Roku or Firestick

[mejess1964]

Has anyone used either the Roku or Firestick streaming platforms? Better yet... has anyone tried both? If so, which one do you like best?

[68 TWind]

Had a fire stick, bought a new Roku TV. I like the Roku interface much better.

[Wazbro]

I have both. I also prefer the Roku interface and Roku isn't as stingy with storage. The Amazon Fire Stick 4K Max is the minimum you should get going with Firestick, it has double the storage of the other Firesticks, (a whole 16 GB, about 7GB used when you get it) that is why Amazon made them start unloading apps that haven't been used recently so they could actually function. Unfortunately my current TV package (Fios) does not work on Roku, so it might matter what apps you need.
Also Roku has a Roku sound bar that could be nice with some TVs, I haven't tried one.

[Bearstream01]

I use a Roku. Not the stick. Its like a pod that plugs in to the HDMI above the dinette and into either the USB or the outlet up there. (Pro tip: the radio has to be turned on to turn on power to that USB!!)

Its been a total game changer. You sign up but the acct is free. When you go to watch thru one of the apps, you log in with your app specific account (like if you had Peacock for example) or with your home cable acct. We love it! We can even watch our home news with it. A lot of what we watch is YouTube. I screen cast it from my phone YT app to the Roku just like I would cast it to the TV at home so we can watch on TV and I can leave comments with my phone. Hahahahha.

Hope this helps! Happy viewing!

[NutmegsCamper]

We had FireSticks, switched to Apple TV, and bought a Roku for our camper. We liked it so much we got rid of the Apple TV and switched everything to Roku.

[gamakai]

we've had both--Roku

[LNBright]

Originally Posted by NutmegsCamper

We had FireSticks, switched to Apple TV, and bought a Roku for our camper. We liked it so much we got rid of the Apple TV and switched everything to Roku.

I had an old Apple TV; I wanted to upgrade to a newer one, but the family 'upgraded' me to a Firestick (thought the Apple version was too pricey). We're still using the Firestick at home; took some workarounds to get it to jive so well with everything else being Apple here (phones, iPad, etc.). I kinda wanted to go back to an Apple TV, but finally got along enough w/ it that I tabled that plan.


Interesting to see all the Roku love here: I'll definitely look into such for our camper.

[Ginophiles]

I think fire sticks are going to be more Amazon forward. Roku has their own channel, but it also can use Amazon, Apple TV and god knows what else. We use a cheap Roku stick in the shop, a Roku sound bar in the AS, which is pretty nice for a trailer, and the higher end Roku box in the house.

We had a Fire TV, and yeah, it can do YouTube and stuff, but it really wants you watching Amazon content.

[glcmranger]

I bought the roku Ultra -- main reason -- it has bluetooth capability and can pair up to headphones or ear buds...... definitely helps drowning out the campground noise.

[richard5933]

I've used both - the Amazon is better in my opinion. After a few years of using a Firestick, I opted to swap out the TV for an Amazon Fire TV (SmartTV). Makes the whole process of streaming much more simple with everything built in and always there. These are relatively inexpensive nowadays.

[Rich Jenkins]

Originally Posted by glcmranger

I bought the roku Ultra -- main reason -- it has bluetooth capability and can pair up to headphones or ear buds...... definitely helps drowning out the campground noise.

Same here, the Ultra works well. Mrs. Rich uses here air pods with the TV for late night watching after I've gone to the back of the coach. Once paired up, all she has to do is open the case and put them on.

I prefer the Roku interface over the FireTV we had - which I presume uses the same interface as a Firestick. The Roku seems pretty natural and is very straightforward to use.

The only issue I have with Roku is their media player client. I've set up a valid DLNA media server on a couple servers on my internal network, to stream movies. Done both Windows and Linux versions. I have had success seeing the movie folder from the client to the server with multiple other brand TVs (e.g. LG) but the Roku client (none of them, TVs or sticks) never seems to be able to find the server. No huge deal, as it is not something I do a lot, but it is a curiosity.

[mejess1964]

Thanks, all.. Good infoà

[waninae39]

we use both

[uncle_bob]

Hi

We have some of each. Our goto solution is an Apple TV. It seems to be less problematic than the others and gives a pretty wide range of things to watch.

Bob

[Julie-Bob]

We have Roku. Haven’t tried others

[Keys Dave]

I have at least 5 Roku's. In the AS I replaced the living room tv with a monitor and a Roku sound bar, it's so much better than the standard speakers. The bedroom TV is on a different Roku that way the wifey has her show on the occasion she needs it. Both hook up with the pep link wifi. I also travel with a Roku stick for hotels etc. no excess log in problems

[Life is a Highway]

Might want to try Apple TV it handles wifi very well and manages video better

[CCPLady]

Originally Posted by mejess1964

Has anyone used either the Roku or Firestick streaming platforms? Better yet... has anyone tried both? If so, which one do you like best?

As several have said, the Roku has a great interface. I use both plus an AppleTV. I’d probably rank them Apple (because it works so well with our other Apple devices), then the Roku and the Firestick 3rd.

[Suncoastdjr]

Yes, only Roku and used my phone as a hotspot. Works great…..

[tcgoetz]

I use a Roku. It has adds, but you can play videos from USB drives. So we stream with he Roku, but also bring content with us.