hey guys this is austin. with so many optionsfor streaming which one should you go for? kicking things off is the nvidia shield and i haveto give nvidia props here, they wanted to sponsor a no holds barred comparison whichis awesome. up against it is the all new fourth generation apple tv which has seen a majoroverhaul, the roku 4 which delivers 4k on a budget and the new amazon fire tv gamingedition. unlike the majority of streaming devices the shield looks a lot more like agame console. powered by an nvidia tegra x1 processor it’s no joke when it comes toperformance and it has everything you need to take advantage of it with the includedgame controller. even though it’s on the larger side it’s a comfortable gamepad witha rechargeable battery and traditional layout
of the buttons and sticks. it’s outfittedwith a 4k hdmi 2.0 port, gigabit ethernet, two usb 3 ports, microusb along with microsd.this is important as with sixteen gigabytes of storage out of the box you’ll probablywant to add a microsd, use a usb drive or even opt for the 500 gig pro model. movingon we’ve got the new apple tv. on the surface this looks basically identical, the main differenceis that it’s taller than the last generation but still small enough to blend into yoursetup. included is a new remote, a lightning cable to charge it along with the small powercable for the apple tv. the remote is about the same size as the last one but it has aglass touchpad along with a few dedicated buttons like volume and siri. the apple tvitself is pretty basic when it comes to ports,
there’s an ethernet jack along with hdmi,usb-c and the power cable. there’s no expandable storage but it does come with 32 gigabyteswith a 64 gig option which is helpful. next up we have the amazon fire tv. this is thegaming edition which comes with an updated controller and a 32 gigabyte microsd cardbut that’s not the only difference, the new fire tv also supports 4k. unfortunatelyit’s only 4k at 30 hertz but it’s better than the apple tv that doesn’t support 4kat all. the controller is really nice though, it’s a big improvement over the last versionwith nice balance and a tapered grip. it’s a small set top box with a usb port, microsdslot, ethernet, hdmi and a power connector. you’ll definitely want to use that microsdcard too, the fire tv only has around five
gigs available out of the box. lastly we havethe new roku 4. this is quite a bit larger than the fire tv, it looks like someone squashedan older roku. it’s unassuming enough to blend into your setup though and comes witha solid remote, it’s not as premium as the apple tv but has a headphone jack and volumecontrol built in. while the hardware is important in the end it really comes down to what youcan do with it. the nvidia shield is running android tv which i really like, it’s quickto navigate and gives you a seriously useful voice search. austin evans. okay, that’s, that’s cool. there are asolid amount of streaming apps available for
the shield and it also works with google castfrom your phone that gives you access to a ton of services. it also supports 4k 60 framesvideo from netflix and youtube, especially if you use google apps android tv really makessense. the apple tv is also a nice improvement over the last generation. everything fromthe setup which uses your phone to subtle things like video screensavers make it a niceexperience to use. it has a very nice interface and while some of the apps like youtube aren’tquite as nice there’s a good selection of video apps available. the fire tv is a slightlydifferent take on things. the interface is a series of main sections with additionaloptions on the sides which works but it isn’t the most intuitive way to navigate. it isquick though as you’d expect and you’ll
find all the staples like netflix, hulu, hbonow along with amazon prime video but there’s one big exception: youtube. there is a thirdparty app that uses the web ui which is usable but as a heavy youtube user it’s a bit ofa disappointment. things are a bit behind on the roku side. the interface looks moredated and it’s not as quick to get around as the others, it’s easy enough to navigatebut it just feels out of date in comparison. there’s a good selection of apps but manyof them like youtube and especially google play just feel dated. the voice search worksfor some things but it’s quite a bit behind the others. breaking bad.
one of the biggest advantages of the shieldis gaming. with a controller included in the box you can play some serious games like halflife 2 as well as the talos principle, both of which look seriously impressive for a streamingdevice. it even handles more ambitious titles like war thunder pretty well. if you havea decent internet connection you can also stream pc games using geforce now. it’slike netflix for games, you pay $8 a month to stream as many titles as you’d like.in practice it’s cool, there’s a slight amount of latency but it’s usable especiallyif you’re connected via ethernet. the game selection isn’t massive but with a freethree month trial it’s worth a shot. the apple tv handles gaming a little differently,you’ll mostly find games that were originally
made for the iphone. many games look nicewhich considering there’s an apple a8 under the hood shouldn’t be a huge surprise butwhile the remote is fine for casual games it’s not really meant for more serious titles.with tvos being so new time will tell how the game library turns out but for now it’sall about potential. the fire tv takes gaming more seriously. you’ll find staples likeminecraft: pocket edition which works well here, especially with the impressive controllerand games like telltale’s minecraft: story mode to make sure you’re getting your minecraftfix. you’ve got some older classics too like gta: san andreas, the library isn’tmassive but there’s some pretty quality titles. the roku technically games but it’snot really in the same league as the others...unless
you’re down to play snake all day in whichcase you’re totally set. if you’re really into roku it gets the job done but there arebetter options out there. the fire tv is technically the cheapest option here if you don’t wantthe gaming edition and while it’s good there’s not a lot to recommend it over the others.there’s a lot to like with the apple tv but it’s not a massive leap over the lastgeneration and you really need to be deep in the apple ecosystem to get the most outof it. when it comes to gaming the clear winner is the shield, it’s also a solid streamingbox as well with support for 4k and a massive library of apps when you include google cast.so which is your favorite streaming device? let me know in the comments below and i willcatch you in the next one.