service who completely understood our concerns and offered several options to satisfy us. We ended up keeping the pendant, and also purchasing a 4K stick at $49, and an additional new remote for use with the pendant for $10.

#10

hey @tmm1 - have you had a chance to test the new stick? does it work?

thanks in advance!! hoping to pick up a couple shall the transcoding stuff work properly from HDHomerun

#11

The new stick is not available yet. It is expected to ship on October 31st.

#12

Got my 4K stick today. The device feels very responsive compared to older sticks.

Channels runs great. Getting dolby audio and deinterlaced mpeg2

#13

Awesome to hear! Seems like a no brainer for me to get rid of my Apple TV 4 (not 4K) and jump to this fire tv stick. Any other things you wished it had but doesn’t?

#14

I plan to use this for travel, since it's so tiny and portable.

Personally I don't love the FireTV interface. There's ads everywhere. The stick also doesn't have ethernet, which I would prefer to use around my home.

It's pretty hard to beat the Apple TV in terms of raw performance and clean UI/UX. But for travel, additional TVs and users on a budget, the new FireTV 4K Stick is a fantastic option which provides a great value for the money.

#15

Was waiting to hear how it worked. Ordered!

Thanx!

#16

I agree just tried mine and it works great. I wish the UI on the Fire stick could be cleaned up. To many ads. I have four Apple TVs but needed for a TV that doesn’t get used much.

#17

Just got mine today and unfortunately Channels has frozen twice and crashed.

#18

btw - when you guys get a moment, I found a couple things you should try to update on the https://getchannels.com/firetv/ site (especially as I see you posted this on twitter)

  1. add the 4k device to the list of compatible devices (assuming it's compatible)
  2. the link to the amazon App Store at the bottom is broken
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#19

Can you provide some more details? What kind of HDHR? What device were you using before? Did it crash/freeze while watching live tv or something else?

Also after it crashes, go to to bottom of the Player settings tab and click Submit Diagnostics > Crash.

#20

Just submitted one. It crashed again while watching live TV but this time the screen went completely black while the audio kept playing. I couldn't back out to the guide. It locked up and eventually crashed.

HDHR=Connect Duo and was using a Fire TV 2 previously.

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