The Amazon Fire TV Stick Is Great, But The Smart Money Buys A Different Device

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Amazon's Fire TV Stick devices are widely recommended as an affordable and solid way to add a smart TV operating system to your non-smart or "dumb" TV or to replace your TV's existing smart platform. After all, Fire TV Stick devices are compact and portable, don't require complex installation, and are ready to use in minutes. However, if you're in the market for an Amazon streaming device, there is a better alternative to the Fire TV Stick, particularly if you are also looking for an Echo smart speaker.

Amazon offers a nifty gadget called the Fire TV Cube that essentially combines a smart speaker and streaming media player into one little device that offers the features of both devices seamlessly. It has a list price of $140; however, you can often find it selling for a discount. Although discounts vary, the $100 price tag is becoming common, and the device was selling for as low as $90 during the 2025 Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales. Here's all you need to know about the Amazon Fire TV Cube.

One of the biggest advantages of going with the Fire TV Cube is its streaming device credentials. It's the most powerful streaming media player in Amazon's portfolio, and comes with features like 4K HDR streaming support with Dolby Vision and HDR10+. It also supports Dolby Atmos audio processing and can even pass the surround sound data to your TV seamlessly. Plus, it's powered by an octa-core 2GHz processor with 2GB of RAM, which help deliver a responsive and snappy performance.

The Cube comes with Wi-Fi 6E and an Ethernet port for your connectivity needs, the latter of which will come particularly handy if you have trouble with Wi-Fi coverage around your TV and need access to reliable internet. Other features include 16GB of onboard storage and a USB 2.0 Type-A port to connect any external storage devices. Moreover, Amazon has included an HDMI 2.1 input port that you can use to plug in any video output devices, for which you don't have spare HDMI ports on your TV, such as your cable TV box, Blu-ray player, or gaming console. To make the most of this HDMI input port, make sure you connect your Fire TV Cube to an HDMI 2.1 port on your TV.

It runs on the same Fire TV operating system as Fire TV Stick models, so the feature set is the same. You get the same reasonably easy-to-use interface, access to all popular streaming services, apps for VPN services, and cloud gaming support. Fire TV also recently became the first smart TV platform to get an official Instagram app.

Another significant advantage that the Fire TV Cube offers over the Fire TV Stick models is hands-free access to the Alexa voice assistant, like the Echo smart speakers. It has all the hardware required for a basic smart speaker, such as a four-microphone array and a built-in 11W speaker. You don't need to speak into your remote like with the Fire TV Stick model, and you can simply command Alexa, like you would with an Echo device. Amazon is also giving Alexa+ Early Access with the Fire TV Cube, meaning you can also take advantage of the generative AI capabilities of the voice assistant.

In terms of Alexa features, you can use your voice to control the Fire TV interface and search for content. There is also support for regular Alexa abilities, such as the ability to control compatible smart home devices. Its built-in speakers will be able to answer you whenever required. All in all, you get a basic Echo smart speaker with a powerful streaming media player in the Fire TV Cube, which makes it a pretty enticing device for anyone who's already in the Amazon ecosystem.