Gadgetory

hey guys this is Austin can you get a decent game console for $100 as a little brother to the ps4 the PlayStation TV is definitely the most gaming focused of this group inside this is basically a PS Vita that connects to your TV which gives you access to a full library of games it works with ps3 and ps4 controllers you can get the console by itself or the bundle which comes with the ps3 controller and a few extras next up we've got the Amazon fire TV this might seem like a weird choice but the fire TV is outfitted with some pretty decent specs including a quad core processor this is a more well-rounded set-top box with plenty of video and music apps on top of the games it only comes with a remote out of the box however there's also a fire TV controller available last but definitely not least there's the Nexus player this is the first device running Android TV which is based on lollipop the player is packing some serious firepower as well with a quad core Intel Atom processor and like the fire TV you can play some games with the included remote or you can pick up the Nexus player gamepad now let's crack these open inside the PlayStation TV bundle you've got a ps3 controller mini USB cable to charge it a gigabyte Vita memory card which is basically a necessity and a code to download the lego movie game dig a little deeper and you'll find the PlayStation TV itself an HDMI cable which is a nice addition and the slightly bulky two piece power adapter the hardware is absolutely tiny and it's rocking a decent selection of ports including Ethernet and a slot for Vita memory cards and game cards now let's jump over to the fire TV inside you'll find a small power adapter the fire TV itself which is pretty decent looking a person and finally the fire TV remote around back you're looking at HDMI optical audio Ethernet and a USB port slide open the Nexus player and right up top you'll find the player itself the hardware fits right between the others in terms of size however it's fairly light on ports you've got power in a micro USB port and HDMI out all tucked away on bottom it's nice to keep cables clean but that means the player is Wi-Fi only albeit with rock-solid 802 dot eleven AC Wireless you've also got a remote which is pretty basic it sports a microphone for voice search and a couple buttons the fire TV remote looks almost identical but has a few extra buttons and a nicer feel in the hand turn on the PlayStation TV and you'll see this is a game console first and foremost titles like Need for Speed Most Wanted show games that look decent on a 5-inch handheld don't quite make the transition to the big screen very well games like nidhogg look basically identical to on the ps4 though nicely running at 60 frames per second and being awesome fun at the same time minecraft isn't quite as robust as on the bigger consoles though it's basically the full game but the framerate is more than a little choppy at times Arkham origins Blackgate does a good job of bringing a lot of what's great about the full console game into a lighter version however here I ran into one of my first big problems the lack of a touchscreen most Vita games work just fine on the ps3 controller but if they use the front or back touch pads you'll have to dive into the menu and enable the touch pointer by pressing down the left or right thumbstick this is a decent workaround but you're still going to run into some games where this won't be very practical video games are great but one of the best parts of the PlayStation TV is that they can play a huge variety of games you've got a good selection of PSone classics and PSP games you can download from the store as well as ps3 games using PlayStation now this is streaming based so you'll need a decent internet connection but once you're up and running it can be a cool way of playing some of the best ps3 games out there like The Last of Us there is some latency which can be minimized if you're connected via ethernet but for $20 a month it's a cool way of adding some top-notch games to the PlayStation TV you've also got ps4 link to connect to your ps4 as long as it's on the same network as the PlayStation TV there's a fair bit of latency with this right now so it's not a perfect solution but it can be handy if you want to play ps4 games on multiple TVs in your house controller wise you can use either the bundled kiss 3 gamepad or the much better ps4 controller this combined with the ability to play physical Vita games on top of all the digital titles makes the PlayStation TV hard to beat for $100 but it's not quite that simple the Amazon fire TV has some gaming shops as well games like asphalt 8 don't quite measure up to console quality but it's not too far off since the fire TV is Android based you will find some actual console ports like GTA san andreas onboard which you can run an HD with high detail than the original if you don't mind ps2 like frame rates interestingly minecraft runs better here than on the Vita likely because it's the Pocket Edition instead of a port of the console version but are also a few exclusives like sub-zero which is a hybrid tower defense game in first-person shooter which is really surprisingly fun the controller is pretty decent it mimics the layout of an Xbox gamepad and clothes a few media controls if it's not your thing though the fire TV works with other Bluetooth controllers including the ones in the Nexus player since it's running Android TV which is fairly new the game library on the Nexus is a bit sparse right now it comes with badland pre-installed which is a really fun side scroller that not only looks awesome but could easily pass for a top-notch console title Leo's fortune is another mobile game that scales nicely to the TB it runs smoothly and brings a solid platformer to the Nexus player Rio boxing is a very arcade style boxing game but it's one of the better-looking games on any of these consoles Riptide gp2 has been around for a while but it's still one of my favorite racing games for mobile and amazingly enough it works well on the Nexus player unfortunately only a tiny fraction of Android games have made the jump to Android TV and minecraft is one of the big holdouts at the moment I'm also not a huge fan of the controller not only is it a fairly hefty $40 but the layout feels a little cramped to me luckily just like the fire TV though it is compatible with other Bluetooth controllers while all three have plenty of gaming cred it's not enough to just play games in this group spend a few minutes with the PlayStation TV and you'll find one of the big drawbacks it's limited to 720p compared to 1080 on the others this will be a major problem for watching video that was much of an option in the first place download the YouTube app and it'll let you get as far as opening it before reminding you that it's only for the Vita trying to download Netflix or Hulu Plus and you won't even get the option of downloading you can watch TV shows and movies from the PlayStation Store but if media is a big deal for you the PlayStation TV just doesn't cut it the fire TV is much more well rounded not only does it have the basics like Netflix and Hulu but you'll also find apps like HBO Go twitch Amazon video even saw music apps like my personal favorite Spotify DLS is nice and responsive and allows you to listen to music and other apps although there is a slight drawback and that is YouTube since Google doesn't officially support Amazon's version of Android you'll have to settle for the web version of YouTube which works easily but tended not to play videos in 1080p for me you do have a handy voice search option using the remote which is faster than manually typing but it's pretty limited in what it looks for Android TV on the Nexus player has hands down my favorite UI of the bunch just like lollipop everything stays smooth at 60fps it's just quite to do basically everything top you have your recommendation from YouTube in the Play Store with a slight more useful voice search that pulls from lots of sources and ok ok come on the each of that is the best I've seen on the big screen and it also works like a chromecast if you want to stream media from a phone or tablet that's important because like with games Android TV is still missing a few key apps like HBO Go which can be casted and Spotify which can be leaving Google Play as your best option for music alright so that was a lot of information the question is are any of these actually worth it if gaming is your number one priority the PlayStation TV is hard to beat for $100 you're getting a huge library of places and games going all the way back to the ps1 through the ps4 Mbita Android TV on the Nexus player is right up there with the Xbox one in terms of looks and speed of the UI which I really appreciate but the app and game support is just a bit too limited at the moment I doubt this will be a problem for very long but as of today the Nexus player is more about promise than anything else that leaves us with the Amazon fire TV which really surprised me it's hands down the best media box here with ethernet optical audio and basically every streaming service out there and the game library really isn't half bad it might not be quite as slick as the Nexus player and have the huge titles of the PlayStation TV but for your $100 the fire TV you might just be the best of both worlds so which would you go with definitely be sure to let me know in the comments below also I got the chance to do something really cool recently while I was at CES AT&T asked me to check out their developer conference and hackathon and make a video for their official channel that's live right now so if you guys want to go check it out and let them know what you think the link will be in the description hey guys thank you so much for watching and I will catch you in the next one