Amazon Fire Stick vs Roku: Which One Is Better
Whether you are looking to make your older TV smarter or you need to stop using the built-in streaming apps which may come bundled with your current set, then you are going to need a media streaming stick. The major popularity of cord cutting continues to gather the pace and collectively, cable TV organizations are losing millions of subscribers every year. If you have also ditched your TV subscription, then there is a good chance that you are trying to decide which one is better among Amazon Firestick and one of the many Roku devices as your new entrainment platform. They both are the best streaming devices to use if you have lost your TV subscription recently. They are small, relatively inexpensive, packed with the numerous features and pretty easy to understand and setup.
A Complicated Comparison between Amazon Fire Stick vs Roku
Unfortunately, it is unlikely difficult to make a like for like comparison between Amazon Firestick vs Roku streaming stick. But, we need to consider the two Amazon products the Fire TV stick and the Fire TV stick 4K. On the other side, Roku, there are six devices which can be thought of as Fire TV competitors such as Roku Express, Roku Express +, Roku Premiere, Roku Premiere +, Roku Streaming Stick, and Roku Streaming Stick +.
Lets us have a look at the different spectacles between Amazon Firestick vs Roku Devices: which one is better for the users to use:
Also read: Amazon New Fire TV Stick 4K Max Launched for Rs 6,499, will get more powerful Features
Amazon Fire Stick vs Roku Specification and Features
This is where things really get confused, but let us try and make the sense of all different models on offer from the two biggest companies. Firstly, the Amazon devices which are the basic fire TV Stick which has the 1.3GHz processor, internal memory is 8GB of, and support for Bluetooth 4.1. It can plays videos in 720p or 1080p resolution at up to 60 frames-per-second (FPS).
This 4K model is a notable improvement and you will find the 1.7GHz processor in it, support for Bluetooth as well as video resolution. The internal storage stays up to 8GB. On the other hand, three Roku products such as the Express, Express +, and Streaming Stick, only offers the video resolution of 1080p and the offers offer 4K.
Amazon Fire Stick vs Roku: Controls
All the Roku and Amazon Fire TV Stick devices are shipped with the dedicated remote controls. Both Amazon control supports Alexa. Therefore, if you want to control Roku with your voice, then you will need to buy Roku Premiere +, Roku Streaming Stick, or Roku Streaming Stick +. Both of the devices also have the accompanying remote control smartphone apps available. Lastly, if you have an Amazon echo speaker, then you can also sync with it with your Fire TV Stick and use it as the controller for your device.
Amazon Fire Stick vs Roku: Interface
Visually, the Amazon platform is much more modern and thus feels more polished. However, as the critic’s report they have argues that it pushes the Amazon own content too aggressively. You will only see one row of your own apps at the top of the screen and if you have too many installed, and then you will need to scroll all the way to the right and click on view all to see them.
Roku’s interface is more customizable than Amazon’s as all your channels will be displays in the scribbled list. If you have installed the third party add-ons, then you can even place your channels into the groups for easier navigation.
Amazon Fire Stick vs Roku: TV shows & movies
If you’re searching for the provider agnostic devices, then Roku is the best platform and the best streaming stick on the market. It is not only better than the Amazon Firestick, but also it is much better than android TV, Apple TV, and Chromecast dongles. You may also find the apps for just about every on-demand video and music streaming apps which include Netflix, Hulu, YouTube, etc.
Roku also offers the vast library of private channels and you will need to enter the code in the web portal of Roku to install them on your devices. One of the biggest problems with the Amazon Fire Stick is the lack of native YouTube app and the ongoing bickering between the two major giants forces Google to pull its apps from Amazon’s platform.
Amazon Fire Stick vs Roku: Screen Mirroring
The Roku device has the Miracast technology built-in, if you are not much aware of Miracast, and then let us focus on this first. Miracast is like the wireless version of HDMI cable, in which most of android and windows devices are Miracle compatible. Some of the older Amazon Fire TV models also support screen mirroring, but it is not available on the third generation Amazon Firestick or the 4K model.
Conclusion
If you want an unbiased platform which can give you endless options and the voice remote which can find everything that you want, then you should opt for Roku device. As Roku streaming stick plus has tons of options for HD and 4K HDR content and its interface is dated and rough all around the edges, but it performs the better job keeping the ads minimal, relevant and off to the side.
But, if you are investing in Amazons ecosystem and you are fine with being inundated with the ads, then Amazon Fire TV stick is the best option for you to opt. The biggest benefit of this device is that you can go hands-free with Alexa, but it still works in progress and not enough to overcome the advertisement heavy interface and missing apps.
