No chromecast on fire stick

No official youtube app on firestick, although you can install https://smartyoutubetv.github.io/

Android TV OS media players, even ones like the Mi Box that have a Dolby Audio Licence cannot downmix say Netflix DD+ audio to DD to support older DD only capable audio receivers. If you do not have a DD+ audio receiver then no 5.1 audio for you from Apps like Netflix and Prime Video.

Dolby audio support is extremely poor with Android TV. The Shield does not even have a Dolby Audio licence.

Xiaomi are even deceptively advertising Dolby audio support. It's all bullshit and does not work properly. I'm 99.99% sure the Jetstream will be exactly the same.

Amazon devices actually have a Dolby Audio licence and implement it properly to downmix / remix audio into 2.0 / 5.1 DD to support older audio equiptment.

The 2018 Fire TV's tech specs are superior to the, now in tech terms old, AMLogic S905X hardware in the Mi Box and Jetstream 4K Ultra HD.

You even get auto Frame Rate matching with Apps like Prime, Plex, Kodi & more. Something the cheap Android TV media players can only dream of:

https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=336151

Going forward I would actually trust Amazon far more to regularly release big fixing Firmware updates vs the cheap Android TV OS media player sellers. That is really important long term.

Get a Nvidia Shield TV. It's well worth the investment. And it does not discriminate if your more focused in the Google or Amazon ecosphere (as the Shield now has access to prime Video, prime music, and works with alexa.). And it is a no brainier if your into gaming, especially now while you can participate in free GeForce Now streaming.

I have a a few Fire TV products, the 4k stick, cube and pendant, and I own a Nvidia Shield, I love the Shield so much more than the Fire products. I would get a Shield for every room if all my TVs that I own now weren't smart TVs.

My big issues with the Fire TV and Fire TV sticks are the maddening interfaces that try to push you to watching nearly anything but what you want to watch. The banner ads, ads for other channels or pay services, trailers for Amazon programming - it's all so noisy and annoying. I have started watching video mainly through a browser now (on my living room TV) and a MiBox on my kitchen TV (no Amazon there).

Well. Currently the fire stick can be controlled by Alexa. I have an Android TV and Alexa can do some things(on off, volume, input) ... but not things it can do with firestick like play movies, etc.

I've got the Jetstream and happy with it.

Hated the fire stick, it was slow, terrible UI, locked down app store, no chrome cast, have to sideload x-plore/kodi/etc. amazon ads everywhere. Highly recommend the Mi Box S or Shield TV over that.

Don't buy it. I returned it same day. No chromecast. Too amazony might as well use a pc. OS don't have google play services and accessibility service for installation of most apps yet it comes with garbage es explorer. Waste of time.

I got both mi box and firestick HD.

The firestick interface sucks but it has got functionality just like the android boxes. If you cannot afford the shield, its better to get the latest firestick 4k. Its so much value and functionality except for a self advertising UI.

Better not to vote for Mi-box with money so that they improve their products first.

You can cast youtube videos through your mobile youtube app when they are operating on the same network. Its so much better than voice search or typing in TV boxes.

Yup, just like u/z0mghii mentioned, no chromecast on firestick

I have the Nvidia Shield, but got given a Fire TV Cube. I don't like it at all. The FireTV Cube feels really cluttered and slow. I do like how the cube itself has a IR blaster, so it can turn the tv on and off on it's own without having to point the remote at the tv like the Shield. I only like the Cube because it has the adult swim app for TV, but even then it's not worth it for that.

I have a Mi box and just got a Firestick 4K.

I like the OS of AndroidTV a little better. The Hulu app on AndroidTV is much better. Much easier to install apps such as Kodi. Chromecast is a big plus. Youtube, Youtube TV is only on AndroidTV. Mi box does tend to have the occasional difficulty waking up after the recent updates.

It appears the picture on Firestick is slightly better for some content. You get all the Prime content without difficulty.

Netflix app is pretty much the same for either device.

We find that we use the Firestick only for Prime content, otherwise we are always using the Mi box and AndroidTV.

For me it crashed apps a lot and so I got a mi box s

I have the Fire Stick with Alexa. It's not 4K, no chromecast, Alexa and Prime don't work in Canada. Youtube and Netflix are the same everywhere, since they're just wrappers for webpages.

I've replaced it with a Mi Box, which is better but crashes a lot.

Snappy interference, very nice remote, but I HATE the ui- banner ads everywhere, showing you stuff that isn't included with prime (stuff that costs extra).

Also, mildly harder to side load alternative apps, miniscule storage capacity (even on fire TV, not to mention the stick). Tiny selection of games and so on.

If the choice is between the Jetstream and the Stick 4K it's the stick 4k. It's not however about Android TV OS VS Fire OS. To me Fire OS has become the worst thing about Fire TV. It's OK when you don't have experience with other UI's but that thing has become a mess and I have realized it's why I seldom use my Fire TV devices even though I have many of them. Their inability/refusal to support Google apps is another reason. I never even think about gaming with Fire TV.

My opinion is that Firestick4k is the best product at the moment, with some caveats.

Pros:

• best remote, by far.

• wide range of apps, haven't found any missing

• fast, reliable and snappy interface

• Dolby audio stuff

• small and discreet

• cheap

Cons:

• small memory, fiddly to add usb accessories

• no Chromecast (the only severe con in my view)

• ugly UI (imo better than Oreo, but there is a guide out showing you how to install other launchers - ATV is good)

• not great for games, but can do some simple stuff just fine.

• no native YouTube, but Android TV YouTube is bollocks and both just send you to the piss ugly webpage anyway.

Firestick4k with a custom launcher is the way to go right now. If games or Chromecast are deal breakers, Shield is worth the cost.

I own an AndroidTV (Jetstream AGT418) and the last generation of Firestick. To be honest, the Firestick is easier to use, has more community support and generally more stable. The Jetstream, well, it is bad because Android TV sucks. Unless you want to be able to use the box with your other Google Home products ("Hey Google Turn Off The TV") get a FirestickHD.

When used with a HDHomerun Prime/Connect, you might have video interlacing issues (odd and even lines dont line up properly).

If you have a HDHomerun device, just use a MiBox, Shield or AppleTV4.

I replaced all 5 of my mibox 3s and one mibox s with firestick 4Ks. They are just much better devices with a superior remote. For the heavy lifting, I have 3 shields. I much prefer Android TV to Fire OS, but for kids room, kitchen, etc, I couldn't care less. I just want something that works for a simple tv setup. The firetv 4k remote is a winner and always works for me.

Bought my dad a mibox.

Home button died within 6 months. The Oreo update black-screened the HDCP handshake.

Replaced it with a firestick. Never gave him issues since