![]() ![]() But if you want to switch, plenty of excellent alternative streaming devices are on the market. ![]() Roku media streamers have several advantages, with the easy-to-use interface being one of the big ones. Replace your Roku with a new media streamer The Fire TV Cube (3rd Gen) makes sense if you care for a smart speaker and value hands-free access to Alexa voice commands. All these features and functionalities will set you back $140, plus the cost of an Ultra High-Speed HDMI cable, as one is not included in the box. You can use it to find or play content, control smart home devices, and do much more without needing a remote - something that's impossible on other Amazon Fire TV streamers. The Amazon streamer offers hands-free access to Alexa voice assistant thanks to its smart speaker internals. The HDMI input comes in handy if your TV lacks HDMI inputs. ![]() There's also an HDMI input to pass through a gaming console, router, cable TV box, or another device's output through it to the TV. Other Cube highlights include the ability to play 4K video, Dolby Vision and HDR10+ support, and Wi-Fi 6E connectivity. As a result, it's quick, and you won't face any lag or slow-down. It's also the fastest and most powerful media streamer in Amazon's portfolio. The Fire TV Cube (3rd Gen) differs from any of our other recommendations because it does the double duty of a media streamer and a smart speaker. Also, the Ethernet port and thread networking support is limited to the more expensive 128GB model. And you'll need an Ultra High-Speed HDMI cable to fully realize its potential. Unfortunately, Apple doesn't bundle an HDMI cable in the box. The Apple TV 4K also supports all major HDR standards, including HDR10+ and Dolby Vision, and it can decode or pass through Dolby Atmos surround-sound audio format. The 3rd generation Apple TV, the latest version of the device, is considerably cheaper than its predecessors and starts at $129.įor this price, you get a powerful Apple A15 Bionic chip to keep everything running smoothly, an extremely easy-to-use user interface, a well-stocked app collection, and support for game controllers. If you are already a part of the Apple ecosystem, there is no better Roku alternative. The Apple TV 4K (3rd Gen) may be more expensive than every Roku streaming device, but it's one of the best media streamers on the market, if not the best. It’s a solid remote, but you won’t get much benefit over the regular Chromecast remote, and in the end, you’ll probably be wasting an entire streaming box for no good reason.$148 at Amazon $150 at B&H Photo Video $130 at Best Buy While it’s great that the remote works with Chromecast, I’d advise you don’t buy one of Walmart’s devices just to get your hands on it. IR functions are also broken since they require the device’s firmware to support setup. ![]() You can remap the live TV or “guide” button using the popular “Button Mapper” app, but that’s the only one currently compatible. The four app shortcuts don’t work, and neither do the settings, channel, or live TV buttons. The rest of the buttons, though, are useless. Just hover over the content you want to save for later, tap the button, then it’ll add that piece of content to your Watchlist. The little “Watchlist” button even works - something that’s not true on Walmart’s device. Volume over CEC also works, and so does power and Google Assistant. This includes general navigation with the home, back, and D-Pad buttons. It’s not without issue, though.Ĭore functions of the G10 remote do work with Chromecast. After it appears on the list, use your current remote to select it, and then the “Onn Remote” will work to control the Chromecast. Just turn off the Onn box if you’ve set it up, hold down Home and Back at the same time on the remote, then open the Remote Pairing menu in the Chromecast’s settings. Sure enough, that remote can easily be paired to a Chromecast with Google TV. The Chromecast’s remote isn’t bad by any means, but the only Walmart includes is a bit bigger, has more buttons for navigation and app shortcuts, and has a more natural D-Pad location. Like most other Android TV remotes, there’s nothing stopping users from pairing the remote included with these devices from Walmart to another device entirely, and it actually makes a fair bit of sense to want to use it with the new Chromecast. The only changes are slapping the retailer’s “onn” logo across the bottom and adding logos for Disney+ and HBO Max to the bottom. The remote included with the Walmart Android TV box and stick uses the reference design created by Google and known as the G10. In case you were curious, it does indeed work with the Chromecast with Google TV, but in a limited capacity. For one, they’re both super cheap, and as a second point, the remote included with Walmart’s Android TV streamers looks really nice. Walmart just launched a duo of Android TV streaming devices that are pretty standard but have two compelling selling points. ![]()
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