Tivo Stream 4k vs Fire stick 4k – Which dongle is a better performer?
Media streaming boxes and sticks are becoming the solution to doing away with your cable bills. Streamers like Tivo stream 4k and Fire stick 4k will give you access to tons of content in 4K and are very affordable.
The Tivo Stream 4k is a budget-friendly dongle that is designed to provide access to both free and subscription streaming content while the fire stick 4k has all the specs you want including 4k resolution, Alexa, Dolby Vision, and Atmos.
Table of Contents
What are the differences between Tivo Stream 4k and Fire stick 4k?
Product |
Tivo stream 4k |
Fire stick 4k |
Remote |
Peanut-shaped with all expected buttons |
Long slim with more advanced features |
Available apps and services |
Netflix, Sling, Hulu, Amazon prime, Disney+, Amazon prime video, HBO Max, and Google play TV and movies |
All major streaming services |
4k |
4k, Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos |
4k with HDR10 and Dolby vision |
Smart Assistant |
Google assistant |
Alexa |
Tivo Stream 4k vs Fire stick 4k – How do they differ?
Design
These two streamers have very different designs which make it very easy to differentiate them. The Tivo stream 4k looks like a Chromecast and a Ruko stick, but the main dongle is a small rectangular device with a flexible HDMI cable that you can easily connect at the side or back of your TV. There’s a micro-USB port that you connect to an AC adapter to provide power, a pairing button, and a USB-C port that you can use to attach an Ethernet cable or additional storage if you have the right adapters. On the other hand, the fire stick 4k is a long rectangular bar with an HDMI connector on one end and a micro-USB port on the other. If it protrudes from the edge of your TV when plugged on the side, you can use the short and flexible HDMI extender that will allow you to reposition it at a different angle.
The fire stick 4k has a better design that you can easily hide behind your TV and is very portable.
Remote
The remotes for these two devices are very different. The Tivo stream 4k has a peanut-shaped remote that makes it very comfortable to hold and use. It has all the expected buttons for volume, channels, skip a dedicated number pad, power, play/pause, directional arrows, guide and info buttons, and buttons for Google Assistant and Netflix. However, the fire stick 4k remote is an Alexa voice remote. It’s a slim rectangular remote with a circular navigation pad and a pinhole mic near the top for using Alexa. It has buttons for power, volume, playback, and volume. You can use it to control our TV volume and power.
The fire stick 4k remote uses Alexa voice control and you can use it to change your TV volume and turn it on/off.
Setup
The setup process for both the stick and stream 4k is straight forward, but Tivo uses personalization steps that guide you through a series of ‘a or b’ choices with popular TV shows to know your personal tastes. It also offers you some suggested titles for your My shows collection, but you can always add your own movies and shows later. You also get to select the streaming services you have access that includes Netflix, Sling, Hulu, Amazon prime, Disney+, Amazon prime video, HBO Max, and Google play TV and movies.
The stream 4k has a more personalized way of ensuring you can access all your favorite movies and shows.
Tivo Stream 4k vs Fire stick 4k – A comparison review
Tivo Stream 4k
- No More App-Switching. Forget learning to navigate a new screen with every app. TiVo Stream 4K enables...
- Recommendations Across All of Your Apps: Get rid of the walls between what you watch. TiVo recommends...
The Tivo Stream 4k is a streaming media dongle that is powered by the Android TV operating system and is very affordable considering it has both Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos. It uses the Tivo stream app that has consolidated content from different streaming services including Apple TV+ if you have a subscription, to give you an easy to use interface. All the content is categorized into familiar titles like movies, sports, shows, and kids, then each is broken down further. This way you can search through multiple sources of content from one interface. The stream app also houses the Tivo+ free ad-supported live TV platform that has a collection of very specific channels and can access, then using the guide button.
You’ll need to have a Sling TV subscription to get the most out of the stream app, unfortunately, it doesn’t support all services, it’s limited to Netflix, Sling, Hulu, Amazon prime, Disney+, Amazon prime video, HBO Now, and Google play TV and movies. The stream app allows you to search for content using Google search and Google Assistant voice response. As long as Android TV supports it, you can use a live TV service apart from Sling TV. The stream 4k supports a TV with HDR so you’ll get great picture quality with Dolby vision. The audio quality is also great since stream 4k supports a variety of audio formats including Dolby Atmos, Dolby digital plus, Dolby TrueHD, DTS HD, and DTS. The best part about using an Android TV is that they both work well on the stream 4k.
Pros
- Supports Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos
- Has a great remote control
- The stream app is easy to use
- Very affordable
Cons
- The stream app has limited services
- Remote functions are limited
Fire stick 4k
- Cinematic experience - Watch in vibrant 4K Ultra HD with support for Dolby Vision, HDR, and HDR10+.
- Home theater audio with Dolby Atmos - Feel scenes come to life with support for immersive Dolby Atmos...
The fire stick 4k is an affordable video streamer that is smaller, faster, and supports Dolby vision with a more advanced remote. Setting up the stick 4k is very simple, you just set it like any other Fire TV device and use your Amazon account too long in. The interface’s main menu has large rows of apps and media suggested by Amazon and your own preference, however, Apple and Google aren’t present on fire TV, but you can access other major apps like Crackle, Sling TV, HBO Go, Netflix, Twitch, Crunchyroll and Vudu.
The fire stick 4k uses Alexa voice assistant on the remote to search for content using voice commands, ask general info, and control compatible smart home devices. You can also pair it with an Echo device for hands-free voice control. The stick 4k can stream UHD or 4k videos including HDR media either in Dolby Vision or HDR10. It has a faster processor than the standard fire TV stick and uses a quad-core 1.7GHz CPU with 8GB of memory so you get almost instant uploads with very clear playback and reliable 4k video streaming if you have a good wireless network.
Pros
- Very affordable
- Supports Dolby vision
- Great video quality and fast responses
- Uses Alexa voice control
Cons
- The user interface has lots of Amazon content
- No Google play apps
Conclusion
The Tivo Stream 4k and Fire stick 4k are two very capable streaming dongles that won’t cost you a lot of money. While the fire stick 4k is a more mature product that has been in the market for longer and a great choice if you’re an Amazon fan, the Stream 4k is an affordable Android TV device that is very impressive.
So which one is better Tivo Stream 4k or Fire stick 4k?
The fire stick 4k is a better streaming device because you get access to all the apps you want, it’s a nearly flawless streamer that supports 4k with Dolby Vision and HDR10, uses Alexa for voice control with access to your smart home devices and the remote can control your TVs power and volume.
FAQ
Does the fire stick 4k work on any TV?
Yes, as long as your TV has HDMI ports you can use it. It will give you the best resolution as per your TV capability.
Does Tivo Stream 4k work with YouTube TV?
No, but you can download it from Google play store and access your subscription on the device. However, you can’t integrate YouTube TV with the Tivo channel guide or content search.
