The entertainment industry is booming, with a lot of people switching to streaming services to watch content at home. If you’re in the market searching for the best streaming platform, you’d be hard-pressed to choose between multiple services, out of which Roku and Fire TV stand out. So, which one should you get exactly? Here’s our comprehensive Roku vs Fire TV comparison to help you decide.
Roku and Fire TV are two major players on the TV and streaming ecosystem and are used by millions around the world. If you aren’t already aware, Fire TV is owned by Amazon and Roku took the streaming world by storm when it was founded in the early 2000s, and now has over 100 million active users.
Roku vs Fire TV: User Experience
Starting with the user experience, the UI on Fire TV looks quite modern. It has that content-centric Google TV-like interface, but still different in some aspects. Being an Amazon-owned platform, it obviously promotes their own content, like TV series and movies from Prime Video and Freevee.
Navigating the Fire TV UI is quite easy with the Profile, Home, TV, and Bookmarks buttons right in the middle row. This is followed by TV and movie recommendations below.
Roku, on the other hand, takes a simple approach where UI elements and menus are not spread across the screen. Instead, there’s a scrollable list on the left sidebar, with the options pertaining to the same on the right. So, for example, My Feed will show you recommendations whereas streaming channels will show you all the channels you can stream.
UI-wise, I like Fire TV but when it comes to functionality and to be easily able to find something you’re looking for, Roku triumphs over Fire TV. I can see this being a perk for the elderly people. As for which is more reliable, it’s a tie, again. The decision to choose between Roku and Fire TV on the UI front depends on the age group who will be using it.
Winner: Tie
Roku vs Fire TV: Recommendations
Since Fire TV is part of Amazon, expect it to shove lots of Amazon-related services and content in your face. Fire TV’s recommendations are heavily based on your viewing history and trends from both Prime and other apps.
Roku, on the other hand, takes a more neutral approach by not heavily pushing recommendations and keeping it organic. This does rob the essence of what “recommendations” should be, but that could be both a good thing and bad. Good because the recommendations are more diverse, and bad because sometimes the recommendations won’t feel incredibly personal. Roku doesn’t lean toward one particular service.
If you’re looking for more personalized recommendations, Fire TV will do the trick. If you’re not very fond of recommendations and usually like them in moderation, you must go with Roku. That said, since most people like personalized content, Fire TV takes the win here.
Winner: Fire TV
Roku vs Fire TV: Apps and Features
Roku offers all the important and wide range of apps, basically everything you’d need to complete your watching experience. Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, Amazon Prime Video, and every other major streaming platform are all available on Roku. The platform also has channels where you can watch a variety of both paid and free TV content.
Amazon’s Fire TV, while it closely integrates Amazon services, still has a wide range of apps. However, it cannot match Roku when compared to its sheer library of apps and channels, some of them being quite niche but still popular. One area where Amazon does take the lead is sideloading. As Fire OS is Android-based, you can sideload APKs and have apps that are not officially available on the Fire TV.
Roku supports both Google Assistant and Alexa, and is compatible with Apple AirPlay and HomeKit. Fire TV, also has AirPlay support, but since it’s tied to the Amazon ecosystem, Google Assistant support is quite limited, so you’ll have to use Alexa for the most part.
One thing I love about Roku, which I also mentioned in my Roku vs Google TV comparison, is support for headphones (only on Ultra) to the remote. It’s a great way to watch content when you don’t want to disturb anyone in the room.
Winner: Roku
Roku vs Fire TV: Watching Experience
Both platforms offer a similar streaming experience with 4K 60 fps support and features like Dolby Vision, HDR10, HDR10+, Dolby Digital, and Dolby Atmos. This, of course, depends on the Roku or Fire TV hardware you have. Both platforms also support upscaling to FHD and 4K from lower resolutions.
Hence, the watching experience shouldn’t be the main priority when choosing between the two, as you’d be hard-pressed to find the differences in the streaming quality.
Winner: Tie
Roku vs Fire TV: Devices and Pricing
Roku currently has four devices in its portfolio — Roku Express, Express 4K+, Streaming Stick 4K, and Roku Ultra. Amazon’s Fire TV portfolio consists of five products — Fire TV Stick, Fire TV Stick 4K, Fire TV Stick 4k Max, Fire TV Stick Lite, and Fire TV Cube. Here’s a full list of Amazon Fire TV and Roku devices that you can purchase and their prices.
| Amazon Fire TV | Roku | Price (Amazon vs Roku) |
|---|---|---|
| Fire TV Stick | Express | $25 Vs $20 |
| Fire TV Stick 4K | Express 4K+ | $30 Vs $30 |
| Fire TV Stick 4K Max | Streaming Stick 4K | $40 Vs $35 |
| Fire TV Cube | Roku Ultra | $110 Vs $90 |
| Fire TV Stick Lite | – | $20 Vs – |
The Roku Express lacks voice control, that both Fire TV Stick Lite and TV Stick have on offer. While the Lite and Express both don’t offer volume controls, the TV Stick does and is a big reason to spend that extra $5 on the TV Stick if content is not an issue. Also, both the Express and Fire TV Stick Lite can upscale 720p quality to 1080p.
Both the Lite and Regular versions of Fire TV Stick have Bluetooth support, which isn’t the case with Roku Express. Besides, the Express lacks HDR10 and HDR10+, which both Fire TV Stick Lite and regular TV Stick support. Although, Roku supports Dolby Atmos, which only the regular Fire TV Stick supports.
The bottom line is, if all you care about is value for money and want 1080p playback, it makes sense to buy the Fire TV Stick. If you need 4K, we’d recommend the Roku Streaming Stick 4K for its lower price. The Fire TV 4K Max has better overall performance, though, for $5 extra.
Ultimately, the right platform depends on your current streaming situation and which ecosystem you’re in. Which one would you pick between Roku and Fire TV and devices? Let us know in the comments below.