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OtinG · 11-16-2020, 03:55 PM

I finally bit the bullet and got a Fire TV Cube 2nd generation. I had been using the Fire TV 3rd generation (the pendant one that is shaped like a diamond and is between a box shape and a stick in size). It was getting a bit dated and the idea of more storage, less overheating, and faster ethernet finally tempted me enough to get the newer Cube.

Setup was blazingly fast. Since it was connected to ethernet I didn’t have to go through the WiFi setup stuff, so that saved time. At the end of setup it asked if I wanted to restore the Cube with the preferences and apps I had on the Fire TV 3rd gen pendant, I chose yes, and very quickly it finished doing that which saved me a lot of time having to do it manually.

I mentioned overheating of the pendant Fire TV. I’m not sure if that ever happened, but the smaller enclosure it has means less ability to dissipate heat than the larger enclosure of the Cube. Plus the Cube sits far enough away from the TV and soundbase that it doesn’t pick up heat from them. The pendant Fire TV plugged into the back of the TV or soundbase so it was always being exposed to a lot of heat from both. Since mine was plugged into the soundbase along with my TV and Roku, there was also the possibility that it could receive and/or cause interference from/with them. So having a Cube far enough away from heat sources and other connections should keep these issues from occuring.

I also mentioned faster ethernet. Well I need to explain. Both pendant and Cube support 10/100 ethernet speed with the dongle connector. I have 200 Mbips speed so WiFi was faster than 100 Mbips ethernet, but less reliable. However I saw a video on the internet where a guy used a micro USB OTG adapter plugged into the Cube 2nd gen micro USB port with a USB 3.0 to 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet Internet Adapter attached to it to allow faster ethernet connections than the ethernet dongle included with the Cube. I already owned both of those extras so I tried it and I’m getting 230 Mbips speed to the Cube. BTW, my USB OTG adapter is only USB 2.0, so that limits it to 480 Mbips, but I only have 200 Mbips service so no problem there.

Just installed the Cube 2nd gen, but so far it seems much faster than the old pendant and it runs the latest Fire OS 7.x so that is a plus too.

11-16-2020, 03:55 PM	#4291
OtinG Old Gadget Guy Posts: 1,913 Karma: 6854865 Join Date: Jun 2018 Device: Oasis 3, iPhone 13 Pro Max, iPad mini 6, iPad Air 2020, Alexa Devices	Got a Fire TV Cube 2nd generation I finally bit the bullet and got a Fire TV Cube 2nd generation. I had been using the Fire TV 3rd generation (the pendant one that is shaped like a diamond and is between a box shape and a stick in size). It was getting a bit dated and the idea of more storage, less overheating, and faster ethernet finally tempted me enough to get the newer Cube. Setup was blazingly fast. Since it was connected to ethernet I didn’t have to go through the WiFi setup stuff, so that saved time. At the end of setup it asked if I wanted to restore the Cube with the preferences and apps I had on the Fire TV 3rd gen pendant, I chose yes, and very quickly it finished doing that which saved me a lot of time having to do it manually. I mentioned overheating of the pendant Fire TV. I’m not sure if that ever happened, but the smaller enclosure it has means less ability to dissipate heat than the larger enclosure of the Cube. Plus the Cube sits far enough away from the TV and soundbase that it doesn’t pick up heat from them. The pendant Fire TV plugged into the back of the TV or soundbase so it was always being exposed to a lot of heat from both. Since mine was plugged into the soundbase along with my TV and Roku, there was also the possibility that it could receive and/or cause interference from/with them. So having a Cube far enough away from heat sources and other connections should keep these issues from occuring. I also mentioned faster ethernet. Well I need to explain. Both pendant and Cube support 10/100 ethernet speed with the dongle connector. I have 200 Mbips speed so WiFi was faster than 100 Mbips ethernet, but less reliable. However I saw a video on the internet where a guy used a micro USB OTG adapter plugged into the Cube 2nd gen micro USB port with a USB 3.0 to 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet Internet Adapter attached to it to allow faster ethernet connections than the ethernet dongle included with the Cube. I already owned both of those extras so I tried it and I’m getting 230 Mbips speed to the Cube. BTW, my USB OTG adapter is only USB 2.0, so that limits it to 480 Mbips, but I only have 200 Mbips service so no problem there. Just installed the Cube 2nd gen, but so far it seems much faster than the old pendant and it runs the latest Fire OS 7.x so that is a plus too.