Should Have Bought This Years Ago
Reviewed in the United States on January 13, 2023 | Rating: 5/5 | Best Sellers in Amazon Devices & Accessories
this is so easy to setup and use i wish i got this years ago ill be honest and i feel a bit foolish admitting this but despite hearing about the fire tv sticks existence for years i never considered it because i thought there was a monthly fee i didnt want to pay for anything beyond my subscriptions so i never even read the details i put my television in a box in the attic when i cut the cord with my cable company in 2012 and its been there ever since ive been watching tv on my desktop pc or on my kindlethis worked well enough for years but during the pandemic i began spending a lot more time streaming shows and despite replacing my desk chair with a more comfortable chair it just wasnt ergonomic and became more and more uncomfortable so i needed to reconsider my tv setup enter the fire stick this time i read the details  and then reread them and then youtubed videos about it because i couldnt believe it really didnt cost anything per month you just buy the stick and plug it in and thats it yepso heres a few noteworthy points first it does not use usb i saw this pop up in the questions for this product quite a bit technically the wall adapter plugs into the included usb cord  just like your kindle charger etc but theres no usb needed for the actual television end it uses an hdmi port and thats it interestingly i almost didnt get it because i was sure the tv i bought back in 2009 wouldnt have an hdmi port but i finally went up to the attic to check and sure enough it has one so be sure your tv has an hdmi port thats requiredsetup was ridiculously easy just attach the items in the box together and plug it into the hdmi port on the back of your tv and then plug the other end into a wall outlet thats it then turn the tv on and the setup will walk you through the rest signing you into your amazon account calibrating the included remote control updating several times choosing streaming apps to start with etc its all very simpleif you want to watch paid streaming services such as netflix hulu etc you must have a paid subscription to them but theres other servicesapps such as pluto tv and others that are totally free and have a decent variety of adsupported content both shows and movies as well as news and amazons apps are of course there like amazon music and prime video if you subscribe to prime video i only have hulu and prime video currently as paid subscriptions but theres plenty of free content to supplement in fact i even have my local news which surprised me they must stream on a live app and i never realized itso basically it aggregates various paid and free streaming apps to one place and this little stick presents them all in one nice looking interface letting you use your remote to choose programming just like tv to be clear the fire tv stick runs off your wifi signal so be sure you have wifi at home on one hand it doesnt give you anything you cant get without it but on the other hand the convenience of having it all accessible in one place is fantastic and makes it feel like im getting all kinds of new content some of the apps ive never even heard of so there is newtome content in that regardthe interface is excellent and fairly intuitive and the remote works great i am super glad i opted for the fire tv stick option that comes with the remote that also has tv controls like volume and mute so i can do it all with the remote that came with it now i can sit in my living room like a normal person and watch tv streaming services comfortably from my couch i should have got this years agojust be sure you have1 a tv with an hdmi port2 wifi at home3 optional paid services if you want to watch hulu netflix etc otherwise you can still use this to access free content