Use voice commands to control compatible TVs, sound bars, and A/V receivers from popular brands like Samsung, Sony, LG, Vizio, and more. Plus, tune to live TV channels with cable and satellite boxes from top providers like Comcast, DISH, and DIRECTV/AT&T U-verse—just ask Alexa.
Enjoy stunning 4K Ultra HD streaming up to 60 fps and HDR enabling more vivid, lifelike colors and exceptional clarity. Feel scenes come to life with three-dimensional Dolby Atmos audio when connected to compatible home audio systems.
Tune to live sports and the latest must-see TV shows through Fire TV Cube without cable or satellite service. Subscribe to apps like Hulu and PlayStation Vue to access the live content you care about most. Or use an indoor HD antenna connected directly to your TV to watch broadcast networks like NBC and PBS for free.
I just got the Amazon fire TV cube this last Friday and spent some time with it this weekend. Here are my thoughts:
** Installation and Set-up:
Set-up was a breeze, simply plug in an HDMI cable (not included) and power cable and you are good to go. Set your TV to the correct input and follow the on-screen instructions. As long as the device was purchased with your Amazon account the device will be pre-loaded with your account email and password which hurries installation along. I also connected a Sonos sound bar in just a few clicks. Device can easily be set-up by anyone that is unfamiliar with technology.
My only gripe about the installation was there was not a clear way to pull through apps, games, and logins from my previous fire TV. This means you must re-download all your streaming apps and re-sync them which is a time consuming. Maybe there is an easier option but I could not find one.
** Pro’s
- Ask “Alexa, what’s the weather” and a 7 day and your TV will turn on and show you the 7 day forecast. Alexa will answer audibly as normal as well.
- Ask “Alexa, play must by [Adele]” and your TV will turn on and show the album artwork, song, artist, and scroll through the lyrics karaoke style.
- Ask “Alexa, when is Jurassic Park Fallen Kingdom playing” and you guess it, your TV will turn on and visually show you movie times at local theaters.
- Basically, most things you are used to asking Alexa will likely turn your TV on to show you a visual component as well.
- I had my Fire TV cube about 1 ft. or less away from my Sonos play base speaker and Alexa did not have any trouble hearing the wake word.
- You can set your flash news briefing to sites that support video news which is a cool feature.
- If you are trying to purchase something Alexa will show you the options, prices, etc. on screen which is nice to double check and know what you are ordering.
- Play music through your TV/stereo system instead of a little Alexa Speaker for better audio. Since I hooked up a Sonos play base speaker all audio comes out of the playbase instead of the fire TV cube.
- Have you ever play jeopardy and could not understand the question? Most games have a visual component now where questions and information will appear on screen which is a big plus.
- You can also control cable TV. If you say, “Alexa, tune to EPSN” the Fire Tv will switch inputs and bring up your cable box which you can still control via voice commands. This does not work with programs/movies/shows only channel numbers and names. Say, “Alexa, go home” and you will be back to your fire TV.
- If you have a compatible smart camera, you can says things like, “Alexa, show me the front door” and your security camera will pop-up on the TV.
** Con’s
- Not sure if this is an option but Alexa will turn the TV on quite a bit to show you something. It does not appear that Alexa will turn the TV off afterwards as I constantly noticed my TV was on this weekend. I would imagine there is an option or this will change in an update, alternatively I could set my TV on a sleep timer as Alexa is not displaying content to turn off.
- After saying the wake word it takes an extra half second or so before there is a visual display to begin talking. I noticed, I can usually start talking before the visual indicator and Alexa will still hear the whole thing but it makes you pause before saying Alexa which does not happen on the normal Alexa devices. Again, likely a software update coming soon I would guess.
- If you do not know what you are looking for the process is a bit intense. For example, “show action movies”, there will be numbers next to each movie so you could say, “play movie 4” for example or, “swipe right”, “select movie 15”, etc. If you are unsure what you want to watch the remote is much more graceful for searching through the Amazon library.
- HDMI cable not included. Sure everyone has a million of them but for people that do not have a spare I am sure it is frustrating to learn one is not included as you are trying to set up.
** General list of commands I found myself using most. I will post a link at the bottom to a more exhaustive list of commands but here are some examples of how you would use and navigate with the product:
* Searching for a movie/series:
“Alexa, Search for [Action Movies] with [Bruce Willis]” or “Alexa, Search for [title / actor / genre]”
Up to ten results will display on screen with corresponding numbers next to each result
“Alexa, Show more” or “Alexa, Scroll right”
“Alexa, Play #5” or “Alexa, Play [Die Hard]”
* Know what you want to play? Say things like:
“Alexa, Play [Game of Thrones] on [HBO Go]”
“Alexa, *Tune to [ESPN]” (*Tune indicates a switch to your cable box, you can say a channel number or channel name only at this time.)
“Alexa, Launch [Showtime Anytime]” to launch an app.
* Turn on or off:
“Alexa, Play [Game of Thrones] on [HBO Go]” will automatically turn on your TV and launch the show on specified app.
“Alexa, turn on TV” will bring you to the Amazon home screen.
“Alexa, turn on cable” will turn on your TV and cable box.
* Common commands while viewing:
Alexa, Turn up the volume
Alexa, Mute
Alexa, rewind 5 minutes
Alexa, Jump to 25 minutes
Alexa, fast-forward 25 seconds
Alexa, Next Episode
* Non movie/series related commands or questions:
“Alexa, play music by [Adele]” or “Alexa, play my [Adele] station on [Pandora]”
“Alexa, What’s the weather” or “Alexa, what’s traffic like now?” or “Alexa, Will it rain tomorrow?”
“Alexa, show me [Garage] camera” to display your security camera with Alexa enabled cameras.
“Alexa, what’s my flash briefing?”
“Alexa, order/re-order toilet paper”
You can find more comprehensive list here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=GK5A3XSKT5RWB39U
** Conclusion:
Overall, I really like the Fire TV Cube. My main gripes is it seems to be a bit laggy with commands compared to the standard Echo. I am hoping this will improve with future software updates. Second, it can be cumbersome to use the voice commands if you do not know what you want to watch. In this scenario, I will continue to use the included remote. However, if you have misplaced your remote, or are too lazy, tired, the voice commands work great in all aspects.
I replaced a Fire TV Gen 2 and Echo Dot with the Fire TV cube in my bedroom and am overall quite pleased. The Fire TV cube hardware seems fantastic and the few operational / software issues I have will likely get better with time. It will be exciting as well to see how app developers begin to use the new features and system to build out new and exciting games and content.
This device will 100% replace both your Echo and Fire TV and if you are looking for a new streaming device for any room in the house there is no reason not to get this. Even if you do not play on using Alexa it is great functionality to have. For an extra, $40 it is an easy decision for me. Now, if you have an Echo and a Fire TV in the same room already this likely will not be a worthwhile upgrade for a lot of people. For me, having Alexa work through my Sonos Sound bar to improve audio quality for music, and automatic input switching alone is worth the upgrade but you will have to decide for yourself if it is worth replacing existing equipment.
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"Alexa, turn on the lights."
Control the lights with your voice.
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Fire TV Cube technical details
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Size |
3.4” x 3.4” x 3.0” (86.1 mm x 86.1 mm x 76.9 mm) |
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Weight |
16.4 oz (465 g) |
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Processor |
Quad-core up to 1.5 GHz | ARM 4xCA53 |
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GPU |
Mali450 MP3 |
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Storage |
16 GB internal |
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Memory |
2 GB |
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Wi-Fi connectivity |
Dual-band, dual-antenna Wi-Fi (MIMO) for faster streaming and fewer dropped connections than standard Wi-Fi. Supports 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi networks. |
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Bluetooth |
BT 4.2 and BLE |
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Voice support |
Far-field and near-field voice support |
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Voice control compatibility |
Fire TV Cube can control a wide range of IR-enabled devices, including TVs, sound bars, cable and satellite boxes, and A/V receivers. Learn more here about supported devices. |
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Cloud storage |
Free cloud storage for digital content purchased from Amazon |
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Ports |
HDMI, Power, Micro USB, Wired Infrared support |
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Included audio |
Built-in 1.6'' (40 mm) speaker to interact with Alexa–even when the TV is off. Fire TV Cube uses your entertainment system speakers for entertainment experiences and will turn on your TV, sound bar, or A/V receiver to play these. |
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Audio support |
Dolby Atmos, 7.1 surround sound, 2ch stereo, and HDMI audio pass through up to 5.1 |
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Content formats supported |
Video: HDR-10. H.265, H.264, Audio: AAC-LC, AC3, eAC3 (Dolby Digital Plus), FLAC, MP3, PCM/Wave, Vorbis, Dolby Atmos (EC3_JOC), Photo: JPEG, PNG, GIF, BMP |
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Output resolution supported |
2160p, 1080p, and 720p up to 60 fps |
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System requirements |
High-definition television with available high speed HDMI input, high speed internet connection via Wi-Fi or inbox Ethernet accessory, power outlet, (compatible TV/sound/cable equipment for control by infrared or voice). High Speed HDMI cable and 4K TV with high speed HDMI connector required for 4K viewing and more reliable device control. |
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TV compatibility |
TV must support minimum HDCP requirements for protected content playback. Learn more here. Able to control (1) 4K ultra high-definition TVs with HDMI capable of 2160p at 24/25/30/50/60 Hz and HDCP 2.2, including popular models from LG, Samsung, Sony, Sharp, Toshiba, Vizio, and others or (2) high-definition TVs with HDMI capable of 1080p or 720p at 50/60 Hz, including popular HDCP-compatible models from Hitachi, JVC, LG, Mitsubishi, NEC, Panasonic, Philips, Pioneer, Samsung, Sharp, Sony, Toshiba, Vizio, Westinghouse, and others. (For device control, certain functions may not be available on some devices). |
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Warranty and service |
1-Year Limited Warranty and service included. Optional 2-Year and 3-Year Extended Warranty available for U.S. customers sold separately. Use of Fire TV is subject to the terms found here. |
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Regional support |
Certain services may not be available outside the U.S. |
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Accessibility features |
VoiceView screen reader enables access to the vast majority of Fire TV features for users who are blind or visually impaired. Watch videos and TV shows with closed captioning displayed. Captions are not available for all content. Learn more here. |
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Included in the box |
Fire TV Cube, Alexa Voice Remote, power adapter, Quick Start Guide, marketing guide, 2 AAA batteries, infrared (IR) extender cable, Amazon Ethernet Adapter (10/100) |
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Customer Review: The Cube has dropped the remote count to one.
Boogabee
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Customer Review: Amazing with some issues (Updated)
Enrique Vargas
Reviews with images
Has some Features that I love, but huge problems with the device make it unusable.
I love the idea of this product - having an echo combined with a Fire TV, and there are some things I like about this product, but there are some very serious problems with this product that make it virtually unusable for me:1) Terrible Wi-Fi connectivity – I mean, it’s really really bad. I’ve never had a media player with such a lousy connection to my router over Wi-Fi. I have many other fire TV devices including the fire TV stick 1st gen, the new fire TV stick with voice remote, the older 4K fire TV box, and the newer little 4K fire TV Square, and I’ve used them all on this same TV in this exact same spot in my house, and all of them have great connectivity to my Wi-Fi, i’ve never had an issue with any of them. But with my new fire TV cube in the same spot in my house, I get a terrible connection to my Wi-Fi. The signal cuts in and out, videos constantly pause and buffer, sometimes every few minutes for several minutes at a time. It’s so terrible that I can’t even stand to watch a video on the Cube, because it will pause every minute or two. This happens both on videos streamed over the Internet such as prime video and Netflix, and my own videos served locally from my own home computer, which tells me that this is not an Internet problem, it’s a Wi-Fi connection problem. I also have a Roku, AppleTV, and android TV box connected to the same TV in the same location, and none of them have any Wi-Fi connectivity issues either. I strongly suspect that Amazon knows that the cube has lousy Wi-Fi connectivity compared to its other fire TV products - which is why they bundled the normally very expensive Ethernet connection adapter in with the cube for free. No other fire TV device gets that ethernet connection adapter included in its’ package for free, and though I am really happy that the Cube does come with the ethernet connection adapter for free, it’s a very suspicious thing to do, isn’t it?2) The device pauses any video you’re playing when ever you issue a voice command. So if I, say, just want the tv volume lowered a bit, the whole video I’m watching will pause, then the Cube will think about the vocal command I issued for a while (A lot longer than other echo devices), then a bunch of lights flicker on the cube, then eventually the TV volume is lowered, and then the video starts playing again. It’s ridiculously annoying. Using Any other echo device to Control my video doesn’t do this Pausing nonsense, I can use my dot, spot, and echo to pause and resume videos I’m playing without any issues, or issue any other commands to them without the video I’m watching pausing, so it’s kind of ridiculous to have to deal with this pausing nonsense on the cube.Not only that, but though this pausing feature works the way it’s supposed to (ie pauses the video, listens to commands, then resumes the video) on some popular video streaming apps such as Netflix and prime video, in other (less supported?) video apps the feature doesn’t work right at all, so when you issue a vocal command to the cube while playing a video in one of these other apps, instead of pausing the video it completely stops playing the video and dumps you out of the video you’re playing, sometimes even dumping you out of the app entirely. This means that if you’re playing a video in one of these less – supported apps and issue a simple vocal command to the cube such as volume up, it will completely crash the video playback, and dump you out of the video app and back into the home screen. Then I have to find the app icon on the home screen again, wait for the app to start up again, find the video I was watching, play the video again, in some cases find my place in the video again, and then press play to start watching again, all just because I wanted the damn volume up a notch. This ‘pausing (and/or crashing) videos while issuing voice commands’ is ridiculous, and I can’t seem to find a way to turn that pausing behavior off. I have to be sure not to say anything that will wake up the cube to listen to voice commands while I watch a video, or I risk being dumped out of it and having to start the video all over.3) I can’t find a way to adjust the volume of Alexis’ voice (thru the TV) independently of the TV volume or the cube’s own built-in speaker volume. I’ll explain what I mean - You can say volume up or volume down to the cube and it will adjust the volume of your television set, (or your sound bar, or whatever you’re listening to your videos through;) AND You can adjust the volume of the speaker built inside the cube by pressing the volume up and down buttons on top of the cube, (so when the cube wants to tell you something when it’s not connected to the television or otherwise needs to give you a sound, that volume can easily be adjusted, including Alexis’ voice through that speaker.) But, when I’m watching something on the television, and I issue a vocal command to the cube, when Alexa responds to my command, her voice is super super loud through the television. It’s so loud in fact that it makes my television speakers vibrate and hiss so much that I’m afraid it’s damaging them. But if I lower the TV volume to a level where Alexis’ voice is at a normal volume, I can’t hear my television program because the overall television volume is way too low. To put it another way - Alexa’s voice is so loud when coming through my television compared to anything else I’m listening to through my television that her booming voice sounds like it’s damaging my speakers, and the only way to lower her incredibly loud voice seems to be to lower the overall television volume, which makes any other programming I’m listening to on my television way too low to listen to. I’ve looked and looked, and I can’t find a way to lower the volume of Alex’s voice as it goes through the television independently of the main television volume, and she is just way too loud. If there is a way to lower just her voice as it comes through to the television without lowering the television volume overall, I would love to know what it is.4) some of the main features that I use with my echo devices are not available on the cube for some reason, including voice calling, multi room music, and some other key features. These may become available in the future, but for now they are not available, and it’s very disappointing. It means that I have to have another echo in the room with the cube, which defeats the whole purpose of having both of the echo and fire TV functionality combined into a single unit and using the cube in that room. Since I have to have both an echo and the cube in the room in order to use all the echo features I use, Having the cube in here at all is pretty much useless. I’m really hoping that these features are added to the cube in a software update in the near future, because right now having a cube that cant perform these simple echo functions is very disappointing.- -Now, what I like about the cube. I would’ve easily given the cube five stars based on the features that I list below, had the issues with the cube that I listed above not been such a huge problem. It’s too bad, because these features listed below are really nice, and I would love to continue to use them with my fire TV cube, but as it stands now the problems with this device are so huge that I will probably have to disconnect it from my TV and stop using it entirely. Anyway, here are the features that I really liked about the Fire TV cube:1) The ability to get things like the weather, information on local restaurants and services, news briefings, and other information played back as video on my television. It’s really nice to see my news briefing as video on the TV rather than just audio being read through an echo speaker, I love this feature.2) Expanded device control through the cube. By mimicking your television, receiver, sound bar, and other electronic devices’ infrared remote signals, the cube is able to control far more devices in far more complex ways than any other echo device. The Lengthy IR blaster Cable that it comes with is really nice too, It lets you extend that IR remote mimicking to far more devices, including those hidden away in cabinets.3) The cube still appears to be running the fire TV version of the Android operating system, which is a very powerful OS, and there’s a lot you can do with it. I really appreciate that even though this is a hybrid device that includes the Echo’s complex functionality, it’s still running on android as it’s backbone. Very very nice.4) You could still go into the settings and allow the installation of apps from other sources (meaning sources other than the official Amazon App Store), which is a great android feature that really allows you to tinker with your fire TV cube and add a lot of functionality to it if you know what you’re doing. (FYI don’t use this to add apps to your Fire TV cube if you DON’T know what you’re doing or don’t know the source of your apps, that can be dangerous for your device. But if you have a lot of experience with this and know what you’re doing, this is a great feature!)5) Though Amazon and Google are still having a stupid bitter childish battle which is negatively affecting both companies’ customers, and because of this Amazon was forced to remove the official YouTube app from their devices, you can still get the official google YouTube app from reliable sources and side-load it onto the new fire TV cube, just like you could with all the older fire TV devices. (Yes fire TV offers an alternative web browser based YouTube work-around, but it’s terrible. It’s really really bad. I don’t even bother with it.) It’s just really nice that Amazon hasn’t taken steps to somehow block this app from being installed, if you know what you’re doing you can still Side-load it onto your Fire TV Cube. (Ironically, you can find out how to do this by “googling” it. Ha!)5) A USB port with OTG USB support is back!!! One of the major drawbacks of the fire TV sticks and the new 4K fire TV square is that they have no USB ports, and it looked like ‘no USB ports’ was going to be the direction that Amazon was going in for all of its fire TV products. But the fire TV cube has a USB port, yay!!!!! And you can connect a whole variety of USB stuff to it, just like you can to just about any other android device. This includes USB keyboards, mice, game controllers, flash drives, hard drives (that have their own independent power source), and a whole bunch of other stuff. Now that USB port IS a micro-USB port, and most of the stuff that you want to connect to the Cube will have a big old clunky full-sized USB connector, but this problem can easily be solved by getting a cheap little “OTG USB to micro-USB” adapter, and Amazon even sells them, (I bought mine on Amazon for about $3 including shipping for a pack of five). They are well worth the money, I recommend anyone who has a cube gets them. The cube even has separate MicroUSB and power ports, meaning you don’t have to use the USB port to power your cube, it has a separate little power port for that, so you’re free to use that micro USB port for anything else you want (The fire TV sticks and newer fire TV 4K use that micro USB port for their power connector, so you can’t use it for anything else unless you get a little “OTG micro-USB splitter” cable, but that’s another story for another day. For most customers, this means that on those devices the micro USB port is being used for power so I can’t be used for anything else.) but on the fire TV cube with that separate power and micro USB ports, you can load up photos, music, and videos onto a flash drive, put that little micro USB adapter in, and then plug it into your fire TV cube. The Cube even automatically mounts the flash drive, and treats it like another memory area that is supposed to be there, giving you access to the flash drive through your many fire TV apps.6) The cube still appears to be able to control my smart devices such as my Wemo light switches and plugs. Somewhere in the cube description on the Amazon website it says something about it not being able to control smart devices without a hub, but that appears not to be the case for me, it still works fine with my Wemo devices.Like I said earlier, I love these features in the new Fire TV cube, and if the darn thing didn’t have such a lousy Wi-Fi connection and didn’t pause/crash my videos every time a vocal command is issued to Alexa, I would’ve easily given this device five stars. It’s just that the problems that the cube has are so huge that they render the device unusable to me, and they are issues that I can’t seem to find a solution to. It’s too bad, because I really want to love this device, and I really want to use this device, but it looks like because of the problems listed above it’s going to get unplugged and put away in my closet. But If solutions to these problems are found through software updates or other means, I will be very very happy with my Fire TV cube.
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Reviewed in the United States on June 25, 2018
** Installation and Set-up:
Set-up was a breeze, simply plug in an HDMI cable (not included) and power cable and you are good to go. Set your TV to the correct input and follow the on-screen instructions. As long as the device was purchased with your Amazon account the device will be pre-loaded with your account email and password which hurries installation along. I also connected a Sonos sound bar in just a few clicks. Device can easily be set-up by anyone that is unfamiliar with technology.
My only gripe about the installation was there was not a clear way to pull through apps, games, and logins from my previous fire TV. This means you must re-download all your streaming apps and re-sync them which is a time consuming. Maybe there is an easier option but I could not find one.
** Pro’s
- Ask “Alexa, what’s the weather” and a 7 day and your TV will turn on and show you the 7 day forecast. Alexa will answer audibly as normal as well.
- Ask “Alexa, play must by [Adele]” and your TV will turn on and show the album artwork, song, artist, and scroll through the lyrics karaoke style.
- Ask “Alexa, when is Jurassic Park Fallen Kingdom playing” and you guess it, your TV will turn on and visually show you movie times at local theaters.
- Basically, most things you are used to asking Alexa will likely turn your TV on to show you a visual component as well.
- I had my Fire TV cube about 1 ft. or less away from my Sonos play base speaker and Alexa did not have any trouble hearing the wake word.
- You can set your flash news briefing to sites that support video news which is a cool feature.
- If you are trying to purchase something Alexa will show you the options, prices, etc. on screen which is nice to double check and know what you are ordering.
- Play music through your TV/stereo system instead of a little Alexa Speaker for better audio. Since I hooked up a Sonos play base speaker all audio comes out of the playbase instead of the fire TV cube.
- Have you ever play jeopardy and could not understand the question? Most games have a visual component now where questions and information will appear on screen which is a big plus.
- You can also control cable TV. If you say, “Alexa, tune to EPSN” the Fire Tv will switch inputs and bring up your cable box which you can still control via voice commands. This does not work with programs/movies/shows only channel numbers and names. Say, “Alexa, go home” and you will be back to your fire TV.
- If you have a compatible smart camera, you can says things like, “Alexa, show me the front door” and your security camera will pop-up on the TV.
** Con’s
- Not sure if this is an option but Alexa will turn the TV on quite a bit to show you something. It does not appear that Alexa will turn the TV off afterwards as I constantly noticed my TV was on this weekend. I would imagine there is an option or this will change in an update, alternatively I could set my TV on a sleep timer as Alexa is not displaying content to turn off.
- After saying the wake word it takes an extra half second or so before there is a visual display to begin talking. I noticed, I can usually start talking before the visual indicator and Alexa will still hear the whole thing but it makes you pause before saying Alexa which does not happen on the normal Alexa devices. Again, likely a software update coming soon I would guess.
- If you do not know what you are looking for the process is a bit intense. For example, “show action movies”, there will be numbers next to each movie so you could say, “play movie 4” for example or, “swipe right”, “select movie 15”, etc. If you are unsure what you want to watch the remote is much more graceful for searching through the Amazon library.
- HDMI cable not included. Sure everyone has a million of them but for people that do not have a spare I am sure it is frustrating to learn one is not included as you are trying to set up.
** General list of commands I found myself using most. I will post a link at the bottom to a more exhaustive list of commands but here are some examples of how you would use and navigate with the product:
* Searching for a movie/series:
“Alexa, Search for [Action Movies] with [Bruce Willis]” or “Alexa, Search for [title / actor / genre]”
Up to ten results will display on screen with corresponding numbers next to each result
“Alexa, Show more” or “Alexa, Scroll right”
“Alexa, Play #5” or “Alexa, Play [Die Hard]”
* Know what you want to play? Say things like:
“Alexa, Play [Game of Thrones] on [HBO Go]”
“Alexa, *Tune to [ESPN]” (*Tune indicates a switch to your cable box, you can say a channel number or channel name only at this time.)
“Alexa, Launch [Showtime Anytime]” to launch an app.
* Turn on or off:
“Alexa, Play [Game of Thrones] on [HBO Go]” will automatically turn on your TV and launch the show on specified app.
“Alexa, turn on TV” will bring you to the Amazon home screen.
“Alexa, turn on cable” will turn on your TV and cable box.
* Common commands while viewing:
Alexa, Turn up the volume
Alexa, Mute
Alexa, rewind 5 minutes
Alexa, Jump to 25 minutes
Alexa, fast-forward 25 seconds
Alexa, Next Episode
* Non movie/series related commands or questions:
“Alexa, play music by [Adele]” or “Alexa, play my [Adele] station on [Pandora]”
“Alexa, What’s the weather” or “Alexa, what’s traffic like now?” or “Alexa, Will it rain tomorrow?”
“Alexa, show me [Garage] camera” to display your security camera with Alexa enabled cameras.
“Alexa, what’s my flash briefing?”
“Alexa, order/re-order toilet paper”
You can find more comprehensive list here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=GK5A3XSKT5RWB39U
** Conclusion:
Overall, I really like the Fire TV Cube. My main gripes is it seems to be a bit laggy with commands compared to the standard Echo. I am hoping this will improve with future software updates. Second, it can be cumbersome to use the voice commands if you do not know what you want to watch. In this scenario, I will continue to use the included remote. However, if you have misplaced your remote, or are too lazy, tired, the voice commands work great in all aspects.
I replaced a Fire TV Gen 2 and Echo Dot with the Fire TV cube in my bedroom and am overall quite pleased. The Fire TV cube hardware seems fantastic and the few operational / software issues I have will likely get better with time. It will be exciting as well to see how app developers begin to use the new features and system to build out new and exciting games and content.
This device will 100% replace both your Echo and Fire TV and if you are looking for a new streaming device for any room in the house there is no reason not to get this. Even if you do not play on using Alexa it is great functionality to have. For an extra, $40 it is an easy decision for me. Now, if you have an Echo and a Fire TV in the same room already this likely will not be a worthwhile upgrade for a lot of people. For me, having Alexa work through my Sonos Sound bar to improve audio quality for music, and automatic input switching alone is worth the upgrade but you will have to decide for yourself if it is worth replacing existing equipment.
Extremely well thought out and will only improve with time
Reviewed in the United States on June 25, 2018
I just got the Amazon fire TV cube this last Friday and spent some time with it this weekend. Here are my thoughts:Reviewed in the United States on June 25, 2018
** Installation and Set-up:
Set-up was a breeze, simply plug in an HDMI cable (not included) and power cable and you are good to go. Set your TV to the correct input and follow the on-screen instructions. As long as the device was purchased with your Amazon account the device will be pre-loaded with your account email and password which hurries installation along. I also connected a Sonos sound bar in just a few clicks. Device can easily be set-up by anyone that is unfamiliar with technology.
My only gripe about the installation was there was not a clear way to pull through apps, games, and logins from my previous fire TV. This means you must re-download all your streaming apps and re-sync them which is a time consuming. Maybe there is an easier option but I could not find one.
** Pro’s
- Ask “Alexa, what’s the weather” and a 7 day and your TV will turn on and show you the 7 day forecast. Alexa will answer audibly as normal as well.
- Ask “Alexa, play must by [Adele]” and your TV will turn on and show the album artwork, song, artist, and scroll through the lyrics karaoke style.
- Ask “Alexa, when is Jurassic Park Fallen Kingdom playing” and you guess it, your TV will turn on and visually show you movie times at local theaters.
- Basically, most things you are used to asking Alexa will likely turn your TV on to show you a visual component as well.
- I had my Fire TV cube about 1 ft. or less away from my Sonos play base speaker and Alexa did not have any trouble hearing the wake word.
- You can set your flash news briefing to sites that support video news which is a cool feature.
- If you are trying to purchase something Alexa will show you the options, prices, etc. on screen which is nice to double check and know what you are ordering.
- Play music through your TV/stereo system instead of a little Alexa Speaker for better audio. Since I hooked up a Sonos play base speaker all audio comes out of the playbase instead of the fire TV cube.
- Have you ever play jeopardy and could not understand the question? Most games have a visual component now where questions and information will appear on screen which is a big plus.
- You can also control cable TV. If you say, “Alexa, tune to EPSN” the Fire Tv will switch inputs and bring up your cable box which you can still control via voice commands. This does not work with programs/movies/shows only channel numbers and names. Say, “Alexa, go home” and you will be back to your fire TV.
- If you have a compatible smart camera, you can says things like, “Alexa, show me the front door” and your security camera will pop-up on the TV.
** Con’s
- Not sure if this is an option but Alexa will turn the TV on quite a bit to show you something. It does not appear that Alexa will turn the TV off afterwards as I constantly noticed my TV was on this weekend. I would imagine there is an option or this will change in an update, alternatively I could set my TV on a sleep timer as Alexa is not displaying content to turn off.
- After saying the wake word it takes an extra half second or so before there is a visual display to begin talking. I noticed, I can usually start talking before the visual indicator and Alexa will still hear the whole thing but it makes you pause before saying Alexa which does not happen on the normal Alexa devices. Again, likely a software update coming soon I would guess.
- If you do not know what you are looking for the process is a bit intense. For example, “show action movies”, there will be numbers next to each movie so you could say, “play movie 4” for example or, “swipe right”, “select movie 15”, etc. If you are unsure what you want to watch the remote is much more graceful for searching through the Amazon library.
- HDMI cable not included. Sure everyone has a million of them but for people that do not have a spare I am sure it is frustrating to learn one is not included as you are trying to set up.
** General list of commands I found myself using most. I will post a link at the bottom to a more exhaustive list of commands but here are some examples of how you would use and navigate with the product:
* Searching for a movie/series:
“Alexa, Search for [Action Movies] with [Bruce Willis]” or “Alexa, Search for [title / actor / genre]”
Up to ten results will display on screen with corresponding numbers next to each result
“Alexa, Show more” or “Alexa, Scroll right”
“Alexa, Play #5” or “Alexa, Play [Die Hard]”
* Know what you want to play? Say things like:
“Alexa, Play [Game of Thrones] on [HBO Go]”
“Alexa, *Tune to [ESPN]” (*Tune indicates a switch to your cable box, you can say a channel number or channel name only at this time.)
“Alexa, Launch [Showtime Anytime]” to launch an app.
* Turn on or off:
“Alexa, Play [Game of Thrones] on [HBO Go]” will automatically turn on your TV and launch the show on specified app.
“Alexa, turn on TV” will bring you to the Amazon home screen.
“Alexa, turn on cable” will turn on your TV and cable box.
* Common commands while viewing:
Alexa, Turn up the volume
Alexa, Mute
Alexa, rewind 5 minutes
Alexa, Jump to 25 minutes
Alexa, fast-forward 25 seconds
Alexa, Next Episode
* Non movie/series related commands or questions:
“Alexa, play music by [Adele]” or “Alexa, play my [Adele] station on [Pandora]”
“Alexa, What’s the weather” or “Alexa, what’s traffic like now?” or “Alexa, Will it rain tomorrow?”
“Alexa, show me [Garage] camera” to display your security camera with Alexa enabled cameras.
“Alexa, what’s my flash briefing?”
“Alexa, order/re-order toilet paper”
You can find more comprehensive list here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=GK5A3XSKT5RWB39U
** Conclusion:
Overall, I really like the Fire TV Cube. My main gripes is it seems to be a bit laggy with commands compared to the standard Echo. I am hoping this will improve with future software updates. Second, it can be cumbersome to use the voice commands if you do not know what you want to watch. In this scenario, I will continue to use the included remote. However, if you have misplaced your remote, or are too lazy, tired, the voice commands work great in all aspects.
I replaced a Fire TV Gen 2 and Echo Dot with the Fire TV cube in my bedroom and am overall quite pleased. The Fire TV cube hardware seems fantastic and the few operational / software issues I have will likely get better with time. It will be exciting as well to see how app developers begin to use the new features and system to build out new and exciting games and content.
This device will 100% replace both your Echo and Fire TV and if you are looking for a new streaming device for any room in the house there is no reason not to get this. Even if you do not play on using Alexa it is great functionality to have. For an extra, $40 it is an easy decision for me. Now, if you have an Echo and a Fire TV in the same room already this likely will not be a worthwhile upgrade for a lot of people. For me, having Alexa work through my Sonos Sound bar to improve audio quality for music, and automatic input switching alone is worth the upgrade but you will have to decide for yourself if it is worth replacing existing equipment.
Images in this review
Reviewed in the United States on June 26, 2018
