Nowadays, there are many popular media streaming devices, including Amazon Fire TV Stick, Google Chrome Cast, Android TV Box, Apple TV Box, Nvidia Shield, etc. They are all the perfect devices for you to watch internet-based content. You may wonder which is better? Android box or fire TV stick?

What is an Amazon Firestick? 

Amazon was involved in streaming devices since 2014. For the past 8 years, Amazon has launched 4 different tv stick models, and the new generation is Fire TV Stick 4K Max. Fire TV Stick 4K Max and Fire TV Stick 4K all support 4K videos and Dolby vision. And the new fire stick is much improved on its speed with CPU 1.8GHz, GPU 750MHz processor and 2GB RAM.

What is an Android TV box?
Android TV box is running is a TV box that runs on Android OS, similar to your Android phone and Android tablet. All the android boxes have many Apps like phones, you also can download the app on the Google play store, or directly from the Google URL. Android tv box price range can be from $29.99 to over $100. What amazon box has, Android box basically has.

What’s the difference?

  1. Size
    Amazon firestick is very tiny while the Android box is a large size. Fire TV sticks are small and portable. Many people love the mini size.
  2. Operating system
    Both of them all belong to the Android OS, but the Amazon fire stick is a special one, that you can not download the third-party Apps directly from the Google play store or Google URL like the Android TV box does. You need to download the app(Downloader) firstly and enter the download link to download and install the App. For the Android tv box, the operating system is from Android 9.0 to Android 11.0.

But the Fire stick 4K Max is Android 9(Fire OS 7).

  1. RAM & ROM
    Both ROM and RAM refer to semiconductor memory.
    RAM stands for Random Access Memory, RAM will be related to the running speed of the system. The greater the running memory, the higher the speed. Currently, the new Android TV boxes support a maximum of 8GB of RAM and a minimum of 1GB. The Amazon Firestick box supports a maximum of 2GB.
    ROM is short for Read-only memory, which is essential for the operating system. ROM can only be read, not written. The larger the ROM, the more things can be stored in the box. At present, the general mainstream TV box storage for 8G/16G/32G, higher 64G/128G. The bigger the capacity, the more expensive it is.
  2. Chipset
    There are three popular Chipsets on the Android TV box, check below info:
    Amlogic: S905W, S905X, S905X2, S905X3, S912, S922X
    RockChip: RK3228A, RK3229, RK3318, RK3328, RK3368, RK3399
    Allwinner: H3, H313, H6, H603, H616;
    And the best chipset will be the Amlogic series, the box with the Amlogic chipset will be at a higher price.
    Amlogic S905X3 Android TV Boxes: https://tvpao.com/product-tag/amlogic-s905x3/
    But the Amazon Fire TV Sticks do not publicly show their chipsets, if someone knows, pls contact me, I will update this info then.
  3. Dolby vision
    The new generation of Fire TV Stick 4k Max and the last generation Fire TV Stick 4K supports Dolby vision. Android boxes are similar, some with Dolby vision, some are not.
  4. Wireless & Cable
    Android box support both wireless (2.4G&5G Duel WIFI) and Ethernet cable, which many of boxes support 10M/100M/1000M Ethernet. While Firestick only supports Wireless/WIFI 6(a/b/g/n/ac/ax).
  5. Bluetooth
    Bluetooth of Firestick is up to BLE 5.0 while Android TV boxes are BT4.0 or BT4.1. They are all able to connect to other Bluetooth devices. Surely, some old versions of Android TV boxes will not support Bluetooth.
  1. 8K Video Decoding

Some Android TV Boxes support 8K video decoding, which is the latest decoding mode.

Here I listed some Android TV Box 4K 8K Decoding Models.
x96 x4 Android Box: https://tvpao.com/product/x96-x4-amlogic-s905x4-android-11-smart-wifi-tv-box/
T95 Plus Android TV Box: https://tvpao.com/product/t95-plus-rockchip-rk3566-android-11-0-tv-box/
HK1 Android TV Box: https://tvpao.com/product/hk1-rbox-r3-rockchip-rk3566-8k-android-11-tv-box/
H96 Max Android TV Box: https://tvpao.com/product/h96-max-3566-rockchip-rk3566-android-11-0-tv-box/
X88 Pro 20 Android Box: https://tvpao.com/product/x88-pro-20-rockchip-rk3566-android-11-0-tv-box/

  1. USB
    USB 2.0: max 60M/s on reading speed
    USB 3.0: max 500M/s on reading speed
    Obviously, the USB 3.0 will have a super-fast data-read speed than USB 2.0, and a more smooth, stable playback of the local videos. Now many Android TV boxes will have one USB 2.0 and one USB 3.0. However, the Fire TV stick does not support USB functions. The Firestick only has one HDMI portal for TV connection and another
  2. Remote
    Amazon Fire TV stick is with an Alexa Voice Remote.
    The remotes of Android TV boxes are IR, 2.4G, Bluetooth remote. Many Android tv boxes with remotes, if you do not like it, you can buy the extra Bluetooth remote & Air mouse.
  3. Google Certified
    Amazon Fire TV stick is Google certified box while most of the Android TV boxes are AOSP, there are few Google-certified Android TV boxes. So the apps of the Android TV box can not be upgraded automatically but Firestick can. And the Netflix on Android Box does not support 4K.

Both Android TV Boxes and Amazon Fire Sticks have many entertainment apps, including Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+, YouTube, Peacock, Apple TV+, STARZ, Hulu, and more. If did not have an app on Amazon box or Android box, you can download the Apps from the Google play store or other methods.

Which one do I choose?
It depends on your needs. If you need high specs, running smoothly and large memory for many different Apps, android TV boxes are your best option. If you just want to be small and brand-oriented, then Amazon Firestick will be enough for you.

What is the best Android TV Box?
If you have enough budget, it is recommended to buy an Android TV box with a high-quality chip and good configuration.
For example, the X96 X6 Android TV box, which comes out in 2021, is one of the best Android TV Boxes. You can get these Android TV Box reviews from YouTube, Amazon, Aliexpress, etc.

For more details, please contact:
👉 Website: https://www.tvpao.com
👉 WhatsApp: https://wa.me/8618126129120
👉 Email: info@tvpao.com
👉 Wechat & Telegram & Viber: +86 18126129120

Note: If you got an Android box or Fire stick with 4K, make sure your TV has the 4K display functions, then you can watch the TV with 4K videos.