Apple TV 4K (64GB, Previous Model)

The media could not be loaded. I have two Apple TV 4K models, both 32gb each. I bought the first one at Target in September 2019 after owning an Apple TV 3rd gen for 6 years.This second Apple TV 4K was bought for a pretty stupid reason: Apple Fitness+ and Apple's unwillingness to let us AirPlay Fitness+ to even HomeKit enabled TVs.This wasn't a purchase I was going to make when I bought the 4K TV in my bedroom; it is $180 so I bought a $50 Fire Stick for streaming for the bedroom TV.But as I lose weight and get into better shape by monitoring what I eat, going into a caloric deficit, and exercising with Fitness+, the lack of AirPlay for that service meant I needed to get another Apple TV 4K.Could I have just used the Apple TV in my living room? Sure, but the hardwood and floor level blinds make me leery of doing so. Exercising in my bedroom is my preferred way to do things as there is carpet.Now, how does it perform? How does it stack up to my (now no longer owned) Fire Stick 4K?The interface is buttery smooth on this box. It was smooth on the Fire Stick as well, but I had more internet connection errors on the Fire Stick. I have a mesh wifi system with one beacon outside in the utility closet, which is close to my bedroom, and one in my office. For whatever reason, sometimes the Fire Stick would tell me I didn't have an internet connection but my Apple TV in the living room did.The interface on the Apple TV is just better. Full stop. It's clean, the UX is better even if it isn't the greatest it's still decent and easier to navigate than the Fire Stick.Voice control with Siri is hit or miss for most people. Depending on what I am asking for, Siri will either find it or give me some convoluted nonsense. The Fire Stick was a bit better but not by much. Where Apple pulls ahead in the voice assistant feature of the streaming box wars is being able to search across multiple apps and services, something I sorely missed when when using Alexa on my Fire Stick.The resolution is great; I have two 4K TVs from LG, with HDR and HomeKit, one 49" in the living room and a 43" in the bedroom mounted to the wall. The picture may vary from TV to TV but I find it incredibly sharp. One thing to note is with this box you need an HDMI 2.0 cable that is able to handle 4K data streaming to actually get the best picture.I use mainly streaming services and keep my TV provider for sports and ID channel (yeah I am one of those women haha) and this means I can, and do, use my HomePods for stereo sound, now coming with Dolby Atmos.I recently bought a HomePod Mini for the bedroom Apple TV which sounds great. In order to use HomePods as default speakers for your Apple TV, you need two in a pair. If not, you can always press and hold the TV button on the remote to bring up AirPlay menu and select your HomePod.The biggest, and I mean BIGGEST flaw of this box is the remote. OH. GOD. It's terrible. You accidentally touch the touch surface and you scrub through a video by accident. Scrolling down long lists of YouTube channels takes FOREVER whereas on my Fire Stick remote it was BANG BANG, down the list, as that remote has physical buttons. A big miss here by Apple.All in all, as someone with an ENORMOUS cadre of Apple gear, this is another win from Apple.

I've had Apple TVs since 2017. They are the best streamer I have experienced so far. I already have my order in for Apple TV 4K 2nd Generation (2021 model). I have so much hope in that new one. . . !Nevertheless, I feel compelled to write this review when thousands and thousands have already reviewed this device due to a personal and profound revelation I realized when I least expected it. I have a 2020 Marantz SR6015 AVR and a 2020 LG OLED 65CX HDTV. Both these devices have advanced high audio resolution, and high picture definition, and high dynamic range capabilities. The new Apple TV in 2021 will (finally) be commensurate with the abilities of those 2020 devices.Since 2017, I have always set my Apple TVs to the highest dynamic range available as a default. Except the Dolby Vision setting, which was too “sepia toned” and inappropriate for anything that wasn’t filmed in Dolby Vision. To me, this mindset provided the best HDR viewing experience that I was desiring and paying for. Even when colors would sometimes be “out-of-this-world” super saturated, I thought this was the way it should be. Moreover, there is a lot of source content produced in the 1920s and since then that Dolby Vision would make look totally wrong.OLD MINDSET:* 4K HDR 60Hz* Match Dynamic Range* Match Frame RateIn time, after a lot of reading and analyzing my own system, I decided to try 4K SDR 60Hz, when I realized that most movies were filmed in 24fps, but you never know what you’re getting, so one-size does not fit all. By applying HDR or 60Hz to everything, Apple TV was making everything super saturated and interfering in the upscale function of the LG OLED, if the source wasn’t being passed through as 4K and needed upscaling to 4K. Years past, filmmakers didn’t have Dolby Vision or HDR10+, but they knew how to make a picture beautiful with 35mm or 70mm, when they wanted to. Applying the automatic 4K HDR 60Hz filters as a default is not really making things better. I found that applying 4K SDR 60Hz (as default) without applying “artificial” filters to everything, whether classic films or contemporary, the Apple software and LG software worked more cooperatively to render “what the director intended” in just about everything I’ve seen since my new mindset. I intend to continue this mindset to the 2021 Apple TV 4K as well. I believe there will be faster processing and the addition of the Apple Neural Engine to output the “best” entertainment. Dolby Vision, HDR10+, high resolution audio—all these—are part of the dynamic range concept in current films and video. It’s better to match dynamic range than to automatically apply a fixed dynamic range.NEW MINDSET:* 4K SDR 60Hz* Match Dynamic Range* Match Frame RateWhatever system you have for your audio/video processing, you have to find the best mechanical, electrical, and acoustical synergy, such that not any one component voids the best work of the other.