Amazon’s 2015 Fire TV: Finally, Amazon gets the streaming box right

Amazon's last major living room device, the Amazon Fire TV, tried to stand out among the expanding streaming-box ecosystem in a few major ways. You could do better with an Android-based TV box than what had already come, the company said, which is why it advertised its first-ever streaming device as a gaming powerhouse, a voice-searching marvel, and a super-fast streaming machine. But really, the Fire OS-powered device was none of those things—or at least not so much better that we felt compelled to dump our current rigs.

A year and a half later, well after the launch of the simpler, cheaper, and more modest Fire TV Stick, the Amazon Fire TV returns with new hardware and new features. And the whole package once again revolves around the same trifecta of promises: voice, power, and gaming. This time, at least, two of those promised boosts are backed by more than numbers, with the "voice" part receiving some Alexa-flavored love and the "power" part being proven by some incredible streaming-content speeds, not to mention 4K compatibility. These boosts all come for the same price as last year's model: $99.

Still, any Fire-branded device comes with the caveat of Amazon's weird app universe and Fire OS' interface design. This year's Fire TV is no exception, but for once, something with the "Fire" brand finally offers some clear advantages compared to the competition. Are its interface and connectivity tradeoffs worth it?