4k TV & TV 360 & Fire Stick 4k…?

[LAC7126]

Hi All,

Question please re which one is best and whether I still need the Fire Stick 4k. 

I have a Sony 4k TV. This has Netflix and Prime Video apps etc. 

I have an Amazon Fire Stick 4K so again can access Netflix and Prime Video etc. 

I have a Virgin 360 box which should obviously give 4k and I can access Netflix & Prime Video etc. 

So:

Which will give the best 4k streaming / TV experience for say Netflix and Prime Video? The TV, the Fire Stick 4k or the 360 box?

Depending on the answer to the question above, is the Fire Stick 4k needed?

Many thanks in advance. 

[TMC1888]

I would use the apps on your TV.

I have just upgraded to an LG Oled TV and had the same debate with myself and tested out the options.

The Fire stick has now become redundant for me now and i've moved it to another non smart TV, everything it has to offer is available on the new TV.

The virgin box has Netflix and Prime but I find the sound levels poor across the board so opted for the in TV apps.

I only really use the Virgin box for news channels now as everything else is on TV apps...siign of the times I guess!!

Michael

[jamesredfern]

The fire stick will probably give a smoother experience than the 360 box (which i find a little slow in the Prime Video / Netflix user interfaces),  I use my Nvidia Shield for those services.  The advantage of a firestick would be you can install other apps, which you cant do on the 360 box outside of what is in the limited app library.  Depending on the TV, the performance of its inbuild smart TV apps could be better or worse than the 360 box.  Best thing to do is try them out and see.

[newapollo]

I also have thePrime app on my TV, 360 and Firestick, I don't subscribe to netflix.

I don't find much difference in the picture quality between the devices, however I prefer the tennis on PL football shown on Amazon Prime on my Firestick as there is less of a delay on live events compared to the TV and 360 ( although it's annoying when you get live updates on your mobile/tablet before the action is shown live onscreen on all 3 devices)

[Roger_Gooner]

Netflix from VM is best as VM provides local content delivered from its servers.

YouTube superior from VM compared with Fire TV 4K Stick as it supports automatic framerate matching but the Stick has the music previews I like.

BBC iPlayer UHD is not available from any Fire TV 4k Stick but should be available from VM.

Prime Video is better on the Stick for Dolby Vision and HDR10+ (which are both dumbed down to HDR10 on VM).

Note that all currrent streaming devices except the Apple TV I think rely on WiFi (unless you buy an Ethernet adapter) which is always inferior to the Ethernet cable option for VM's boxes.

[jamesredfern]

"Netflix from VM is best as VM provides local content delivered from its servers."

VM don't supply anything from Netflix. They only provision the app to access Netflix. 

[Roger_Gooner]

VM partners with Netflix by embedding Open Connect Appliances which are hosted on certain backbone servers. This ensures rapid content delivery via VM's network rather than going through the open internet.

[Eddie98]

I’ve found the fire stick to be a useful back up, especially recently when the Disney+ app on my Sony TV lost 4K streaming, which took a couple of months to be fixed by Sony. The fire stick also provides a wider range of apps than VM’s box (e.g. Apple TV) with a slicker interface.

[ozsat]

BBC UHD with HDR does work on the new "Max" Firestick - but not the regular 4K stick.

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@Roger_Gooner wrote:

Netflix from VM is best as VM provides local content delivered from its servers.

YouTube superior from VM compared with Fire TV 4K Stick as it supports automatic framerate matching but the Stick has the music previews I like.

BBC iPlayer UHD is not available from any Fire TV 4k Stick but should be available from VM.

Prime Video is better on the Stick for Dolby Vision and HDR10+ (which are both dumbed down to HDR10 on VM).

Note that all currrent streaming devices except the Apple TV I think rely on WiFi (unless you buy an Ethernet adapter) which is always inferior to the Ethernet cable option for VM's boxes.

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[Roger_Gooner]

Thanks for the info on the Max Stick as I cannot get BBC iPlayer UHD from my V6.