Design, Price, and Specs
See? Easy. For the most part, you will never see the Fire TV Stick 4K. Its design means it stays hidden behind your television, eliminating unsightly cords. The Fire TV Cube has 16 GB of internal storage as well as 2 GB of memory and supports both far-field and near-field voice support thanks to its internal speakers. You can also speak directly into the remote to control it, or to any connected Alexa speaker in your home. The Cube supports Dolby Atmos audio as well as 7.1 surround sound, HDMI audio passthrough, and 2 channel stereo. The box includes an IR extender cable, too, if you wanted to use the Cube to control something like a sound bar. The specs for the Fire TV Stick 4K are more limited, but still impressive for such a small device. It has 8 GB of internal storage and is compatible with a wide range of different IR devices, but lacks a dedicated IR port like the Cube. It also requires the remote for voice control, although a connected Echo speaker can also issue commands to the Fire TV Stick 4K.
Content And Resolution
Both the Fire TV Stick 4K and the Fire TV Cube provide access to 4K content, as well as HDR, HDR10+, and more.
Voice Controls
The Fire TV Stick 4K allows you to search and play content, control volume levels, and more through the remote. Just press and hold the voice button and issue the command to Alexa. While easy to use, it’s not quite as easy as it would be if it offered easier voice controls. The Fire TV Cube, on the other hand, doesn’t require a button. You can speak to it from anywhere in the room. The microphones always listen for the wake word, which allows you to control it without searching for the remote. Thanks to the Fire TV Cube’s numerous ports, you can control more devices through voice control than you can with the Fire Stick. That said, both devices come with a remote, which makes them a bit easier to use for people that are not quite as tech savvy. It also provides an alternative control scheme if you aren’t comfortable with the idea of an always-listening device in your home.
Why Choose One Over the Other?
Both the Fire TV Stick 4K and the Fire Cube serve similar functions, so you might wonder why one is any better than the other. It essentially boils down to your intended use for each.
