Whether your TV isn’t smart, is smart but has gotten slow, or you simply want more app choice, an external dongle or TV box fixes the problem in a few minutes. We compared five devices representing the major ecosystems — Xiaomi TV Stick 4K, Fire TV Stick 4K Max, Chromecast with Google TV, Apple TV 4K and NVIDIA Shield TV Pro — with the same level of detail as our full guide on which streaming device to buy.
Xiaomi TV Stick 4K: the cheapest
At under €70, the Xiaomi TV Stick 4K (2nd generation) offers Google TV, Wi-Fi 6 and full Dolby Vision, HDR10+, Dolby Atmos and DTS:X support — a surprisingly complete technical package for the price. It’s the cheapest way to give new life to a non-smart TV or an aging smart TV, with only 8 GB of internal storage as a real limitation: enough for installed apps, since content stays streamed, but not enough for those wanting to install a very large number of apps at once.
Fire TV Stick 4K Max: best for the Amazon ecosystem
The Fire TV Stick 4K Max (2nd generation) stands out for its tri-band Wi-Fi 6E, rare on a streaming dongle: the additional 6 GHz band is far less crowded than the ones used by most home devices, with concrete benefits — fewer stutters, higher bitrates — in homes where several people stream or game online at once, as long as the router supports it too. Native Alexa integration makes it the most natural choice for those already subscribed to Prime Video or using Echo devices at home, with Prime Video always front and center in the interface. The real limitation remains internal storage, capped at 16 GB: still enough for streaming alone, but lower than some competitors.
Chromecast with Google TV: the best interface
The Chromecast with Google TV reorganizes the experience around content instead of individual apps: the homepage aggregates recommendations from Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+ and other installed apps into a single screen, instead of isolating them into separate rows the way older Android TV interfaces do. The remote includes dedicated TV volume and power buttons, plus built-in Google Assistant voice control. With 8 GB of storage, it shares the same limitation as the Xiaomi TV Stick 4K, but makes up for it with an interface generally considered among the most polished in the category.
Apple TV 4K: best for the Apple ecosystem
With the A15 Bionic chip, the most powerful in this roundup, the Apple TV 4K offers AirPlay for casting content from your phone with no cables, Handoff to continue watching across devices just by bringing your iPhone close, and an aluminum Siri Remote with physical volume buttons and a touch surface for scrolling — a build quality none of the other four devices in this list matches. It’s the right pick for those who already have an iPhone and want the tightest integration, though it remains the priciest among general-purpose devices and, in this Wi-Fi version, lacks a dedicated Ethernet port.
NVIDIA Shield TV Pro: best for gaming
Those wanting to use cloud gaming through GeForce NOW — whose plans range from about €11/month for the Performance tier to about €22/month for Ultimate, with a cloud RTX 5080 GPU and resolution up to 5K — or connect a controller and local media libraries, should look at the NVIDIA Shield TV Pro: 2 USB 3.0 ports, built-in Gigabit Ethernet (the only one of the five devices with native wired connectivity) and USB-expandable storage make it the most versatile of the group, at the cost of a bulkier design meant for a fixed setup behind the TV rather than hiding in an HDMI port.
Conclusion
There’s no absolute winner: the choice depends on the ecosystem you’re already in. iPhone owners should look at the Apple TV 4K, Prime subscribers at the Fire TV Stick 4K Max (also appreciating its Wi-Fi 6E), Google fans at the Chromecast with Google TV. Those wanting cloud gaming too should go for the NVIDIA Shield TV Pro, while those just wanting to make an old TV smart with minimal spend will find the Xiaomi TV Stick 4K the smartest pick.