Saw a BigW deal posted, and went to check on Amazon.
Amazon price has been matched to $79, and there's also a $20 Prime voucher automatically applied at checkout as well, so $59 at checkout!
CamelCamelCamel.
Is there any point in getting this if I have android tv?
nope
Only if you wanna gift it to someone less lucky.
Not for most people. My use case is specifically to get Atmos music from Tidal to my amp, functionality which is ridiculously locked to a small number of devices…
Does tidal atmos really sound different in a better way?
What's your speaker setup
When I set up my two up-firing speakers, you can immediately hear the improvement/surround vs. not choosing it in the configuration set-up screen.
I have a vintage Mordaunt-Short set-up: Two talls (front), one center, two rear. I place my "Atmos" L/R on the table holding the 55" TV. AVR is the Pioneer LX-302.
I haven't connected my sub yet, as this is a new furniture placement. Even so, it sounds good as I've manually set it.
Next, is setting the mic on my tripod and letting the system set itself (does a good job).
HTH
@Geekomatic: is this your experience with Atmos in general, or Atmos songs in Tidal specifically?
I have Hifi Plus Tidal subscription which gives me access to Tidal Atmos songs but they don't work in Windows 10 PC (connected to my Atmos soundbar), only accessible from the mobile app.
I am contemplating to buy this Fire stick, plug into TV then play Tidal Atmos
That's so funny. That popped up on my YouTube feed today. I had to watch it. Pretty easy to setup
Yep brilliant at retro!!!!
Unless if you find some apps which might be interested are available in firestick and not available in your andriod tv. In my case, Amazon prime is not available in my TCL TV so I purchased this.
Does the new firestixk have the new Foxtel app? It's on Google tv and is brilliant. Everything else of mine is Alexa so I'd rather swap if it's there
I purchased today and yet to collect so I am not sure. Based on the below article, by default it is not available but able to install.
https://firestickappsguide.com/foxtel-on-firestick/
Does that app need a streaming package or does access fall under that '5 devices' thing you get with a standard Foxtel sub?
@Capitalshark: Do you have a link to the new foxtel app? I cant find it on google store when i search for it on the pc. How new is it, the ones i know of have been around for a while. Foxtel Go and Foxtel .
@lonewolf: Sorry mate I meant new in comparison to other Foxtel apps. They released one just for Google tv. I've only ever found it on google tv. It came out maybe August . Prior to that there was nothing on google tv even though there was on play store for mobile etc
@Capitalshark: So for mobile there is foxtel go, but for Android TV (nvidia shield TV) I use the app called "Foxtel". The latest update for that app is Aug 2021, I am not sure if thats the app you mean or if there is another one. Its better than Foxtel Go, but still not as good as some other streaming apps.
@lonewolf: Yeah that's the one. It came onto Google tv in Aug. I think it's good. You can pause live tv which I was surprised it would do. And for me it works really smooth. I hate casting go.
@Capitalshark: ok cool, Yeah thats been out for a while, definitely a lot better than foxtel go. But it still has issues and their updates for it are slow.
@Capitalshark: So that Foxtel app only works on Android tv v9. I just updated nvidia shield tv to v11 and the Foxtel app stopped working. Also Foxtel tech support aren't interested in updating the app to work past android tv v9. They are absolutely useless. So outdated and only shows 720p…
I had purchased in Dec. No Kayo or Foxtel.
It would probably depend on which brand/model and age of your Android TV. If you have recent Sony or TCL TV then you will probably be fine. That said you may find that even newer 2021 models are using older chipsets that are slower than the the Firestick 4K and Google TV. Also TV manufacturers are generally slow in offering Linux kernel and security updates to their products.
If you find that your Android TV experience is sluggish at times especially when switching between apps, then upgrade for sure.
I should also point out that the Firestick 4K Max has very good Wifi, so if you have a cheaper Android TV that struggles to maintain a good connection to your router, then this would be another reason to upgrade.
Yes, if your TV dies ands get paid off under warranty then TV get repaired and someone may have access to your accounts including google/Netflix/YouTube/prime.
Change the password?
Too late, personal data stolen including emails.
@Cordova: When setup your “smart” tv it will asks for your google account for example on android tvs.
Valid Point. Probably a similar thing with a phone/tablet that dies under warranty and is replaced, with the old one sent to a repair centre or the likes of Grays Online to be sold as a refurbished unit. As the original customer you do not have the opportunity to do a factory reset to defaults.
They would do a factory reset before that
Also you can remotely disable your google accounts from devices
They would do a factory reset
Yes, after they steal your data. It has happened to many people.
It depends, I bought my 1st one for a non smart TV so it works super smart! Then I I found out there are a lots of things you can add to the device and I found the other smart TV remotes are poor when I need to use internet browser with the pointer so I bought another 2 for the smart TV. Now I am considering purchasing the 4th one.
I lean towards the google ecosystem, so I'd prefer chromecast with Google TV… Surprised they don't try compete on price against Amazon, seems rare to have it dip below $90
If you already have a neflix account then get the netflix bundle. It ends up being <$50 for the unit.
Finding my firetv 4k max much snappier to use, manages memory of the device better (Google runs out way too quickly for no reason) and also is more stable. I was half thinking of replacing my Chromecast with GTV with another firetv.
There's no Chromecast on the Fire TV. The setup required to "cast" something to the Fire TV was a very clunky experience.
Can you access the Google Play store with this?
No, has it's own (Amazon appstore)
No but you can still install(sideload) android apps to it no problem.
Can you sideload the play store?
You might be able to side-load 'Yalp Store' which supposedly uses the same source apk files as the official play store.
There's tutorials out there but one i found says you can't on the latest 4k max version. Probably have to wait for some devs to get it working
Can this do casting, like a Chromecast?
Was wanting to use it for an oculus headset, cast to the television.
would like to know as well wrt Chromecast
if I have a chromecast, do I need this
(feel like Ive been living under a rock)
I have the Firestick 4k and it can cast Youtube and Netflix just like Chromecast. Not sure about other apps.
You can also used the remote to control the cast which makes it very handy in Netflix.
Also my Chromecast can't choose the quality of video for Youtube when casting, but Firestick allow you to change it with remote.
Btw I am comparing to my old Chromecast 3rd Gen.
Not everything can chromecast with this. eg. we found for Kayo you need to cast through screen sharing (more hassle but works fine).
I can test the oculus tonight.
Thank you, that would be awesome!
I've got the old Firestick Lite and you can sideload the Kayo app so you don't need to cast. Though you do have to sideload the latest APK whenever there's an update.
Tried casting oculus to firestick. Doesn't show up in Oculus app devices (my Vodafone TVs do). Some googling suggests possible with third party app.
Ah, okay. Thank you for that, I might pass up on it then.
It doesn't support Chromecast no, that's closed-source Google proprietary tech.
However, many apps are able to 'talk to each other' when running on both your phone and your Fire device - e.g. you can select a target of your Fire device when playing music in Spotify on your phone etc.
If you post what content/apps you're hoping to share, I'm sure people with those apps can tell you if they are able to share to their big screens.
Just bought the non 4K version yesterday for $79. Gonna refund that and get this one instead thanks
Planning to use this with a projector
These make amazing emulator boxes (sticks? Lol)
I don't know about this one but i installed a Snes emulator on my vodafone box and with bluetooth controller it's really good. Not sure how more demanding emulators would work though.
I used asa79's link further up.
It seems to work fine with NES, SNES, Gameboy (Advanced), Sega Megadrive, some PSP (YMMV)
Have had issues with NintendoDS, Nintendo64 and Playstation.
You will need a bluetooth controller, a USB stick and an adapter.
N64 with mupen works very well. Side load.
Can this load Netflix, Kayo etc?
Netflix yes, Kayo, no idea sorry.
A review I just saw says it can't.
Chromecast with Google TV it is
You can sideload it on the FireTV sticks, but it's a bit of a pain especially when the game/event you want to watch is about to start and you have to scramble on the internet for the newest APK and then install it. The Google TV is the best way to watch Kayo on a TV, even the Foxtel Now box isn't supported by Kayo.
Kayo sport can be used via Kodi.
is there any reliable online guide for it? I would definitely buy this if I can get free subs/channels
I think you still need the subscription, but can use Kodi for Kayo Sports.
But I am no Kodi expert.
It depends what languages you speak.
There are genuinely thousands of free channels so long as you're not limited to english.
One of the most fun things I ever did was brush up on some basic Chinese, and Japanese, and point a 2nd hand dish at AsiaSat1; there's countless channels bouncing off that thing, and they're all whacky and fun for someone raised in Australia, haha.
Back on topic;
Yes, especially if you learn some Hindi, an android box/stick opens up a shockingly large world of free 'channels'.
Yes you can. Just need to download the Kayo APK for the app and sideload it in on the Firestick.
What OS does the firestick use?
Firefox
FireOS, which is pretty much just an Amazon-ified version of Android for set top boxes.
Many (but not all) AndroidTV (GoogleTV) apps work on them if you can get them installed. However there's no Google Play Store, just Amazon App Store which has very similar but not identical content.
@ajbee: Don't have the exact model in this post but on any FireTV I've used it's been easy enough. If you're installing directly on the device it's just enabling installation of 'unknown sources' (i.e. APKs you grab).
However, personally I tend to turn on ADB connections in the developer options and then install apps using either adb on my PC, or Easy Fire Tools on my phone. The latter is so easy I've taught a few friends and family to use it and they're happily (mostly) self-sufficient now. Just grab an APK on your phone, connect to FireTV, click install, done.
This stick runs FireOS 7 which is based on Android 9
Can I use this for watch streaming overseas TV?
yes, I own this since forever and its awsome, only seconds delay but play and pause work like a charm i.e your regular tv, has lot more apps and contents than I thought but I limit myself considering kids, fyi I bought one from Big w $39 on blackfriday deal
which app you are using for overseas channels ?
There are tons of apps depending on your needs.
I don't think the signal goes that far.
it doesn't receive the signal you're thinking of at all.
Yes, but only if you can set it up so the content provider allows you to stream to you (doesn't know you're out of region) and have the appropriate app installed.
So if you use a DNS unblocking service on it such as Getflix then BBC iPlayer will work just fine, say. But if you just get BBC iPlayer installed on it and expect it to work without those techie bits then you're SOL.
Anyone know if this has Binge/allows Binge streaming? My webOS TV refuses to accept Binge casting
Yes. You'll just need to download the APK for that app. Google "Binge app APK"
I tried this a few times with my Firestick 4k and it didn't work. The Binge app just crashes.
I've used Binge app version 1.1.3 on several firesticks with no issue.
You can't use the normal Binge app you need to use Binge for Android TV, this one took caught me out previously.
Same for Kayo.
Binge and Kayo don't natively work on the fire stick, as in, the app store doesn't have those apps. You can either sideload them or use kodi.
So any comparison between this and Chrome TV dongle?
Wouldn't Chromecast be better than this?
Regular chromecast? Hell no
New chromecast with Google TV - similar, but better. But usually at the $100 mark.
Thanks OP, finally grabbed one!
Chromecast vs Firestick ? Can someone compare ?
Which one is good to watch overseas channels ?
You can load APKs on both. So doesn’t make a difference.
Well I'm getting sick of the Chromecast, thinking about giving this a shot finally.
What don't you like about the cc?
There is a surround sound problem with the CCwGtv https://www.reddit.com/r/Chromecast/comments/nuedkx/chromeca…
on the same receiver with a firestick I don't have this issue.
enough for me to want a refund but its too late for that now.
What's wrong with the Chromecast, I would prefer that over my firestick so I don't have to sideload everything
![[Prime] Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max $59 Delivered @ Amazon AU](https://files.ozbargain.com.au/n/67/677267.jpg?h=19cb5560)
Reduced prices for kindle devices too