The Amazon Fire TV Cube has finally received a much-needed refresh after more than three years of little development by Amazon. The 3rd Generation Cube gives the boxy media streamer an updated design, a faster processor and Wi-Fi 6E support. Sounds good, right? However, a deeper dive into the new Cube’s picture and sound performance suggests it might not be the complete Amazon package.
Price
The Fire TV Cube is the most expensive Amazon streaming device, costing £140 / $140 / AU$219. It’s roughly double the price of the Fire TV Stick 4K Max and it only comes in a configuration of 16GB storage and 2 GB RAM. The new Fire TV Cube is also more expensive than the second-generation model, which retailed for £110/$120 (around AU$160).
The closest competitor in the world of streaming boxes is the latest Apple TV 4K, which costs £140 / $130 / AU$219 and packs double the storage and RAM.
To build
As the name suggests, this Fire TV has a cubic design – although it’s technically a cube, as it measures 86 x 86 x 77mm. It’s been slightly redesigned from the previous generation, ditching the black plastic for a fabric mesh that wraps around the front, back and sides of the device.
There’s a cut-out panel for the Cube’s plentiful selection of ports, including both HDMI in and out jacks (in the HDMI 2.1 variety), a power outlet, an IR extender port, a USB-A jack, and an Ethernet port. connector. This blows its Apple TV competitor out of the water, as that doesn’t include an Ethernet connection on the base model or HDMI pass-through on either configuration.
On top of the Fire Cube you’ll find a selection of buttons, including volume up and down, and buttons to invoke and turn off the Alexa voice assistant. You might be wondering why the Cube has Alexa controls built into the body of the streamer itself – that’s because the Fire TV Cube acts as an Alexa smart speaker even when your TV is off . You’ll see four holes on the top of the device for the far-field microphones, as well as an LED strip that runs across the top edge of the device and lights up when the assistant is active.
The Fire TV Cube’s design is simple enough to easily blend into most entertainment setups, but it’s much bigger than the Apple TV and can’t be tucked away like a streaming stick because you need to keep those microphones clear. Thankfully, the woven fabric design keeps the Cube looking classy, even when it’s on full display in your entertainment setup.
Technical specifications of Amazon Fire TV Cube (3rd generation).
Solution Up to 4K HDR, 60 fps
Bluetooth version 5.0 +LE
HDR formats Dolby Vision, HDR10, HDR10+, HLG
Remote control? Yes
Dimensions (hwd) 8.6 x 8.6 x 7.7 cm
Weight 513g
Amazon has included its Alexa voice remote with the Fire TV Cube, which also includes a microphone for summoning the titular assistant. The handset is the same one you’ll find on every Fire TV device, from the Stick Lite all the way up to the upcoming full-fledged Omni QLED TV. It includes a D-pad for navigation, volume and channel controls, plus menu, back, home, guide, play/pause, fast forward, rewind, mute, settings and recent buttons – phew!
You’ll also find four shortcuts for quick access to streaming services, the selection of which varies by region. In the UK it’s Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Music, Netflix and Disney Plus, but in the US it looks like Netflix is being replaced by Hulu. It’s a full-featured remote that’s the antithesis of the Apple TV 4K we reviewed recently, which had very minimal button selection.
It’s worth noting that you’ll need to supply your own HDMI cable for the Fire Cube, as Amazon doesn’t include one in the box. Fortunately, chances are you can probably order this on Amazon and pop one in your basket while you’re at it.
Functions
The Fire TV Cube has about as many features as streaming devices can get. Starting with the aforementioned far-field microphone array and deep Alexa voice control integration, this streaming box is all about voice commands. During setup, the Cube will ask you to identify your TV and start the Alexa setup process, giving you the option to turn your TV on and off with a simple phrase “Alexa, turn the TV on/off”. You can also ask the assistant to open apps, find specific content, answer general questions, make calls, set timers, and even order stuff from Amazon.
Hypothetically, you could interact with the entire Amazon Fire TV Cube without lifting a finger, which is not only convenient, but also a major accessibility issue when it comes to people with disabilities that limit motor functions. Alexa has also come a long way since launch, meaning misinterpreted voice commands are rare.
Moving on to the Cube’s AV features, it supports 4K streaming in all the HDR formats you could hope for, including HDR10, HDR10+, Dolby Vision and HLG, although we’d recommend checking that the content in the correct format is played, as the Cube sometimes does not automatically switch to Dolby Vision when it should. However, this can be remedied in the settings menu by manually selecting the Dolby Vision HDR mode. Speaking of Dolby, the Fire TV Cube also supports Dolby Atmos for immersive audio.
The Fire Cube also boasts the most powerful brain in the entire Fire TV range, with an Octa-core processor that’s supposedly twice as fast as the Fire TV Stick 4K Max’s Quad-core design. In practice, the Fire TV Cube usually performs well and blows through the Fire OS interface. We say “mostly” since the Fire TV Cube froze and crashed completely at one point during our testing; however, after turning it off completely and turning it back on, it came back to life and the problem hasn’t happened since.
In terms of internet connection, you’ll find Wi-Fi 6E on board, which can provide faster and smoother streaming if you also have a router that supports it. The Cube is the first to support this latest Wi-Fi connectivity standard, although it naturally supports all other Wi-Fi formats as well. Ideally, you’ll want to connect an Ethernet cable to the Fire Cube for the best streaming performance.
Fortunately, Amazon has had plenty of time to flesh out the Fire OS ecosystem since the first Fire Stick launched nearly nine years ago. You’ll find all your favorite apps here, such as Netflix, Disney Plus, Apple TV+ and Paramount+, as well as region-specific services such as BBC iPlayer, ITV X, All 4, My 5 and Now in the UK. HBO Max, Hulu, and Peacock are all supported in the United States as well. Music streaming is also comprehensive, with Spotify, Tidal, Deezer and TuneIn Radio all supported, though Apple Music hasn’t made the cut just yet. Speaking of Apple, you can’t buy iTunes content directly through the Apple TV app on the Fire Cube. Instead, you’ll need to buy them through a compatible device and load them into your library – something to keep in mind if you’ve built a digital collection on the Apple platform.
Image
The image performance on the Fire Cube isn’t exceptional or terrible. It gets the basics well enough, but it gives the impression that it’s not particularly trying when it comes to the key subtleties that help elevate an image into a truly engaging and cinematic experience.
Starting with Thor: love and thunder playing in 4K Dolby Vision on Disney Plus, there are some positive aspects to the picture worth noting. Skin and environmental textures are sharp and clean, with nicely defined outlines for on-screen subjects. There’s a lot of detail to sort out when it comes to the scarred and burned textures of Gorr’s skin and the scorched rocks of his alien planet.
As Gorr stumbles into the oasis of paradise, we begin to see the issues with the Fire TV’s handling of color. There’s a generally unenthusiastic and muted approach here, with the foliage lacking a sense of punch or liveliness. Combined with its lackluster contrast, the Fire TV Cube delivers a relatively flat and unappealing picture that’s not much better than that of the much cheaper Fire TV Stick 4K Max.
One area where we do see an improvement is in flux. During the title scene of Glass Onion: A Mystery of the Blades on Netflix, we can’t see the same shaking motion of Lionel walking across the pier as a boat passes that we saw on the Stick 4K Max. Overall, movement seems very solid, which is likely due to the Cube’s more powerful guts, it’s just a shame this didn’t carry over to other aspects of the device’s image.
Close with Peep ShowAlso on Netflix, the Cube presents the picture with plenty of clarity, adding a touch of brightness where possible, but it doesn’t look quite as good as the Apple TV 4K. And sadly, the bottom line is, the Apple TV 4K picture looks so much better for about the same money. It’s a lot more subtle by comparison, avoiding the bland and superficial nature of the Fire TV Cube, and it presents colors in a much richer and more vibrant way.
Sound
This sense carries over into the Cube’s sonic performance, as it once again dispenses with much of the subtlety and nuance we’d expect, opting instead to play music with similar characteristics to the visuals. While there’s nothing fundamentally wrong with the Cube’s audio presentation, it’s not exactly a joy to listen to either.
Starting with My tears Ricochet from Taylor Swift Folklore album on Tidal, the ballad comes across as flat and unemotional, despite Swift’s original performance clearly conveying something else. The Cube seems to mishandle the dynamics in a way that sucks the drama and nuance out of the song, with little room for the moments of silence to sink in and not enough punch for the louder ones.
The vocals are clear but ultimately lack texture, and the same goes for the instrumentation. There is little warmth in the piano, which makes it sound hollow and dull. This is where the Cube and Apple TV 4K clearly show their differences, as the latter nails the textured and full sound of the piano, resulting in a much more engaging performance.
Towards the more cheerful pop melody shake it off, also by Taylor Swift, we find the Fire TV Cube also lacking in the timing department. With little regard for the rhythmic drive the track desperately needs to keep us ticking along, the track fizzles out. The Cube doesn’t really make an effort to hit the integral beats in time, leaving us with a sluggish rendition of a pop song that’s usually impossible not to at least nod along.
Pronunciation
Unfortunately, the Fire Cube doesn’t really make the case for spending double the cost of a Fire TV Stick 4K Max. While the impressive feature set and entertaining Alexa tricks provide extra functionality, you’re better off saving a significant chunk of cash and opting for the Stick if you want to stick with Amazon. Alternatively, the Apple TV 4K is a much more capable unit for almost the same price.
TO SCORE
- Image 3
- Sound 3
- Functions 5
MORE:
Read our review of the Apple TV 4K 3rd generation
Also consider the Google Chromecast with Google TV
Read our Amazon FireStick 4K Max judgement
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