fire sticks

[woodchip]

I'm wondering if anyone knows anything about these items as remotes?:


Impression I get is they somehow enhance sound and visuals. Do they or should I just stick with the remote that came with my Samsung QLED set?

curious the links don't seem to work.

[Vander]

The remote itself won't improve content quality, though it apparently adds Alexa if that's something you're into. If your Smart TV's Amazon app already does 4k content, I doubt a Fire Stick (which you plug into the TV with HDMI and use instead of the Smart TV's Amazon app) will improve things. The Fire Stick will have a different GUI and might be more supported as far as other apps you can install and get updates for (Disney+, Netflix, etc).

I prefer keeping my TV dumb and disconnected, using it only as a monitor for the cable box or Apple TV.

[Krom]

A fire stick cannot make your TV look or sound better. If someone told you that, they are lying to you to get a sale.

[TigerRaptor]

Amazon has its own TV now.

[woodchip]

Thanks for replies Vander I think the same. My samsung tv has something called Bixby but I never activated it. And if the program has 4k then it can play it. Watching a King fisher fly up from underneath the water in slo-mo and in 4k is truly a amazing view.

[Tunnelcat]

OMG! Samsung put that thing on their TV's? Ugh. I'm glad a got a Sony, which is bad enough with Google sniffing and listening all the time. Bixby is Samsung's attempt at a virtual assistant. Like Siri on Apple but not as well implemented. Google's assistant is much better. Personally, I don't like talking to my phone unless it's a live person. Button presses or swipes do just fine. I certainly wouldn't like to talk to the TV to get things done and I wouldn't want it listening all the time either. Who knows where your conversations are going in the ether. I don't even use Comcast's voice remote even though they nag me on screen how easy it is to use. It's just too damn creepy.

https://nerdschalk.com/samsungs-bixby-t ... -the-ugly/

How to turn it off if your TV is a 2021 model.