Amazon Fire TV Cube has dethroned Nvidia Shield TV Pro as the best way to stream movies and television in 2024. Several features have saved me countless hours from endlessly doom-scrolling across multiple services, getting me right into the action. With Prime Big Deals Day spanning October 8-9, the retailer has already started slashing prices to give you a sneak peek of what’s in store, saving you a chunk on the set-top box.
With up to 29% off, you can currently get Fire TV Cube under $100 on Amazon US, bringing it down to its second-lowest price ever. There’s a similar deal over on Amazon UK and across the continent, running you £109.99 / €109.99.
While this does come with a standard remote, there is another version that includes Alexa Voice Remote Pro. It’s always cheaper to get the bundle, and I would recommend it if you want backlit buttons, two customisable functions, and a remote finder. As usual, you can check out your local discount by clicking the pink button below.
Amazon Fire TV Cube
“Amazon’s fastest-ever streaming media player, providing lightning-fast app starts with an octa-core processor that’s twice as powerful as the Fire TV Stick 4K Max.”
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Pulling me away from Nvidia Shield TV Pro wasn’t easy, especially since Team Green packs a quicker Tegra X1 processor and 3GB of RAM as opposed to Fire TV Cube’s 2GB. Still, the devil is in the details for these 4K players. For starters, Amazon’s FireOS is far more refined than Android TV in 2024. In fact, even Google has ditched the latter in favour of a sleeker Google TV interface for newer devices.
You’ll need to contend with Amazon pushing you in the direction of its Prime content with FireOS, but this comes with a few added benefits. Nestled within the search menu, you can look for any bit of content across all official streaming platforms, and it’ll point you in the right direction. Previously, I had to either hop in and out of Netflix, Prime Video, and Disney+ to find what I was looking for or take a quick Google Search to see what was available in my region.
Needless to say, searching this way saves countless minutes that turn to hours when all you want in the world is to sit down and relax with a movie. The only exception is that it doesn’t include Plex content, so your personal libraries don’t show up unless you head directly into the app.
Another benefit is Fire TV Cube’s WiFi 6E, keeping a stronger signal as you stream. I’ve noticed fewer instances of buffering since I made the switch. You can use an adapter to plug in via Ethernet if you want, but I’ve never kept my box close enough to my router for this to matter too much.
The main draw of going with Amazon is its voice assistant. Summoning Alexa, you can control Fire TV Cube – and all other connected devices – without lifting the remote. Simply speak up, ask it a question, and relish as the built-in speaker answers regardless of whether your TV is on or off. CEC and new infrared emitters mean it can turn your TV on or off, volume up or down, and handle everything with a single sentence.
I’ve used Fire TV Cube for the past three months and don’t have any regrets yet. It mixes the best parts of Amazon Echo with Fire TV, making for the best streaming experience I’ve had to date. Any time a parcel is due from the retailer, it tells me when to expect it, so I don’t get too comfortable. It also integrates with Ring doorbells, granting you picture-in-picture whenever someone comes knocking.
Meanwhile, Nvidia Shield has bugged out several times over 2024, removing apps from my favourites bar and making navigation significantly harder. It still has its place as a gaming device, but with the removal of local game streaming to GeForce graphics cards, it’s lost a bit of its identity. It’s slightly fiddlier to set up GeForce Now on FireOS, but it is possible and ends up far cheaper, especially with this discount while it lasts.
