With the skyrocketing popularity of the Google Chromecast and to a lesser degree the Roku Streaming Stick, 2014 sure shaped up to be the year of the HDMI dongle. Read on as we put Amazon’s brand new entry into the market, the Fire TV Stick, through the paces.
随着Google Chromecast的飞速增长，以及在较小程度上，Roku Streaming Stick(2014年)肯定会成为HDMI加密狗的一年。 仔细阅读我们将亚马逊的全新产品Fire TV Stick推向市场的内容。
什么是亚马逊消防电视棒？ (What Is The Amazon Fire TV Stick?)
The Amazon Fire TV Stick ($39), aside from having a very long product name, is also Amazon’s entry into the streaming video HDMI dongle market. It’s the Amazon answer to Google’s incredibly popular Chromecast streaming stick, Roku’s Streaming Stick, and the host of lesser known Android-based knockoffs flooding the still relatively-niche market.
亚马逊消防电视棒(售价39美元) ，除了具有非常长的产品名称外，还进入了流视频HDMI加密狗市场。 这是亚马逊对谷歌极受欢迎的Chromecast流媒体棒，Roku的流媒体棒的回答，以及众多鲜为人知的基于Android的仿冒产品充斥着仍然相对利基的市场。
The unit has a slim profile, scarcely longer than the Chromecast and about the same size as the Roku Streaming Stick. Like its competitors you plug it directly into your HDMI port and power it with a micro USB cable attached to a properly powered USB port on your media center or television (or the included power adapter if you want always on availability). It has no external switches or LED indicators.
该装置外形纤薄，几乎不比Chromecast长，并且尺寸与Roku Streaming Stick差不多。 像其竞争对手一样，您可以将其直接插入HDMI端口，并使用一根微型USB电缆连接到媒体中心或电视上正确供电的USB端口(如果希望始终保持可用性，可以使用随附的电源适配器)供电。 它没有外部开关或LED指示灯。
Although the Fire TV Stick doesn’t have the same beefy specs as the larger Fire TV it’s no slouch in the hardware department. It sports 8GB of onboard flash storage (4 times more than the Chromecast and 32 times more than the Roku Stick), a dual-core processor (the Chromecast and Roku Stick have a single core), 1GB of RAM (twice the Chromecast and Roku Stick), and a dual band MIMO antenna (the Chromecast has a single band antenna but the Roku Stick also has a MIMO antenna).
尽管Fire TV Stick 与大型Fire TV具有不同的规格，但在硬件部门却毫不逊色。 它具有8GB的板载闪存(是Chromecast的4倍，是Roku Stick的32倍)，双核处理器(Chromecast和Roku Stick具有单核)，1GB的内存(Chromecast和Roku的两倍) Stick)和双波段MIMO天线(Chromecast具有单波段天线，而Roku Stick也具有MIMO天线)。
The Fire TV Stick includes a remote which is slightly smaller than the remote that ships with the beefier Amazon Fire TV streaming box; the most noticeable difference is that the smaller Fire TV Stick remote does not have a microphone hole or voice search button at the top. The Chromecast, by contrast, does not have a remote, the Roku Stick does, but the Fire TV Stick is the only one of the three that is extensible via bluetooth gaming controller.
Fire TV Stick包括一个遥控器，该遥控器的尺寸略小于功能更强大的Amazon Fire TV流媒体盒随附的遥控器。 最明显的区别是较小的Fire TV Stick遥控器顶部没有麦克风Kong或语音搜索按钮。 相比之下，Chromecast没有遥控器，Roku Stick却没有，但是Fire TV Stick是可通过蓝牙游戏控制器扩展的三个遥控器中的唯一一个。
如何设置？ (How Do I Set It Up?)
Setting up the Amazon Fire TV Stick is identical to just about every other HDMI dongle on the market: plug it into an available HDMI port and then supply power to it via microUSB. On the software side of things the setup is nearly identical to the Fire TV. If you purchased the Stick with your Amazon account it comes preprogrammed with your login and the only setup requirement is plugging in your Wi-Fi credentials.
设置Amazon Fire TV Stick几乎与市场上所有其他HDMI加密狗相同：将其插入可用的HDMI端口，然后通过microUSB为其供电。 在软件方面，设置几乎与Fire TV相同。 如果您使用亚马逊帐户购买了Stick，则登录时会对其进行预编程，唯一的设置要求是插入Wi-Fi凭证。
Unlike the Fire TV you’ll need to use the remote to navigate the onscreen keyboard, but Amazon thoughtfully made the remote buttons correspond to major functions like the delete key and the next key which makes for fairly speedy entry.
与Fire TV不同，您需要使用遥控器来导航屏幕键盘，但是Amazon精心地使遥控器按钮与主要功能相对应，例如Delete键和next键，从而可以相当快速地输入。
After picking your Wi-Fi network and keying in your credentials you’ll get treated to a video by the same cartoon guide, Steve, that appears on the first startup of the Fire TV.
选择了Wi-Fi网络并输入凭据后，您将获得由相同的卡通指南史蒂夫处理的视频，该指南出现在Fire TV的首次启动中。
User friendliness is definitely high on the Fire Stick TV (as it has been on the prior Fire TV and the Fire tablets). The video is brief but packs in the major features and what to do with the device in a minute or two.
在Fire Stick TV上，用户友好性绝对很高(就像以前的Fire TV和Fire平板电脑一样)。 该视频很简短，但在一两分钟内包含了主要功能以及如何使用该设备。
Other than entering your account information and Wi-Fi credentials there’s no other setup to speak off (although we’ll highlight a helper app in a moment that you might want to check out).
除了输入您的帐户信息和Wi-Fi凭据外，没有其他设置可以说(尽管我们会在您可能想签出的时刻突出显示一个助手应用程序)。
用户界面 (User Interface)
The Amazon Fire TV Stick interface is identical to the Amazon Fire TV interface in nearly every way. The tiled “Home” dashboard highlights recently watched media, featured apps and games, and various recommendations just like on the Fire TV.
Amazon Fire TV Stick界面几乎在所有方面都与Amazon Fire TV接口相同。 平铺的“家庭”仪表板突出显示了最近观看的媒体，精选应用程序和游戏以及各种建议，就像在消防电视上一样。
A trip down the side navigation list yields the same entries like Prime Video, Movies, TV, Watchlist, Video Library, Games, Apps, and Settings. Like the Fire TV, the interface is tightly tied into the Amazon ecosystem and all the prior links serve up Amazon content: free Prime videos, videos you’ve purchased, pictures and music from your Amazon cloud drive, apps you’ve purchased, and so on.
向下导航到侧面导航列表会产生相同的条目，例如“主要视频”，“电影”，“电视”，“监视列表”，“视频库”，“游戏”，“应用程序”和“设置”。 与Fire TV一样，该界面也紧密地绑定到Amazon生态系统中，并且所有先前的链接都构成了Amazon内容：免费的Prime视频，购买的视频，Amazon云驱动器中的图片和音乐，购买的应用程序以及以此类推。
Overall the interface is pleasant to navigate if a bit, in some sections, cluttered with recommendations and Amazon’s urgings to purchase content. The setup menu especially, like the Fire TV, is well laid out and it’s easy to make adjustments to the device.
总体而言，如果在某些部分中有些杂乱无章的建议和Amazon敦促购买内容的界面，那么界面操作起来很愉快。 特别是设置菜单(如消防电视)布局合理，可以轻松地对设备进行调整。
硬件与性能 (Hardware and Performance)
Although the Fire TV Stick doesn’t have the same beefy quad-core processor that the Fire TV does (nor does it have the array of external ports) we were still pleasantly surprised at how powerful it is. We had no issues with menu lag, the videos played smoothly and promptly, and the device handled lightweight Android games without any problem.
尽管Fire TV Stick没有配备与Fire TV相同的强大的四核处理器(也没有外部端口阵列)，但我们仍然惊讶地发现Fire TV Stick的功能强大。 我们没有菜单滞后的问题，视频流畅且及时地播放，并且该设备可以轻松处理轻量级的Android游戏。
In fact outside of running more resource intensive Android applications or games on the small stick, we’re hard pressed to think of a situation where the extra processing power of the Fire TV would become a necessity.
实际上，除了在小棒上运行资源更加密集的Android应用程序或游戏之外，我们很难想到Fire TV的额外处理能力将成为必需的情况。
As far as menu speed, video loading, video playback, and light gaming is concerned the two devices are virtually indistinguishable. While we did notice very slight hesitation on some menu and thumbnail loading it was extremely slight and we’d hardly call it laggy or sluggish (it just wasn’t as absolutely silky smooth as it would be on the much more powerful Fire TV unit).
就菜单速度，视频加载，视频播放和轻度游戏而言，这两个设备几乎没有区别。 虽然我们确实注意到某些菜单和缩略图加载上的犹豫，但它却非常轻微，我们几乎不会称其为缓慢或缓慢(它并不像功能强大得多的Fire TV装置那样丝滑) 。
Even though the Fire TV Stick has a smaller process it has the same amount of onboard storage (8GB) and uses Amazon’s ASAP predictive video caching which means you still get the almost-instant video playback like you do on the Fire TV.
即使Fire TV Stick的处理流程较小，它的板载存储空间(8GB)相同，并使用Amazon的ASAP预测视频缓存，这意味着您仍然可以像在Fire TV上一样获得几乎即时的视频播放。
特色功能 (Specialty Features)
Like the Fire TV there are a handful of specialty features that help the Fire TV Stick stand out from the crowd. As you’d imagine, however, the feature set and the reach of those features are fairly diminished on the Fire TV Stick compared to the more expensive Fire TV.
像Fire TV一样，有一些特殊功能可以帮助Fire TV Stick在人群中脱颖而出。 如您所料，与昂贵的Fire TV相比，Fire TV Stick的功能集和这些功能的作用范围已大大减少。
语音搜索(带语音提示) (Voice Search (With a Catch))
Both the Fire TV and the Fire TV Stick feature voice search and that voice search works quite well. There’s a big catch with the Fire TV Stick, however. The included remote doesn’t have a microphone or a voice search button (but Amazon will happily sell you an upgraded remote for $30). Conversely, you can download the currently-Android-only Fire TV helper app which adds in voice search and a convenient mobile-keyboard. The voice search app works just fine but, rather curiously, isn’t available for the actual Fire TV which means you’ll need to get used to two different remotes if you want to use the free software solution instead of picking up an upgraded remote for your Fire unit.
Fire TV和Fire TV Stick都具有语音搜索功能，并且该语音搜索效果很好。 但是，Fire TV Stick有很大的收获。 随附的遥控器没有麦克风或语音搜索按钮(但亚马逊会很乐意以30美元的价格向您出售升级后的遥控器 )。 相反，您可以下载当前仅适用于Android的Fire TV助手应用程序 ，该应用程序添加了语音搜索功能和便捷的移动键盘。 语音搜索应用程序工作正常，但奇怪的是，它不适用于实际的Fire TV，这意味着如果您想使用免费软件解决方案而不是选择升级的遥控器，则需要习惯两个不同的遥控器为您的消防部队。
** (Gaming)
We had really mixed opinions on the Fire Stick TV’s gaming abilities. On the one hand, as we noted in our Fire TV review, we have a dim view of mobile-gaming-on-the-TV in general. But on the other hand, the Fire TV Stick offers more gaming options than pretty much every other HDMI dongle combined. So while we have high expectations for a device like the Fire TV that costs $99 and touts itself has a legitimate gaming device, we have such low expectations for a device like an HDMI dongle that we were actually pleasantly surprised with the fact that it could actually play lightweight Android games and even supported Bluetooth controller pairing.
对于Fire Stick TV的游戏功能，我们的看法确实好坏参半。 一方面，正如我们在Fire TV评论中所指出的那样，我们对电视上的移动游戏总体上看不清楚。 但另一方面，Fire TV Stick提供的游戏选项远多于其他所有HDMI加密狗的总和。 因此，尽管我们对诸如Fire TV这样的价格为99美元的设备抱有很高的期望，并且吹捧本身具有合法的游戏设备，但对于诸如HDMI加密狗之类的设备却抱有如此低的期望，我们实际上对它实际上可以使人感到惊喜。玩轻量级的Android游戏，甚至支持蓝牙控制器配对。
While we don’t see mobile gaming via HDMI-dongle really taking off any time soon (and the gaming options on the Fire TV Stick are even more limited than on the Fire TV), very simple Android games and pass-and-play party games definitely have a place in the living room if you’re interested in low-stakes gaming without a lot of emphasis on depth or graphics.
虽然我们看不到通过HDMI加密狗进行的移动游戏真的很快就会起飞(并且Fire TV Stick上的游戏选项比Fire TV上的游戏选项更为有限)，非常简单的Android游戏和传递与聚会如果您对低风险游戏感兴趣，而又不十分注重深度或图形，那么游戏一定会在客厅中占有一席之地。
有限的家长控制 (Limited Parental Controls)
Our biggest complaint about the Fire TV Stick is the parental controls. The Fire TV features both parental controls to lock the device from making purchases and the fantastic Amazon FreeTime system. The Fire TV Stick, however, only has the basic PIN-based parental controls to lock the device. For the unfamiliar, Amazon FreeTime is a really great system that created a well-curated walled garden for children that is packed with kid-safe media, an easy to navigate menu, controls for screen time (and even bed times) and is, by far, the best family feature on both the Amazon Fire TV and the Amazon Fire tablets.
我们对消防电视棒最大的抱怨是父母的控制。 Fire TV既具有家长控制功能(可锁定设备以防止购物)， 又具有出色的Amazon FreeTime系统。 但是，Fire TV Stick只有基于PIN的基本家长控制才能锁定设备。 对于不熟悉的人来说，Amazon FreeTime是一个非常出色的系统，它为孩子们创建了一个精心策划的围墙花园，里面装有儿童安全媒体，易于浏览的菜单，控制屏幕时间(甚至就寝时间)的功能，到目前为止，Amazon Fire TV和Amazon Fire平板电脑上都拥有最好的家庭功能。
Excluding FreeTime is an enormous oversight as far as we’re concerned. If Amazon is hoping to win over consumers and capitalize on both their primary television and secondary sets to become a whole-house media presence then it makes zero sense to exclude the FreeTime feature from the Fire TV Stick. After all what is the most likely purchase outcome in most households? People will likely buy the $99 Amazon Fire TV for their main room (like the living or media room) and then purchase $39 Fire TV Sticks for the secondary screens (like those in a playroom, child’s bedroom, or the like).
就我们而言，排除FreeTime是一个巨大的疏忽。 如果亚马逊希望赢得消费者并利用他们的主要电视机和次要电视机成为整个媒体的存在，那么从Fire TV Stick中排除FreeTime功能就没有任何意义。 毕竟，在大多数家庭中最可能的购买结果是什么？ 人们可能会购买其主要房间(如客厅或媒体室)的$ 99亚马逊消防电视，然后为辅助屏幕(如游戏室，儿童房等中的屏幕)购买$ 39的消防电视棒。
In that regard its downright silly to not put the great kid-friendly features on the device most likely to be put on a secondary screen where kids would use it. We’re disappointed that Amazon held the FreeTime feature essentially hostage, expecting consumers to spend $60 to make the jump to the more powerful Fire TV to get it.
在这方面，它彻头彻尾的愚蠢到没有在设备上放置儿童友好的功能，而这些功能很可能放在孩子可以使用它的辅助屏幕上。 令我们感到失望的是，亚马逊实际上将FreeTime功能当作人质，希望消费者花费60美元才能升级到功能更强大的Fire TV上。
好的，坏的和判决 (The Good, The Bad, and The Verdict)
善良 (The Good)
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At only $5 more than the Chromecast, the $39 Fire TV Stick is a great deal for people looking to get Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime videos all from the same device.
售价39美元的Fire TV Stick仅比Chromecast高出5 美元，对于希望从同一设备上获取Netflix，Hulu和Amazon Prime视频的人们来说，这是一笔不小的数目。
- Videos load very quickly and play smoothly; unit featured the same ASAP caching found on the larger Fire TV. 视频加载速度非常快，播放流畅； 该设备具有与大型Fire TV相同的ASAP缓存。
- Solid hardware makes the Fire TV Stick the best in streaming-HDMI-dongle class. 坚固的硬件使Fire TV Stick成为流式HDMI-dongle类中最好的。
- Bluetooth remote doesn’t require line of sight. 蓝牙遥控器不需要视线。
- Remote is kid-friendly, no need to give them an expensive phone or tablet to control the device (like with the Chromecast). 遥控器非常适合儿童使用，无需为他们提供昂贵的电话或平板电脑即可控制设备(例如Chromecast)。
- The Fire TV Stick supports the Amazon and third-party Bluetooth controllers. 消防电视棒支持Amazon和第三方蓝牙控制器。
坏人 (The Bad)
- The remote doesn’t support voice search (and the Android-only software remote can’t be used to control the Fire TV if you end up buying one). 遥控器不支持语音搜索(如果您最终购买了遥控器，则只能使用Android专用的软件遥控器来控制Fire TV)。
- Difficult to easily locate free-for-Prime-members content; feels like the menu is designed to push purchased on you. 难以轻松找到免费会员内容； 感觉菜单旨在推动您购买。
- The search function heavily prioritizes Amazon content. 搜索功能在很大程度上优先考虑Amazon内容。
- Gaming is fairly limited but compared to other HDMI dongles is pretty sophisticated. 游戏是相当有限的，但是与其他HDMI加密狗相比，它是相当复杂的。
- No support for Amazon’s fantastic kid-friendly FreeTime system. 不支持亚马逊出色的儿童友好型FreeTime系统。
判决 (The Verdict)
As of this review the Amazon Fire TV Stick is the beefiest and fastest streaming HDMI dongle on the market. It sports a faster processor, more memory, and more on-board storage than any of its competitors. Further it’s the only major streaming HDMI dongle around that supports Bluetooth controller syncing for those of you looking for a light gaming experience and a little more value out of your streaming stick purchase.
截至本评论为止，Amazon Fire TV Stick是市场上功能最强大，流式最快的HDMI软件狗。 与其他竞争产品相比，它拥有更快的处理器，更多的内存和更多的板载存储。 此外，它是周围唯一的主流HDMI加密狗，它支持Bluetooth控制器同步，为那些希望获得轻量游戏体验并从流媒体购买中获得更多价值的人们提供支持。
If you’re a consumer already invested in the Amazon ecosystem and/or you’re looking for a one-stop shop to get your Amazon video, Netflix, Hulu, and YouTube without switching between devices, the Fire TV Stick is a solid pick over the Chromecast simply for the native Amazon video support. The Roku Streaming Stick supports Amazon video but it’s $10 more as of this review and not as firmly enmeshed in the Amazon ecosystem (you can’t stream your saved photos, music, or the like on the Roku).
如果您是已经投资亚马逊生态系统的消费者，并且/或者您正在寻找一站式商店来获取亚马逊视频，Netflix，Hulu和YouTube，而无需在设备之间进行切换，那么Fire TV Stick是不二之选通过Chromecast只是为了获得本机Amazon视频支持。 Roku Streaming Stick支持Amazon视频，但在本评论中，它的价格要高出10美元，并且不能完全融入Amazon生态系统(您无法在Roku上流式传输保存的照片，音乐等)。
If you’re really interested in the very-functional voice search feature and you have kids, it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to get the Fire TV Stick only to spend $30 more to get the voice remote (bringing your total purchase price to $69) and then miss out on the truly excellent Amazon FreeTime system. For consumers committed to the Amazon ecosystem it makes a lot of sense to upgrade to the Fire TV and skip the Fire TV Stick altogether.
如果您真的对功能非常强大的语音搜索功能感兴趣，并且有孩子，那么只花30多美元来获得语音遥控器，买Fire TV Stick并没有多大意义(带来您的总购买额)价格到69美元)，然后错过真正出色的Amazon FreeTime系统。 对于致力于亚马逊生态系统的消费者来说，升级到Fire TV并完全跳过Fire TV Stick是很有意义的。
Although we’re pleased with the speed and the trifecta of Amazon/Netflix/Hulu content on the Fire TV Stick, we’re not as pleased with the device as we were with the Amazon Fire TV and if we were looking to purchase a device to serve as an all-in-one solution with a heavy emphasis on Amazon ecosystem content, we’d upgrade to the Fire TV.
尽管我们对Fire TV Stick上Amazon / Netflix / Hulu内容的速度和三连冠感到满意，但我们对设备的满意度不如对Amazon Fire TV的满意，并且如果我们打算购买设备为了成为重点关注Amazon生态系统内容的多合一解决方案，我们将升级到Fire TV 。