I love the Apple TV. It has a super fast ui. I use infuse on it to play content from a network share, and Plex.

An Nvidia Shield Pro is hands down the best but it is much more expensive. Slap a third party launcher over the top and use it for streaming Jellyfin or Stremio or Kodi or whatever floats your boat. Super responsive and is android-based so you can sideload whatever you want. It also has the most compatibility with most codecs so you'll be able to direct play more through Jellyfin rather than transcode.

firetvstick is android based so you can sidelode a lot of apps that aren't in the store

If you want to invest in new hardware, I would suggest getting a mini PC. You can get these refurbished for under 100€. Add a wireless keyboard with touchpad (Logitech K400 or Microsoft Media Keyboard) and install Linux+Kodi.

You can select Kodi in your login manager to start straight into Kodi, so you dont have to mess with a desktop environment if you just want to watch a movie.

KDE is also developing a desktop environment for TVs called Plasma Bigscreen, although I haven't tried this one.

And unlike devices with a locked down, proprietary OS you can run any desktop application or game on it (if the hardware supports it).

Fire stick has too many ads and hostile decisions, you can't even turn it off

A decade ago I had a jailbroken apple TV 2 and it was great with what now is called infuse, it took videos directly via SMB and showed them with a really slick interface.

So between the two... I'd buy an Androidtv (real, not a fake Chinese one, like that "Chromecast with Google TV)

If it wasn't so expensive I'd buy an apple TV again just for infuse. A decade ago was more reasonably priced compared to the competition, right now...

Firestick (any work but 4k Max works best) + Stremio + Real Debrid. You will be able to find nearly anything you can think of. Its also the cheapest way and easiest. I’m an iOS guy and would rather not use an Amazon product but it is the best i have found. It also will load Android TV apps so modified youtube apps also exist and other things. Apple tv is locked down and there are jailbreaks for certain OS, if its not in the app store you will be limited.

Android TV, I have the Shield Pro and nothing can't beat:

• SmartTube, no ads with SponsorBlock
• TiVimate, IPTV
• Kodi, best video player.
• Jellyfin and Plex
• Stremio with Real Debrid.

It all depends on your tolerance.

FireSticks are inherently easier to tinker with. But Amazon bends you over with shoving ads and spyware up your ass at every opportunity. It is baked into the UI design itself. It is very advertising-forward, with everything else designed around ads. And even the 4K max lags at times.

AppleTV really requires an iPhone to set up optimally. And it is locked down with no clear jail break at this time for most people unless you’re willing to solder (or if I’ve missed a new flaw in an update which opened the door programmatically). But Apple TV is fast and smooth, with no inherent ads of its own. It is honestly over powered for its purpose, probably because it can also play a fair number of iOS games.

Chrome Cast with Google TV is a fucking mess. It is severely under powered to the point of lagging. It has half baked ideas like profiles which don’t change anything. And it has ads as the focus of the design just like FireStick.

But you’re going to pay a subscription if you go with Apple TV and want something like Infuse. Jellyfin and Plex, of course, don’t require it.

And despite what people say, Stremio is absolute dogshit on a FireStick because of its mobile-centric UI.

If you plan to use a server like Plex and Jellyfin, all of them work—but Apple TV works best. If you need anything else out of it, probably the fire stick if you use a pihole to stop it from phoning home for more ads constantly.

I use Jellyfin with https://firecore.com/infuse for Apple TV. It is the smoothest experience I can think of.

Chromecast with googletv 4k + stremio + torrentio plugin + debrid subscription

hands down the best experience if you don't want to meddle with plex and just watch things netflix-style.

What about Chromecast Google TV 4k? I just got one and loving it. Installed Stremio and SmartTube and works great. Got a custom launcher as the default one focuses a lot on streaming services. Also tried Kodi but seems worse than my dedicated Vero 4k with OSMC / Kodi.

I've got both a fire TV stick 4k and acorresponding Mi tv stick, both mainly for jellyfin, and would recommend the latter. Basically same price, both work fine for the purpose but fire has their ads on the home screen whereas Mi is more clean and has the Google play store, making some things easier to install. The Mi apps you can just disable.

Would a Raspberry Pi not solve your problems? I'm not even into programming and I still have fun with it

Firestick 4K is a cheap yet beasty device, and being Android you can install third party apps easily.

Plex/JellyFin, Kodi, Stremio. No need to spend so much on an AppleTV when the firestick is more than enough.

Also apps like SmartTubeNext and SoundTV.

Chromecast with web video caster app and fmovies. It doesn't get any easier, just pay for the pro version of the app and no ads.

If you care about video quality and interface performance, Apple TV is the only option.

I've got firestick and Chromecast with Google tv, both really easy to use streaming apps of the high seas.

I personally use an AppleTV with the Infuse app. Great UI, no lag, and it plays everything including 4K Bluray remuxes. You also get Dolby Vision, frame rate matching, and Jellyfin support.

if you're otherwise not in the apple ecosystem I've heard you need an iphone to input your password or some other such shit.

if it was a choice between the 2 I'd just install a UPnP media server or hookup a raspberry pi instead.

I have a Firestick with VLC on it that can browse my PC where I've got all my downloads. Not the most straightforward, but sometimes I want to watch on my PC and this keeps everything central.