Why I switched back to Apple TV after a month with the Fire TV
Why I switched dorsum to Apple tree TV later on a calendar month with the Fire TV
Like countless other Black Friday shoppers final year, I plant myself entranced by an unexpected, killer bargain. The cost was correct, and a mere handful of clicks after I was now the proud owner of a new Samsung 4K Telly.
While there was nothing technically incorrect with my existing Television receiver — a 7-year-former Toshiba 1080p set — I was nonetheless quite excited to brand the leap to 4K content and meliorate color. Only this change would also mean replacing my trusty Apple Television set HD, which had performed its duties admirably (and without incident) for the improve office of a decade. However, because of its 1080p limitation, I'd need a new box in order to get the nearly out of my TV.
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I considered buying the Apple TV 4K, but it left me with a dilemma: With a new Apple TV seemingly ever right around the corner, the idea of paying total price for streaming hardware nearly five years quondam gave me serious suspension. I'd tried to remain patient, but now a new 4K Television set was on my doorstep. A temporary solution was in order, and afterward digging in the closet, I dredged upwards a forgotten souvenir: An Amazon Burn down TV Cube (one of Tom'southward Guide's picks for the best streaming device).
Thus began my month-long experiment switching to Fire TV. Surely this brand-new Amazon 4K streaming box would manage to tide me over until Apple released new hardware, right? Maybe I'd even like the Fire Telly meliorate after giving it a fair shot and stick with information technology. Piddling did I await to be missing my aboriginal Apple TV in a matter of hours.
I ran into problems right from the get-go. Certain apps crashed or were painfully slow to load. The remote often had a long delay afterward clicks. Information technology was foreign to see a modern streaming device struggling fresh out of the box. My main cablevision-replacement for cord cutting, Sling, was almost unusable on the Fire TV. I know Amazon isn't responsible for developing every app, merely across the board I establish responsiveness was far below what I'd been accustomed to with the Apple tree TV — despite that hardware being a half-decade older.
Amazon really wants you to use Alexa
Even the simple act of setting up the Fire TV Remote left me annoyed. For years my Apple remote had controlled the volume for my entire living room without so much as a 2nd thought. Nonetheless, Amazon's box wouldn't allow me to fix the remote's IR blaster to control my Sony AV receiver volume without having Alexa turned on at all times. This seemed to exist a clear nudge toward enabling Amazon's smart assistant, which I had no desire to practice.
What's wrong with Alexa, you inquire? Or why non just use Samsung's smart Television receiver features? Well, absolutely that comes down to personal preference: I'm not a fan of putting smart devices all over my dwelling. There have been a number of well-publicized security problems effectually smart Tv updates and microphones; for my ain privacy and peace of mind, I decided early on that any new smart TV would remain unplugged from the internet. I prefer watching my TV without feeling like it's watching me dorsum.
When I did effort Samsung's operating organisation, similar with the Burn Television receiver, I constitute it missing a handful of critical apps I'd become very accustomed to having around. For example, the app I utilize for watching my favorite NBA team was nowhere to be found. At present I'd need to watch games on my laptop instead of enjoying them on my fancy new flatscreen — non ideal after dropping $800 on a cutting-edge television.
And equally if to personally spite me, soon plenty I encountered an old episode of Due south Park where Cartman collects vocalization administration. The word "Alexa" is uttered dozens and dozens of times — and every single instance triggered my Fire TV'due south voice commands, temporarily lowering the book and interrupting the show. I'd entered my ain version of hell.
Taking another bite of the Apple
Even so even more than the security benefits and bountiful app store, going without an Apple Telly fabricated 1 affair crystal clear: It had wormed its fashion deep into the heart of my home amusement ecosystem. As someone who works on a MacBook and uses an iPhone, Samsung and Amazon couldn't compete with certain aspects of the integrated Apple experience. Between the ease of AirPlay, or the effortlessly way I could summon LastPass passwords using my telephone to log into apps, tvOS had always fit smoothly into its role in my living room.
None of this is to propose the Apple tree TV is perfect. The much-maligned Siri Remote remains an enigma, compromised by strange design choices and a lack of tactile control. Any future remote update would benefit from borrowing Amazon's push layout, specially its volume button placement, mute push button and useful circular center wheel. And considering its toll, in that location's no reason for Apple to skip out on critical features similar an optical audio output in its side by side generation.
Merely after a month with the Bezos box, I found myself longing for my sometime streaming life back. I'd set up out to upgrade to 4K pic quality and deeper blacks when watching Netflix, non reinvent my TV experience.
Ultimately, I concluded upward doing what I'd been trying to avoid all forth: I went online and bought an Apple tree Television receiver 4K. Despite it being a ridiculously overpriced and outdated piece of hardware compared to other options, I couldn't have been happier to plug it in and put the Burn Tv back in the closet. At the end of the solar day, all that mattered was that "it just works."
Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/news/why-i-switched-back-to-apple-tv-4k-after-fire-tv
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