Amazon Fire Stick

[Thai Ron]

Hola

 

I recently bought a Sony X9300E to supplant my old Panasonic plasma which is now in the bedroom.

The Sony's blinding - Runs all the good shit like Netflix, Iflix, Kodi, Amazon etc and lots more

The Panasonic isn't "smart" so I need an Android TV device so I can watch the same services in bed but I've read that Netflix won't stream HD content to Android devices that aren't "certified".

That's not too much of a problem but I understand that devices like Minix's Neo run versions of Android that the manufacturer may not deem worthy of subsequent updates of the OS so I'm reluctant to spend money on something that may become a paper weight in a year or two.

 

I can get the Nvidia Shield but at around 11,000 baht, I'm not keen since I can add another 10K or so and buy a brand new 43in Sony Android smart TV .....plus I'm not remotely interested in playing games.

I don't wanna toss the Panasonic because the picture's still decent so I want to know if the Amazon fire stick can run Iflix and Kodi without any trouble. I know it can run Netflix in HD which is great

I know there are some pretty knowledgeable folks in this sub forum so I'd appreciate some help if possible.

 

Thanks

 

[Jai Dee]

Android boxes vary greatly wrt specifications. You could get something as simple as an Amazon Fire Stick up to the top of the range Nvidia Shield.

 

Suffice to say that you should be looking for a box that has a Quad Core processor, Bluetooth 4.0, 2GB RAM or more, 16GB ROM or more, 2.4GHz / 5.8GHz WiFi, 1000Mbps LAN, and HDMI 2.0 Connectivity as a minimum. It should also be running Android 5.x or later.

 

A Fire Stick will cost you about 2,400 baht and an Nvidia Shield will cost you about 11,000 baht.

 

This particular box on Lazada seems to have pretty good specifications and only costs 2,490 baht. It also has the COD option (local supplier) which is useful.

 

Don't forget that for streaming media hard-wired ethernet is far better than WiFi to eliminate buffering and dropouts.

[Thai Ron]

19 minutes ago, Jai Dee said:

Android boxes vary greatly wrt specifications. You could get something as simple as an Amazon Fire Stick up to the top of the range Nvidia Shield.

 

Suffice to say that you should be looking for a box that has a Quad Core processor, Bluetooth 4.0, 2GB RAM or more, 16GB ROM or more, 2.4GHz / 5.8GHz WiFi, 1000Mbps LAN, and HDMI 2.0 Connectivity as a minimum. It should also be running Android 5.x or later.

 

A Fire Stick will cost you about 2,400 baht and an Nvidia Shield will cost you about 11,000 baht.

 

This particular box on Lazada seems to have pretty good specifications and only costs 2,490 baht. It also has the COD option (local supplier) which is useful.

 

Don't forget that for streaming media hard-wired ethernet is far better than WiFi to eliminate buffering and dropouts.

That's a highly specified box but my concern is not being able to get Netflix in HD.

The Nvidia seems expensive - I could just buy another Sony TV with Android built-in by adding 10k to the cost.

Can the firestick run Kodi?

[Phuket Man]

Get yourself a Cromecast. Receives Netflix in HD.

1,720 Baht.

http://www.lazada.co.th/google-chromecast-2015-2945056.html?spm=a2o4m.category-030403010000.0.0.1b11acd279rf4k&ff=1&sc=EWgX

[Thai Ron]

1 minute ago, Phuket Man said:

Get yourself a Cromecast. Receives Netflix in HD.

1,720 Baht.

It's a nightmare to get Kodi to play on that thing.

[Phuket Man]

1 minute ago, Thai Ron said:

It's a nightmare to get Kodi to play on that thing.

Why do you need Kodi?

Just stream Netflix, Iflix, Youtube etc from your phone or computer.

[Thai Ron]

1 minute ago, Phuket Man said:

Why do you need Kodi?

Just stream Netflix, Iflix, Youtube etc from your phone or computer.

eh?

I need Kodi because I need Kodi - I have 8 TB of TV shows and movies on a NAS - I'm not interested in time-consuming workarounds involving phones.

Even if I cast content from a phone to the Chromecast (which I can't because I use an iPhone, not an Android) then I couldn't receive calls or turn off the screen.

 

 

[Jai Dee]

TallGuyJohninBKK is a Fire Stick user... perhaps he could advise about running Kodi on it?

@TallGuyJohninBKK?

 

Have a look at this post of his last week.

[Jai Dee]

Another thing to consider is your desire to get Netflix HD... in fact it's getting harder to get any Netflix at all on the generic Android boxes since they started restricting the app install to Google Certified devices, so the Fire Stick may be your best option.

[Phuket Man]

22 minutes ago, Thai Ron said:

eh?

I need Kodi because I need Kodi - I have 8 TB of TV shows and movies on a NAS - I'm not interested in time-consuming workarounds involving phones.

Even if I cast content from a phone to the Chromecast (which I can't because I use an iPhone, not an Android) then I couldn't receive calls or turn off the screen.

Use Cromecast for some stuff and Kodi for your other stuff.

 

Chromecast works with Iphone and Ipad. 100%

 

Yes you can turn off the screen and receive calls.

The content does not stream through the phone.

The phone is only used as a remote control.

 

 

22 minutes ago, Thai Ron said:

 

 

[Thai Ron]

1 minute ago, Phuket Man said:

Use Cromecast for some stuff and Kodi for your other stuff.

 

Chromecast works with Iphone and Ipad. 100%

 

Yes you can turn off the screen and receive calls.

The content does not stream through the phone.

The phone is only used as a remote control.

 

 

 

I'm after one device to do the lot. Don't want to bring a phone into the equation at all.

[Phuket Man]

Up to you.

[Thai Ron]

22 minutes ago, Jai Dee said:

Another thing to consider is your desire to get Netflix HD... in fact it's getting harder to get any Netflix at all on the generic Android boxes since they started restricting the app install to Google Certified devices, so the Fire Stick may be your best option.

Yeah that's what I was thinking.

 

Firestick, Nvidia Shield or just tossing the Panasonic plasma and going for another Sony Android TV - a cheap one though. Not doing another 100k

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

1 hour ago, Jai Dee said:

TallGuyJohninBKK is a Fire Stick user... perhaps he could advise about running Kodi on it?

@TallGuyJohninBKK?

 

Have a look at this post of his last week.

 

Kodi, as a sideloaded app, runs fine on the Fire Stick, the current 2nd gen version, on anything up to HD. AFAIK, there's no problem installing or using Kodi on any Fire TV device as a sideload. There are other variant/knockoff versions of Kodi available in the Amazon app store, but not the actual Kodi app itself.

 

However, none of the first or second gen Fire Sticks or Fire TV boxes support HDR, and only the Fire TV box 2nd gen supports 4K. (But, Amazon is just now coming out with a 3rd gen Fire dongle device that does support both 4K and HDR, although a lot of folks feel its other specs aren't very good.)

 

I have both a 2nd gen Fire Stick and a 2nd gen Fire TV box (both with Kodi installed), and the 2nd gen Fire TV box is a much snappier and responsive UI overall. The Fire Stick 2nd gen is a bit slower to respond, scroll, etc. It's also, of course, less than half the price of the 2nd gen Fire TV box.

 

https://developer.amazon.com/docs/fire-tv/device-specifications.html

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Quote

I don't wanna toss the Panasonic because the picture's still decent so I want to know if the Amazon fire stick can run Iflix and Kodi without any trouble.

 

Added: I'm pretty sure the Iflix app isn't available from the Amazon app store nor probably even from the Google Play Store in the U.S.  And, since I've never tried to install or use it here, I can't speak directly to its compatibility with the Fire TV devices. Though I would imagine, given Iflix tends to be a lower tech service than those like Netflix, that the Iflix app probably would run OK as a sideload.

 

[SooKee]

You could also look at the Xiaomi Mi Box 3 at around 2,500 - 3,500:

 

• Android TV OS
• Wifi only (but can be used with an ethernet USB adaptor if you want hard wired)
• Netflix HD
• iFlix (much of it in HD, currently converting the whole catalogue)
• Both Netflix and iFlix are Android TV version and not the god awful (for a TV) Android mobile versions (personally, having used Android TV, unless you NEED the Android Mobile platform I'd avoid a generic box like the plague if you want Netflix / iFlix etc)
• Netflix, iFlix, Kodi and SPMC install and update direct from the official Google play store
• Google Cast built in
• Google Voice search
• Android 6 (adoptive storage for increased system storage)
• Readily available in Thailand 

 

3,500 tends to be for the Thai suppliers, 2,500 for 'ships from overseas'.  Just be sure you are getting the international version, not the Chinese one (I mean version, not 'Made in').

 

https://www.lazada.co.th/xiaomi-mi-box-android-60-tv-box-34814258.html?spm=a2o4m.search.0.0.7b8006d7gaQ20s&ff=1

 

https://www.lazada.co.th/global-versionxiaomi-mi-tv-box-3-wifi-bluetooth-64bit-2gb-ddr3android-60-smart-4k-hd-tvbox-us-plug-intl-13898585.html?spm=a2o4m.search.0.0.60e156b1oEaI5h&ff=1

 

Good video review here:

 

 

I have the Nvidia Shield, a Fire TV 2 and a Minix U9.  The Shield is staying, the Fire TV and U9 will be disposed of.

[Thai Ron]

37 minutes ago, SooKee said:

You could also look at the Xiaomi Mi Box 3 at around 2,500 - 3,500:

 

• Android TV OS
• Wifi only (but can be used with an ethernet USB adaptor if you want hard wired)
• Netflix HD
• iFlix (much of it in HD, currently converting the whole catalogue)
• Both Netflix and iFlix are Android TV version and not the god awful (for a TV) Android mobile versions (personally, having used Android TV, unless you NEED the Android Mobile platform I'd avoid a generic box like the plague if you want Netflix / iFlix etc)
• Netflix, iFlix, Kodi and SPMC install and update direct from the official Google play store
• Google Cast built in
• Google Voice search
• Android 6 (adoptive storage for increased system storage)
• Readily available in Thailand 

 

3,500 tends to be for the Thai suppliers, 2,500 for 'ships from overseas'.  Just be sure you are getting the international version, not the Chinese one (I mean version, not 'Made in').

 

https://www.lazada.co.th/xiaomi-mi-box-android-60-tv-box-34814258.html?spm=a2o4m.search.0.0.7b8006d7gaQ20s&ff=1

 

https://www.lazada.co.th/global-versionxiaomi-mi-tv-box-3-wifi-bluetooth-64bit-2gb-ddr3android-60-smart-4k-hd-tvbox-us-plug-intl-13898585.html?spm=a2o4m.search.0.0.60e156b1oEaI5h&ff=1

 

Good video review here:

 

 

I have the Nvidia Shield, a Fire TV 2 and a Minix U9.  The Shield is staying, the Fire TV and U9 will be disposed of.

Yeah  I considered the Xiaomi Mi Box but it seems there are major issues with Netflix not being able to play for more than a minute.

Probably best to give it a wide berth but thanks for the suggestion.

 

[SooKee]

13 minutes ago, Thai Ron said:

Yeah  I considered the Xiaomi Mi Box but it seems there are major issues with Netflix not being able to play for more than a minute.

Probably best to give it a wide berth but thanks for the suggestion.

 

Yes I'm aware of the issue that some folks have been having with this.  AFAIK it's a HDCP / DRM reporting issue where the Netflix app seems to be very choosy about DRM compliant acceptance on the Mi box.  I've run a few equipment tests here using DRM Info and am (fairly) satisfied it won't be a problem, satisfied enough to give one a try anyway, before I opt for a (probably, for the location, overkill) second Shield.  I'll let you know how it goes, hopefully I'll get it today.

[Thai Ron]

2 minutes ago, SooKee said:

Yes I'm aware of the issue that some folks have been having with this.  AFAIK it's a HDCP / DRM reporting issue where the Netflix app seems to be very choosy about DRM compliant acceptance on the Mi box.  I've run a few equipment tests here using DRM Info and am (fairly) satisfied it won't be a problem, satisfied enough to give one a try anyway, before I opt for a (probably, for the location, overkill) second Shield.  I'll let you know how it goes, hopefully I'll get it today.

Excellent.

I know how those Mi Box users feel.

I still have a tired old WDTV Live Gen 2 which can play Netflix in HD but every now and then, I get the error message that can only be solved by a reboot.

Highly frustrating when you have to get out of the sack.

[SooKee]

25 minutes ago, Thai Ron said:

Excellent.

I know how those Mi Box users feel.

I still have a tired old WDTV Live Gen 2 which can play Netflix in HD but every now and then, I get the error message that can only be solved by a reboot.

Highly frustrating when you have to get out of the sack.

Haha.  Indeed.  Easy enough to check if you'll have an issue.  Just install DRM Info (Play Store or APK) on whatever device you may have kicking around and connect it to the TV you'd use the Mi on.  Run it and what you're looking for is:

 

Under 'Widevine' (which will need to show as supported)

 

HDCP-1.x

 

Max HDCP Level Supported: HDCP-2.2

 

You shouldn't get a problem with those results.  One way round if your TV doesn't support it is to get a fairly cheap HDMI 2.2 splitter which will make Netflix think the splitter is the last link in the change, give it a DRM 'pass' and push the stream. I had to use one in my old place with a TV that was not 2.2 compliant.

 

Quite often various forums get issues blown up when in some cases it's merely down to the users output devices not being up to the job, some folks get eve more agitated when they are told or when that's shown to be the case.  It's not a problem with the Mi, the Mi merely links to the Netflix servers, it's the level of strictness Netflix chooses to apply to the DRM reporting that will decide whether it transmits or not.  The whole Netflix approach to DRM and app installation is becoming more rather than less locked down.

[Thai Ron]

Few sellers on eBay are shipping the 3rd Gen Fire TV box from 27th October so I'm thinking of going for that since it's pretty cheap at a smidge over THB4,175 including shipping and import duty.

TallguyjohninBKK said the Fire Stick might be a little slow so ........

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

5 hours ago, Thai Ron said:

Few sellers on eBay are shipping the 3rd Gen Fire TV box from 27th October so I'm thinking of going for that since it's pretty cheap at a smidge over THB4,175 including shipping and import duty.

TallguyjohninBKK said the Fire Stick might be a little slow so ........

 I did, re the Fire Stick 2nd gen. Just to be clear, I don't mean it lags in playing video files. But rather, I meant navigating the UI is noticeably slower than with the Fire Box 2nd gen. Clicking and scrolling and such is very smooth and flowing with the box, but drags a bit with the stick. Still perfectly usable, but not exactly nimble.

 

That said, I should also add, a lot of Fire enthusiasts are very underwhelmed with the Fire TV 3rd gen dongle. It is the first Fire TV device to add HDR support to the existing 4K support that the Fire TV Box 2nd gen already has had. But there are a fair number of other tech issues with the 3rd gen dongle that seem overall -- except for the HDR feature -- to make it less powerful than the 2nd gen box.

 

If you need more details, I probably can dig out the info I saved on that. I just know, I was excited when news of the 3rd gen dongle surfaced because I'd been wanting an Amazon device that supports HDR, which is generally considered a more noticeable improvement to the viewing experience than is just moving from HD to 4K. But after catching everything I could re the 3rd gen dongle, I decided to pass.

 

BTW, Amazon's big annual Black Friday sale period is coming up toward the end of November, after Thanksgiving, and it will be interesting to see what they do and don't offer with big discounts at that point. Last year on Black Friday, the big discounts were on Echo devices and tablets, but almost nothing on Fire TV devices. This year, I'm expecting Fire TV devices, and/or their new Fire TV sets, will be part of the mix.

 

[Thai Ron]

10 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 I did, re the Fire Stick 2nd gen. Just to be clear, I don't mean it lags in playing video files. But rather, I meant navigating the UI is noticeably slower than with the Fire Box 2nd gen. Clicking and scrolling and such is very smooth and flowing with the box, but drags a bit with the stick. Still perfectly usable, but not exactly nimble.

 

That said, I should also add, a lot of Fire enthusiasts are very underwhelmed with the Fire TV 3rd gen dongle. It is the first Fire TV device to add HDR support to the existing 4K support that the Fire TV Box 2nd gen already has had. But there are a fair number of other tech issues with the 3rd gen dongle that seem overall -- except for the HDR feature -- to make it less powerful than the 2nd gen box.

 

If you need more details, I probably can dig out the info I saved on that. I just know, I was excited when news of the 3rd gen dongle surfaced because I'd been wanting an Amazon device that supports HDR, which is generally considered a more noticeable improvement to the viewing experience than is just moving from HD to 4K. But after catching everything I could re the 3rd gen dongle, I decided to pass.

 

BTW, Amazon's big annual Black Friday sale period is coming up toward the end of November, after Thanksgiving, and it will be interesting to see what they do and don't offer with big discounts at that point. Last year on Black Friday, the big discounts were on Echo devices and tablets, but almost nothing on Fire TV devices. This year, I'm expecting Fire TV devices, and/or their new Fire TV sets, will be part of the mix.

 

TBH, the 4k and HDR is overkill since I'm only going to be using it with a 1080p plasma which is a bit long in the tooth but, again, HD Netflix, Iflix and the ability to watch my extensive HD library via Kodi are my main requirements.

 

The price is only a few baht more than the gen 2 do might as well buy it

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Here's some background on the 3rd gen dongle, and how it compares to the Fire TV box and Fire TV stick 2nd gen.

 

Quote

We know from the aforementioned leaked benchmark that this new Fire TV model has a 1.5 GHz quad-core CPU and Mali-450 MP GPU. It also has 2 GB of RAM and likely has the same 8 GB of internal storage that all past and present Fire TV models have had. Those specs make it slightly more powerful than the current 2nd-gen Fire TV Stick, but still notably less powerful than the current 2nd-gen Fire TV.

 

http://www.aftvnews.com/exclusive-these-are-the-two-new-amazon-fire-tv-models-being-released-in-2017/

 

I think one of the other factors that hacked off some Fire enthusiasts was the lack of ports on the 3rd gen device -- HDMI out to the TV and micro USB 2.0 for power only. No expandable storage beyond the built-in 8 GB ROM. No digital audio out. Though it does apparently accept an optional Amazon ethernet adapter.

 

https://developer.amazon.com/docs/fire-tv/device-specifications.html

 

https://www.amazon.com/all-new-amazon-fire-tv-4k-uhd-streaming-media-player/dp/B01N32NCPM/

 

Sounds like the 3rd gen device is supposed to be released for sale tomorrow/the 25th in the U.S.

 

 

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

For me personally, I tend to think toward always buying for the future, especially if the specs/standards in a particular model today are likely to persist for the future. Even if I didn't have a 4K or HDR TV today, if I was going to be buying a streamer now, I'd probably be looking for 4K/HDR support. But that's me.

 

On the other hand, a Fire TV 2nd gen stick is such an easy, low-cost almost insigificant purchase, and it's going to be perfectly fine for generic Kodi and HD video playback. So there's an abundance of choices, not to mention that Amazon reportedly is working on a yet-unannounced, high-end Fire TV cube that supposed to be a combination of a Fire TV device and an Echo device in some form.

 

BTW, in some more geeky details re the 3rd gen:

 

One of the other knocks on it is that while it does support one flavor of HDR (HD10), it does NOT support the other flavor, Dolby Vision.

 

As I mentioned, it does not have a full size USB port either, but there is some speculation that the micro USB power port may support OTG cables, which would allow external storage devices.

 

 

[SooKee]

FWIW, got my Mi box already, set up and working fine.  No problems with Netflix at all.  No problems with anything in fact.  Excellent device IMO.

[skippy121]

fire sticks are 24 pounds now in the UK for the next few days, so if you have someone coming over for Christmas, 

 

I love fire sticks, they are a bit slow when they first boot up/wake up but for IPTV they are great.

[Thai Ron]

Got the Amazon Fire TV Gen 3 and it does everything it's supposed to.

Downloaded a great Android app called App2fire to my back up phone.

Takes all the aggro out of installing apps that are unavailable on the Amazon app store.

Iflix running in proper HD as is Netflix.

[giddyup]

7 minutes ago, Thai Ron said:

Got the Amazon Fire TV Gen 3 and it does everything it's supposed to.

Downloaded a great Android app called App2fire to my back up phone.

Takes all the aggro out of installing apps that are unavailable on the Amazon app store.

Iflix running in proper HD as is Netflix.

Where did you buy it? I wanted to buy the Amazon Fire Stick but Amazon won't ship to Thailand, and I'm not sure how genuine the ones for sale on Ebay are.

[giddyup]

2 hours ago, skippy121 said:

fire sticks are 24 pounds now in the UK for the next few days, so if you have someone coming over for Christmas, 

 

I love fire sticks, they are a bit slow when they first boot up/wake up but for IPTV they are great.

Only $24.99 on Amazon, but they don't ship to Thailand.