AMAZON FIRE TV RECAST REVIEW: THE CORD CUTTER’S DVR

mazon’s big fall hardware event saw the introduction of the impressive Fire TV Stick 4K and a slew of other products, but as a home theater nerd, I was most interested in the Fire TV Recast. The Recast is basically Amazon’s 2018 take on the Slingbox; it’s a chunky device that’ll let you watch live TV anywhere or record shows to a DVR for later viewing. The Recast is designed to integrate seamlessly with Amazon’s Fire TV streaming devices; your live TV channels show up in their own row on the Fire TV home screen, and you can use Alexa to change channels or schedule a DVR recording with your voice.

The Recast only works with over-the-air (OTA) channels that it pulls down via a connected antenna. You can’t hook up a cable box to it. But rather, the big selling point is that the Recast will give you watch-anywhere access to ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC, plus PBS and a couple dozen filler channels. Other companies (namely Tablo and Dish) have tried their hand at this, but Amazon’s attempt is part of a much bigger vision.

7.5VERGE SCORE

AMAZON FIRE TV RECAST

GOOD STUFF

• Lets you record and watch OTA channels anywhere
• Seamless integration with Fire TV and Alexa voice commands
• Reliable streaming performance

BAD STUFF

• Limited to two concurrent streams
• BYOA (bring your own antenna)
• Mobile app isn’t nearly as good as Fire TV experience

Buy from Amazon

Instead of building an internet TV bundle in the style of Sling TV, Playstation Vue, or YouTube TV, Amazon is going in a different direction. Through Prime Channels, it sells subscriptions to third-party streaming services and intertwines that programming with its own Prime Video content. The Fire TV Recast now becomes a central fixture of Amazon’s big plan moving forward. Are the big four networks, Prime Video, and a few add-ons of your choosing (HBO, Showtime, Starz, CBS All Access, etc.) enough to keep you entertained? Everyone’s answer will be different, but I can tell you that the Fire TV Recast does exactly what it promises. There are definitely things Amazon needs to improve, but this is a solid first effort.

The Recast’s live TV channels show up right on the Fire TV home screen.

The Fire TV Recast contains a hard drive and the necessary tuners for streaming and/or recording shows, sports, and movies. But you’ll need to provide your own antenna. The 500GB model ($230) has two tuners, while the 1TB version ($280) has four. Amazon is offering a bundle that includes the Fire TV Stick 4K, a 35-mile antenna, and the 500GB Recast for $250. That seems like the obvious way to go to me, but maybe you’re someone who just wants to record all the things and decide what to watch later on. Amazon has a good breakdown of what you can do with each model:

With a 2-tuner Fire TV Recast, you can either:

Record up to 2 programs at once,
Watch up to 1 live and 1 recorded program on different devices, while recording another;
Watch up to 2 recorded programs on different devices, while recording 2 programs in the background; OR
Watch up to 2 live programs on different devices at once.

With a 4-tuner Fire TV Recast, you can either:

Record up to 4 programs at once;
Watch up to 1 live and 1 recorded program on different devices, while recording up to 3 other programs in the background;
Watch up to 2 recorded programs on different devices, while recording up to 4 programs in the background; OR
Watch up to 2 live programs on different devices at once while recording up to 2 other programs in the background.

Amazon estimates the 500GB model is good for 75 hours of HD DVR recordings, with the 1TB model storing up to 150 hours. But notice how that four-tuner section makes no mention of watching live TV on four devices at once? It’s because you can’t. The biggest restriction you’ll run into when using the Recast is concurrent streams: Amazon only allows two devices to stream from it at a time. This is true whether you’re just watching prerecorded content from the DVR or streaming live programming.

I really think that number should be higher, as two streams simply won’t be enough to cover many homes if people are out of the house and everyone wants to watch the Oscars or Sunday football. “We limit the number of streams on Fire TV Recast to two in order to guarantee the most reliable, high-quality HD streams on all your compatible devices,” an Amazon spokesperson told me, adding that the company believes “two simultaneous streams is adequate for the vast majority of households.” Amazon and I strongly disagree! It might up the limit eventually, but the company told me it’s got nothing firm to announce in the near term.

Design-wise, the Fire TV Recast is a big hulking black box with ventilation dots covering its entire front. It’s not a pretty gadget, but the idea is for you to place it in whatever spot gets the best antenna reception in your house or apartment. That means you’ll likely put it beside a window somewhere, but maybe that’ll end up being in the attic or in a bedroom. Either would be totally fine; the Recast streams live programming to your Fire TV devices wirelessly. (You can plug in ethernet for an optimal connection if you’ve got a jack near wherever the Recast goes.) If you already own an antenna, it should work just fine, and the Recast has a USB port for antennas that need power.