G+_Vance McAlister Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 In Defense of the Nexus Player In the last couple AAA's there has been a lot of bashing of the Nexus Player, and I would like to provide a counterpoint after using the Fire TV, Roku and the Nexus Player. The problem with the complaints is that people seem to be comparing the Nexus Player to the device we wish we had rather than its current competition. There are complaints about 8 GB of storage, but that is more than the Roku and the same amount as the Fire TV. There is a complaint about the voice search not universally including all the apps, but neither does the Fire TV and Roku doesn't even have voice search. The real question should be how these devices stack up head to head rather than how the Nexus Player compares to the mythical device we all wish we had. I actually bought and used all three devices and the Nexus Player is the one I keep going back to. It is fast and smooth (I have not had any video playback issues) and the interface is very fun to use. The Roku has additional apps, but I don't use any of them and the Nexus Player has the apps that 90% of the people would use 90% of the time. And the Nexus Player's UI is just dramatically better. My Roku is now relegated to a drawer. The UI for the Fire TV is basically on par with the Nexus Player, but it is SO incredibly Amazon-centric that it feels primarily like an Amazon Instant delivery device. And the lack of a true You Tube app is a major downside for me. The search works fine, but no better than the Nexus Player's. So, here it all comes down to whether you want Amazon Instant content or Google content (including a good You Tube experience). I have ended up using the Nexus Player to play my Google Play Music a LOT. So, if you need all the additional apps, then the Roku is the best choice despite a sub-par interface. If you want Amazon Instant and can do without a decent Google experience, or if your wifi is such that you need an ethernet cable, then the Fire TV would be best. I would say that for everyone else the Nexus Player is simply the best choice. UPDATE: I just read that Plex has updated its Android TV app to include its content in the Player's universal search! Woohoo! Jason Howell Ron Richards Gina Trapani Cameron Summerson Ron Amadeo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Jason Howell (raygun01) Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 All great points Vance. Personally haven't had any experience with the Roku or Amazon Fire TV, but I can't possibly ignore the fact that video playback in MY device regularly stuttered in ways that I haven't seen media playback on other devices. That, for a living room device, is a killer. But if you aren't seeing those issues, who knows... Could be hardware could be network... Great post! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Vance McAlister Posted December 10, 2014 Author Share Posted December 10, 2014 Jason Howell I agree that if a video streaming device is not streaming smoothly, it fails at its primary purpose. And Ron Amadeo said he had the same issue, so not sure how widespread the issue is. For me, it has simply not been a problem. A sample size of one. :0) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Joseph Cappellino Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 I'm with Vance McAlister, here. It've been using it as my device in my kitchen. I haven't had any issues with it. My wife mostly uses it for Google Cast, but she can work the UI no problems. For my living room TV, I still use the Sony Google TV with a FireTV Stick on the input. This gives me the best of both worlds: The Google services with the ability to get Amazon services in a nice pretty UI. When If Amazon ever puts the Instant Video app on AndroidTV, I can drop the FireTV and replace the Google TV with a Nexus Player. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Vance McAlister Posted December 10, 2014 Author Share Posted December 10, 2014 Joseph Cappellino Yes, I keep my Fire Stick in one of my coveted HDMI spots for those occasions when I want Amazon content, but that doesn't seem to come up very often. And that casting is another good point: since the Nexus Player (like the other devices) is a Google Cast device, I don't need my Chromecast plugged in anymore, so it serves that purpose as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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