Apple has just unveiled its fourth-gen Apple TV 4K, but how does it compare to the Amazon Fire TV Cube?
If you’re looking to turn an old TV into a smart one, then either the Apple TV 4K or Fire TV Cube are great options to choose from – but what actually separates the two?
We’ve compared the specs and highlighted the notable differences between the two below. Not convinced by either? Our round-up of the best streaming devices has you covered, as we’ve listed our current favourite models.
Price and Availability
The Apple TV 4K (4th Gen) has an RRP of £299/$299 and is currently available to pre-order ahead of its official launch from November 13th.
The Amazon Fire TV Cube is considerably cheaper than the Apple TV 4K, with an RRP of £199/$199.99. However, we’ve seen the device drop in price on quite a few occasions. In fact, we’d actively recommend waiting for sales events like Prime Day or Black Friday in order to nab the Fire TV Cube with some money off.
Siri AI vs Alexa
Although both the Apple TV 4K and Fire TV Cube are fitted with hands-free voice assistants, they differ with their exact offerings. The Apple TV 4K is fitted with Apple’s Siri AI, the new and improved version of the original Siri that’s hailed as being a “profoundly more capable and conversational” voice assistant.
Siri AI within the Apple TV 4K can do a lot, from checking through messages and finding recommendations from friends (although this is only when paired with an iPhone 15 Pro or later) to asking whether a title is appropriate for a 15-year-old. You can even ask Siri AI for information on how a show was created, and it will search the web for answers.
Although we haven’t reviewed the voice assistant specifically within the Apple TV 4K, during his time with Siri AI across other devices, our Home Tech Editor has praised the voice assistant for showing signs of promise, which bodes well for the upcoming Apple TV’s performance too.
So how does Amazon’s voice assistant, Alexa+, compare? Like Siri AI, Alexa+ is the newer iteration of its predecessor that promises to offer more natural conversations and smarter responses. At the time of writing, Alexa+ is free for Prime members but will cost an additional £19.99 a month for those without a subscription. However, eligible Fire TV Cube customers will get to experience Alexa+ with a 30-day free trial.
Even before Alexa+ made its debut in the UK, we praised Alexa for being a genuinely useful voice assistant that could understand and provide relevant answers or actions to most questions. While we haven’t reviewed Alexa+ specifically within the Fire TV Cube, it promises to offer smarter TV and movie recommendations, and allows you to control your smart home set-up too.
TvOS vs Fire TV OS
Both the Apple TV 4K and Fire TV Cube run on different operating systems too. The Apple TV 4K will come running Apple’s tvOS 27 while the Fire TV Cube is powered by Amazon’s Fire OS.
Fire OS is an intuitive smart TV operating system that, although does favour Amazon content over others, provides access to plenty of subscriptions and free TV channels with Freely too. While we wish the interface was a bit more personalised and organised, it’s not difficult to search for apps and content – especially with the help of Alexa to find content.
We haven’t reviewed the latest tvOS 27 iteration just yet, however Apple promises it benefits from high-resolution lossless audio support for Apple Music, a redesigned Apple Podcasts app and more text-size accessibility options too.
Both can act as smart home hubs
Although they are both designed primarily for streaming TV content, both the Apple TV 4K and Fire TV Cube can act as smart home hubs too. That means you can control compatible smart home devices such as video doorbells, security cameras, lightbulbs and the like directly from your TV screen. In addition, you can also see live streams from compatible devices too.
Plus, with Siri AI the Fire TV 4K supports smart home automations, a guest mode and camera activity video descriptions and summarised notifications too.
It’s the same story with the Fire TV Cube, as you can control all the connected smart home devices
Although they come with remotes, both offer hands-free voice assistance support
An upgrade with this year’s Apple TV 4K is that there’s no longer a need to press and hold a button on the remote to activate Siri. Instead, the included remote has three far-field microphones that allows you to speak to Siri completely hands-free. You don’t need to worry about background noise either, as the remote has advanced echo cancellation to isolate your voice too.
Similarly, the Fire TV Cube is also fitted with far-field microphones which means you don’t need to use the remote to activate Alexa either.
Both can pair with compatible speakers
The Apple TV 4K is the first of its series to provide an up to four-speaker surround sound experience with the newly announced HomePod Mini 2. Essentially, when you pair HomePod Mini 2 speakers with the Apple TV 4K, they will recognise their position in the room and calibrate their audio timing and levels to best suit the space.
Similarly, you can pair the Fire TV Cube with compatible Echo devices to enhance the audio quality of your set-up. Coined Alexa Home Cinema, devices like the Echo Studio, Echo Dot Max and Echo Sub can be added to the Fire TV Cube to create a more immersive soundstage too.
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Early Verdict
As we’re yet to review the Apple TV 4K (4th Gen), we’ll refrain from providing a conclusive verdict just yet. However, with Siri AI at its helm, Apple’s tvOS interface and a sleek design, the Apple TV 4K is an appealing choice for those households within the Apple ecosystem.
Even so, it’s worth remembering that the Fire TV Cube offers a very similar overall experience and has a considerably cheaper RRP. If you’re looking to smarten up your TV but don’t have the budget to spare, then the Fire TV Cube is a brilliant alternative to the expensive Apple TV 4K.
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