Chromecast with Google TV vs Amazon 4k Fire TV Stick MAX // 2 Best $50 Dongles for TV!

[@SoSaysYou]

Google is a simpler, more modern layout, but the slow functionality of the chromecast makes the firetv quite appealing.

[@mikedropstech]

😁

[@theofficialjaycool]

I have Chromecast with Google TV and I enjoy using a lot. And the issues or problems I don't have problem. Like my KZbin app works fine. I don't have Apple TV. So yeah. The only apps I use are Tubi TV, Netflix, Peacock TV, Pluto TV, IMdb TV and The CW app. You it's probably KZbin app and Apple TV app it self that are having issues with not the Chromecast with Google TV device. Btw great vid tho 👍🏿

[@mikedropstech]

Thanks for taking the time to comment and subscribing!

[@crash9706]

Yo can you check if an application called Tod is on the chromecast ?

[@Alan..W]

Chromecast TV does not have Now TV or All 4 app. Means you got to have a separate dongle for Now TV, unless you beam it from your phone...

[@mikedropstech]

Good to know. I don’t think we get those channels in the US so appreciate you sharing for folks that might need them!

[@jassingh_]

Great video! I like the comparison of both side by side so we can get a feel for performance. Was thinking about getting a CCWGT having used my existing Fire Stick 4K 2018 model and wanting to go with something faster, though the exclusion of All4 and NowTv are a bit of a bummer if I happen to use them in the future! The 4K Max however doesn't seem too bad an upgrade either, so do you go primarily for UI or performance? Decisions!

[@mikedropstech]

The reality is most tech does what we want, we’re just paying for polish and speed now. For me I just prefer the way google showcases videos to watch vs. Amazon who really push their prime catalogue which isn’t deep enough compared to ‘everything else put there’ as the google pulls from every source you have.

[@kobirelf97]

To be honest the benefit of a fire TV stick is that you can use to Amazon echos in a home theatre mode

[@mikedropstech]

Well Kobi! I didn’t know that so thanks for bringing the gold with this comment!

[@Minarreal]

I'd rather use a proper audio setup, but Echoes are cheap and still sound way better than most TV/monitor speakers, so it's not a bad idea.

[@andromedaone3640]

The Chromecast menus are a lot bolder and better but that's the only thing i like. The Chromecast keeps messing up and freezing on free tv apps like plex and Pluto. Everything seems to work better on Fire Stick, if google sorted that out i would plug it back in.

[@mikedropstech]

They all seem to have their moments here and there unfortunately.

[@JojoGregorio]

I have both as well and I also prefer the Chromecast with GoogleTV for the same reasons Mike highlighted. One thing to point out, is the audio. Amazon still has a problem with properly being able to output audio. Unless you have a receiver unit that can utilize Dolby Digital Plus, the Firestick TV Max (and older versions as well) can only do stereo which is a bummer.

[@mikedropstech]

Great thought Jojo! The audio has definitely been a pain and I'm running through a Dolby Atmos Sonos Arc!

[@NL-Chaos]

For me it says ( fire stick 4k max international) it has auto setting for audio (supports all audio formats including Dolby Atmos, DD+ dd ect) Dolby digital Plus, Dolby digital so perhaps I got a newer update installed ?

[@crash9706]

Yo can you check if an application called Tod is on the chromecast ?

[@majdd1173]

Hope more reviewers follow what you did in this review and focus more on the user experience, rather than throwing technical specs! thanx

[@mikedropstech]

Thanks for watching buddy!

[@kennopalus]

Important note ! I had a fire stick like the one in the video and it would not let me sign into Apple TV ! Whenever the app got to the second step notification , on the fire stick , the code wouldn't come to my phone . I got the Google dongle and had no issue getting past the second verification on the apple app , the code came through in a text on my phone without any delay .

[@mikedropstech]

Wow. That’s crazy!

[@Kowalski7791]

I only use these devices for kodi and KZbin. Although i found advertisements to be quite agressive on the fire stick, getting an ad every 2 minutes while watching a video. Have yet to test out the google tv one

[@mikedropstech]

Yeah it’s not as bad thankfully!

[@antftwx]

You mention that when browsing for movies/shows CC only displays stuff from subscriptions you already have, yet as you're saying that CC is showing stuff for purchase and content from subs you don't have (as indicated by the lock icon.) Then with the pointless "scrolling as fast as you can" test on the Netflix app you say CC wins despite performance being IDENTICAL on both devices. Idk, just thought I'd point that at. But anyway, as someone who does very little browsing and generally knowing what I want to watch, I want a device that will give me my content as quick as possible. Fire seems to be the one for that. Thanks for the comparison.

[@mikedropstech]

I'll double check my suggested vs subscription thumbs as it felt like it wasn't showing me a bunch of stuff I couldn't watch but maybe I'm just going crazy 😱!

[@steverodgers333]

❤ Thank you for this review. Just what I needed. Love your positive message at the end. 😊

[@mikedropstech]

Thanks for watching Steven!

[@anujdwivedi7188]

Great Video, you can change you color depth to 12 bit on fire tv and see the difference. google tv is no match and very slow to operate though I have a very fast internet.

[@mikedropstech]

Interesting, didn’t know about the color depth option, just had mine set to the HDR selection.

[@johnmc3862]

Haha BS! Google isn’t slow at all. It’s font-end is better than the fire stick.

[@arn999]

What would 12 bit be useful for when no tv has 12 bit colors?

[@praloy19]

Very nice and elaborate video. I have a question to ask. I remember being able to control old firestick with my Samsung smart tv remote. Not sure if it will work the same way. So my question would be Can we control both of these new devices with Samsung smart tv remote?

[@mikedropstech]

Great question buddy but I don’t have one in the studio right now so can’t test it 😩

[@TheTubeMeister]

No one talks about this but I have the firecube and the hands free Alexa is a deal breaker for me. If google chromecast has a feature like that, I’d go with chromecast. But the main reason why I will use firecube is because of hands-free Alexa.

[@mikedropstech]

Yeah it’s pretty cool just talking at the tv!

[@itboy6934]

Amazon 🔥 I was part of software development. It's pretty solid

[@mikedropstech]

Whoop whoop! Thanks for watching and joining the convo 😀

[@mahipal-jain]

Does the Chromecast play Google photos when tv is idle/screensaver?

[@mikedropstech]

It can yes. Just set your photo album in ‘Ambient Mode’.

[@benmoxham_]

As good as the CC w/GTV is, I'd always recommend the Fire products purely because (in the UK anyway) they have all the streaming apps, whereas the GTV is missing All 4 and Now TV.

[@mikedropstech]

That's good to know. Here in the US the apps are pretty even so that's why we didn't comment on that part too much. When I grew up in the UK we didn't have anything like this so I had no idea! Thanks for taking the time to comment and subscribing to the channel 😀.

[@raiden_ilp]

How are things nowadays? More happy with CH or Fire? I think CH is better for me but i'm afraid about performance.... is it really more efficient on fire? Let me know if you can! 😊

[@mikedropstech]

Still using the chrome cast. Beet working great although it does stumble for a second here and there. Definitely prefer the interface and spread of suggested videos vs. the fire stick which promotes prime so heavily.

[@fonolavalencia]

@mike drops tech, did you get any firmware that fixed the apps stops randomly ? thanks

[@mikedropstech]

No, but to be fair, I stopped using it and went back to my Apple TV. Just more stable overall :(

[@madhuaryal5336]

Fire tv has better performance and Google tv has better UI

[@mikedropstech]

You may be right on the performance, but overall I've been using the Google TV as my primary streamer and it's been awesome.

[@roderixdekaper]

Is it the chromecast 4k or the hd one?

[@dominikkkkkkkkkkkkk]

I have a mi TV and a lot of performance issues with the built in google tv. I guess the chromecast or fire stick would help, but I don't know which one is more stable

[@mikedropstech]

They're both solid choices at this point. I prefer the Google TV over everything right now as I like the interface more but you can't go wrong with either one!

[@francoismentec4260]

Are the freezes while using KZbin and Apple TV on Google TV resolved as of January 2022?

[@mikedropstech]

You know now that you mention it, yes, I think they are. I haven’t noticed any of the same freezing in the Apple TV app over the last month or so!

[@ssolognier6596]

Maybe This year Amazon firetv come with his brand new friendly easy interface and with much ram and storage, speed and many more stuff 🥰"the badle continue"

[@mikedropstech]

Right!

[@thee_jpp]

Has Google sorted out their software bugs / crashes or does this still happen?

[@mikedropstech]

It’s better for sure!

[@nikhilpatel7988]

Google one looks so much better BUT FOR UK viewers - ALL4 (Channel 4 on demand) is not available on Google

[@mikedropstech]

😔

[@Sammy-34079]

WHO GIVE A F__CK ABOUT U I LOVE MY AMAZON FIRE STICK WITH MY SMART TV SINCE MY MOM WORKS AT AMAZON WARHOUSE ChromeStick SUCKS!

[@rbela76]

You cleared my decision instantly after I watched this video. Thank you!

[@mikedropstech]

Woohoo! Thanks for watching and glad I could help. 🥳

[@Thewatcher1669]

Which one u buying bro

[@games_bee]

Is it just me but I just love 😍 the fire stick than the Google Chrome cast.

[@mikedropstech]

They’re cool for sure. And to be fair, I kinda like Alexa more after spending a year with google 😔

[@Dewlone]

I’ve had nothing but issues with chrome cast streaming quality. Sound constantly cutting in and out, and small audio delays. Frustrating because I have fiber optic WiFi.

[@mikedropstech]

Oh wow! That doesn’t sound good. Have you tried a reset just in case that helps? Otherwise it sounds like you’ve got a bad one 😩

[@Dewlone]

@@mikedropstech I'll try that. I've tried changing all the different TV and chromecast output settings. Don't have any issues with connection on any other devices. But the sound constantly stops (video quality stays good) and the audio is 100% slightly delayed from people's mouths moving. I notice it the most with 4K content, but 4K content is why I got it. Still happens with HBO Max 1080P stuff.

[@mikedropstech]

:(

[@NL-Chaos]

I hope amazone fire stick 4k max international will also get the HBO max app :S otherwise I need a new device just to watch GOT, band of brothers and all that when it comes out in the Netherlands.

[@mikedropstech]

😱

[@seiji-kun9488]

Does Google TV have Bluetooth audio latency when connected to Bluetooth speakers?

[@mikedropstech]

Not sure on this one. Anyone out there tried it?!

[@mannequindisplay]

Great video I have the Amazon Fire Stick MAX and I do agree with you Amazon likes to push more APP subscriptions on to you then the ones you subscribe to as that turns me off. When I go look for something to watch I will see something I may be interested in and then realize I don't subscribe to that service. The whole point of cable cutting is to manage how much you spend a month now that everyone is streaming everyone jumped onto the streaming platform and it makes it to much as I currently have 4 Disney Plus , Prime , Crave and Netflix as if I wanted more I would subscribe to more as these alone is costing so much per month to have and you can not watch everything . Even if the google one is a bit slower it may be worth the price of not having other services shoved in your faces. My friend has the Amazon stick as well and this is his biggest complaint. Amazon should start listening to their customers but they make $$$ pushing subscriptions .

[@mikedropstech]

👍

[@gerardfraser]

thanks for the video and sharing your thoughts.

[@mikedropstech]

My pleasure!

[@gigilele3087]

What about deep colours difference? Since I've found incredible differences between Mali 450 (deepest colors) and Mali g31? What about the silicon graphics on the firestick and the Mali g31 on the Google Chrome?

[@mikedropstech]

They both looked pretty good to me but I didn’t do any deep color comparisons.

[@Volfas]

lol why u keeping Netflix, Prime, and Disney on ur favorite apps when there's literally buttons for them on the remote 😄.

[@mikedropstech]

That’s the downside of playing with tech all the time. I don’t get chance to get used to the buttons when I change out devices so having the, on the menu helps me keep it consistent.

[@NL-Chaos]

My fire max stick remote only has Netflix, prime, apps and internet ?

[@bennguyen1313]

I assume the Chromecast/GoogleTV stick does not work with Amazon's Recast? For example, I bought the Recast and a Fire Tv 4k Stick so that I can watch live OTA from a TV via the recast.. But the Stick interface is a mess. Tons of apps, free channels and content I don't want.. or services I don't have. Getting to the option that displays the Live OTA channels requires way too much navigation. Anyone know of another way of viewing the Recast's OTA channels on a TV? Or a fire-tv-stick app that just list the OTA channels without all the other free and useless options?

[@mikedropstech]

Hey Ben! I could be wrong, but I believe recast only works on Amazon products so you may be out of luck on this one. I agree the interface should give the end user a little more flexibility in how we configure what it shows vs. pushing what it wants to show!

[@lgmnowkondo938]

has the chromecast been fixed yet?

[@mikedropstech]

?

[@lgmnowkondo938]

@@mikedropstech you said that if they fix the issue with the chromecast that you would then choose it over the firerstick...do you know if the issue was fixed?

[@esasalonen495]

My new Sony x93J GoogleTV, equipped with Cromecast 4K, does not provide Dolby Digital 5.1 but only DD 2.1. I bought Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max because I red from internet that it can decode DD 5.1. I haven't received my new Fire Stick, so I am not sure yet if it works with DD 5.1. Do you know if it does?

[@mikedropstech]

When tv manufacturers incorporate third party services live Sony here adding in the Google chrome cast, it seems there are always limitations that don’t exist on the real product. I know it sounds crazy but I’d almost wish they wouldn’t bother and just let us buy the streaming device we want after the fact to avoid situations like this!

[@s4d429]

Amazon has wifi 6 + atmos sound supported and cheaper at least in EU

[@mikedropstech]

Good points!

[@martinpolanco5681]

Can you download apps from 3rd party on Google TV?

[@mikedropstech]

It is technically possible and google has some instructions from folks that have done that but it’s not an easy process for someone who isn’t super technical. Thankfully all the mainstream apps seems to be available in the google store. Thanks for watching and subscribing!

[@samjam6989]

@@mikedropstech can you download app which is region locked in google chromecast? like sideload?

[@84latinray]

I have the firesrick max my router is in the other side of the house and it gets good connection

[@mikedropstech]

Great to hear the Firestick is working for you. It’s pretty awesome that we have so many good choices now for streaming devices!

[@lakshya2008]

During Prime day sale in India, I am getting Fire tv 4k Max at $47 And CC with Google tv at $75. Which one you would suggest?

[@mikedropstech]

They’re both great devices and will do what you need. I prefer the interface of the Google TV but I don’t know that I’d pay over 50% more for it!

[@crash9706]

Yo can you check if an application called Tod is on the chromecast ?

[@mikedropstech]

Looks like it IS on there! 😱

[@crash9706]

@@mikedropstech oh that's good to hear. Will buy it now

[@crash9706]

@@mikedropstech thank you so much for checking

[@mikedropstech]

No worries buddy! Was sitting right in front of the TV when your message came through so was happy to help 😁. Appreciate you watching the video and subscribing to the channel 😁

[@bosnianviking]

Do you have application EON TV on chromecast?

[@mikedropstech]

I don’t think I do 😩

[@johnmc3862]

Good man!

[@mikedropstech]

Thanks John! 😱

[@clinged2711]

google tv has only 8gb of storage it if had 16 id buy it

[@Ch_Shahzad_Yaqoob]

Nice 👌 Comparison love from Pakistan 🇵🇰

[@mikedropstech]

Thanks for the ❤️!

[@kadanatube]

Thank you

[@mikedropstech]

You're welcome!

[@amigatommy7]

I am looking at utube tv with chromecast

[@mikedropstech]

Let me know if you like it!

[@northlander4370]

keeping your ad banners up eats up data and ram ...i disabled mine ....btw how many friggin apps do you need ...they all suck data and ram .

[@mikedropstech]

😱

[@CharlesINTEL]

How to disable?

[@northlander4370]

@@CharlesINTEL go to settings , click preferences ..notification settings...turn off to disable notifications...hope this helps

[@CharlesINTEL]

@@northlander4370 thank you

[@northlander4370]

@@CharlesINTEL your welcome !

[@CS01]

good video mate

[@mikedropstech]

Thanks for the shout out and subscribe! I'm working at making each one better then the last 😱

[@ahamedchowdhury6106]

Amazon is clearly faster... end of game.. i like fire..

[@mikedropstech]

Glad you found one that works for you!

[@TheMaskedCheek]

Omg yawning.. u can change you launcher on both..u should be focusing on performance

[@mikedropstech]

Thanks for your feedback buddy! I’d hoped putting the two devices side by side on the same display would help show their relative strengths from a performance perspective but it sounds like I fell short of what you were hoping to find. Appreciate you giving your time to watch my videos, I’ll keep working on improving the approach to do better in future releases. And Merry Christmas! 🎄

[@johnmc3862]

Most people using them won’t touch launchers.

[@arn999]

lol, launchers. About .02% of users have enough time to waste to mess with that.

[@T3CHGY007]

LOL!!! Save the launchers for NASA!

[@TheMaskedCheek]

@@T3CHGY007 why