Key Takeaways
- Roku devices allow for customized home screens while Fire TV prioritizes Amazon content.
- The Roku app is superior with advanced features for searching and controlling TV.
- Roku surpasses Amazon with better sound quality, private listening options, and user experience.
I’m a pretty die-hard Roku user, but for some reason, I bought a Fire TV.
I have a Roku Soundbar in the living room, a Roku Ultra in the office, and a Roku 4K Stick in the bedroom. It’s not like I walk around preaching Roku’s greatness, but it clearly won out over Fire TV for me. But before that, we did use a lot of Fire TV devices, like the first Fire TV Cube and a few of the Fire TV Sticks.
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Still, our house has been Roku-only since then, until I recently got a new Fire TV for my daughter’s toy room. So, I figured this was a good time to check out if Roku was still the superior choice, since it’s probably time for me to update my Roku Soundbar.
My experience using the Fire TV for the past couple of weeks hasn’t been terrible, but I still won’t be making the switch to Fire TV devices full time.
My experience using the Fire TV for the past couple of weeks hasn’t been terrible, but I still won’t be making the switch to Fire TV devices full time. Roku and Fire TV devices are both capable of letting you watch all your favorite shows and movies, but it was nice to be reminded of the reasons why I made the switch to Roku.
1 Roku allows for home page customization
Fire TV prioritizes Prime content
The main drawback to using a Fire TV has been the way it prioritizes Amazon content above everything else. It’s not unusable by any means, but Roku’s customizable home screen is much better than being force-fed the latest from Amazon. I say this as someone who uses the Prime Video app all the time. It’s the most common way I rent new movies, and I’m a big fan of their content aimed at dumb dads (Jack Ryan, Reacher, and the Road House reboot).
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Roku devices let you customize your home page based on which apps you use the most. I have my Roku devices set up to show the channels I use the most at the top of my homepage, so Netflix, YouTube, and Prime Video are the first streaming apps I see when I turn my TV on.
You can edit which apps appear on your Fire TV home screen, but the Fire TV home screen is so crammed with options that editing which apps appear in a small section of your homescreen hardly helps you navigate through all the ads for Prime content and lists of content you might not be interested in.
2 The Roku App
The best way to find what you want to watch
Both Roku and Fire TV have apps that let you control your TV with your phone, but the Roku app is far superior. It goes far beyond just being able to control your TV. The Roku app has become a key part of my life, and I didn’t fully realize it until I used Amazon’s Fire TV app.
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It’s the easiest way to see where something you’re looking to watch is available to stream. I just use the Search function to type in the movie I’m looking for, and the Roku app shows where it’s available to stream for free, and then follows that up with any options to rent or buy the film. Aside from that, both apps let you use voice control from your phone on your TV, and let you play content directly from your phone to your TV.
3 Private listening and surround sound
If there’s one clear way that Roku outshines Amazon, it’s in sound
Roku
Both Roku and Amazon have surround sound systems, with soundbars being the starting piece and more accessories capable of being added on later. Roku has a few more options for add-ons, though, in the form of wireless speakers. Combined with Roku’s Wireless Subwoofer, you can have a pretty powerful budget wireless surround sound setup that’s designed to work perfectly together. It’s what I’ve used for the past few years. To achieve the same setup with a Fire TV Soundbar, you’d have to use third-party speakers.
Roku is also best for private listening. Whether you just want to fit in one more episode next to a sleeping partner or block out outside noise, connecting wireless headphones to a Fire TV or a Roku is pretty simple. If you like listening with wired headphones, then you need to go with Roku.
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Setting up wired headphones with a Fire TV is a chore, but with a Roku, it’s as simple as plugging your headphones into your Roku remote, or you can connect them to your phone and listen through the Roku app.
4 Pick up a streaming device
I thought this TV was supposed to be smart?
My main takeaway from testing the Fire TV out is that it’s worth investing in a streaming device. The Fire TV in my daughter’s room is just a smart TV with no external streaming device. It’s fine for what I need from it, which is playing the Trolls films on repeat, but using her TV after using the Roku Soundbar or a Fire TV Stick feels like I’m using dial-up internet again. Just starting up the TV and navigating to Netflix takes much longer compared to the Roku Soundbar or Fire TV Stick.
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5 Roku focuses on improving your experience
Roku makes things easier, while Amazon tries to upsell
One of the big differences between Fire TV and Roku is that it just seems like Roku is designed to make it as enjoyable for users as possible, while the Fire TV OS is designed to extract the most money from users. While it might seem cool to have Amazon as a hub for all your streaming, because you can rent anything you don’t have access to through subscriptions, it actually just leads to being served Amazon’s latest originals.
Compare this to Roku, which doesn’t really get into that. Sure, you might see ads for the rare original series that Roku offers on the left side of your home screen, but the last one of those I can remember seeing was for Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, which came out in 2022.
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Everything considered, I just don’t think it’s worth it to use a Fire TV Stick. The Roku App, the better home screen and customization options, and the ability to avoid Amazon when you’re not using the Prime Video app are all bonuses that make Roku the much more appealing option.
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