Amazon Fire TV Cube Review: Perfect for the right home

As someone with a cheap, "dumb" TV, a streaming device is my gateway to infinite hours of content on the small screen. 

Amazon's Fire TV Cube, now in its third generation purports to be the "ultimate streaming experience". It's not far off but it is hindered by just a few poor design choices and some heavy biases towards Amazon content. 

The nitty gritty

Starting with the design the Fire TV Cube (Third Generation) has had a nice glow-up. It's still a neatly compact 8.6cm by 8.6cm around and 7.7cm tall (hey wait a minute, that's no cube!) but it now sports a fabric covering. This is the same kind of covering you'll find on other Amazon Alexa speakers these days and it's a nice improvement over the glossy plastic of previous models. The buttons on top still attract fingerprints but I found that I hardly ever wanted to use them in favour of voice control. Voice control functions similarly to other Amazon Echo products. 

Turning it around there are several new ports too. The previous model featured a single HDMI port, micro-USB and wired infrared. The new model is a bit more beefed up. It has USB-A, wired infrared, a new network cable port and not one, but two HDMI ports one for input and one for output. The change with HDMI means you can plug in your cable set-top box (if you haven't "cut the cord" and gone streaming only) or a gaming console into the Fire TV Cube and control it from there. Regarding the latter, online chatter indicates it's not worth doing due to experience with lag. 

Beneath the surface, the Fire TV Cube supports WiFi 6E so those with compatible routers can enjoy a faster experience. An Octa-Core processor ensures that the Fire TV Cube is twice as powerful as the Fire TV Stick 4K Max. Start up is always nice and zippy.

The latest generation of the Alexa Voice Remote comes supplied alongside a power cable although you will need to supply your own HDMI cable(s). At least one included would be nice considering the price point of $219. Oh, and the excellent remote finder feature which lets you ping your remote is only available on the Alexa Voice Remote Pro model - which will set you back a further $59. 

A variety of programming

Most importantly, the Fire TV Cube has a whole suite of streaming services already installed to work straight out of the box which helps for a pretty frictionless experience when getting set up for the first time. You only have to deal with logging in where the friction depends on whether the app has an easy QR code log-in or wants you to input a full username and password - I'm angrily shaking my fist at you Paramount Plus.

Some of the included streaming apps aside from the obvious Amazon Prime Video are ABC iView, Apple TV Plus, Binge, Disney Plus, Netflix, Paramount Plus, SBS On Demand and Stan. You also get commercial TV network apps such as 7 Plus, 9 Now, and 10 Play. 

Other streaming apps like BritBox and Hayu can be downloaded from the Amazon App Store.

Annoyingly Foxtel Now is not available in the store. To access that you need to sideload it via the "Downloader" tool. Fortunately, there are a tonne of guides online for how to do that. 

Primed for Amazon Prime

The Fire TV Cube home screen is in-a-word, awash, with ads or prime placements for Amazon Prime Video content. First, there are the big banner ads at the top which have a proclivity to launch into full-screen trailers on start-up. 

On the home screen, you're treated to a control bar and then rows of content. The first row of shows and films is your recent viewing history. This is followed by a row of sponsored content. The next row is your recently used apps and the row after that is "up next for you" which at least in my case seemed to skew heavily towards Amazon Prime Video, even though I did watch content from other platforms. That could be on me and my algorithm though. 

Then it's just an endless stream (pardon the pun) of "Prime recommended movies" Prime recommended "this" and "that". Amazon could take a leaf out of Google's book which shows a more diverse range of top picks and easier access to your apps upfront. Amazon does have plenty of great content like Good Omens, Invincible, and The Wheel of Time, but it wouldn't kill for some variety. 

In terms of navigating to the various streaming apps, your selection is somewhat limited at default. There are six slots to which you can pin apps. Until you customise it four of them are set to Amazon apps by default. These can be re-arranged and the full selection of installed apps is one more click away but a wider selection would have been nicer. When you see the full range it's still a long side-scroll or further click down to see all your installed apps in a grid view. 

Smooth sailing

As a voice-controlled entertainment system, everything works as smoothly as it can aside from the usual voice-assistant hiccups. Specificity is key. Picture quality is as good as whatever your hardware can physically provide with support for Dolby Vision,  HDR10+, and Dolby Atmos. Audio detection works well and you can hand off audio from a source like Spotify over to another Echo device in your kitchen or if you so wish control your TV via an Echo device in another room. 

Smart home integration is a breeze it's as easy as adding the Fire TV Cube to new or existing routines in the Amazon Alexa app. This will have it turning your TV on or off and resuming or pausing playback depending on what conditions you set. You can even get as granular as setting it to "Play Jack Ryan on Prime Video" or "Play Stranger Things on Netflix" at a certain time. This is great for bingeing a particular show after dinner each night or you can ensure the TV is always off by a certain time. No need to worry about falling asleep in front of the TV. 

A true all-in-one device?

One of the obvious questions regarding the Fire TV Cube is can it essentially replace an Amazon Echo Dot and the Fire TV stick? Unfortunately, not quite, no. 

Despite the obvious cuboid form factor the TV cube largely resembles an Echo Dot down to the mesh covering. However, ostensibly it's supposed to work with your TV this means that you run into a few roadblocks that can trip you up. 

With an HDMI output plugged in the Fire TV Cube wants to out responses through that. Some basic Alexa instructions like asking for the time or weather can be answered with the TV off. But "Play music on Spotify" is a no-go unless your TV is powered on as well. If you want to use "Drop In" as a sort of intercom between the different rooms in your house again, the TV needs to be powered on. 

You can choose between having the Fire TV Cube turn off the TV when it goes into sleep mode or displaying a black screen. In theory, the latter is supposed to let you play audio while the screen is darkened but it's not the same as using the cube solely as a speaker. 

The former thankfully does mean there are power-saving benefits. When your Fire TV Cube goes to sleep, the HDMI signal stops most TVs manufactured in the last few years will turn off after a short time. 

Amazon Fire TV Cube - Final Thoughts

Overall, the Amazon Fire TV Cube provides a fine entertainment experience albeit with a deluge of self-advertising. 

In terms of spending the Fire TV Cube does come with a fairly hefty price tag when it's not on sale, especially if you fork out for the better remote. If you've already got a smart TV, it might not be worth the investment. It's not the most expensive streaming device on the market as the Apple TV is similarly priced, but there are cheaper ones. 

The real benefits come from the smart home integrations or for people who have older TVs and want something a little fancier than the simpler Chromecast or Fire TV stick. 

You can jury-rigg a similar set-up with a $99 Fifth Generation Echo Dot and a Fire TV Stick 4K Max ($119) which are also both heavily discounted during sale events and save. If you've already got one at home it's only a matter of grabbing the other. 

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