How Amazon’s Fire TV Stick Compares to Other Streaming Dongles

Amazon

Today, Amazon got into the streaming-stick game with the announcement of the $39 Fire TV Stick, an HDMI-port plugin for your HDTV that will replicate much of the functionality of the full-size Fire TV. Existing Amazon Prime members can preorder the stick for just $19 in the next couple of days, but it won’t ship until November 19, according to Amazon’s site.

It’ll have a few differentiating factors compared to the rapidly expanding field of streaming sticks. Those include a dual-core processor that should mean zippy reaction times, more onboard storage than its competition, and second-screen treats for Amazon tablet users that include X-Ray sync with onscreen content. Like the full-size Fire TV box, the stick will also offer faster load times for Amazon’s streaming content via the “ASAP” feature, and it’ll come with a free month of Prime.

But how does it compare to the Google Chromecast and the Roku Streaming Stick, which will be the new micro-streamer’s obvious competitors? They’ll all fit in your pocket, but here’s how they’ll fit into your life.

	Fire TV Stick	Chromecast	Roku Stick
Price	$39; $19 for Amazon Prime members through Oct. 29.	$35	$50
Connectivity	Dual-band (2.4GHz and 5GHz) 802.11a/b/g/n	Single-band (2.4GHz) 802.11b/g/n	Dual-band (2.4GHz and 5GHz) 802.11a/b/g/n
Comes with remote?	Yes.	No.	Yes.
Does the remote come with batteries?	Yes.	N/A.	Yes.
Will this streaming stick stream Styx?	Yes. (Pandora, Spotify, Plex, Amazon Music)	Yes. (Pandora, Spotify, Rdio, Plex, Google Play Music)	Yes. (Pandora, Spotify, Rdio, Slacker, Amazon Cloud Player)
App store	Amazon Appstore. You download apps directly to the stick from its onscreen interface.	Google Play Store. You download compatible apps to your phone, tablet, or laptop and “cast” from your device to TV.	Roku Channel Store. You download apps directly to the stick from its onscreen interface.
What’s missing?	HBO Go, Rdio, Vudu.	Amazon Instant Video—although you can stream it to your TV from a browser using the Google Cast extension in Chrome.	Nothing, it has all that and a bag of chips.
Does it have a channel devoted entirely to 1950s sex-education videos?	No.	No.	Yes.
Storage	8GB + 5GB free storage on Amazon Cloud Drive	2GB	256MB
TV input	HDMI	HDMI	HDMI
Do I have to plug it in?	Yes, via included USB cable/charger.	Yes, via included USB cable/charger.	Yes, via included USB cable/charger.
Does it have HBO Go?	No.	Yes.	Yes.
Can I watch HBO shows anyway?	Yes. Amazon Instant Video has a lot of HBO shows, such as The Sopranos, The Wire, Six Feet Under, and Eastbound & Down.	Only on HBO Go.	Yes. On both Amazon Instant Video and HBO Go.
Why would you buy it?	Loads Amazon content quickly due to ASAP; you have an HDX tablet or Fire Phone you want to “fling” stuff from; you want a free month of Amazon Prime; has good CPU and audio specs.	You want a quick and easy way to use your TV as a big second screen for anything you watch on your mobile device or laptop.	You want the best overall streaming selection.
Why wouldn’t you buy it?	You don’t use Amazon services much and/or you already pay for HBO.	You’d like a polished streamer experience and/or want to use a real remote.	You want to mirror your laptop screen on your TV and/or you have less than $50.
Star sign	Capricorn/Aquarius cusp	Sagittarius	Taurus