With TVs offering 4K resolution and High Dynamic Range (HDR), you want to make sure you buy a streamer that is compatible, but that’s only the start. You also want to make sure that the streaming services you care about and the content you want to watch can be easily found without having to scour the web for hours.
The new Amazon Fire TV Cube is far and away the best media player currently on the market. Why? Firstly, it’s the first Fire TV box to have Alexa integrated directly to the device — no external Echo speaker necessary. Secondly, it’s loaded with powerful tech and features that will allow you to control just about everything in your entertainment center with minimal need for a remote.
Thanks to HDMI CEC and HDMI ARC-capable ports and an included IR blaster, you’ll be able to use voice commands to turn on your TV, swap between apps, and even switch inputs over to other connected devices like gaming consoles, A/V receivers, and Blu-ray players. You can walk into the room with the TV and all other devices off, and direct Alexa to play something, and the Firet TV Cube will switch on the TV and sound system, and immediately start up the show, no matter what service it’s on — all with zero remote inputs required.
While Alexa will require specific voice commands out of the box, the AI assistant will learn to recognize your input style. Amazon has also promised to continually update Alexa’s recognition abilities and tune the assistant to meet the needs of users, meaning simple, even vague speech may be recognized as more people use it.
Thirdly, the Fire TV Cube is a way-above-par streamer. The little black box is capable of 4K and HDR playback, and comes with an Ethernet adapter for the most reliable data connection possible — something sorely lacking from other Fire TV devices. Speaking of upgrades, the Fire TV Cube features a much more open and platform-agnostic search and interface than what we’d come to expect from Fire TV devices. In the past, using a Fire TV meant you were funneled to content on Amazon’s platform, with other apps and services buried or excluded. Thankfully, that’s much less of an issue with the Cube.
The Fire TV Cube’s on-board Alexa integration, Ethernet adapter, and more open ecosystem solve its biggest challenges from previous Fire TV devices, and it’s the all-in-one flexibility, control afforded by HDMI CEC support, IR blaster, and Alexa voice commands, that earns it the best streaming media player out there.
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