After Amazon announced their latest Fire TV Cube 3rd generation, owners of the previous generation couldn’t wait to know what Amazon has added, improved or how it generally looked like. Neither could I.
It’s not a new product by any means; the Amazon Fire TV Cube’s second generation was released in 2019. Since then, it has seen a number of updates, including the Fire Stick 4K Max.
Amazon keeps bringing this dream to life by providing a streaming gadget that also functions as an Echo smart speaker. Although the Cube’s physical speaker component isn’t great, it is still the finest streaming device for users that are heavily invested in Amazon’s ecosystem.
The new Fire TV Cube was released on the 26th of October and I got to test one, and in this article, we go through its features and what it got up its sleeves.
- Resolution: 4K at 6Hz
- HDR: Dolby Vision, HDR 10, HDR10+, HLG
- Wi-Fi 6E
- Ports: HDMI 2.1 (In and Out), IR Extender, Power, USB-A, Ethernet port
- Networking: Wi-Fi 6E and 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax
- Processor: Octa-core
- Audio: Dolby Atmos, Dolby Digital Plus
- Remote: Alexa remote with software controls and Prime Video, Netflix, Disney+, and Hulu buttons
- Smart Assistants: Alexa
- Video Codecs: H.265, H.264, VP9, AV1
- Audio Codecs: AAC-LC, AC3, eAC3 (Dolby Digital Plus), FLAC, MP3, PCM/Wave, Vorbis, Dolby Atmos (EC3_JOC), Dolby MAT
- Storage: 16GB
- RAM: 2GB
- Dimensions: 3.38 x 3.38 x 2.99 in (W x D x H)
- Weight: 1.13lb
Design
The new Fire TV retains the traditional boxy shape but has more rounded edges and a grey mesh fabric that wraps around it.
It also maintains the Alexa light bar which has always been a great feature as well as the same buttons at the top for easy volume access and for use without the remote.
What I realized later on that was missing was the Amazon logo that the previous version had at the front. Seems like Amazon wants it to look like a mysterious new device, and for anyone whose never seen a Fire TV Cube would never recognize it.
Connectivity
Amazon definitely made some improvements by adding more connectivity on the new Fire TV Cube and they are quite impressive. The main additions are an Ethernet LAN port for faster internet connectivity and HDMI In port for connecting external devices to be displayed through the Fire TV Cube.
You can use the Fire TV Cube remote or Alexa to switch between the Fire TV interface and whatever is connected to the HDMI input after connecting a cable box, game console, or other device to the HDMI input.
- HDMI In and Out
- IR Extender
- USB 2.0
- LAN Connectivity
- Power In
Conclusion
The new Fire TV Cube felt faster than the predecessor in booting up, navigating the menu and loading up apps. But this is usually the case with new devices since they don’t have any apps added and the storage is still fresh, so I’ll wait and see how it performs with time.
The Wifi connection also seemed faster as this new generation is using the new Wi-Fi 6E. This means you can stream HDR10+ content very smoothly and it is really impressive!
The new Fire TV Cube comes with a bulky power adapter. Looks good but you might have trouble if you are plugging it in a multi-plug power adapter.
Do you need to upgrade?
The new Fire TV Cube is a powerful, impressive streaming device that now goes head-to-head with Nvidia’s Shield. If you love high-quality streaming with 4K HDR10+, you will want to get your hands on this one.
One downside to it is that its more expensive compared to most streaming devices out there. But if its quality that you want with a streaming device that has proven time and time again to be among the best streaming devices, the price should not be a problem.
Moreso, its an Amazon device, which means you have your Amazon Prime account and you get regular updates for the device, security and new apps from the Amazon app store.
