Agreed on the 4K Max being excellent. I bought them at release at full price with zero regrets. 

How does the HD version (PB Tech) compare to the 4K max version, or the Chromecast with Google TV HD?  I've looked a few reviews online and they tend to swing between "they're very similar" to choosing based on your preferred OS.

My use case is on a 24" monitor in my kitchen as a "make-do" TV setup.  4K is not a need for me, I'm just re-watching old TV shows and movies when I'm cooking or baking.  I have several Echo devices around my house, so I guess you could say I'm tilted more towards Alexa than Google for smart assistants.  The Fire TV interface is fine, but I have no real experience with Google TV to compare (in my main lounge, I have an Apple TV 4K which is fantastic for my primetime viewing).

I had been leaning towards the Chromecast with Google TV because it seemed like it might be slightly more powerful, and the interface looked alright.  But since I resurrected the Gen 1 Fire TV (the slab version) and started using that (which has been mostly fine - it's just a nuisance not having a working remote for it, and having to use a keyboard) I'm wondering if the latest version of the Fire Stick would be plenty powerful for my needs.

Lizard1977:

 

How does the HD version (PB Tech) compare to the 4K max version, or the Chromecast with Google TV HD?  I've looked a few reviews online and they tend to swing between "they're very similar" to choosing based on your preferred OS.

 

My use case is on a 24" monitor in my kitchen as a "make-do" TV setup.  4K is not a need for me, I'm just re-watching old TV shows and movies when I'm cooking or baking.  I have several Echo devices around my house, so I guess you could say I'm tilted more towards Alexa than Google for smart assistants.  The Fire TV interface is fine, but I have no real experience with Google TV to compare (in my main lounge, I have an Apple TV 4K which is fantastic for my primetime viewing).

 

I had been leaning towards the Chromecast with Google TV because it seemed like it might be slightly more powerful, and the interface looked alright.  But since I resurrected the Gen 1 Fire TV (the slab version) and started using that (which has been mostly fine - it's just a nuisance not having a working remote for it, and having to use a keyboard) I'm wondering if the latest version of the Fire Stick would be plenty powerful for my needs.

 

I have not used Amazon's Fire TV platform. My assumption is that their performance and power compared to Google's will be close enough to not matter much. If there is a difference it might only be a software update away, or a new hardware revision, and they're not that expensive. Most people are picking based on ecosystem. Most of these cheap streaming sticks are fairly similar, feel 80-90% as fast as something super responsive like say an Nvidia Shield. I think there are substantial benefits to remaining within the same Eco system, so unless you want to dabble and try out the competition, stick with Amazon. Even if it's just to avoid having a second app on your phone for the other platform.

I got Echo's when they first came out, but moved to Google when they launched because of the better more natural language processing. Felt like a "version 2" smart assistant. I believe Amazon has mostly caught up, but have had no reason to give them another try. Plenty of comparison videos online of the smarts of the various smart assistants.

the fire tv 4k max does AV1 hardware decoding.  not sure about google's devices.   

reven:

 

the fire tv 4k max does AV1 hardware decoding.  not sure about google's devices.   

 

I use the 1080p Chromecast with Google TV. It does AV1. 4K one doesn't.

"Thanks to using a different chipset, the 1080p model supports AV1 video decoding - due to hardware differences, the 4K model does not. AV1 is a video codec known to be especially efficient, so the newer 1080p Chromecast might use less bandwidth to stream video."

I have a fire stick max 4k and a google tv 4k and i prefer the google tv interface and removes much better. firestick still loads quickly just harder to open apps.

Lizard1977:

 

How does the HD version (PB Tech) compare to the 4K max version, or the Chromecast with Google TV HD?  I've looked a few reviews online and they tend to swing between "they're very similar" to choosing based on your preferred OS.

 

My use case is on a 24" monitor in my kitchen as a "make-do" TV setup.  4K is not a need for me, I'm just re-watching old TV shows and movies when I'm cooking or baking.  I have several Echo devices around my house, so I guess you could say I'm tilted more towards Alexa than Google for smart assistants.  The Fire TV interface is fine, but I have no real experience with Google TV to compare (in my main lounge, I have an Apple TV 4K which is fantastic for my primetime viewing).

 

I had been leaning towards the Chromecast with Google TV because it seemed like it might be slightly more powerful, and the interface looked alright.  But since I resurrected the Gen 1 Fire TV (the slab version) and started using that (which has been mostly fine - it's just a nuisance not having a working remote for it, and having to use a keyboard) I'm wondering if the latest version of the Fire Stick would be plenty powerful for my needs.

 

Replying to myself here with a "review" for anyone who might try searching for a similar answer in the future:

I ended up buying the Fire TV stick (the HD model) for $45, instead of opting for the Chromecast with Google HD for $55.

I can't compare with the Chromecast, but I do get the sense that there is a bit of lag with the Fire TV stick.  It's not unbearable though, and for the price it's acceptable.  The Chromecast might have been faster, but I don't really know.

Loading apps is fine, though Plex can take up to 10 seconds to load from the homescreen.  One little annoying thing is that when you pause whatever you're watching, it seems to drop back to the homescreen after just a few minutes.  I haven't been able to find a setting that allows me to increase the time.  It would be nice to be able to pause what I'm watching to go and hang out the washing and come back and press play, without having to load up Plex, load up the show from the landing page, and then load up the episode I was watching - especially when it takes about 10 seconds just to load the app.

Playback of 1080 content from my server is fine, and all I need on a 22" monitor.  Haven't tried any content from Netflix or Disney+, but I expect that will be fine too.

I'm using this on a monitor rather than a TV, and discovered a little quirk during setup.  It assumed I would be using a TV, and tried to get me to tell it what kind of TV and remote I was using.  I'm sure it was intended to make things work better, but it just provided an obstacle that I had to get over (no way to skip, as far as I could see), so I think I just selected a TV and remote code at random, to try and get past it.

The monitor doesn't have speakers, so I tried pairing it with the Echo Dot in my kitchen as a "home theatre" setup, but I found the volume to be too quiet.  I instead paired a UE Wonderboom via Bluetooth and that has plenty of volume, even in my sometimes noisy kitchen.

Overall, a big step up from the old gen 1 Fire TV, and much easier (and less cluttered) to use with a remote than with the keyboard I was using in lieu of the broken remote on the gen 1.  The higher end models might load faster, but this is pretty good value for money.