Amazon Fire TV Cube, with AI-powered Fire TV Search, Hands-free streaming device with Alexa, Wi-Fi 6E, 4K Ultra HD

I’ve been a loyal Fire Stick user for years, but I finally hit a breaking point with the constant lag and "loading" wheels. I decided to splurge on the Cube during a sale, and after two weeks of heavy use, I can honestly say I should have done this a long time ago. The Speed is Real: If you’re coming from a Stick, the first thing you’ll notice is how snappy it is. Apps like Netflix and Disney+ open almost instantly. There’s no stuttering when scrolling through the home screen, which used to drive me crazy. It feels more like a high-end gaming console than a little streaming box. Hands-Free Alexa (The "Magic" Factor): This is the feature I thought I wouldn't use, but now I’m hooked. Being able to walk into the living room with a bowl of popcorn and just say, "Alexa, play The Bear on Hulu" without hunting for the remote is a game-changer. It even turns my TV and soundbar on for me. It basically turned my living room into a hands-free Echo Show. Pros: • The Processor: Zero lag. Period. It handles 4K content like it’s nothing. • Connectivity: It has an Ethernet port and an extra HDMI-in port. I actually plugged my cable box into it so I can switch to live TV just by asking Alexa. • Wi-Fi 6E: My router is in the other room, but the connection has been rock solid with no buffering. Cons (The "Real Talk"): • The Price: It’s definitely an investment. If you only watch TV for an hour a week, it’s probably overkill. • No HDMI Cable: For this price, Amazon really should include an HDMI cable in the box. Make sure you have a spare 4K-rated one ready to go. • The Ads: Like all Fire TV products, the home screen is still pretty cluttered with sponsored content/ads. You get used to it, but it’s there. If you’re a "power user" who hates waiting for apps to load, or if you just want to control your entire home theater with your voice, this is the best device Amazon makes. It’s powerful, smart, and actually makes the TV experience feel "premium."

Update 11/12/25: So after having written the below review I decided I should give an update to the issues below. I've had other streaming devices since then and I have to admit that the fire tv cube beats them all. Reasons: The" best available" setting is actually the best setting. What it does is that ot converts DD+ sound to Multichannel pcm which is a lossless and uncompressed quality and passes it to the AVR. The AVR will show Multichannel 5.1 . It is the best sound you can get. I came to this conclusion after months of testing and research. Roku ultra has passthrough but it just passes the compressed format DD+ to the AVR so the AVR displays DD+. The TV turning off big is fixed. 10/4/23 update: Now another bug has appeared. When I watch on my LG C3 OLED TV the TV turns off automatically after a while. Sound continues but no picture. I initially thought it was my tv. Got another unit ,same TV, and the same issue happened. Then I decided to watch ony Roku ultra and have not had any problems so far. Tried the cube again 2 days ago and issue returned. I even turned off equipment control and reset the cube but didn't work. So now I'm not using it. It's just sitting there looking pretty. 7/23/23: Just to update that the video issue has been fixed. The audio issue not so. 11/23/22: Still no fix. Reverts to 1080p despite setting to Auto. Now noticing jitter or stutter on video when playing 4k content. Changed settings of Match frame rate to on but didn't resolve issue. Constantly checking display settings. Given up and using my other streaming device with no issues. Did not expect this from Amazon. 11/15/22: So since purchasing this there have been a number of updates installed but NONE have fixed the issue of sound and display settings as mentioned in my previous updates. This is truly disappointing and makes me want to use this device less often than I would like to. 11/9/22: Still issue with display resolution defaulting to 1080p. Always have to check before playing something. No fix. Not acceptable for a "high-end device" Update 10/29/22: Still no luck on best available sound settings outputting DD+. But now another issue. Whenever I awaken the cube the display resolution defaults to 1080p even though I set it to Auto(up to 4K). It's frustrating to have to change this every time I want to watch something. So many bugs! I've had many fire tv sticks over the years and also a 2nd Gen cube which I returned because it wouldn't play Dolby vision. Thought I'd give this a try since all the upgrades were compelling. Faster, built-in Ethernet port, HDMI in, supporting all sound and picture formats. So I set it up withy TCL tv and Sony receiver . Setup was a breeze. It recognized my TV and receiver. For some reason the picture quality in display settings was defaulted to 1080p. I changed it to upto 4K. Sound settings were "best available ". When I played content it would only play in PCM (stereo). I tried Dolby digital and Dolby Atmos content. Dolby Atmos would play as Atmos +PCM, not Atmos +DD+ as it should. I checked ally settings on the TV and receiver and all was good but couldn't get DD+. Called tech support and was told that it may be a software issue and may get fixed in a future update. Really??. All the hype about how this device is the fastest and best on picture and sound yet it can't output "best available" sound. I'm sure best available is not PCM. Tech told me to set the sound settings to Dolby digital plus. That corrected the issue but it was a let down. I'm hoping it doesn't revert back to PCM. Will see how it goes and update but so far disappointed. The super resolution setting really doesn't add much to enhance the picture quality of SD or even 720 or 1080p resolution. And that was one of the main features that enticed me to buy it. Update 7/2/23: The video resolution issue is now fixed but the audio issue still persists.

4/1/24 - Amazon Fire TV Cube, Hands-free streaming device with Alexa, Wi-Fi 6E, 4K Ultra HD I've owned several different platforms for digital TV, including the old NVidia boxes. Technically speaking the NVidia boxes were exceptional with great, extensive flexibility, but if you want a box to streamline TV viewing without going through searching multiple data sources, upgrading apps and downloading TV shows & movies, Amazon's Fire TV Cube is a great way to do that. Amazon streamlines all of those processes I mentioned so that all you have to do is select the TV show or movie you want to watch, hit Play and it's playing. I still have my NVidia boxes, if I want to tinker, but, in all honesty, ever since I bought my first Fire TV Cube in 2019, they've been gathering dust. I received a FireStick for Christmas a couple of years ago. I used it in the kitchen. Last summer, I was watching "1883" in the living room when dinnertime rolled around. With the FireStick, I was unable to download the App to watch it. So, I decided to buy a new Fire TV Cube so I could put my old cube in the kitchen. That way, I could avoid the limitations of the FireStick. (I could have added added memory to the FireStick, but I figured it would be beneficial to have a 2nd Cube around, just in case one failed.) Going from one Cube to the other was pretty much seamless. There are very minor differences, that you might notice if you look closely. With the Fire Cube, you can buy subscriptions to other TV Sources through Amazon Prime, like MAX (formerly HBO MAX.) or you can subscribe directly with the sources, download their apps and watch TV shows & movies outside of the the Amazon Prime app. Amazon makes he entire process consistent and intuitive. I'm not particularly fond of the hold that big IT sources have on different entities in the IT world, however, Amazon products have been operationally consistent, technically reliable and their prices are very reasonable. If I have issues, I don't hesitate to call their customer service department. Amazon's Customer Service is still exceptional. For the reasons specified, I highly recommend the Fire Tv Cube. From a critical IT perspective, it's one of the best devices on the market for IT-based digital TV.

Pros Easy to set up. Resolved HDMI handshake issues with an approximately eight year old Samsung smart TV and AV receiver. Good performance so far after a few days of use. Interface and overall experience are very similar to a Fire TV Stick. Uses the same remote as the Fire TV Stick with no learning curve. Cons Screensaver and Ambient Experience differ from older Fire TV Stick models. Animated screensavers with motion are no longer available. Current screensavers are static landscape images that feel dull and visually unappealing when the TV is idle. No option to select animated or motion based screensavers. Alexa Voice control works but commands often need to be phrased very specifically. Using the remote is more reliable for navigation. Bottom line So far the Fire TV Cube has been stable and solved the HDMI handshake issues that the Fire TV Stick could not in the same setup. It delivers a Fire TV Stick like experience with better compatibility for older TVs and receivers. The main drawback is the loss of visually engaging animated screensavers.

A perfect partner for modern tvs and soundbars. Easy to install and high quality. Compatible with every brand I have used (Sony, Vizio, Samsung, etc.). Voice recognition is much improved over the older generation and rarely has to buffer. This new gen is way faster than the first generations.

Got the fire cube tv, comes with a remote, power adaptor and the cube. You can do a trade-in of your old Alexa dot for a 20% discount. Do note that the hdmi cable has to be bought separately. Overall, easy to install and set up. I have the cube and the fire stick max. The Cube has a faster processor than the firestick max, however, in my honest opinion, I didn’t notice that much speed difference when I use it. I do recommend getting the cube if you want to maximize the resolution quality on your TV, and also have the convenience of using voice to play your movies/shows without the remote. Also, in-built Alexa is a nice touch so I could replace my echo dot and use that in another room. Remote comes with standard Amazon batteries included. Happy with the purchase. Works greats

I own 2 Fire TV Cubes 2nd Gen, 1 Fire TV Cube 1st gen, 1 Fire TV Max, 3 Fire TV 4K Sticks, 1 Omni Fire TV and 1 Insignia Fire TV. To say that I am invested in the Fire TV Echo System is an understatement. I can state that the Fire TV Cube 3rd Gen is by far the best of the Fire TV's sold by Amazon. I replaced one of my 2nd Gen Fire TV Cubes and the set up was super easy with integration to my Wifi and downloading of already owned apps a breeze. (setting up the passwords for all the apps continues to be a pain and took a long time to do). The aesthetics of this Fire TV is the best of the lot, it looks really premium. The interface is the same as the others however, the speed of navigation is fantastic. It is really fast making it a real joy to use. The Wifi 6E is supported however I can't tell the difference in the speed, but I can tell you that application buffering is really almost non existent. I have a T-Mobile 5G Gateway that averages 306 Mbs and supports wifi 6E, so perhaps that does make a difference. I have this cube attached to an LG 4K 65 inch TV and use a Yamaha 800 sound bar (attached via an optical cable). My Fire TV also controls a Sony DVD player, and Sony Playstation. I can switch between all HDMI inputs with no problem by voice. I do think that the 3rd gen cube produces a better sound quality through my Yamaha sound bar since it does support a wider range of output. Alexa works flawlessly as well, so no complaints. . So my net net is 1) Really fast performance, 2) better sound quality, 3) looks like a premium streaming device with the cloth enclosure, 4) very nice upgraded remote, 5) Alexa works great at controlling my TV and Sound Bar, 6) Integrated IN and OUT HDMI connectivity ports (which I don't use). My only negative is that one of the hot key's on the remote is Direct TV, which I would never use and would love to be able to change it. Also for the price, Amazon should have included the premium remote (backlit) with this Fire TV. I would recommend this Fire TV Cube 3rd Gen for your main viewing area over all other Fire TVs. I would buy this on sale vs. the list price. I was able to purchase this Cube for $119 plus my trade in. In my book speed is king and this Fire TV will not disappoint you. I am confident that I will be using this Fire TV for the next 5 years minimum.

After several months of use, I thought this review needed an update. If it was possible to change my 1 star rating to zero stars, I would definitely do it. I keep hoping for software upgrades that would address some of the issues, but none have been forthcoming. I can't even get the upgrade that I know is currently out as the Cube says it is up to date. It isn't. Audio issues have gotten worse over time. When Surround is set to "Best Available", it is always Dolby MAT and only recognizes Atmos for Amazon content. Sound output on Dolby MAT is so low it is essentially unusable. The hype on the screen says it will provide the best format up to Dolby Mat, but that is just a lie. It provides Dolby MAT period. Similarly when set to Dolby Digital Plus it is always Dolby Digital Plus, and there is considerable delay before it recognizes Atmos, and often it doesn't recognize it at all unless I reboot the Cube. The issue with the HBO MAX app appears to have been resolved as I no longer have to restart the Cube every time I want sound on that app from the Cube. This really is a terrible product if audio matters to you at all. And audio does matter to me. And I still don't understand why Amazon won't at least give me the latest system software for the Cube. I know there are serious security issues with the version I am running (7.6.1.3) and I know 7.6.2.5 is out, but the Cube says it is up to date. Totally unacceptable service from Amazon. On top of that, the Alexa volume from the Cube's internal speaker is so low now that it is undetectable if my ear is more than a foot away from the device, though it's medium OK through the TV. Volume on the Cube is set to maximum. The microphone isn't sensitive enough to pick up a shout from more than 6 feet away, and a shout is required at any distance from the unit. External USB storage devices are pretty much limited to thumb drives. Have tried several hard drives (formatted correctly) and none are recognized by the Cube, and it takes a significant amount of time for it to recognize a thumb drive, but it eventually does. Though it would be a huge hassle to untangle all of my Amazon stuff, I'm seriously considering switching to Apple, because this product is just terrible and Amazon doesn't seem interested in fixing it. Pretty much all of the issues are audio related. Video is pretty much OK. Previous revue: Well, I've only had it two days and lots of issues. Not ready for prime time, but when it works, it's excellent. First, it was supposed to come linked to my Amazon account. Nope that didn't happen. Shuts down at random for no reason. Takes it quite a while to recognize a change in audio format leaving me with several seconds of moving lips with no sound at all. Alexa's volume is too low even at max when running through the built in speaker. Fine running through the TV. Audio outputs are also way low. Soundbar goes up to 100, but the cube needs 20 points more than the Firestick 4K it replaces. Still usable, but strange. Hard to say at this point if it's a hardware or software issue. HBO Max app is especially problematic as far as audio is concerned. Many settings are inadequately explained. Setup asked if I wanted to import from a previous version. I've had 4 Firestick Versions before this, but my only option was to import from my very first Firestick rather than my 4K. Only had it 2 days, and maybe software updates will fix it. I'll give it a couple more days to see if it settles down, but right now it's pretty wonky. This stuff should have been worked out before they shipped. Revised Reduced the star rating to 1 because the problems are inexcusable. After 3 days of troubleshooting, I think I may have resolved the issues. The issue of the cube randomly shutting down seems to have been resolved by unplugging the cube and plugging it back in. Other issues all involved my setting the audio to "Best Available". Changing to Dolby Digital Plus appears to have resolved the issues. In my case, the "Best Available" was Dolby MAT/Dolby Atmos Mat. The problems were several and intermittent. 1) Sometimes when adjusting the volume using the cube's remote cause the audio to go away altogether. Made no sense and was very difficult to receiver as it wasn't simply a matter of it muting the sound system, the cube wasn't actually putting out sound to the system at all. Randoom buttoon pushing was the only resolution. 2) With the audio set t "Best Available" the cube frequently did not recoognize when a Dolby Atmos prgram had started. This was intermittent. Sometimes it switched from Dolby MAT, to Dolby Atmos MAT and sometimes it didn't. A woork around was to start the program go to Settings, chose Display & Sounds Settings, Go down to the Audio & Video Diagnostics and click "Play Dolby Atmos and HDR Content." Then hit the back button repeatedly until you get back to the program and hit play. I am not making this up. 3) Once I got Dolby Atmos MAT enabled, it didn't go away when playing non-Atmos content. It did seem to play 5.1 OK while Atmos was enabled, but eventually it would bounce back to Dolby MAT, but this was also often problematic. When switching back, it went smooothly some of the time. Other times, it killed the audio altogether leaving me with the same issues as above. The other transition was even worse. The picture began flashing with the audio going on and off. The oonly work around I could find was really weird. I opened HULU and played any episode of Letterkenny. No other program oon any service including HULU worked reliably. I cannot explain this, but it is what happened. 3) the low volume issue was completely resolved with the switch to Dolby Digital+ as opposed to Best Available. Solution was indeed the change in Audio Settings from "Best Available" to "Dolby Digital+". With this setting so far, Dolby Atmos was recognized on all three of the services to which I subscribe that support it, and it dropped back to 5.1 or whatever other format was appropriate to the content. As I just foound this solution this morning I can't claim that all issues are permanently resolved, but at least the seem to be for the time being. The Alexa thing is still useless when it uses it's own speaker, but fine when it uses the sound system. But it appears I wasted 3 days of challenging troubleshoooting t fid a solution and I ain't happy. Amazon doesn't document much of anything, and the on screen info is limited and often confusing. It's inexcusable that Amazon would release a product that requires that much time and effort on the part of a user to unravel. Should have been caught and fixed in testing before it was released on unsuspecting consumers. I am seriously angry at having to do their job for them without the nice compensation they pay their engineers for.