Amazon Fire Stick vs Roku Streaming Stick

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GSRit01

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Been scrounging around these threads with not much success...

Going to get one of these 2 gadgets, want to know opinions on either.

Mainly will use it to watch Netflix.

I know the Fire Stick you can side load Kodi and Roku Stick you can use Plex?

Any opinions?
 
Hi,

I have the Fire TV and Fire TV Stick. I have not used Roku, so I can't really compare, but I'll give you my opinion on what I have used.

The Fire TV is better than the stick. I find that the stick is a lot more sluggish than the Fire TV. But the Stick is still a great device!
If you have an Amazon Prime account, then I would recommend the Fire Stick or Fire TV. If you don't, then I would recommend the Roku due to the fact that the Fire Stick/TV push Amazons content, while the Roku works with Apps and so if you have just Netflix, then you can just get the Netflix app and you are sorted.

Plex and Kodi can be loaded on to both devices. So that's not an issue.

I would recommend searching up reviews and YouTube videos on both devices and see which one you think you would prefer.

Kevin
 
zs-kev said:
Hi,

I have the Fire TV and Fire TV Stick. I have not used Roku, so I can't really compare, but I'll give you my opinion on what I have used.

The Fire TV is better than the stick. I find that the stick is a lot more sluggish than the Fire TV. But the Stick is still a great device!
If you have an Amazon Prime account, then I would recommend the Fire Stick or Fire TV. If you don't, then I would recommend the Roku due to the fact that the Fire Stick/TV push Amazons content, while the Roku works with Apps and so if you have just Netflix, then you can just get the Netflix app and you are sorted.

Plex and Kodi can be loaded on to both devices. So that's not an issue.

I would recommend searching up reviews and YouTube videos on both devices and see which one you think you would prefer.

Kevin
Click to expand...

Thanx for your comment!

I've read some reviews and comparisons. They say the Fire Stick is a bit more responsive than the Roku Stick.

I'm looking for a cheaper option as it's going in the room. At the moment the Fire Stick is the cheaper option in the US at $40 and Roku Stick is $50. Have somebody coming down in April who will bring whichever I choose.

Going to be using NTV also...I wonder if I can watch live NTV on Kodi on either of the sticks...
 
I have a Roku stick, it works fine but is more sluggish than a Roku 3.

I haven't tried using Plex.
 
If you are going to get Amazon Prime, get it before you get the Fire Stick as then you can ship it to your US contact for free.

I have tried using Kodi with little to no success. The Plex app wasn't working, so I loaded it onto Kodi. But the app works fine now so no need for the Plexmbc.
I tried loading Sport onto Kodi, but with no success! Cant get any stream to work!
Not sure what NTV is, so cant help there.
 
zs-kev said:
If you are going to get Amazon Prime, get it before you get the Fire Stick as then you can ship it to your US contact for free.

I have tried using Kodi with little to no success. The Plex app wasn't working, so I loaded it onto Kodi. But the app works fine now so no need for the Plexmbc.
I tried loading Sport onto Kodi, but with no success! Cant get any stream to work!
Not sure what NTV is, so cant help there.
Click to expand...

So you're saying Kodi doesn't work so well on the Fire Stick?

NTV.mx is a IPTV thing I'm going to subscribe to so I can watch sport. Not a train smash if Kodi doesn't work. 99% of the time it'll be just for Netflix.

Also read a post where the guy was complaining about poor wifi of Fire Stick...you have any issues?

Also competing the 2 streaming sticks, Fire TV has better processor and bigger flash memory
 
Last edited:
GSRit01 said:
Thanx for your comment!

I've read some reviews and comparisons. They say the Fire Stick is a bit more responsive than the Roku Stick.

I'm looking for a cheaper option as it's going in the room. At the moment the Fire Stick is the cheaper option in the US at $40 and Roku Stick is $50. Have somebody coming down in April who will bring whichever I choose.

Going to be using NTV also...I wonder if I can watch live NTV on Kodi on either of the sticks...
Click to expand...
Ntv.mx will work just fine in Kodi on the fire TV stick.
 
Jola said:
I have a Roku stick, it works fine but is more sluggish than a Roku 3.

I haven't tried using Plex.
Click to expand...

I also have both and while the stick is slower it's still very usable.

Plex runs great on it.
 
The Fire TV Stick is a bit sluggish, but is still usable! Its not a problem!
We did have problems connecting it to WIFI due to the fact that the TV is in a TV cabinet, but it does come with a adapter that you can connect the Stick to and then to an HDMI cable. So we did that and put the stick infront of the TV, and now everything runs fine!

Kodi works fine on the device! I just struggle to use it! I installed the NTV addon and tried the demo, and I can safely say that it works well!

The reason the Plex app was not working for me is that everytime my PC (which is the server) changed IP address, the Plex app would stop working. So all I did was set my PC to a static IP on my router, and now everything runs great!
I belive that the older sticks and fire tv did not have this problem, but from google, it seems a lot of people have the issue with the new ones! Me included! Until I fixed it!
 
zs-kev said:
The Fire TV Stick is a bit sluggish, but is still usable! Its not a problem!
We did have problems connecting it to WIFI due to the fact that the TV is in a TV cabinet, but it does come with a adapter that you can connect the Stick to and then to an HDMI cable. So we did that and put the stick infront of the TV, and now everything runs fine!

Kodi works fine on the device! I just struggle to use it! I installed the NTV addon and tried the demo, and I can safely say that it works well!

The reason the Plex app was not working for me is that everytime my PC (which is the server) changed IP address, the Plex app would stop working. So all I did was set my PC to a static IP on my router, and now everything runs great!
I belive that the older sticks and fire tv did not have this problem, but from google, it seems a lot of people have the issue with the new ones! Me included! Until I fixed it!
Click to expand...

Well I'm going to use it for the tv in the bedroom...there's a wall in between obviously! I hope there's no wifi issue. But we are in a small flat so even with the wall it's only about 5m away from the router. Otherwise I'll have to put the PS3 in the room and use the Fire Stick in the lounge.

Will have to see.
 
I am busy contemaplting between the Fire and the roku. I have a friend coming from the uk - so will buy from there. Was happy with my roku 3 until it just randomly died one day...so that leaves me with a bit of reservation related to the roku streaming stick.

whats important to me - Streaming BBC iplayer and connecting to Plex. I am currently using a chromecast and the iplayer casting just doesnt work despite blocking the google DNS and setting up getflix.

so here are my questions:

1. can someone confirm if you can load DNS settings directly to the Fire stick?
2. Is there a noticeable difference in browsing between the fire and the roku?
3. Is there noticeable difference in streaming over wifi? It is pretty much with 50cm from my router
4. can i watch BBC iplayer through a smart proxy in SA on the fire stick?
5. do you still have to pay $5 for plex on the fire stick? and do you have to pay for any other "popular" apps?

because of my roku 3 just dying I am leaning towards the stick vs the roku...even if I have to pay the $5 for the app...but that is not cast in stone


or maybe i should just get an android box....lol
 
1. can someone confirm if you can load DNS settings directly to the Fire stick? - Yes
2. Is there a noticeable difference in browsing between the fire and the roku? - Cant provide feedback, I dont have a Roku
3. Is there noticeable difference in streaming over wifi? It is pretty much with 50cm from my router - The closer the stick is to the router, the better
4. can i watch BBC iplayer through a smart proxy in SA on the fire stick? - Yes you can and so many other apps
5. do you still have to pay $5 for plex on the fire stick? and do you have to pay for any other "popular" apps? - The plex app is free.
 
digitalp said:
1. can someone confirm if you can load DNS settings directly to the Fire stick? - Yes
2. Is there a noticeable difference in browsing between the fire and the roku? - Cant provide feedback, I dont have a Roku
3. Is there noticeable difference in streaming over wifi? It is pretty much with 50cm from my router - The closer the stick is to the router, the better
4. can i watch BBC iplayer through a smart proxy in SA on the fire stick? - Yes you can and so many other apps
5. do you still have to pay $5 for plex on the fire stick? and do you have to pay for any other "popular" apps? - The plex app is free.
Click to expand...

brilliant thanks...mind made up!
 
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