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How to pick
Start with the honest question: does your TV already run these apps? Nearly every TV sold in the last several years does, and if the built in ones are quick enough you do not need to buy anything. The reason people do buy a stick is that the software in older smart TVs gets slow and stops being updated long before the screen wears out, and a thirty dollar stick makes a seven year old TV feel new again. That is the case for one. After that it mostly comes down to which company you already deal with. If everything you own is Apple, Apple TV fits best. If you buy from Amazon and use Alexa, a Fire Stick fits. If you are on Android or use Google everything, Google TV. And if none of that means anything to you, get a Roku, because it is the plainest of the lot and does not push its own shop at you nearly as hard. Two practical things: get the 4K version only if your TV is 4K, and check the remote has a lost remote finder if that is a recurring problem in your house.
What I recommend
Before you buy anything
Does your TV already run these apps? Nearly every set sold in the last several years does, and if the built in ones are quick enough you do not need to buy anything. The reason people do buy a stick is that software in older smart TVs gets slow and stops being updated long before the screen wears out.
Roku Streaming Stick
The one to hand someone who just wants their shows without fuss. The menu is a plain grid of apps, the remote has almost no buttons, and it does not spend the whole time advertising at you. If you are not sure which to buy, buy this.
- The plainest, least cluttered menu of any of them
- Remote is simple enough for anyone
- Neutral, does not push one company's content
- Cheap
- Roku shows ads on the home screen too, just fewer
- Voice search is weaker than Google or Alexa
- Cheaper models are noticeably slower
Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K
Makes sense if you already have Prime and use Alexa around the house, because it all ties together. The trade off is a home screen that leans heavily on Amazon's own content.
- Ties in with Alexa and Prime
- Good voice search
- Frequently discounted
- Home screen pushes Amazon content hard
- More adverts than Roku
- Menus can feel busy for older users
- Fits
- Prime and Alexa households
- Voice
- Alexa built into the remote
- Downside
- Home screen pushes Amazon content
- Get 4K
- Only if your TV is 4K
If you want it quicker
Worth stepping up if the cheap sticks feel sluggish or the room has bad Wi-Fi.
Roku Ultra
Faster than the stick, has an ethernet socket if the Wi-Fi in that room is dreadful, and the remote beeps when you lose it down the sofa. That last feature sells more of these than any spec ever has.
- Ethernet port for rooms with bad Wi-Fi
- Remote finder, which people love
- Noticeably quicker than the stick
- Costs several times a basic stick
- A box rather than a hidden stick
- Overkill if your Wi-Fi is fine
- Speed
- Quicker than the stick
- Port
- Ethernet, for bad Wi-Fi rooms
- Remote
- Beeps when you lose it
- Best for
- A main living room TV
Apple TV 4K
Noticeably quicker than everything above and it will still feel quick in five years, which the cheap sticks will not. Fits best if you have an iPhone, use AirPlay, or share photos across the family.
- By far the fastest, and stays fast for years
- No adverts on the home screen
- Excellent with iPhones and AirPlay
- Best picture processing of any streamer
- Costs several times what a stick does
- Only worth it inside the Apple ecosystem
- Remote is small and easily lost
- Speed
- Fastest, and stays fast for years
- Fits
- iPhone, AirPlay, Apple Photos
- Cost
- Several times a stick
- Worth it if
- You will use what it does
Related reading
Set it up and now nothing will sign in?
Getting all the accounts and apps back onto a new box is the bit people call me about. I can do the lot in one visit.