Top critical review
3.0 out of 5 starsSeems easy to use out of the box - let's see what it can do!
Reviewed in Canada on December 18, 2020
Well, I received this Amazon Fire Stick Lite over a couple of weeks ago and didn't really have a chance to use is since it has a male HDMI port. I guess I can stick it onto my TV but it's such a pain to configure the CEC-ARC on my Samsung TV. The CEC-ARC does work as it routes the sound to the receiver through the other HDMI cable from the TV to the receiver. So, I really want to have my Yamaha receiver handle all devices since I have an extra dangling HDMI cable coming out (pre-planned ;)).
Now, why didn't Amazon think of making the Fire Stick with a female HDMI port instead and have a dual-ended male HDMI adapter or have a dual-ended female/female HDMI adapter for it's male HDMI interface supplied in its package? Well, I had to buy a double-ended adapter to make this all work. I can understand that if you only have a TV without a receiver, then the male end of the Fire Stick works right out of the box. However, I'm sure many people like me who have an entertainment center set up will likely hook up the Fire Stick through the receiver to get the most cinematic experience on screen and through better speakers. This is my only gripe so far and hence a 4-Star rating rather than 5-Stars.
Update: 2021/03/19
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OK, I've had a few month to try out the Fire Stick Lite and there are several things I'm going to gripe about. I've actually taken away one star. So, instead of 4 stars, it's now 3 stars and I think 3 stars is about as perfect as it can get. Here's why:
1) Again, one of my nags prior is with the male HDMI that sticks out of the Stick. Why can't Amazon make that a female port so that a regular HDMI cable with a male end stick into it? Or even better yet, have an option for DisplayPort or USB C female port - It's 2021, not 2001!
2) Micro USB port - I'm thinking this port is actually a USB 1.0 rather than USB2.0. Why, in my other review on the Amazon Basics 3-port Adapter with Gigabit Ethernet adapter, the speed I'm getting is not that great. The Amazon Basics with the Gigabit Ethernet LAN actually does its job in providing good download speeds. However, the download speeds tested through the Fire Stick vs Computers with USB 3.0 and 2.0 ports shows completely different results. The Fire Stick is only able to get a maximum of 230Mbps download on a SpeedTest.net with Internet300 from Shaw. On my computers, I was able to successfully get a consistent 300-323Mbps using the Amazon Basics 3-port USB 3/Gigabit Ethernet adapter. The Fire Stick Lite only gets inconsistent result ranging from 100Mbps to 230Mbps and mostly lands between 170-220Mbps with the Gigabit Ethernet via the USB Micro plug through using a USB 2.0 OTG splitter cable. Again, this is 2021 not 2001. Put in a USB-C port to handle power, input, and output for USB and Video feeds! I can't believe why Amazon is still using old USB standards, let alone using USB 1.0 architecture for slow speeds!
3) Wireless N??? - I'm using a 5GHz mix mode from my Shaw Hitron modem. So, a device can connect to it with either 802.11n or AC. From the speed that I get from SpeedTest.net, the average download speed is 130Mbps. The highest I've recorded can reach 170Mbps. 130Mbps isn't that great when you know that a 802.11ac can deliver past 300Mbps on a 5GHz range for proper video streaming with no lag or stutter. Again, the Fire Stick slows down it's own network connection somehow.
4) Apps on Amazon Apps Store is limited. Sideloading other Android Apps onto the Fire Stick is harder than other Android TV boxes. The biggest gripe I have is actually the browser support. The Amazon Silk browser is decent however, it fails in that it doesn't support any browser extensions and the popup and ad block setting don't work. So, if you go to any site that wants to display ads through redirections or popups, the browser annoyingly displays alerts and allows popups to come through. It's really frustrating as some site's javascript can also setup Exceptions to the block rules so that their exceptions bypass the browser's privacy settings. Also for this Apps Gripe, Amazon Music seems great and you think it's free until you get prompted often about getting more options with Prime. It's really annoying when they've pretty much given you very limited access and then they keep trying to push for premium that you don't want. Guess nothing is really for free. Back to Youtube I go...
Update April 5, 2021
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This is probably my final update for the Fire TV Lite stick. I had a chance to use it for quite some time now. I really like it after sideloading a bunch of apps for it to make it more interesting and more enjoyable. The one thing that still kind of baffles me is the WIFI connection. I'm getting no faster than a wireless 802.11n speed of 120-140Mbps download speed. However, I have the Fire TV Lite stick hooked up to the Amazon Basics USB3 with gigabit internet and the speed, depending if it's SpeedTest.net from Ookla or from the Anatelli Speed Test app, the download speed is from 170-230Mbps from Ookla and 270-300Mbps from Anatelli. Other speed test report between the two, but when I'm watching streaming TV or movies, there's 88% no lag. But I'm still concerned about the WIFI speed and why Amazon spec'd this the wireless out to be 802.11ac?