Given the price over the 4K sticks, I'm kind of surprised at the lack of RAM and USB 3.2. Hopefully the OS on all higher end Fire devices will go to 64 bit in the near future as well
I have an older Cube (a Cube 2 maybe), don't use it for anything special I just needed 4K support. I also like the "IR blaster" feature, which I was surprised didn't seem to get promoted in marketing that much. But for a streaming device with the ability to unify all your remote-controlled devices into a single point of control, it always seemed like a great deal. Definitely consider upgrade to 3.
one of the main limiting things for gaming on the cube is the 2gb ram. most android games require at least 4, and are made more for phones where you usually have 8gb or more
Yeah, only 2G of RAM on Android is really starting to push it - not to mention that lack of 64-bit support, outdated I/O, and their anemic app store 😵💫
Thanks for mentioning how much the Amazon appstore sucks. I know you can sideload a lot of stuff, but the native appstore is SO lackluster. The only way I made fire cube (gen 2) remotely interesting is lots of sideloading - adding Kodi, Retroarch, etc. There are way better options for emulation and even streaming for the pricepoint or slightly more money. (I personally dig the Nivida Shield).
I've got the Fire TV Cube 2nd version, and for retrogaming up to the 32 bit systems is pretty good actually. And let's be honest, for demanding systems like a ps2 and forward, you really need a medium end pc at least.
Some Parsec game play would be AMAZING! I have all my kids on remote gaming machines and something like this would be AMAZING to be attached to their TV's/Monitors!!!
This might have been a nice device in 2015. In 2022 it needs more RAM at least 4GB. More internal storage at least 32GB. Ditch the obsolete 10/100 and USB 2.0 ports. Replace them with more up to date standards in Gigabit Ethernet and dual USB 3.1 ports one C and one A.
I think the greatest appeal in the Fire TV Sticks is the affordability. The price on the Fire TV Cube is hard to justify when the Apple TV 4K has become more affordable.
That argument totally fails when the Fire TV devices get massively reduced in the regular sales Amazon have. Apple TV does not get discounted anywhere near the same levels.
Thanks for the video. I think the echo show 15 uses the same chipset. Hopefully, with the announced update for firetv app support retroarch will be possible on the echo show 15🤩
I'm mind-boggled that Amazon is getting away with shipping these with 2GB RAM in 2022 when $50 S905/A53 Android TV boxes were shipping with 2GB RAM in 2016. Seriously. 2GB is barely enough to load the browser while keeping a couple light background apps running, let alone the increasingly heavy chat apps like Skype that use over 1GB just to sit idle. At least this isn't on a battery like their tablets. The problem with such a small amount of RAM is that parts of apps are constantly falling out of the kernel page cache, so the storage is busily loading them all the time. That's not quite as bad as swapping, but Android will use ZSWAP to compress app ANON pages to make room for more page cache, and that requires CPU to compress and decompress those pages, as well as a lot of page faults and memory management operations, and that all takes away from the available CPU performance. This may work on launch day but it will be rapidly obsolete as the browser and apps double their RAM needs every 3 years. In 2022, 4GB is the bare minimum to prevent rapid obsolescence, but 8GB would be a much better choice to survive until VVC video codec adoption. That should be its goal, otherwise it's needless landfill.
@Tim H Even if they use a 32-bit kernel, A75 and A53 can address more than 3GB in 32-bit mode. So is there something else you're assuming means I don't understand systems engineering? Cost effective doesn't mean planned obsolescence, in fact there's laws against planned obsolescence which should be enforced to prevent this kind of equipment being sold. This makes the poor poorer.
@Tim H Meow. But that still has nothing to do with whether I "understand the difference between 32 and 64 bit". Being catty doesn't undo being wrong, lol.
@Tim H What you mean Android SDK? which is freely available and bundled with a free Android Studio IDE based on IntelliJ? They don't mention it because everyone already knows about it. Or do you mean the hardware requirements of a system that can run the SDK application builder? That's way off topic... but my 6-year-old laptop with 24GB RAM happily runs it. Or do you mean HDK - Hardware Development Kit - which would be a reference piece of hardware provided by an OEM for a developer to test application/OS builds on. Normally they would stop offering those once the consumer hardware is available, unless the consumer hardware is too much of a black box to do debugging on. Android's ADB Android Debug Bridge makes all Android devices easy to debug on, so I doubt Amazon would offer an HDK.
@Tim H I don't mind criticism, so long as it's productive, so I can take that feedback to improve my skills. So by all means, educate me. What exactly are you calling out as mis-educated? I've been in software since 1984, I worked with the linux kernel from 1994, through i386 a.out, the elf migration, AMD64 x64 and x32 ABIs, I've forgotten more SDK's and API's than most engineers will ever learn lol. If you're genuine about your own knowledge level and you need an engineer, I'm actually between projects at the moment. You can have me for $72/hr to start. My current specialisation is with jQuery, nodeJS and PHP frameworks, but I have a lot of history with C/C++, Java, and Modula2, as well as Intel and AT&T assembler dialects.
Man, they really killed this thing for a lot of people by going 32bit. Hell, I think Android 13 or 14 doesn't/won't support 32 bit. Wonder if finding a way to install Google TV onto this device solves this issue. I'd have aimed to do something like that even with a 64bit version of this device.
I think it comes with the support of the older devices and older TV Sticks that use the same app store. To make all compatible in the same ecosystem it seems like they decided to stay 32-Bit, because by upgrading to 64-Bit they maybe need to lift up the whole ecosystem. It always comes to the same conclusion: a SBC with android (oDroid N2) or a Tiny PC with the OS of choice is the way to go. But it's not an out-of-the-box project. I would even add a used XBox One S or Series S to this list. Add a remote and you have a fine media device. For "just" an media player for amazon prime most Smart-TV-Apps are sufficient enough.
The only people upset with the update is a tiny niche group of users far removed from the mass market. It's perfect for its intended market. But don't forget it may be restricted in its emulation, but it WILL go on sale on Amazon at a decent price. What's more annoying is Amazon has updated its Fire TV Cube, Apple has updated its Apple TV, both with more power, and the Shield TV is still pretty much using its chip from 2015 just with some tweaks.. it's about time Nvidia updated the Shield TV as that IS aimed at the niche market.
When do you think the next Nvidia Shield is coming out? I'm thinking of buying one but I don't want to buy the old version of it when the new one is coming around the corner.
So glad you did this review! I've pretty much written off Amazon's devices since they lost the ability to side-load any (real) Firefox builds -- at least that support add-on extensions for blocking pop-ups and re-direct ads.
Not sure what the point of this device is; the 4K Stick already streams 4K just fine, the Cube's power is crippled by too little RAM and no 64bit, it's much more expensive than the Stick, and the few features it adds are mostly gimmicks. Doesn't makes much sense to me.
Hey ETA with Black Friday coming up will you be doing recommendations on products to buy, also what would you say is a good budget laptop (under €600) for general use and gaming.
It's very disappointing to see yet another flagship Fire TV with only a 32-bit OS. My 2nd gen Fire TV from 2015 runs 64-bit Fire OS, and it's one of the reasons why I ended up buying another (used) one recently from Woot. If I'm not mistaken, the 2nd gen box is the only Fire TV ever released with 64-bit software.
Agree 💯. Every Android TV based device should be running 64 bit in 2022. Amazon seems to skimp on both their hardware and software. Still baffled as to why a supposed flagship device is 2022 is running Android 9.0 (32 bit) with only 2GB of RAM and bare minimum 16 GB internal storage. Also sad to see companies still releasing devices with obsolete USB 2.0 and 10/100 ports. USB 3.0 had been around since '08 and Gigabit Ethernet has been available for over two decades.
@@Mr01dschool Exactly. You would expect at least 3 GB of RAM given the fact that 2 GB puts it right on par with the Stick 4K Max at $55. They had the perfect opportunity to make a good Shield TV Pro competitor and they blew it. There just seems to be so much wasted potential going 32-bit and making those other compromises.
Some people play local high bitrate 4k remuxes that can hit over 100Mbps. My question is why would any company, especially one like Amazon, use obsolete port standards such a as 10/100 Ethernet and USB 2.0 on what is supposed to be their flagship device? USB 3.0 has been available since '08. Gigabit Ethernet has been available since '99. USB 2.0 & 10/100 Ethernet should have been phased out years ago. USB 3.1 and Gigabit Ethernet should already be the default standards.
@@Mr01dschool Because the device isn't designed for power users playing 100Mbps+ 4K Remuxes. You aren't the target audience for this device. Amazon will have considered that, and decided that it wasn't worth the extra $0.20 for Gigabit when they expect to sell maybe 120 million of these devices globally, for the few hundred people actually playing 4K remuxes over 100Mbps. Those few people will buy something else, and Amazon will make more money on this
So Amazon is going through the expense and trouble of adding an Ethernet port but decided to use a 10/100 port? Are kidding me? Would it have cost them 10 cents more? Whoever approved this should be fined. You can’t justify not using Gigabit when you already allocated room for an Ethernet port on the system. It’s the same freaking size. There is no way this device should ever be recommended for the price they charge. Who still uses 100 megabit Ethernet
About the 10/100 Ethernet port... this is a streaming device. Unless you're running raw UHD Blu-Ray rips across your LAN, you're not going to come close to needing 100 Mbps. The limited RAM, however, is a different story. More RAM means more buffer space available.
Why release a device with obsolete port standards such a as USB 2.0 and 10/100 Ethernet in the first place? Those should have been phased out years ago. USB 3.0 was introduced in '08. Gigabit Ethernet has been out for over 2 decades. Amazon needs to stop cheaping out.
one look at those Big and little cores and as well as the GPU and I knew the PSP performance was gonna be just that, this thing is even weaker than my old phone that had a helio P70
You would quite literally be one of a handful of people who would buy it New Fire TV Cube 3 is fantastic for its target audience and will probably sell very well, and even then when it goes on sale which is inevitable, it could be a steal for some.
@@marksapollo Probably more than a handful. Right now the Nvidia Shield, which released it's latest version back in '19, still has no legit competition.
@@marksapollo Nope you are mistaken. Actually spoken like someone living in 2022 and expecting companies to use the latest standards, for this decade, in their flagship device. The Shield's SOC is older but you have no way of disputing that it has more RAM and newer port standards than the Cube. It is also using a much newer version of Android TV. The Shield can passthrough DTS-HD and TrueHD audio unlike the Cube. Sorry if you don't like the facts but there is no disputing them. The only fanboi here is the person defending a company for skimping on hardware . Not sure why people get so defensive when others call out a huge company for using ports that have been obsolete for almost a decade. I would think everyone would want to see progress, but I guess not. Would be nice if other companies stepped up to offer a premium streaming box in 2022. Apple came close but I am not someone in the Apple ecosystem and not a fan of their closed OS. Sorry to upset you but IMO Amazon failed at doing so.
Try to put this Cube into Sleep mode and try to wake it up over a USB keyboard. doesn't Work, beacause the USB Port will shut down. You are only be able to wake it up over the Remote that come with the Cube itself.
It entirely depends on what you want it to do and the equipment you have, and how much you want to fiddle with it to set it up. But the Shield TV is very old now, the chip in it is essentially the same one from 2015 with a few tweaks. They really need to update it.
@@marksapollo Nvidia does need to update the Shield but it still has more up to date hardware in some areas than the Fire TV Cube 3. The Shield still has more RAM plus uses USB and Ethernet standards from this decade unlike the Cube.
@@Mr01dschool It doesn’t matter as the new Cube on paper at least is more powerful, 3 GB ram is pointless when the chip architecture is from 2015. Nvidia should be great full Amazon gimped the new Cube by giving it a 32bit OS. Also 100mbps is perfectly fine for 4K streaming and it’s target audience, but it has WiFi 6E which is faster the gigabit Ethernet anyway, another thing the Shield lacks.
@@marksapollo The Shield's SOC is able to take full advantage of all 3GB of RAM. The SOC is still fast enough to do everything smoother than most streaming boxes. Nvidia does need to release an updated version with a newer SOC, at least 4GB of RAM, at least 32GB of storage, HDMI 2.1 and support for the newer video codecs. That doesn't excuse other companies like Amazon for releasing a gimped flagship device. The Fire TV Cube 3 falls short for many reasons. 100Mbps is not always fast enough to handle some higher bitrate 4K remuxes, which is why someone would need a Gigabit Ethernet port. I am not using WiFi on a stationary connected device. Hardwired is always going to be more reliable, more secure and usually provides less latency than a wireless connection. I am not going to compromise this because a company like Amazon decided to be cheap with their hardware. Why should I reward a company for skimping by using obsolete ports. Another reason the new Cube falls short is they decided to use the bare minimum with RAM and internal storage. For a premium device in 2022 there is no excuse for not using at least 4GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage. Running on a 32bit version of Android TV 9.0 in 2022 is pretty bad. Still not supporting passthru of DTS-HD and TrueHD audio is also going to turn away a few potential customers. All in all I give Amazon a D for their new Fire TV Cube. I definitely will not be rewarding them with my money. Maybe they will try harder next time.
Hey +ETA PRIME do you have any idea or suggestion what to do with an old, first gen Fire TV Stick?! This thing still works but is laggy as hell. If you know any project to still use that hardware, let us know! It should be similar hardware than an Pi Zero W, but I suspect that there is no way to install a different OS on it. And the new Fire TV Cube 3 for me stays a player device for amazon content, not more. I guess that the 32-Bit OS is necessary because of older FireTV Sticks and the App Store. But *it has one downside for me beside the ones you mentioned:* no audio out via toslink. Because I still have an older HiFi-system that I would connect it to! And that was the pro of the fisrt Fire TV: it still had a digital audio out!
What's your take on the recent deprecation of WideVine? How quickly do you think replacements will arrive? I haven't seen any news about content providers adopting the new system, and I'm a tad concerned about having to buy all new devices once Google sunsets WideVine. I haven't seen any dates yet, and was curious if you had.
Is Redream available via the app store? I had to side load Redream on my Fire TV Stick 4K Max because I couldn't find it on the store. On my Fire TV Stick 4K Max the Flycast core via RetroArch runs better than the side-loaded Redream app, which I think is odd.
The device is pretty decent, but... Why? Why 2 GB RAM when current Android devices in the lowest tier uses 4 GB and even more... Apple TV from this year is rumored to use 4 GB RAM
10/100 ethernet on a device is unacceptable in today's age. What if you wanted to stream anything from a local network? You're screwed, people have faster internet than that too... Frankly unacceptable
The fact that the OS is only running in 32-bit mode is a massive issue...on multiple levels...Im not in the mindset right now to explain but one can google the cons of 32bit operating systems in 2022 these days. What a joke. To me, thats a complete failure from Amazon. Edit: The more I think about it, it makes sense why Amazon would want to nerf its devices like this...they want you playing games from their own streaming service and other app-store games. Ironically their app store is trash for games as ETA Prime noted and Luna game streaming might flop just like Google Stadia recently did. I doubt Amazon wants us easily using these devices for emulation since Amazon takes a hit on the hardware price sometimes, in order to sell more units in the hopes that you'll use all their digital services. All around a 32bit device wont even run most new apps even side-loaded...hot trash.
I have a Fire TV from 2020. It's just a Fire stick with a built in Echo speaker, and it's nice to use Alexa to turn on a TV and even my Xbox before I sit down...but it's more of a bonus feature. Anyway I'm thinking if using it to run Moonlight on it to stream my emulators from my PC downstairs. That's the route I may take since Pi"a are impossible to but now.
Bought one today. Fire cube won’t recognise movie files in usb connected external hdd. Used a powered hdd, as well as non-powered, and tried ntfs and exFAT. I’ve got a cube 3 running latest updates etc. wanted to play my movies through it
Is there a way to install launchbox android to this? its great that retropie works on it but like... just the thought of going through all the rom libraries and things.. and lists of games is hard to see with my ageing eyes 😅
What is the point of this device? It’s overkill for streaming and it’s underpowered for gaming.
If this isn’t the most true statement. I was pondering the same thing
@@kamikazikid127 were you pondering on your orb
It’s decent for home automation, but that freaks a lot of people out.
@@damk8642 huh?
@@zeroturn7091 RAM is the issue. The bare minimun now is 4GB RAM
Given the price over the 4K sticks, I'm kind of surprised at the lack of RAM and USB 3.2. Hopefully the OS on all higher end Fire devices will go to 64 bit in the near future as well
I have an older Cube (a Cube 2 maybe), don't use it for anything special I just needed 4K support. I also like the "IR blaster" feature, which I was surprised didn't seem to get promoted in marketing that much. But for a streaming device with the ability to unify all your remote-controlled devices into a single point of control, it always seemed like a great deal. Definitely consider upgrade to 3.
one of the main limiting things for gaming on the cube is the 2gb ram. most android games require at least 4, and are made more for phones where you usually have 8gb or more
Yeah, only 2G of RAM on Android is really starting to push it - not to mention that lack of 64-bit support, outdated I/O, and their anemic app store 😵💫
Yeah 8GB is pretty much the minimum these days. Some say 4gb but I’d argue that even 4 is borderline unusable
With the 2 cents they saved on gigabit ethernet Bezos is going back to space
10/100 lan... 2 GB RAM - instant fail.
Love your channel.
Just a suggestion, maybe for netflix test you can try play 'test patterns' .
Thanks for mentioning how much the Amazon appstore sucks. I know you can sideload a lot of stuff, but the native appstore is SO lackluster. The only way I made fire cube (gen 2) remotely interesting is lots of sideloading - adding Kodi, Retroarch, etc. There are way better options for emulation and even streaming for the pricepoint or slightly more money. (I personally dig the Nivida Shield).
I had high hopes for this device. But not being able to run Aethersx2 is a big let down.
What you expect? 🤔
Most important, it can play 4k60fps av01, which even macs can't do.
I've got the Fire TV Cube 2nd version, and for retrogaming up to the 32 bit systems is pretty good actually. And let's be honest, for demanding systems like a ps2 and forward, you really need a medium end pc at least.
Some Parsec game play would be AMAZING! I have all my kids on remote gaming machines and something like this would be AMAZING to be attached to their TV's/Monitors!!!
The 4k demo video you use has a Ruben's Tube! You can't go wrong mixing music visualizations and fire.
Who the hell does not include gigabit Ethernet on a 2022 device?
Also Android will eat that 16GB of internal storage in no time. It's a been a big problem of the Shield.
No gigabit Ethernet is way more insulting than 2gb of RAM. This should be higher up in the comments tbh
This might have been a nice device in 2015. In 2022 it needs more RAM at least 4GB. More internal storage at least 32GB. Ditch the obsolete 10/100 and USB 2.0 ports. Replace them with more up to date standards in Gigabit Ethernet and dual USB 3.1 ports one C and one A.
The pinkie point. *chef's kiss*
I think the greatest appeal in the Fire TV Sticks is the affordability. The price on the Fire TV Cube is hard to justify when the Apple TV 4K has become more affordable.
But can you side load Apple TV? All their products are locked down!! 😌
Apple products are locked down in their own environment and can't side load apps. Just isn't worth it. Better off getting an Nvidia Shield.
That argument totally fails when the Fire TV devices get massively reduced in the regular sales Amazon have. Apple TV does not get discounted anywhere near the same levels.
Why would they lock it to 32 bit those were some good geekbench scores dam shame it would stand with the shield if it wasn't for this
32bit makes it a non-starter. I mean, I get it. Amazon is catering to non-tech people and not us crazy lads, but yeah. It's a no-go.
I'm always looking for new stuff. But I don't feel like anything will replace my Shield Pro (2019) anytime soon.
They really dropped the ball with the RAM, hard pass.
Always appreciate the content though.
4gb really should be the minimum for ANYTHING at this point.
Also running in 32bit in 2022 is... dumb at best.
@@hardy83 as well running android 9, instead 11 or 12
@@hardy83 They’ve known since the first Gen cube that the OS is too heavy.
aha good you mentioned it. I kinda breezed through the specs and thought it was 16gb now realized that was the storage... 2gb memory wtf!!
Been waiting for this video!
Why not gigabit?!
Wow that's an impressive geekbench score this has to be the fastest android tv device out there.
Thanks for the video. I think the echo show 15 uses the same chipset. Hopefully, with the announced update for firetv app support retroarch will be possible on the echo show 15🤩
The idea of something listening to what I'm doing at my home is not one that appeals to me at all. But each to his/her/their own.
So you don't have any modern smartphones?
Ah yes, the Amazon GameCube.
I'm mind-boggled that Amazon is getting away with shipping these with 2GB RAM in 2022 when $50 S905/A53 Android TV boxes were shipping with 2GB RAM in 2016. Seriously. 2GB is barely enough to load the browser while keeping a couple light background apps running, let alone the increasingly heavy chat apps like Skype that use over 1GB just to sit idle. At least this isn't on a battery like their tablets. The problem with such a small amount of RAM is that parts of apps are constantly falling out of the kernel page cache, so the storage is busily loading them all the time. That's not quite as bad as swapping, but Android will use ZSWAP to compress app ANON pages to make room for more page cache, and that requires CPU to compress and decompress those pages, as well as a lot of page faults and memory management operations, and that all takes away from the available CPU performance. This may work on launch day but it will be rapidly obsolete as the browser and apps double their RAM needs every 3 years. In 2022, 4GB is the bare minimum to prevent rapid obsolescence, but 8GB would be a much better choice to survive until VVC video codec adoption. That should be its goal, otherwise it's needless landfill.
@Tim H even at 32 bit the ideal ammount of memory is 3 GB.
@Tim H Even if they use a 32-bit kernel, A75 and A53 can address more than 3GB in 32-bit mode. So is there something else you're assuming means I don't understand systems engineering? Cost effective doesn't mean planned obsolescence, in fact there's laws against planned obsolescence which should be enforced to prevent this kind of equipment being sold. This makes the poor poorer.
@Tim H Meow. But that still has nothing to do with whether I "understand the difference between 32 and 64 bit". Being catty doesn't undo being wrong, lol.
@Tim H What you mean Android SDK? which is freely available and bundled with a free Android Studio IDE based on IntelliJ? They don't mention it because everyone already knows about it. Or do you mean the hardware requirements of a system that can run the SDK application builder? That's way off topic... but my 6-year-old laptop with 24GB RAM happily runs it. Or do you mean HDK - Hardware Development Kit - which would be a reference piece of hardware provided by an OEM for a developer to test application/OS builds on. Normally they would stop offering those once the consumer hardware is available, unless the consumer hardware is too much of a black box to do debugging on. Android's ADB Android Debug Bridge makes all Android devices easy to debug on, so I doubt Amazon would offer an HDK.
@Tim H I don't mind criticism, so long as it's productive, so I can take that feedback to improve my skills. So by all means, educate me. What exactly are you calling out as mis-educated? I've been in software since 1984, I worked with the linux kernel from 1994, through i386 a.out, the elf migration, AMD64 x64 and x32 ABIs, I've forgotten more SDK's and API's than most engineers will ever learn lol. If you're genuine about your own knowledge level and you need an engineer, I'm actually between projects at the moment. You can have me for $72/hr to start. My current specialisation is with jQuery, nodeJS and PHP frameworks, but I have a lot of history with C/C++, Java, and Modula2, as well as Intel and AT&T assembler dialects.
Man, they really killed this thing for a lot of people by going 32bit. Hell, I think Android 13 or 14 doesn't/won't support 32 bit. Wonder if finding a way to install Google TV onto this device solves this issue. I'd have aimed to do something like that even with a 64bit version of this device.
I think it comes with the support of the older devices and older TV Sticks that use the same app store. To make all compatible in the same ecosystem it seems like they decided to stay 32-Bit, because by upgrading to 64-Bit they maybe need to lift up the whole ecosystem.
It always comes to the same conclusion: a SBC with android (oDroid N2) or a Tiny PC with the OS of choice is the way to go. But it's not an out-of-the-box project.
I would even add a used XBox One S or Series S to this list. Add a remote and you have a fine media device. For "just" an media player for amazon prime most Smart-TV-Apps are sufficient enough.
The only people upset with the update is a tiny niche group of users far removed from the mass market. It's perfect for its intended market. But don't forget it may be restricted in its emulation, but it WILL go on sale on Amazon at a decent price.
What's more annoying is Amazon has updated its Fire TV Cube, Apple has updated its Apple TV, both with more power, and the Shield TV is still pretty much using its chip from 2015 just with some tweaks.. it's about time Nvidia updated the Shield TV as that IS aimed at the niche market.
We're in some sort of reality where Apple all of a sudden is making a better value product than most companies.
Their hardware is great but you are locked down to their eco system, no side loading of apps.
@@pedrosa144 This statement can of course be applied to everything with an Apple on it. Locked into their eco system AND their obsolescence schedule.
Why can't you just install your own 64-bit OS on it?
When do you think the next Nvidia Shield is coming out? I'm thinking of buying one but I don't want to buy the old version of it when the new one is coming around the corner.
I have a feeling they will release it when the next Nintendo Switch comes out given how they share similar CPUs. I think late 2023 seems plausible.
Hopefully within the next year.
So glad you did this review! I've pretty much written off Amazon's devices since they lost the ability to side-load any (real) Firefox builds -- at least that support add-on extensions for blocking pop-ups and re-direct ads.
Yeah, I switched to a mini PC from the 2nd Gen Cube because I could only use old versions of the Chrome browser on the Cube.
Very Nice It Really Does Work With The Xbox Game Pass App.
Not sure what the point of this device is; the 4K Stick already streams 4K just fine, the Cube's power is crippled by too little RAM and no 64bit, it's much more expensive than the Stick, and the few features it adds are mostly gimmicks. Doesn't makes much sense to me.
Hey ETA with Black Friday coming up will you be doing recommendations on products to buy, also what would you say is a good budget laptop (under €600) for general use and gaming.
It's very disappointing to see yet another flagship Fire TV with only a 32-bit OS. My 2nd gen Fire TV from 2015 runs 64-bit Fire OS, and it's one of the reasons why I ended up buying another (used) one recently from Woot. If I'm not mistaken, the 2nd gen box is the only Fire TV ever released with 64-bit software.
Agree 💯. Every Android TV based device should be running 64 bit in 2022. Amazon seems to skimp on both their hardware and software. Still baffled as to why a supposed flagship device is 2022 is running Android 9.0 (32 bit) with only 2GB of RAM and bare minimum 16 GB internal storage. Also sad to see companies still releasing devices with obsolete USB 2.0 and 10/100 ports. USB 3.0 had been around since '08 and Gigabit Ethernet has been available for over two decades.
@@Mr01dschool Exactly. You would expect at least 3 GB of RAM given the fact that 2 GB puts it right on par with the Stick 4K Max at $55. They had the perfect opportunity to make a good Shield TV Pro competitor and they blew it. There just seems to be so much wasted potential going 32-bit and making those other compromises.
Great honest review. It's expensive for what it does. Sticking with my Firestick for now.
on ppsspp chains of olympus you can use the hack for 30 fps , it will run all day, and i guess it could run on higher resolutions too
Great to see Ethernet coming back to Fire devices - I have the Fire TV Box and always hated the replacements having no Ethernet
Yeah but being limited to 10/100 speeds stinks :--(
@@clebbington Don't know why you would need higher speeds for a streaming box.
@@clebbington 100Mbps is plenty fast enough for 4K streaming or downloading apps onto it, what would you need gigabit for realistically?
Some people play local high bitrate 4k remuxes that can hit over 100Mbps.
My question is why would any company, especially one like Amazon, use obsolete port standards such a as 10/100 Ethernet and USB 2.0 on what is supposed to be their flagship device? USB 3.0 has been available since '08. Gigabit Ethernet has been available since '99. USB 2.0 & 10/100 Ethernet should have been phased out years ago. USB 3.1 and Gigabit Ethernet should already be the default standards.
@@Mr01dschool Because the device isn't designed for power users playing 100Mbps+ 4K Remuxes. You aren't the target audience for this device.
Amazon will have considered that, and decided that it wasn't worth the extra $0.20 for Gigabit when they expect to sell maybe 120 million of these devices globally, for the few hundred people actually playing 4K remuxes over 100Mbps. Those few people will buy something else, and Amazon will make more money on this
They went cheap on the Ethernet and RAM. I’m out.
So Amazon is going through the expense and trouble of adding an Ethernet port but decided to use a 10/100 port? Are kidding me? Would it have cost them 10 cents more? Whoever approved this should be fined. You can’t justify not using Gigabit when you already allocated room for an Ethernet port on the system. It’s the same freaking size. There is no way this device should ever be recommended for the price they charge. Who still uses 100 megabit Ethernet
About the 10/100 Ethernet port... this is a streaming device. Unless you're running raw UHD Blu-Ray rips across your LAN, you're not going to come close to needing 100 Mbps. The limited RAM, however, is a different story. More RAM means more buffer space available.
What about downloading files? Or transferring files over lan?
Why release a device with obsolete port standards such a as USB 2.0 and 10/100 Ethernet in the first place? Those should have been phased out years ago. USB 3.0 was introduced in '08. Gigabit Ethernet has been out for over 2 decades. Amazon needs to stop cheaping out.
Can you please for the love of all that is holy do moonlight streaming tests in these videos?
Say ETA Prime try run it without any internet when it goes offline from the router to media local server
@ETA but this means basicly it has a 64 bit cpu but the fire os is only 32 bit?
the blacks look really good,
what model is that BENQ monitor?
Is it OLED?
The size and shape of this reminds me of the Ouya.
Anther device that I was thinking might break me from my 2017 Nvidia Shield TV... but alas, it's a no once again.
one look at those Big and little cores and as well as the GPU and I knew the PSP performance was gonna be just that, this thing is even weaker than my old phone that had a helio P70
So NTFS support is there for offline media file playback... Some review and article says it is not.
I know it's not really meant for gaming, but they should've made it 6gb ram and 64gb storage. Price it at $200, I would've happily paid that
with chip shortages they r trying their best to get away with stingyness the amazon tablets r shit
You would quite literally be one of a handful of people who would buy it New Fire TV Cube 3 is fantastic for its target audience and will probably sell very well, and even then when it goes on sale which is inevitable, it could be a steal for some.
@@marksapollo
Probably more than a handful. Right now the Nvidia Shield, which released it's latest version back in '19, still has no legit competition.
@@Mr01dschool Spoken like a true fanboy. Your wrong of course, and the Shield TV is ancient, it’s chip is from 2015, it’s very old.
@@marksapollo
Nope you are mistaken. Actually spoken like someone living in 2022 and expecting companies to use the latest standards, for this decade, in their flagship device.
The Shield's SOC is older but you have no way of disputing that it has more RAM and newer port standards than the Cube. It is also using a much newer version of Android TV. The Shield can passthrough DTS-HD and TrueHD audio unlike the Cube.
Sorry if you don't like the facts but there is no disputing them. The only fanboi here is the person defending a company for skimping on hardware . Not sure why people get so defensive when others call out a huge company for using ports that have been obsolete for almost a decade. I would think everyone would want to see progress, but I guess not.
Would be nice if other companies stepped up to offer a premium streaming box in 2022. Apple came close but I am not someone in the Apple ecosystem and not a fan of their closed OS. Sorry to upset you but IMO Amazon failed at doing so.
Try to put this Cube into Sleep mode and try to wake it up over a USB keyboard. doesn't Work, beacause the USB Port will shut down. You are only be able to wake it up over the Remote that come with the Cube itself.
Can this stream Steam games using SteamLink app sideloaded or Parsec at 4k 60fps?
What brand of drive did you use as ntfs, please? It has been working for some and not others. Thank you.
Is the Nvidia Shield still the best streaming device?
It entirely depends on what you want it to do and the equipment you have, and how much you want to fiddle with it to set it up. But the Shield TV is very old now, the chip in it is essentially the same one from 2015 with a few tweaks. They really need to update it.
@@marksapollo
Nvidia does need to update the Shield but it still has more up to date hardware in some areas than the Fire TV Cube 3. The Shield still has more RAM plus uses USB and Ethernet standards from this decade unlike the Cube.
@@Mr01dschool It doesn’t matter as the new Cube on paper at least is more powerful, 3 GB ram is pointless when the chip architecture is from 2015. Nvidia should be great full Amazon gimped the new Cube by giving it a 32bit OS. Also 100mbps is perfectly fine for 4K streaming and it’s target audience, but it has WiFi 6E which is faster the gigabit Ethernet anyway, another thing the Shield lacks.
@@marksapollo
The Shield's SOC is able to take full advantage of all 3GB of RAM. The SOC is still fast enough to do everything smoother than most streaming boxes. Nvidia does need to release an updated version with a newer SOC, at least 4GB of RAM, at least 32GB of storage, HDMI 2.1 and support for the newer video codecs. That doesn't excuse other companies like Amazon for releasing a gimped flagship device.
The Fire TV Cube 3 falls short for many reasons. 100Mbps is not always fast enough to handle some higher bitrate 4K remuxes, which is why someone would need a Gigabit Ethernet port. I am not using WiFi on a stationary connected device. Hardwired is always going to be more reliable, more secure and usually provides less latency than a wireless connection. I am not going to compromise this because a company like Amazon decided to be cheap with their hardware. Why should I reward a company for skimping by using obsolete ports.
Another reason the new Cube falls short is they decided to use the bare minimum with RAM and internal storage. For a premium device in 2022 there is no excuse for not using at least 4GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage.
Running on a 32bit version of Android TV 9.0 in 2022 is pretty bad. Still not supporting passthru of DTS-HD and TrueHD audio is also going to turn away a few potential customers.
All in all I give Amazon a D for their new Fire TV Cube. I definitely will not be rewarding them with my money. Maybe they will try harder next time.
I Love The New Alexa Remote Control.
Awesome
Great video as usual. If I would like to use CoD or Modern Warfare Android games, do they work using APK on external memory?
When are you going to make more projects with 11.9" touch panel that you reviewed about 6 months ago?
Hi do you know if the new cube runs GameCube games via Dolphin?
Do the newer TVs need a streaming device ?😘😘
Depends. There's some brands (looking at vizio, for example) That have great value panels but shitty software.
Hey +ETA PRIME do you have any idea or suggestion what to do with an old, first gen Fire TV Stick?!
This thing still works but is laggy as hell. If you know any project to still use that hardware, let us know! It should be similar hardware than an Pi Zero W, but I suspect that there is no way to install a different OS on it.
And the new Fire TV Cube 3 for me stays a player device for amazon content, not more. I guess that the 32-Bit OS is necessary because of older FireTV Sticks and the App Store.
But *it has one downside for me beside the ones you mentioned:* no audio out via toslink. Because I still have an older HiFi-system that I would connect it to! And that was the pro of the fisrt Fire TV: it still had a digital audio out!
2gb ram for mid tier chipset? 😂 What a nice combo. A chipset good for running genshin impact and emulator.
@Tim H yes and as far as i know 32 bit OS supports up to 4 GB
What's your take on the recent deprecation of WideVine? How quickly do you think replacements will arrive? I haven't seen any news about content providers adopting the new system, and I'm a tad concerned about having to buy all new devices once Google sunsets WideVine. I haven't seen any dates yet, and was curious if you had.
I just saw that you can get emuelec on the cube, does that mean it can run GameCube and PS2 now?
How does the AI Upscaling / “Super Resolution” feature compare to the Nvidia Shield?
(also emulator frame rates comparison to it would be nice 👍)
Good
Is Redream available via the app store? I had to side load Redream on my Fire TV Stick 4K Max because I couldn't find it on the store. On my Fire TV Stick 4K Max the Flycast core via RetroArch runs better than the side-loaded Redream app, which I think is odd.
Great video, but at the same time, fool me once Amazon on the Cube, I ain't buying it anymore.
That remote would be perfect for the Firestick.
Remember to take out the power plug when doing secret things.
'Big brother is watching you!'
How hard is it to put a snapdragon 845 in a box?
The device is pretty decent, but... Why? Why 2 GB RAM when current Android devices in the lowest tier uses 4 GB and even more... Apple TV from this year is rumored to use 4 GB RAM
Do you know if it's capable ti redirect the audio from HDMI ARC port to home theatre system realized with echo in stereo mode? Thx
AmaZog
Who is buying this for gaming? It's not what this device was designed for so it shouldn't be surprising that apps for games is not their top priority.
Does the Luna Controller work with Moonlight on FireOS on the cube or the sticks?
can you see the difference gen2 vs gen3 video quality with super resolution on?
the xbox streaming really threw me off . looked great too.
I have a questions, is the dongle of the 8bitdo ultimate enough for the Xbox series? Is a adapter or just a dongle?
I think a 4k max is more then enough for most people. I'm still rocking my 2017 nvidia shield
Can we get a re-review now that they just released the newest firmware with better Upscaling and Lossless audio pass through?
10/100 ethernet on a device is unacceptable in today's age. What if you wanted to stream anything from a local network? You're screwed, people have faster internet than that too... Frankly unacceptable
Agree 💯. 10/100 Ethernet and USB 2.0 should have been phased out years ago. Gigabit Ethernet and USB 3.1 should be the default standards now.
Where is white flat thumbnail device at ?
The thumbnail box is not same as video box.
On a side note i love that new 8bitdo controller❤
No gigabit ethernet adapter? That stinks...
Probably isn't worth it if you have something like TCL series 7 with Android and 4xA73, G52(MP?) and 3g RAM already?
The fact that the OS is only running in 32-bit mode is a massive issue...on multiple levels...Im not in the mindset right now to explain but one can google the cons of 32bit operating systems in 2022 these days. What a joke. To me, thats a complete failure from Amazon. Edit: The more I think about it, it makes sense why Amazon would want to nerf its devices like this...they want you playing games from their own streaming service and other app-store games. Ironically their app store is trash for games as ETA Prime noted and Luna game streaming might flop just like Google Stadia recently did. I doubt Amazon wants us easily using these devices for emulation since Amazon takes a hit on the hardware price sometimes, in order to sell more units in the hopes that you'll use all their digital services. All around a 32bit device wont even run most new apps even side-loaded...hot trash.
Emulation+Gaming on Project Voltera pls! :D
I have a Fire TV from 2020. It's just a Fire stick with a built in Echo speaker, and it's nice to use Alexa to turn on a TV and even my Xbox before I sit down...but it's more of a bonus feature.
Anyway I'm thinking if using it to run Moonlight on it to stream my emulators from my PC downstairs. That's the route I may take since Pi"a are impossible to but now.
can you install Kodi on these?
Yes you can.
What would you recommend for emulation?
Shield
Bought one today. Fire cube won’t recognise movie files in usb connected external hdd. Used a powered hdd, as well as non-powered, and tried ntfs and exFAT. I’ve got a cube 3 running latest updates etc. wanted to play my movies through it
Really. I wanted to purchase it for The same reason.. I hv the same monitor n huge library of movies. Shud i drop the idea?
It's gotta be supported format, I think it's gotta be mp4 or avi
Can the tv sound be output through the Firetv Cube speaker?
I'm wondering will they enable the Vulkan API on older devices via OTA updates.....
That’s no GameCube.
How well does it handle moonlight?
It's supposed to support "4K" streaming and doesn't do GbE?
junk.
Is there a way to install launchbox android to this? its great that retropie works on it but like... just the thought of going through all the rom libraries and things.. and lists of games is hard to see with my ageing eyes 😅
Is that supported to full hd tv??