If you’re setting up your home theater or streaming lounge and still deciding on the smart TV platform, Fire TV and Apple TV devices are good choices; However, both have their pros and cons. For example, Amazon’s Fire TV hardware starts at just $35, while you’ll have to shell out more than $129 for the Apple TV 4K. Several other differences can impact which of the two platforms is the better choice for your streaming habits.
Amazon Fire TV
Amazon’s Fire TV platform, as mentioned, is available preloaded on select smart TVs and can also be used with the Fire TV Stick line and the company’s Fire TV Cube. It has all the essential elements of a good smart TV operating system, such as support for streaming up to 4K HDR, a solid app library with all popular streaming services, app access for local media servers, a robust voice assistant in Alexa, and the ability to control compatible smart home devices. Depending on your budget and needs, you can choose from multiple Fire TV devices, giving you the freedom of choice.
In terms of other key features, the Fire TV platform gives you access to Amazon Luna, Nvidia GeForce Now, and Xbox Cloud Gaming services to play PC-quality games by simply pairing a controller. Fire TV devices also have access to Alexa+, a beefed-up version of Alexa that supports generative AI. However, the Fire TV platform is also riddled with ads and can seem slow on less powerful devices. The Fire TV subreddit is full of user complaints regarding both ads and slow performance. Although Amazon’s latest Fire Experience update appears to have fixed some performance-related issues, there are still tons of ads floating around.
More importantly, like most other smart TV platforms, Fire TV collects a ton of data about you, including your viewing habits, app usage, and screen interactions. Even if you can stop it from spying on you, the company will likely still have a lot of data on you.
Apple TV
Apple TV 4K is the only media streaming device currently offered by the company. Although it’s over three and a half years old, it’s still reasonably powerful as it relies on the A15 Bionic chip – the same chip that powers the iPhone 13. Users haven’t reported any major slowdowns on Reddit or other social media platforms. Like the Fire TV platform, the Apple TV 4K has all the essential elements you want in a media streamer. For example, it can stream in 4K HDR, has an extensive app library that includes all major streaming services and local media server apps, and supports control of compatible smart home products. While it also comes with Siri, the assistant’s functionality isn’t as extensive as Alexa or Alexa+ on Fire TV devices. You can use Siri to search for content, get answers to general queries, control smart home devices, find apps, and get recommendations.
One of the main advantages of opting for Apple TV is that you don’t have to deal with ads in the interface. The overall interface is quite simple and clean. Apple TV and tvOS are also known for their relatively strict privacy policies and lack of invasive data collection. It collects some data, but you can prevent much of it. Although there is no official support for cloud gaming services, you can use Apple Arcade for gaming if you have a subscription.
Additionally, the Apple TV 4K offers significantly more onboard storage than any Fire TV device at 64GB/128GB, depending on the variant. The biggest downside to the Apple TV 4K is its price. Additionally, some of the benefits of Apple TV 4K are particularly useful for people already part of the Apple ecosystem.
