revolty
Active Member
Hello members,
I ordered Amazon fire stick 4k max (FS) in Amazon sale and received it last Friday. I was already having Google Chromecast 4K (GC) so decided to do some A to B testing between Apple TV (ATV), Shield 2017 version (STV) and these two devices. It was purely for OTT purpose.
Based upon PQ, we arrived at the below given conclusion:
In GC, Zee5 had to be reinstalled after uninstalling; so as to play 4k with 5.1 content. STV played the 4k content in full HD with stereo sound.
The ratings wise order is given below:
ATV
The sound quality was very good for all the apps. The dialogues had that cinematic weight and surround sound was apt. But, the only issue was that the volume had to be increased upto -30 in my AVR, compared to other Devices.
FS
It gave very tough competition to the ATV in this aspect. Even at -40 level in my AVR; the audio was very clear. But, my only grouch was that it missed that “cinematic punch” like ATV. Otherwise; it’s a bang for the buck compared to ATV in audio department.
One more issue (very minor) is that it didn’t display audio information of the contents in Prime video. Whereas, it was there in the other devices; like displaying 5.1/Atmos for the respective contents. It was only while playing the contents; I could make it out from the AVR display.
GC
I bought this first and then FS. It had this improvement over STV; that it played Netflix content in atmos. Even its 5.1 audio content in Hotstar sounded better than STV.
STV
For OTT consumption; I have stopped using STV. Now, it is being used only for BRrips files.
Conclusion:
For its price; FS was best in delivering audio quality and GC for picture quality. If budget is not an issue; then go for ATV.
I ordered Amazon fire stick 4k max (FS) in Amazon sale and received it last Friday. I was already having Google Chromecast 4K (GC) so decided to do some A to B testing between Apple TV (ATV), Shield 2017 version (STV) and these two devices. It was purely for OTT purpose.
Based upon PQ, we arrived at the below given conclusion:
- ATV
- GC (colours are more rich and vibrant even for HD content)
- STV and FS
- GC (all the videos played without any glitch or buffering)
- STV
- ATV (few videos had to be paused and then resume for 4k playback)
- FS (took more than 15-20 secs for picture quality to reach highest resolution)
- GC
- STV
- ATV (Maybe because I am not used to operate Iphone or Ipads. For Apple users; this may vary)
- FS (Damn, this was literally getting on my nerves. Navigating between the apps was cumbersome)
| Device | Prime Video | Netflix | Zee5 | Hotstar |
| ATV | Atmos | Atmos | Atmos | 5.1 |
| FS | Atmos | Atmos | Atmos | Atmos |
| GC | Atmos | Atmos | 5.1 for 1080p | 5.1 |
| STV | Atmos | 5.1 | 5.1 for 1080p | 5.1 |
In GC, Zee5 had to be reinstalled after uninstalling; so as to play 4k with 5.1 content. STV played the 4k content in full HD with stereo sound.
The ratings wise order is given below:
ATV
The sound quality was very good for all the apps. The dialogues had that cinematic weight and surround sound was apt. But, the only issue was that the volume had to be increased upto -30 in my AVR, compared to other Devices.
FS
It gave very tough competition to the ATV in this aspect. Even at -40 level in my AVR; the audio was very clear. But, my only grouch was that it missed that “cinematic punch” like ATV. Otherwise; it’s a bang for the buck compared to ATV in audio department.
One more issue (very minor) is that it didn’t display audio information of the contents in Prime video. Whereas, it was there in the other devices; like displaying 5.1/Atmos for the respective contents. It was only while playing the contents; I could make it out from the AVR display.
GC
I bought this first and then FS. It had this improvement over STV; that it played Netflix content in atmos. Even its 5.1 audio content in Hotstar sounded better than STV.
STV
For OTT consumption; I have stopped using STV. Now, it is being used only for BRrips files.
Conclusion:
For its price; FS was best in delivering audio quality and GC for picture quality. If budget is not an issue; then go for ATV.
