Today is the day that the Amazon Fire TV 3 is released. I just received mine, as well as the new official Amazon Ethernet Adapter. Let me know in the comments if there is anything specific you’d like to know about or want me to try. If you’ve purchased the new Fire TV as well and have discovered something noteworthy or interesting, let’s hear about it in the comments as well.
@AFTVnews
AFTVnews
How much strain on the HDMI port from that big box dangling?
Mine just showed up. I weight the dongle without the power cable plugged in and it is 0.194 lbs according to my scale. Not too bad, but not feather weight.
https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=8062
This is not specific, but I would love to know how that combo stacks up against FTV1 box.
One review I read said it is slower than both FTV1&2. sigh
Mine is supposed to come today, but I am prepared to be let down. If this were the stick replacement, and sold for $50 I’d feel better. But sad to see a downgraded FTV.
And I too worry about having this thing dangling from my brand new 4k HDR tv. I’m tempted to use a HDMI cable and use this as a box, since that is essentially what it is.
Velcro it to the back of the TV.
Or to the wall/entertainment center behind the TV so you get a little gap for better wifi reception (unless you’re using ethernet adapter).
The upcoming DVR feature on DirecTV Now will not be compatible with gen 1 box. It seems alot quicker than my old gen 1 but FireOS 6 seems to work a little differently.
I WANT TO KNOW IF THIS DEVICE HAS OTG LIKE THE GEN 2 FIRE STICK SO YOU CAN ADD ETHERNET,MORE STORAGE?
I can’t say storage, but I used an OTG cable to attach ethernet.
Got the official Ethernet adapter but now I’m puzzling where to put a storage card on this crazy daisy chain. Wish Amazon had just put a microSD slot on their Ethernet adapter.
Is this a direct replacement for the Fire TV 2, Is the CPU as powerful? MicroSD slot?
what FPS do you get on Final Fantasy Type-0 played on PPSSPP at max resolution?
The downloader app does not work for the new Fire TV, i keep getting “No app found to handle this file” on anything i want to download, and this is only for the new Fire TV. Anybody else?
yes glenn i am too any ideas how to fix anyone?
I guess ES File explorer is working for some people. I would try that i guess. I hope they fix this soon.
Apps2fire works. Says failed install, but the apps still successfully installed.
Yes, it does. Check out these steps:
1. Download and install the ES File Explorer from the Home screen.
2. Download and install Downloader.
3. Open Downloader app and download the apk or ‘other’ app you want.
3. On the Download dialog box, the message ”No app found to handle this file’ will appear > click Done.
4. Open ES File Explorer > click Internal Storage > Downloader > apk or app > Install.
5. Once installed, you may have to sync your apps to appear on the Home screen.
Very much appreciated JD! Worked like a charm!
same issue I will try your fix and get back to you thanks
Yes, Yes! Thank you!
This worked for me. Thank you very much.
same issue. Apps are not appearing on homescreen either. sigh…
Got mine up and going with all my sideloaded apps through ES File Explorer. Nothing in Apps and Games until I cleared the cache and data in the appstore through settings. Go to settings then applications then manage installed apps and choose appstore and clear cache and data. Not sure if both need clearing, but that is what I did. Side loaded apps then showed up. I have a FTV 2. Cant tell much difference, but I watch very little 4K.
Hope this helps
Worked for me also, cleared just cache and rebooted but that did not work so I then cleared data and it was good to go. Thanks!
Sideload it. Download the downloader app to your Android phone also download an app called agk fire this app will allow you to sideload anything from your cell phone straight to your Fire TV. That’s how I got S*** onto my Fire TV stick. I sideloaded it from my cell phone using the app agk fire. I’m sure you can do the same with the downloader app
My new ftv arrived today too, but got an email from Amazon telling me the Ethernet adapter won’t show up until November 1. Boo, hiss…..
Yeah downloader app not working. Had to install Kodi with es file explorer. Also, FYI “Your apps” would not populate even after a modest 3 apps downloaded for me. I had to go into the settings and clear the data and cache for the appstore.
So ES File explorer worked for you? Also looks like there are some bugs with the New Fire Tv then huh..
Kodi doesn’t work well at all playing 1080p content when the AFTV is set to 4k. If I drop the Fire to 1080p content plays fine but it stutters like crazy at 4k. I also don’t understand why only the 32bit Kodi works, 64 won’t even install (the devs seem to say the AFTV is only running 32bit Android). If a Kodi dev can’t fix these problems quickly my new AFTV is going back.
Honestly, I notice the same with the FTV2 box. I got a new 4k tv in the living room, and finally just set the box to 1080p, as when it was on 4k I had just too many issues.
Got the new ftv and bough adapter to connect a mouse from the power. Mouse is recognized but does not work! Cannot highlight something and click on it. Same with Bluetooth mouse. I like to use a mouse or will return.
There is an app that you can get from the Amazon store called toggle Mouse and it works great it does only go up and down and left and right but it’s good enough to do the job. If you can’t find it on the Amazon store download it to your phone from the Play Store along with an app called agk fire.. agk fire app will allow you to sideload toggle Mouse onto the fire stick along with any other app on your phone. Both of those apps are $2 each
How do you sideload a paid app from the Play store? Didn’t think that was possible.
There are posts in the AVS Forum from a couple of people who say that they’ve encountered a problem when the new Fire TV is connected to their receiver rather than directly to their TV. When they watched a program in HDR on either Netflix or Amazon, and then exited the app back to the home screen, the HDR mode was “stuck”on, making the home screen look bad. They had to change to a different input on their receiver and then back to the proper input for it to fix itself. This has been reported on both a Denon and Sony receiver. Are you able to check this out?
This recently happened to me. I have a Fire TV 2 and a Yamaha receiver. Changing inputs didn’t solve the problem, only made it worse. I had to unplug the Fire TV 2 and plug it back in to correct the problem.
Got mine and the MAC address for the WiFi adaptor makes me suspicious…
Doesn’t look legit, 02:00:00:00:00:00. Wouldn’t connect, checking back again now, the MAC address has changed to something else…
This is the default MAC address under Android which is displayed when WiFi is disabled or before the WiFi driver has finished loading, so there’s nothing to worry about.
When is the new fire TV box coming out
Under apps
1.) new “file” app in manage all apps section
2.) you can adjust the screen in the software again (yay)
3.) you can change the color format
4.) you can change the color depth 8, 10, 12 bit
5.) some sideloaded apps now show ” permissions” in the manage all apps section (i.e. T*** TV)
6.) wifi is a lot faster than the stick but seems to be a little slower than the Fire tv 2 (I was getting 80-98Mbps on the gen 2 stick, 120-180mbps on the Fire Tv 3, but 150-287Mbps on the Fire tv 2.) (I will test this again at night when I get faster speeds)
7.) sideloaded apps ask for permission before they launch the first time
Try downloader please…and apps2fire
Many users reporting failure. Installing appstarter and Kodi
Agk fire is another app you can sideload with.
Downloader > appstarter
apps2fire
reported problems…..
Seems no matter what setting used for resolution the new fire tv doesn’t go past 20fps. CPU wise it’s not even stressing. Something in kodi must be messed up.
1080/24p ?
Damn, after reading some of this, I wish I didn’t rush to open up the packing. Thinking maybe I should stick to my FTV2 boxes.
I never thought the 3 would replace the 2. I thought it might update the FTV1 but now I doubt that. Maybe I will look at the Roku stick plus for a new toy.
Meh. I bought the non-4k version of the 2017 Roku stick when it was released about a week ago, and it is probably going back. I am just too used to the speed of FTV2, having access to Mr. MC, Kodi, etc….
Roku is nice for less tech savvy people, but I like a bit more power and flexibility with my device. I do like the power/volume buttons on the Roku remote though. Amazon def needs to get on that.
I agree. It’s hard to move to a Roku after the FTV2. On the other hand both the Shield TV and the Apple TV 4 K have gigabit Ethernet and are excellent. Of course, the prices are way higher so it’s not a fair comparison. That being said, the ads on the Fire TV are increasingly hard to take. Maybe I am not seeing right but there are no ads on the Apple TV and none, or almost none, on my Shield TV. I sure hope Amazon comes up with a suitable upgrade to the FTV2 and rethinks its GUI direction.
Would you be willing to pay $50 extra for the box, to forgo the ads? I mean the ads are part of why the FTVs have been traditionally cheap, though I personally don’t feel FTV3 is the screaming value that prior devices have been.
Does this unit have expandable memory? I thought this release was going to be somewhat like the previous version of Fire TV? Is there some other Fire Tv unit going to be released by Amazon?
Fyi… Just picked one up. It does not have any ports except for the micro usb (for power). so basically a 2nd gen stick that they upgraded the ram and processor. I haven’t noticed a big difference in speed yet using it with KODI. For now I would say its not worth the basically $29.00 more than the 2nd gen if you do not care about 4k (which you basically will not be streaming with these things so much). I still recommend the 2nd gen Fire TV box over the sticks (either 1st or 2nd gen). but that is just my opinion.
Just watched last night’s episode of The Flash on Amazon (I have a season pass). Dropouts (both audio and dropped frames in video) galore. Didn’t have this issue with streaming Amazon shows on the FTV2 through ethernet.
Now I’m even more pissed that I won’t get my ethernet adapter til November 1. I want to see if using ethernet instead of wi-fi will FIX this, but now I can’t.
That’s a big bummer.
I used an anker gigabit ethernet adapter with no problems, so you may want to try that
My FTV 1’s work great! (insert chuckles) I will never replace them.
But seriously, I do feel bad for anyone who seriously thought this new FTV would be a leap forward.
I swapped my FTV1 with my FTV2 over the weekend, moving the FTV1 to the TV I watch all the time and connect to my surround. I wanted to give myself to a chance to talk myself into getting the dongle, but so far the FTV1 is making me love it.
But it is a leap forward in terms of it doing HDR. Only wish it did DV as well. Couldn’t care less about gaming or Kodi since I use other devices for that sort of thing.
No external hard drive port: pass.
Installed 64bit kodi 17.5.1. I am using wifi AC to play the 22.6GB 4K movie with HEVC coding it works fine.
One thing, which is one big thing, I want to share, is that the new ftv just sips the power! I can tell because I just tried to connect it to the USB port next to HDMI and it works just fine.
I have my TV hang on the wall, so less the cable, the better looking. My TV is 6 years old one, so I believe its USB port is pretty weak. It plays 4K mkv file ust fine!
The only thing missing is it won’t show in front page. I will test firestart.
How did you get 64bit Kodi to install?? I tried through both Downloader/ES Explorer and ADBLink and neither would install the 64bit version, only 32bit.
Same 64bit failed on me 3 times, 32bit worked just fine 1st try
In downloader I just typed the full path of v8a version, then install from ES.
Sorry for false info. 64bit won’t install. I installed 32bit first, then tried 64bit. I guess it errored out while I was thinking it works. Sorry for confusion.
I also want to note that it is fast enough that I have no complain at all. Fire TV stick is so weak that this is the best update for me, much fast SoC, 4K with HDR, 802.11AC, small factor and could be powered from TV’s USB port. It has everything I am looking for!
Can someone please test vue and see if it works better than the stick v2?
5ghz channel limitation still present
HDR playback not good, lots of chroma noise, watching same HDR source from Netflix the FTV3 footage is very blotchy with chroma, compared with same content in Netflix app on TV (LG OLED B6). TV apps supports Dolby Vision, but that doesn’t really explain the chroma noise.
I wanted this device for 4k UHD/Dolby Atmos playback. I bought the ethernet adapter and so far I am very pleased. I played some 4k UHD content and am very happy with the quality. I do plan on buying the “top tier” (or whatever they are calling it) when it comes out because it will have SD card slot and hopefully gigabit ethernet but this will suffice till then
FTV3 is putting out 5.1 channel sound even when the source app (for example, Youtube or KlowdTV) is only stereo. This is causing dialog to come from the left and right speakers instead of the center. No center, no surround, no subwoofer. I’ve so far not found any setting or workaround to fix this.
All Channel Stereo on your receiver.
I have the same issue, so if it is a general thing, this is a huge bug, makes stereo or mono Videos unwatchable.
I have the same issue, so if it is a general thing, this is a big bug, makes stereo or mono Videos unwatchable, since Pro Logic or similar cannot be used to make use of the other speakers.
I tried all audio settings without differing results. I hope this gets fixed soon.
Hi,
do you happen to know if this issue was resolved? My old FireTV broke down now and they are sending me the new one, but I don’t want it, if the sound always being 5.1. I couldn’t find any info on thins anywhere.
Thanks!
Malte
Sorry, I couldn’t tell you. I returned mine and went with the new Roku ultra instead.
Thanks a lot for your answer!
Speed of the new device is great, I mean massive improvement over my gen 1 sticks that I’m used to. Ran into a few bugs now, the audio bug mentioned above, the apps not showing up after being side loaded, and downloader not installing apps.
I got Kodi installed finally and tested and it is working fine for me, along with all my standard apps like Hulu and Netflix. So far pretty happy with the device over my sticks that is for sure. Like it more at 50 or so I’m sure but overall I’m fine with it for what it is. No testing at 4K, all my testing was at 1080.
In regards to the audio bug. Did you try changing the audio settings? I am curious to see if it will fix anything.
Settings > display & sounds > Dolby digital output> (change from automatic)
On apps not showing just do a Sync in the setup and they will appear. I had the same issue.
Be patient Amazon will fix most of the problems with this Fire TV. Just keep an eye out for version updates. They are already in the middle of fixing the incompatibility of the downloader app, many more fixes will come just be patient
is it worth buying? is first gen fire tv obsolete already?
It is a worthy upgrade for Fire TV Stick. But if you don’t need 4K, 1st gen FTV is still great.
My Fire 3 fails to pickup any 5Ghz signals, even when my 5Ghz router is in the next room. I have connected via 2.4Ghz. The product page on Amazon states it is AC. I wonder if this is a fault or is it poor at picking up 5Ghz?
5ghz is working great for me, even 1 level up and 3 rooms away
Thank you for your response. I will do a few experiments to see what the issue is my end. My house is made of very dense engineering bricks, but my Samsung tablet picks up the 5Ghz signal when placed next to the Fire TV 3, so not sure if that is the key issue.
Good to know that it will be worth my time experimenting. My router is N Asus that does get the signal throughout my 3 storey house.
…not an N router…mis-type. It is a AC1900 router.
Ok! I was about to say that I was using AC.
I’m just gonna wait until Amazon release another update/patch to get the 3rd gen FireTV. It’s always some kind of problem when it comes to a new release.
Has anyone used a VPN with this new Fire TV? I’m using IP Vanish and the speeds I’m getting are abysmal. With my 2nd gen Fire TV I’m getting 80mbps download speed. With this one I get 15 mbps. My speed without a VPN is 100 mbps on both Fire TV’s.
Also getting some lip sync issues with my IPTV and this new box. So far I’m not impressed.
Processor speed is important when using a VPN. The S905 is an absolute joke in that department. If you can, drop your encryption to OpenVPN 128-bit and that should bump your speeds up, it’s how I have to do it on my Fire Stick 2 with VPN.ac
Hey thanks for the reply. I don’t seem to have that option, but this choking of the VPN is a deal killer and I’m returning it. That and the lip sync issue I’m experiencing. I really don’t like the design of this new Fire TV either. I’m used to the performance of the 2nd gen FireTV and this one is nowhere near as good a performer for my purposes.
Yeah Amazon really screwed up here. I’m probably going to have to shell out 130 for the “gaming edition” since that seems to be the only way Amazon is selling the FTV2 now. I’m really sick of my Fire Stick 2, it’s just too slow with certain Kodi addons, especially Bubbles. I still have a 1st gen box downstairs but without HEVC, most 1080p streams are out of the question.
It will be interesting to watch the secondary market for FTV2s. I have three that I bought cheap via various sales, coupon codes, etc… It wouldn’t surprise me if I am able to sell them for the same $s or more than what I paid for them. I think I bought each of them for around $65 new.
Used ones have already been selling for over 100. Outside of the Shield, the 2 is currently the most powerful box you can get and beyond that, the Fire TVs are the ONLY Android boxes that support automatic resolution switching. Android TV can’t do it. The generic boxes with Amlogic chips need LibreELEC to do it and they don’t have the oomph the Fire TV 2 does. All you have to do is look up the results on Geekbench to see how fast that MediaTek really is.
From what I see they are still selling under $100 unless you load Kodi and the piracy stuff on them, which I never do when I sell my hardware.
Where are you finding them outside of people on eBay with almost no feedback? I found one brand new for 89 on a review website last night and almost bought it but the vast majority of the ones I found were on eBay and were either “loaded” boxes or the sellers had no reputation. New ones up to 150 loaded or not.
I’m talking about used boxes on ebay, since I had spoke that I may be able to sell my boxes for the same (or more) than what I had paid for them new.
You can’t just look at the price but the seller as well. Sellers with good feedback and a decent history are selling them for more.
I’m not sure what I’m going to do right now. I guess I’ll just keep my Fire Stick 2 for now. It’s slow but it does work and I have my desktop if I really get that irritated. The so-called 3 is definitely a no go though.
Not from what I’m seeing;
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Amazon-Fire-TV-Box-2017-version-Alexa-Remote-Control-4k-Brand-New-Packaged/122630316970?hash=item1c8d5623aa:g:c4MAAOSw68NZg1BE
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Amazon-Fire-TV-Box-2017-version-Alexa-Voice-Remote-Control-4k-Brand-New-Packaged/122630310201?hash=item1c8d560939:g:c4MAAOSw68NZg1BE
Well I guess Amazon is going to get the $129.99 out of me for the “gaming edition” since that’s most likely the only way to get a Fire TV 2 now that isn’t a refurb.
The Fire TV 3 has an S905 chip in it, it doesn’t hold even half the power the MediaTek in the Fire TV 2 has and my Fire Stick 2 plus Krypton Plus Bubbles is a nightmare to use. I still have an FTV1 but it can’t play HEVC so…
It sucks Amazon is the only one who has managed to push out a box that handles resolution and refresh rate switches correctly out of the box, generic boxes with Amlogic chips have to be fixed up with LibreELEC and the chips themselves are still garbage compared to the Qualcomm in the FTV1 and the MediaTek in the FTV2.
This is a piece of junk. Picture quality sucks on my new Samsung Oled TV. My Fire TV 2 is much better.
Here’s what I’ve found:
1) ES File Explorer no longer supports Google Drive or Dropbox as cloud service options. I was able to use OneDrive.
2) I thought I had seen somewhere that FTV3 was 64-bit, but you get an error message if you try to install the 64-bit version of Kodi.
3) My external hard drive shows up in ES File Explorer but isn’t recognized by any version of Kodi or other sideloaded Android apps. When mounting it in ES File Explorer I had to approve the app’s access to the hard drive, but no such option came up with Kodi.
4) Seems to launch apps much faster. Excited to see if it can run more game emulators.
Does Kodi “Adjust display refresh rate to match video” work for anyone? It did for my Fire Stick 2.
Also, Kodi only seems to pass-through DTS audio, not even DTS-MA. FireTV says it supports ATMOS. Does anyone know of any ATMOS content that comes from supported apps?
Switching back to FireTV Stick 2. Will return if atmos pass through not supported by Nov 24 (return date). Disappointed…
Mine also arrived yesterday. Sadly the Ethernet Adapter did not. Amazon said there wasn’t enought and the one who was reservated for me due to my preorder has gone lost. The next delivery date is the 9. Nov. On the productsite instead is the 22. Nov. listed for new aviablitity. Now I’m wondering when I’ll finaly get it. (Germany)
Anyone in Europe who tried to use LOCAL Amazon Prime Video service and can confirm it works? My Italian Prime service always gives “Network error” when I try to use on all of my FTV flavours.
is it possible to add it a USB adapter?
Gave up on this, returned the device today! Mouse does not work, no expansion for memory, etc. etc. Staying with my ATV 2.
FYI. 802.11AC works fine for me. Actually, with 1st gen FTV Stick, even 802.11N works fine to stream ~30GB bluray ISO file. Now it is even faster. Please note I have a 2 story 4800+ sqft house, and my fireTV was installed on the TV hang in master bedroom at the corner of 2nd floor. I have to admit my floorplan is quite open with high ceilings.
So my advice is upgrade to a good router like R7000/RT68, and optimize the router position.
Don’t complain about missing LAN and USB as this is not a fire TV replacement.
Ummmmm…yes it is a replacement. It replaces the Fire TV Box Generation 2, which has been withdrawn from sale.
Actually Amazon is still selling it. Fire TV Gaming Edition for $129.99. Bundles their game controller. The 3 has better TV features overall but much lower performance.
Nevermind. It appears to be gone now as well. Oh well. I have a Fire Stick 2 and I will just use my PC for Kodi.
Why did they name this like their normal box models? This is obviously a “Stick” model. After the first time they trick people into buying a Stick under the guise of it being the standard unit, the person will either wise up or think the standard boxes are subpar.
Anyone have a little circle showing on the right of the screen regardless to what app is in use?
Prob from ES file explorer if you have it installed.
I got two of these as part of the echo bundle, and I just decided to list them on ebay. I’ll stick with my FTV2 boxes for now, and hope that upcoming FTV device is better that this.
I don’t want a downgrade, and I really am not digging the large dongle form factor. I think they should stick to a STICK, or box. I don’t want this big thing hanging from the side of my TV (or deal with Velcro, etc).
Of the five FTV devices released so far, this has been the only disappointment.
Amazon laid an egg with this.
Mainly due to the stereo getting flagged as 5.1 and getting no center, rears, or sub… and due to the audio dropouts I’m experiencing… I’ve removed the new Fire TV 3 and put the old Fire TV 2 back in the system. I’ll do HDR with the new Roku Ultra, which has been flawless. Haven’t decided if I’ll keep the FTV3 in hopes firmware upgrades will make it better, or sell it off (don’t want to return it since I’d lose the bargain price on the Echo Dot I bought with it).
You get back $50.80 back if you return it, so the dot is still a bargain at $20 and change.
I’m having no problems other than the device staying in HDR when I leave HDR material though that is easily solved by switching inputs on the receiver.
I was expecting Atmos to be available at launch but I’ve read this is not so. Can anyone confirm or suggest a title if it is available.
New FTV is terrible. It might go back. I got it to try to fix the jitter issue with Hulu only the 2nd gen stick and box have this issue since the latest update. Not only did it not fix it but I now get jitter on Amazon videos and other apps too so it is worse.
The reviews finally started showing up on the Amazon site, and they are really bad. I’m so happy I was able to quickly sell mine on ebay, and just stick with my FTV2s.
I really hope Amazon does come out with that boxy device, and that is is more powerful, has ports, etc…
If anyone wants to block updates to wait and see if anyone finds a root solution, the adb commands for the firestick2 appear to work on the firetv3.
adb.exe uninstall -k –user 0 com.amazon.device.software.ota
adb.exe uninstall -k –user 0 com.amazon.device.software.ota.override
Anyone have trouble signing into Google Services on the new firetv?
I got one and left a 2 star review; like everyone else. This device is really tanking in the reviews and for good reason. There is your NEWS story, AFTV. Maybe if everyone complains, they will actually take this seriously. There is so much unrealized potential here.
How does one get these applications from Amazon if you don’t have a toy idiot phone??????
Not everyone has, needs or wants one!
I, too, like Gobots.