Which streaming device is better in performance? I have the Firestick and it is awesome!
Firestick/Fire TV vs Chromecast vs Apple TV vs Roku
I have the 2nd generation Chromecast and am very happy with it. It’s perfectly snappy and smooth! And you can’t beat the price for $35 (plus I got mine for free thanks to being an early YouTube Red subscriber).
I had the first gen Chromecast and it was great until I discovered the firestick. The downside of the Chromecast is the casting and having to depend on your phone/tablet.
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I have the Roku 3, and it is superior to both the Amazon Fire TV we have (not the stick), the Google Chromecast 2 (that we also have), and our Apple TV 3. May I also point out that the Chromecast vs Amazon/Roku/Apple TV are actually quite different in that the latter have more of a user interface (TV strictly), whereas it is more phone to TV with Chromecast. People may have a Chromecast AND one of the other three… with that being said, my family has all four.
Can you sideload apps on the Roku3? Better than Apple TV 3? How so? I have never owned a Apple TV or Roku?
I’m sorry, I am not sure what you mean by sideload apps means, but I would be glad to answer!
Have you heard of Kodi? Have you heard of a jailbroken device? Sideloading is installing a app that is not in the app store/amazon store/play store. You can sideload apps on the firestick and Apple TV.
Oh, now I understand. Yes, you can sideload apps on Fire TV. I am not aware of Apple TV, but you seem to know that you can. As for Roku, I am not aware of that capability, but that’s not to say I’m not wrong.
I really didn’t consider the sideloading functionality when I was making my first comment.
I used to use my Chromecast, until I got a Fire TV stick. I use the stick for Netflix, Amazon Video, YouTube and Kodi. I haven’t used the Chromecast since. I do also have a Chromecast Audio so that I can cast Spotify to my old stereo. It’s great.
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I’m the same way, only I stopped using the Chromecast when I got an Apple TV. The lack of a physical remote with the Chromecast is what kills it for me.
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got the original Chromecast for $35 it looks so good I dont need better.
I’d recommend the Chromecast as its so easy and practical. You can stream so much such as Youtube and Netflix and it simply looks amazing.
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Do any of you have the Chromecast Ultra?
I have a Apple TV 4th gen works great and if your in the Apple ecosystem it’s even better.
Anyone have Kodi on Firestick or Roku or Apple TV? How does it work, what does it even do? I’ve heard of Kodi but not entirely sure what it even does or why devices are being jailbroken and sold on ebay with Kodi on them … as if hacking things raises its value immediately.
Is it worth upgrading from the 3rd gen for 150?
You can use this link for comparison. I say it’s not worth it at $150! What?!
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I purchased one 1st Gen Chromecast to start binge watching Game of Thrones on HBO Go… When the Fire TV box came out, I got one of those. I liked the wired network abilities and Optical Audio. The remote was much easier to use than the way the chromecast worked (especially for my wife and son).
As I use the Fire TV… for HBOGo, Netflix, Kodi, Plex, Disney Movies Anywhere (although linked to my Amazon account, its better to watch the movies via Amazon, and special features via DMA), YouTube, and apps for Starz, Showtime, Encore, Watch Disney/DisJR Channels, and an app called PhotoGuru (allows me to view my Google Photos/Videos as well as my Facebook photos/videos). I have side loaded a few apps, like MAME4Droid, but not much else. There is no VUDU or UltraViolet apps/options on the FireTV family. For that i use my older Bluray players.
I later got 1st gen Fire TV Stick for my Son. He uses Netflix, Plex, and Disney Moves Anywhere. He used to use the Watch Disney/DisJR apps, but he’s grown out of those 
Because his stick is Wifi only, and at the far end of the house, I’ve not tried Kodi on it. I’m not sure there is enough bandwidth to handle the higher bitrate titles. So he uses Plex. My Plex Server transcodes on the fly to a lower bit rate for him (I set the plex app on his stick that way).
While I also have a 2nd Gen Fire TV Box, I’ve not tried the newer sticks yet.
Since first getting my 1st Fire TV box, I have 3 Fire TV Boxes and 2 Sticks in my house. My one and only Chromecast has sat idle. Its rarely used.
@William_Westfall, you asked what Kodi is… its a media player with a nice GUI, movie info scraper,etc. and lot of options and features. (see Kodi.TV) You can also get plug-ins to add features (I don’t use plug-ins). Why do I use it? I drop my movies, videos and MP3’s onto folders my Kodi server can access. It plays the files natively, without touching them, on my player. It means if the file has surround sound, higher rez or bit rate, etc, Kodi plays them and passes them through… Where as Plex re-encodes them on the fly to the parameters it thinks the target playback device can handle. In the case of the Fire TV, that means loss of anything better than Dolby Digital 5.1 audio, or lower bit rates if it thinks the bit rate is too high for the target player to handle, etc.
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