“In my in-depth review of Amazon.com’s new Fire TV set-top media streaming box, I concluded that I preferred my good-old Apple TV, mostly because of usability issues with both Amazon’s and Netflix’s instant video-viewing experiences,” Michael Comeau reports for Minyanville.
“But what does the larger population of Fire TV buyers think?” Comeau reports. “This morning, I went to Amazon.com and crunched the numbers on reviews of Fire TV and its three main competitors: Apple TV, Roku 3, and Google Chromecast.”
“Fire TV has received a fair number of reviews — 1,214 in total, with an average score of 3.5 stars,” Comeau reports. “So how does that compare to the competition? Not so well. As of 9:26 a.m. ET today, Fire TV was the lowest rated of the four, while Apple TV was the highest. Roku was a close second, with the $29.99 Chromecast in third.”
Read more in the full article here.
Related articles:
Amazon Fire TV Review: An awkward user experience; Apple TV a better choice – April 7, 2014
Apple TV vs. Amazon Fire TV – Amazon’s warped idea of ‘specifications’ – April 5, 2014
Apple will continue to dominate set-top boxes – April 4, 2014
Apple’s vision shreds Amazon’s Fire TV, other set top box also-rans – April 4, 2014
Amazon’s disappointing ‘Fire TV’ a complete waste of time – April 3, 2014
Analyst: Amazon Fire TV might wow Gary Busey, but Apple needn’t worry – April 3, 2014
Amazon Fire TV vs. Apple TV vs. Roku vs. Chromecast – April 2, 2014
Amazon launches $99 ‘Fire TV’ hoping to rival market-leading Apple TV – April 2, 2014
Apple TV sales topped $1 bilion in 2013, becoming Apple’s fastest growing hardware – February 28, 2014
Tim Cook and Apple TV: A ‘hobby’ no longer – October 7, 2013
Apple TV dominates digital media receiver market with 71% share – May 29, 2013
Would anyone expect otherwise.
I guess if I already owned a set-top box, I would just stick with that too, since at first glance, this looks like a simple ripoff of the Apple TV. I wouldn’t even consider a Fire TV if it weren’t for the one thing it has that none of the other options have – gaming. Apple TV, for all of its benefits, is really lacking in one blaringly obvious area, and that’s content. For the most part, Roku has them all beat (which is probably why its reviews are a close second), while Fire TV can capture the gaming crowd if some indie developers will develop some kick-ass games for the hardcore crowd.
With regards to the negative reviews, as the author said, there are some really easy fixes that would bring the reviews for Fire TV up higher, such as Amazon Prime content and some other key channels. And if they open themselves up to third party viewing content like the Roku, they may be able to corner the market for the all-in-one set top box.
There are some other easy fixes that Apple TV can make if it wants to innovate and not just sit on its perch. That is, again, open up to third party content. It’s a simple concept, so why doesn’t Apple get this? It does so well with its other devices, so what’s it waiting for on this one?
Very good point Apple can be the most frustrating company at times. Sadly with Apple TV they are in danger of doing a Microsoft and just sitting back and living off being number one and not doing more than they have to. As with the Kindle however if Amazon are allowed to to grow in a market then even if not perfect they will threaten to dominate it. In the time we have been waiting for Apple to do what everyone expects, i.e. games, more content, more interaction, Amazon have read that wish list, laughed at Apple siting on its hands, formed a strategy, designed a product got it produced and on the bloody market and we are still waiting for Apple to introduce a major upgrade probably because it doesn’t like the returns without having all the pieces it wants in place . Apple has to realise that those days of moribund competitors is mostly over and it doesn’t have endless contemplation of its navel hair before it has to act.
One simple statement: AppleTV is an iOS device. So Apple, please allow it to BE an iOS device!
That would open up everything we’re asking for. It would give Apple some challenges, but I fully expect they’ve got the solutions already.
I’m patient. WWDC ’14 is coming up June 2nd..
Let’s hope your patience pays off. If not, these competitors are going to look really good to the consumer market.
Agreed. Roku already looks great. Amazon’s version appears to just be a siphon for Amazon Prime. Amazon’s Fire TV’s voice search is only useful for Amazon Prime content (no hooks to Netflix, etc.). Google’s Chromecast is owned by Google, so we can’t get that.
Amazon shoppers rate Apple TV higher than Amazon Fire TV
As Larry the Cable Guy would say…
You mean that comparison list from Amazon that trounces Apple TV is BS??? OF COURSE!
I bought an Amazon FireTV as a device for the bedroom. I have an AppleTV for the main TV. It is not that bad of a set top box honestly.
The good: They have a few channels that Apple does not including Flixster. My only interest in Flixster is that it can stream my Ultraviolet movies from the cloud. (Yes, I hate the idea of Ultraviolet in the cloud but I happen to have some of DVDs with the digital copy there. Yes, I also know I could just rip my DVDs and Airplay them through the TV. I do that too.) Also I like having Amazon Prime available on the TV.
The bad: I think the navigation is a bit odd on the FireTV. There are not that many more buttons on the remote but they seem to duplicate functionality at times. Sort of odd. The voice search is honestly a gimmick overall. Not really that useful. The games are just ok. Maybe if I had the FireTV gaming controller it would be better. But Amazon is delusional if they think I’m dropping that much money for that gaming controller for what they are offering currently.
Overall, the FireTV is a fine as a secondary box for a secondary TV in my house. I don’t want this thing as my primary device because the AppleTV is still the more elegant and better device.
You could get this controller for half the price:
http://www.amazon.com/PlayPad-Pro-Amazon-Fire-TV/dp/B00J9P3KBS/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1397149032&sr=1-3&keywords=Amazon+Fire+Game+Controller
“I went to Amazon.com and crunched the numbers on reviews”
No he didn’t. He went to Amazon.com and copied and pasted the numbers.
Here’s the flaw with that:
He’s comparing new ratings to the Fire TV with old ratings to the Apple TV (and others). If he really were to crunch the numbers, he’s compare the last week’s worth of ratings for the Fire TV to the last week’s worth of ratings for others. Yes, that still has inherent flaws (early adopters versus followers), but he wouldn’t be comparing Fire TV in the context of competition versus the Apple TV with no competition.
I say this as someone who gave the Apple TV a much higher rating over the Fire TV, but my Apple TV rating is very old. Today, with the lack of an SDK, games, voice search and other features, I wouldn’t rate the Apple TV so significantly over the Fire TV.
Both have their pros and cons. The Apple TV doesn’t have Amazon exclusive content and the Fire TV doesn’t have Apple exclusive content. That’s precisely why I have both. The Fire TV is faster, has an SDK and other features making it “newer”, while having a much worse interface for browsing (much better for search though). And of course the Apple TV has AirPlay.
The Fire TV may, or may not improve radically with firmware updates (especially in browsing), as well as hardware updates (like an infrared port or dongle). However, the Apple TV seems likely to be updated with an SDK and other improvements really soon.
TL;DR: what the author of this article did is like comparing a computer from a couple of years ago to one today. You can’t compare the ratings the old computer got years ago to the ones the newer one did, you need to compare the old computer directly to the new one as they both exist today.
BTW: To avoid the usual idiotic replies I get when I’m pointing something like this out… I’m not a fan of Android or fan of Samsung (yes, that’s how you spell it). I have 4 Apple TVs in my house alone, and others I’ve giving to friends and family. It remains a great product, and I’m expecting Apple will leapfrog Amazon as soon as WWDC.