Cord Cutting: What Streaming Device Should You Pick?

Many people have decide to cut the cord, and end their cable or satellite subscription. This starting to become more popular as services like Netflix and Hulu start to increase their range of content and live TV streaming services like DirecTV Now, Youtube TV and Sling TV become easier to use and cheaper. This leaves many people wonder what streaming device to pick from. This is a tough decision and comes down to many factors.  Today I will be comparing some of the streaming devices I have tried out which include: Apple TV (4th Generation), Chromecast (2nd Generation), Fire TV Stick (2nd Generation), ASUS Chromebit and Intel Compute Stick (2nd Generation. Below is a table comparing the following services accessible on the streaming device. I will be comparing Hulu, Netflix, YouTube, Amazon Prime Video, Spotify, Movies Anywhere, and an option for screen sharing. This is a decision that changes based on your entertainment, so I will be focusing on showing what they can do, instead of what my choices are, but if you would like to see my choices they are below.

Note: The Apple TV can only play Spotify through AirPlay, which requires a secondary device (iPhone, iPad, Mac) to be connected.

Note: The Fire TV does not have a official Youtube app, but Youtube can be watched via the Silk Web Browser.

My Choices

All Around

My pick for the best all around streaming device is the Amazon Fire TV. The Fire TV can access all of the services I tested, has Alexa connectivity and is under $50. I have used the Fire TV for about six months now and I’ve never had a problem.

Value Option

My pick for the value option is the Google Chromecast. The Chromecast is the cheapest at $35. It’s great if you share the TV or want to set it up for a guest because it doesn’t require a log in on the Chromecast. I also enjoyed the ability to cast from Google Chrome or my Chromebook.

Non Value Option

My pick for the non value option is the Apple TV. You can tell that the Apple TV is an Apple product. The Apple TV is the only streaming device that you can watch iTunes movies on and use AirPlay, but I don’t think that is worth the $149 starting price.

Others

The Chromebit and Intel Compute Stick are definitely a different style. They are both mini computers running Chrome OS and Windows 10 respectively and they are different. These are great if you have an abnormal selection of entertainment sites or want to watch other content like home movies.