Your smart TV? It’s useless. If you want the best streaming experience, you need a TV with good enough software, and that’s ultimately what the best streaming device for a TV is. It’s the device with the best software.
The best streaming device for a TV for 2020? There are four contenders. Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Roku, and Chromecast. All have some pros and cons.
Every Apple user will, without a doubt, enjoy the features of the Apple TV such as AirPlay, which allows for wireless streaming between devices, but that’s why this device is only at place number 4.
Apple TV is very Apple user-friendly, but it’s only Apple friendly. That’s why you won’t get YouTube in 4K on it. And that’s not good enough when it comes to watching TV. Especially since the 4K version of the Apple TV starts at $179 and €199 in Europe.
On the Apple TV, you will get access to all the newest streaming platforms, including Apple’s own Apple TV Plus which surprisingly is priced pretty low, at least for Apple, but it’s pretty limited as far as content right now, but it does come free for a year when you buy an Apple TV.
It’s not going to work on Android devices, though...
Who’s the Apple TV 4K worth it for? Apple eco-system lovers.
Other than, there’s no reason to get it. Especially since you can actually get the 3 devices listed below, combined, for less than the price of the 4K Apple TV.
The Google Chromecast is kind of like AirPlay for those that don’t just have Apple devices.
You can sync it up with your phone, tablet, or computer with Google Chrome, in seconds.
The main difference between the Chromeast and Apple TV is that you need a device to run the Chromecast. Whether that’s just turning on Netflix on your phone and clicking on the icon that pops up, and some might find that annoying.
We personally find it more comfortable to use our phone to turn on what we want to watch on our phone first, but having a remote would have been great too.
In theory, you get a form of AirPlay on the Chromecast and access to stream all services from your phone, minus Apple TV+, so the question is, why is this better?
Well, as you can get it for just $69 & €64 for the 4K version and $35 & €29 for the standard version.
Its biggest limitation is that you always need to connect to some device and that there are no actual apps on the device which you can just turn on, making this just a truly streaming device.
Roku is very close to what streaming devices for a TV for 2020 should look like, and it’s the most affordable 4K HDR streaming device out there, right now being just $44 or €33 on a discount in Europe and $29 for the Roku Premiere which also supports 4K.
The Roku devices are a combination of what the winner of this best streaming device for a TV post offers, the Amazon Fire TV Stick, and Apple TV.
And frankly, it’s a platform that has been innovating for a very long time, supporting 4K and HDR 10 a long time before Apple did on their Apple TV.
It doesn’t, however, stream in Dolby Vision, although that only matters if you have great audio in the first place.
Best device. Best features. And yes, surprisingly, overall, the best price for what you get.
You can get the Amazon Fire TV Stick in 4K for just $49.99, or less if you don’t need that 4K.
4K. HDR 10. Dolby Vision. Less than 1/3 of the price of Apple TV.
For the money saved, you can get 10 months of Hulu, ESPN+, and Disney+, with the Disney Plus bundle package.
Unlike Apple, Amazon took the approach of openness. You can install practically anything on this device, even if it’s not in the Amazon Appstore.
And while the apps won’t have the Apple feel since they are all Android apps, you do have the freedom to install Android apps that aren’t even in the Amazon Appstore, making this the most open streaming device for a TV out there. Yes, you can even install Kodi on the Fire TV Stick.
The pricing and the openness already put this device on top compared to the other streaming devices, except Amazon takes it even further.
It also offers official support for VPN services like PrivateVPN, which is vital for the best entertainment options, especially if you live outside of the US.
Without a VPN, outside of the US, you won’t be able to watch Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+, American Amazon Prime, DAZN, and many many more. A VPN service allows you to change your location virtually, meaning that you won’t have any issues accessing all the entertainment that you want.
...Although that also depends on the VPN service you use. All these platforms mentioned how measures against VPN services meaning, that not all services can unblock them.
That’s why it’s important to look out for quality over quantity. And let’s face it, we all fall for quantity sometimes.
PrivateVPN focuses on quality over quantity, which is why while other services have thousands of servers, PrivateVPN doesn’t, while instead supporting the streaming services that you want to use, at steady speeds.
We offer a 7-day trial that doesn’t require a credit card so that you can try it out for yourself.
Streaming devices? If you live outside of the US and want to access any of the streaming services not accessible outside of the US, the Amazon devices are your only option because they support VPN services.
Written by Michael Smolski.