Qube review tv#
Amazon says Netflix should be launching these voice controls right around the time the Fire TV Cube launches. Some third-party apps are also expected to roll out deeper voice integration so they’ll work well on the Cube-including Netflix, ESPN, Showtime, Starz, CBS All Access, and Hulu.
Qube review update#
And the company says, in terms of latency, it's working on an update that will go out as early as next week to help improve Alexa’s wake word responsiveness, and bring it on par with other Echo devices. At one point, when I tried to use voice to select Atlanta, the Audible app launched and a voice began to read aloud from the book Atlanta Noir.Īmazon says that it anticipates this product getting better over time, like the original Echo. It was getting to the thing I wanted to watch that wasn’t as intuitive as promised. So you can say something like, “Alexa, select option four,” rather than saying, “Alexa, select Black Panther” or “Alexa, play The Shape of Water.” This part was useful. Amazon has also come up with a method of numbering the programs that appear on the screen, which appear in a grid-like format. Normally, when I’m using Alexa on other Echo devices, this cadence feels natural: “Alexa.” (Short pause.) “Set a timer.” On the Fire TV Cube, Alexa comes across as mildly hungover, with an elongated pause between “Alexa, search for Atlanta” and the results appearing on screen, accompanied by Alexa’s response.įrom there you’re supposed to say, repeatedly, “Show more” or “Scroll to the right,” to see more options, which is around the time I started to question voice control for a TV interface. I found Alexa on the Fire TV Cube to be just slow enough to interrupt the flow of what I was trying to do. Somehow I didn’t mind this, but maybe that’s because that was the least irritating thing about it. You can ask Alexa on the Fire TV Cube to tell you a joke or set a timer, and Alexa will oblige-but it also interrupts whatever you were just watching on TV. The speaker quality is on par with the Echo Dot puck. The Fire TV Cube is indeed an Echo, but not a good Echo. The results of this feature combo are mixed. You don’t need a remote to control the Echo Show, goes the thinking, so why not apply some of the interactions to a voice-first TV device? But the Cube has the Echo functionality, as well as HDMI-CEC support and IR emitters.Īmazon also borrowed features from the Echo Show, its voice-controlled gadget with a screen, to create the Cube's UI. In many ways the Fire TV Cube is similar to last year’s $70 Fire TV Stick. It supports 60Hz 4K, HDR10, and Dolby Atmos.
Qube review android#
The Cube runs on an Amlogic quad-core 1.5GHz processor and a Mali-450 MP3 GPU, the same family of chipsets that powers some Android TV boxes. It doesn’t ship with an HDMI cable, though it does come with an Ethernet adapter. On the back of the box there are ports for HDMI, microUSB, and an IR extender. There’s an LED strip that runs across the top of the cube’s face, which lights up blue when you're talking to Alexa. It’s shiny, with sharp edges and four physical buttons on its matte-black top.
Qube review full#
The Fire TV Cube has the full microphone array of an Echo, with a new design-most Echos are round, the Cube is square. And while the company deserves a lot of credit for democratizing a pleasant-sounding virtual assistant in our homes, this next push in voice feels like a strange combination of features, none of which stand out as exceptional. It turns out Amazon’s promise for the future of TV doesn't quite come through in its earliest form.
Even if you really enjoy chatting with your TV, your significant other or roommate may very well move out within a week. But there’s a good chance you’ll end up doing what I did: going back to the fuddy-duddy Fire TV remote, because that’s the easiest way to scroll through multiple media options. Maybe if you have kids, they’ll love shouting at the TV to get their cartoon fix.
Maybe you’ll still be delighted by the Cube at first if you buy one. Alexa on a TV interface demands a level of conversation like no other streaming TV product I’ve used before.Īfter a few nights of using the Cube, I began to hate the sound of my own voice. If you’re thinking of buying the Amazon Fire TV Cube because you’re delighted by the idea of having an Amazon Echo and a Fire TV device mashed into one device, let me stop you right there.
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