Amazon Fire TV review: The best of the budget streaming bunch

Amazon has entered the streaming box game in a big way, launching its Fire TV to take on the likes of Apple and Roku for your living room.

It's not in the UK just yet, but we figured it was worth giving the new Fire TV a whirl, simply because of what Amazon promises it can do. So how does it handle?

The Good

• Slim design
• Games and apps potential
• Rapid interface

The Fire TV is about as small as you would ever want anything to be, in the world, ever. It's tiny - barely thick enough for the HDMI port on the back to fit in.

Design is fairly simple, with the box being nothing more than just a black slab, with Amazon wording on the top.

That is no bad thing, however, as really you don't want a device like the Fire TV to cause a re-shuffle underneath your telly. It's about adding smart functionality to devices you already have, rather than making you switch up your living room AV stack.

The same applies to the competition, really, as the Apple TV and Roku setup are both absolutely tiny things. Amazon's is just even thinner.

Setup

The first thing the Fire TV does is try to search for the remote. Then it goes for your Wi-Fi connection.

Once it's hooked up to the web, Fire TV will then start downloading the latest software available. After that, you get a very self-explanatory video that will take even the most beginner of streaming users through everything they need to know.

The Fire TV is all about simplicity, getting you watching video as quick as possible

Amazon is obviously after pushing its own content to you via the Fire TV, which is why the first thing it does is try and get you to sign up to Amazon Prime Instant. Just like the Apple TV, however, you really don't need to in order to get watching video.

Parental controls are also selected at first start-up, letting you set a pin to stop little ones accidentally purchasing multiple movies.

User interface

The far left of the Fire TV's screen is taken up by a long list of every function the Fire TV is capable of.

You have movies, TV, a complete video library, games and applications as well as some other menus for settings and photos. There is also a watchlist that you can add shows to, as and when you want.

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Starting with Movies, this is where you find the best that Amazon has to offer. Anything included with an Amazon Prime Instant subscription is marked by a little flag on the top left of the picture.

A 'recently added to Prime' tab sits at the top, with new movie releases below. Then you have other Netflix-style recommended categories to keep you interested. TV follows almost exactly the same pattern.

Clicking on a title lets you watch a trailer, rent or buy it, or stream it straight away should you have Prime Instant membership and it falls under the same banner.

For the most part, the user interface is as simple as it needs to be. It moves along at a fair lick and never lagged or locked up for us while we were using it.

What we will say, however, is that like the Apple TV, this device doesn't feel that much more than a box for just buying things with. It's not as easy to tweak or customise as a Roku box and doesn't have all the other sweeteners that come with a games console.

Games

Games is where the Fire TV gets interesting. You see, it has a proper powerful quad-core processor alongside 2GB of RAM. As we just said, you aren't getting an Xbox One on the cheap here, but the gaming setup is actually rather good.

For starters, you get 'Game Circle' which gives you a nickname and a profile pic. This lets you share scores with others.

At launch, the app selection isn't extensive.

There are the likes of Minecraft, Asphalt 8 and Telltale's The Walking Dead - all good games that have already cut their teeth in the world of smartphones.

You can control them using the included remote, but it's much easier to opt for Amazon's optional game controller if you want to get the most from them.

What is slightly disappointing is that these games aren't anything new. It's just as easy to hook an iPad up to your TV and do the same thing as it is to play with the Fire TV here.

Apps

The Fire TV opens its doors to competitors via a wide range of apps. Netflix, WatchESPN, iHeart Radio and Pandora are part of what is a large number of apps on offer.

The Android support opens the door to plenty of other offerings. The entertainment category alone was listed as having 29 applications.

Most work nicely. Netflix is the standard HTML-powered setup you see on just about every device out there. Some do have that distinctly cheap Android feel, however, which breaks the otherwise slick and premium browsing experience found on the Fire TV.

Search and the remote

One of the main talking points of Fire TV is how you can search for things on it. Sat at the top of the included remote is a search button. Hold it and shout out the name of any movie or actor, and then you will get Fire TV delivering you a result.

You can, of course, do the same on the Fire TV itself, going for voice or text search if you can't get the right result from the remote.

Just a note on that included remote, the whole of Fire TV is controlled using just eight buttons. A big circular direction pad is used for games and selecting things, with video controls and then buttons for home, back and the options menu included.

Verdict

The bottom line is, the Fire TV is as simple as any other streaming box there is out there. It is easily one of the fastest and the Android app quasi-compatibility really opens up the doors to an exciting future for the Fire TV.

For the beginner, plugging it in and getting going is as straightforward as it needs to be, but we can't help but feel like this box is little more than a way to get you renting Amazon video content, with some other bits tacked on.

The gaming is definitely a bonus, but then pretty much everyone out there has some sort of device that can hook up to your TV and do the same thing.

What wins it for us, though, is the Fire TV's price. At $99, it's like the Apple TV with some Android games thrown in. Users who want more flexibility might want to consider Roku, but for us, the Fire TV is the best bet right now. It just needs to head to the UK and we'll be sold.

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