Which is better, Apple TV, Roku, or a Firestick? (also Chromecast)

I think the Apple TV 4K and the Roku Ultra are both better than the Amazon Fire TV Cube for different reasons. The Google Chromecast Ultra is just a dongle that can transmit a browser video from a portable device to a television, which you may not even need, if your device and television are already compatible by network, Bluetooth, Airplay, or if you have a late-model smart TV.

The main feature differences…

Roku has been around the longest and has access to the most apps, but it’s additional apps aren’t necessarily noteworthy — B-movies, straight-to-video movies, a lot of public domain stuff, shows and movies back to the b&w 40s and 50s, plus podcasts which can be displayed or heard other ways. (I saw Jim Backus in a 1952 early sitcom episode of I Married Joan which was a dozen years before Gilligan’s Island, the 1955 episode of The Jimmy Durante Show where Carmen Miranda died shortly after her performance, and a grainy 1949 pilot episode of I Remember Mama where Dick Van Patten was around 20.) One channel just shows old pilots — good and bad. But, it's a good way to revisit television shows you may have liked, but did not run long enough to make it to syndication or watch plenty of family-friendly fare from the golden age of television, which you won't have to pre-screen or worry about your children watching, aside from shoot-em-up westerns.

If you can put up with the archaic interface, it may be your choice because of the lower price. Should you buy the extra memory and load a lot of apps, locating the app you want can be a chore. Organization of apps is limited to a continuous line, which you can only manipulate by nudging apps space-by-space. It can take forever to get them in an order you like and if you add a new one after that, the order will change for every app after its new location. Only one channel app can be open at a time, so if you want to switch between channels, the program you were watching must be closed with the app before you can open another app. Roku can mirror some web content, but you need to transmit it through compatible apps on Roku and your other device. Supposedly AirPlay support is coming (I don’t know if this will require upgrading to a new device). Roku collects user data and advertises, but most of it is out of the way. Roku only supports HDR10 for it’s Ultra definition. You also might experience streaming sluggishness. Typing in anything, like passwords or setup information, is a character-by-character searching nightmare. Re-entering passwords for logging into each channel app seems to be a regular event— a real nuisance.

Though it has a higher price, I don’t think the the Apple TV is overpriced. The TV-OS is similar to iOS, so organization is simple — no wasted time in setup. Apps can be organized into folders of your own creation (I.e., Childrens programming, sports, news, cooking, special interests, etc.). Siri is integrated into it but you have to hold down the remote key, which is probably for the best, since you don’t want your TV accidentally activating it or it listening in on your conversation. It fits well into the Apple ecosphere with seamless AirPlay mirroring from any other capable Apple device. If you have already downloaded some of the apps on one of your iOS devices, their TV-OS version will be available for you use on Apple TV after your network connection.

Apple TV has a better security; a better processor (A10X Fusion chip with 64-bit architecture); gigabit Ethernet; a built-in power supply; more RAM (3 GB vs 1 GB of Roku); more storage (32 or 64 GB vs 512 mb std for Roku, but Roku can add a 2 GB USB-A/microSD card [necessary to install more than a couple dozen or so apps]. Apple TV also has Bluetooth 5.0 for headphones (as well as the remote), while Roku has a physical wired headphone jack outlet built into the remote; is speedier, can download games to it; can play iTunes music, movie, and Podcast (audio and video) content; has beautiful helicopter(not drone)-shot and International Space Station-shot screensavers (shot in 6k); can show photos from other Apple devices; has support for Dolby Vision, HDR10, and Dolby Atmos; and is an overall better experience (than ANY streaming device on the market) — which is an ad-free experience, because Apple has no interest in using your data. If you have another Apple device on your network registered to the same name as the Apple TV, it will be prompted to use the keyboard if passwords or other typing is required, which doesn’t seem to be needed as often as on the Roku. You could also use Siri to read password characters to. Apple has a single sign-on feature with apps associated with a cable carrier. On an Apple TV, the user doesn't need to close one app to open another, so switching between apps is more elegant, say between family members, because you can pick up right where you left off. Finally, Apple releases regular updates; so, the device you buy is likely to be more secure and improved, with more features being added later.

In this case, it's true that you get what you pay for. All these features are well worth the higher price for the Apple TV, but if you think you’ll miss out on some specialty channel apps, you could always buy both, if your television has a free HDMI input. I have both myself.

I haven’t had personal experience with the Amazon Fire Cube (similar to the Firestick), but that’s by choice. There are a lot of commercials (the home screen is a giant advertisement) and, as it has Alexa, is always listening to you talk and uses your data (That’s bad enough in the living room, but would you want it spying in your bedroom?!!). Only five apps are allowed on the home screen and the recents will most likely show duplicates, if your favorites are those five — brilliant design. ;-\ … Amazon doesn’t display as much 4K content as Roku and Apple plus it’s not as fast as the Apple TV. There is a smaller app selection than both Apple and Roku. Google and Amazon don’t get along, so there’s no YouTube app. Amazon tries to make up for this by having a built-in browser. Or you can install a third-party YouTube clone app but it wouldn't be compatible with your current YouTube account, preferences, subscriptions, or viewing history — both workarounds kludgy. If I buy a product like this, I also don’t want it to mine my data and continue to sell to me constantly when I get it home.

Google’s Chromecast Ultra is more on on a par with Amazon than Apple or Roku. For a smart TV device, it’s pretty dumb. You need to have and occupy a computer or wireless device to locate programming and cast it to your TV. There is no menu-based feature. For that reason, it's better suited to the tech-savvy. It also could be an issue if you are using a portable device to cast, which can’t hold a charge long enough for your viewing sessions. There also is no onboard storage or dedicated remote. Google also likes to collect and use your data for advertising and who knows what else. The Google vs Amazon feud natively keeps Amazon Prime out of the equation. Otherwise you can access a lot of apps, but it would differ on which device you choose to use with it. There are also a lot of less-than console-style games available. Like Roku, Chromecast Ultra only supports HDR10. Google doesn't release the device's processor, but if there's any lag in your video, it's probably due to deficiencies of your external device which may need to be upgraded. So in actuality, your broadcasting peripheral is your external device and Google Chromecast is just the dongle that puts the picture up. That's why it's so cheap. If you have a late model television that can share the signal from your device through the network, AirPlay, or via Bluetooth, you won't even need the Chromecast dongle; and, the television will probably already have, at least, the major streaming apps on it already.

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Of course, there's no rule that says you have to only get one — especially if you can accommodate more than one or own more than one TV. My first choice was Roku, then I upgraded it a couple times and then added a couple Apple TVs. Now that I have both, my general habit is to go to the Apple TV first, after watching the local over-the-airwaves programming.