Amazon Fire TV Cube 3rd Gen Review
The TV Box community and users of paid subscription services went crazy at the news of the release of the latest Amazon Fire TV Cube 3rd Gen model. I too was really excited because I have the 2nd Gen model running on the Amlogic S922X which remained on the ranking chart at the number two position for long time. So it’s only obvious that we were looking for something even better than what they had released in the last model. At first glance it looks really attractive with its new fabric covering design and their announcement of a new Octa-Core CPU. It was also recorded that lots of enthusiasm users from around the world placed early orders which indicated that expectations were running high with this latest release.
Amazon Fire TV Cube 3rd Gen Address Specs
When my model arrived I was so excited I wanted to save my review for last just before the Black Friday sales event. However for the last two days that time spent reviewing this latest version of the cube proved to be bittersweet. Meaning there are good things about it and there are also disappointing things. The first thing is the new chipset used in this model. I have never heard about a CPU called the Amlogic POP1-G AKA Amlogic AML popcorn before, so I had to do a bit of research to learn about this latest SOC. In doing so I discovered that it’s a high performance Octa-Core CPU and in this model of the cube it’s clocked at 2.2 GHz.
It’s display is also satisfying as its port by the high-performance ARM Mali G52 quad-core GPU with a refresh rate of 60hz with open GL ES version 3.2. What left a bitter taste in my mouth was the fact that it has only 2GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage. What’s the logic behind this? Only the technicians and Amazon fire TV department could answer. As it makes no sense from a user standpoint and a TV Box enthusiast to use a high-end SOC and use only 2GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage, which would affect its ability to achieve high-end gaming. Furthermore taken federal debt chipset in 32bit mode which means electoral 32bit apps and games.
Buy 3rd Gen Amazon Fire TV Cube
Benchmarks
View rankings chart Here
- Antutu 9.4.8 – 184,384
- CPU Geekbench 5 – 265 single-core | 679 multicore
- GPU Wildlife Vulkan – NA
- GPU Slingshot Extreme – 1,864
- LPDDR4 RAM Copy Speed – 2,981 MB/s
- 64GB Internal Storage Speed – 134 MB/s Read | 41 MB/s Write
- Wi-Fi 6 AX Speed (154 Mbps) – 5Ghz 100% speed achieved | 2.4GHz 64% speed achieved
- Non LAN Speed – 100 Mbps 59% speed achieved
Fire TV Cube 3rd Gen Official Streaming
Now what comes store its primary function of streaming paid subscription services in HD and 4K it really stands out, as it has the digital rights and protection the child’s Google Widevine L1 and HDCP protection to protect the services from piracy. So those who vow to not even look in the direction of the TV Box unless it is certified to play Netflix and Amazon prime video they will be quite satisfied with this feature. Also with Alexa included makes it an official device to integrate into your smart home ecosystem, something your standard Android box cannot do. Well for the excitement it and there, as for anyone looking to do more on the cube were be a bit disappointed.
Fire TV Cube 3rd Gen New Peripherals
You have access to developer options where you can enable to install apps from unknown sources, and by enabling ADB debugging you can read files from external storage via its USB port. However, this USB port has its limitations where I discovered that it can only read up to 128GB of external storage. You can use USB controls such as a PC mouse and a wired gamepad, but when I tried to use these controllers via USB will not detect. Furthermore, you only get to use a mouse cursor to navigate its interface on certain apps that require it. You cannot navigate the launcher or streaming apps such as Netflix with a mouse cursor.
4K And Surround Sound Audio
It comes with all the decoders for the playback of 4K HDR/HLG HDR/AV1 videos and that can be done easily with a media player such as VLC. However if you are a surround sound enthusiast you’ll discover that you can only get Dolby Atmos, Dolby surround, and Dolby Digital plus via its premium streaming services apps such as prime video and Netflix. If you try to get surround sound audio from self hosted videos connected via USB you will discover that the box outputs Dolby surround for everything even when not playing a surround sound video. You don’t get DTS HD-MA or DTS X.
Pro Features
- Amlogic POP1-G AML popcorn Octa-Core 2.4GHz
- Mali G52 GPU Open GL ES version 3.2
- New fire TV remote with additional buttons
- LPDDR4 RAM
- Tri-band Wi-Fi 6/Bluetooth 5.0
- 4K 2160p at 60hz display
- HDR/HLG HDR display
- Mobile screen Miracast AirPlay HD 1080p
- Kodi and streaming APKs
- Alexa built-in
- 4K video playback good
- High benchmarks
- Dolby Atmos/ Dolby Digital plus via movie streaming apps only
- Official streaming device to stream paid subscription services such as Netflix, Disney+, prime video, Hulu, HBO Max, in HD and 4K
Cons
- No Google play services
- Sideloading APKs very difficult
- Mouse cursor only available in certain apps
- low RAM and internal storage
- No Google play games for saved games data
- Cannot change the launcher
- No DTS X/DTS HD-MA
- Not compatible with non-Amazon fire TV gamepad
- LAN port is not a gigabit LAN port 100Mbps
- USB port not reading drives over 1281GB
Final thoughts
So I feel a bit deflated after reviewing the 3rd Gen of the Fire TV Cube because I had high expectations that I was anxiously awaiting to show off to my readers and reviewers on my YouTube channel. If you ask me in simple words however described the new Amazon Fire TV Cube I will shrug my shoulders and reply so so. Of course my views will be biased based on my extensive usage and promotion of regular Android TV boxes out of China with root access and and full access to the Google play store and play services, but I believe they will be mixed opinions from a large section of the community about the new cube, some will be in favor with and some would like it very much. As for me I stand by my views and I don’t see it as I would use as my daily driver.
Buy 3rd Gen Amazon Fire TV Cube
