Want to win a new Fire TV? Click HERE to find out how!
The new Fire TV 2 is out with 4K support. Our first impression: It is faster and has impressive voice search.
Our Unboxing
The Hardware
You will find it hard to tell the new Fire TV apart from the old box just by looking at them. If it was not for the missing Optical Audio Out and the new Micro SD card slot on the back of the new Fire TV they look the same.
The new box is faster with more power under the hood:
- 2 GB Memory
- 8 GB Internal Storage
- Quad-core Processor
- 11ac Wi-Fi (3x the speed of the old Fire TV)
The User Experience
If you had the first Fire TV the user interface will be very familiar to you. It is an easy-to-use interface but leaves you feeling that an update is needed for the new more powerful Fire TV 2.
Alexa
Alexa is an aggressive competitor to the Apple TV’s Siri. You need to do some set up to use features like traffic to work etc., but that can all be done through the Alexa app on your phone or tablet.
Some features are not yet ready for the Fire TV, like the news brief, but it does a great job when you ask simple questions like your favorite team’s score was and when the next game will be.
Alexa plays music when you ask for a band but only performs the search when you ask for a TV show or movie leaving you with a few extra steps.
Side Loading and Kodi:
If you are looking for help with side loading apps and Kodi check out this guide: http://www.aftvnews.com/sideload/
Conclusion
The new Fire TV is a noticeable improvement over the old Fire TV. Yet if you do not have a 4K TV you may be happy just keeping your current Fire TV. The Fire TV user interface could also use a big update to make it less cluttered and easier to use.
Still this is a powerful box with quick load times on videos. If you are thinking about buying an old Fire TV or a new one make sure to get the Fire TV 2 as the improvements are worth a little extra compared to buying a used first generation Fire TV.
Looking for a review of gaming on the new Fire TV? Check back later this week for a Fire TV gaming review.