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Primary keyword: Firestick vs Chromecast UK

Secondary keywords: Fire TV Stick 4K Max, Google TV Streamer, Chromecast with Google TV, Firestick UK price, casting from phone

A friend in Bristol texted last month asking which to buy: "Firestick or Chromecast?" The honest reply took two paragraphs. The Firestick they were thinking of is the Fire TV Stick 4K Max, currently around £69.99 at Currys but routinely £35 on Prime Day. The Chromecast they were thinking of doesn't exist anymore — Google discontinued the Chromecast with Google TV in 2024. Its replacement is the Google TV Streamer, a £99 set-top box that does what the old Chromecast did and rather more. Working out which one is right for any given household isn't actually a Firestick-vs-Chromecast question in 2026. It's a Fire TV Stick 4K Max-vs-Google TV Streamer question, dressed up in old terminology. This guide does it properly.

The two ecosystems in plain terms #

Amazon makes the Fire TV Stick. Google makes (now) the Google TV Streamer. Both run Android-based TV operating systems under the hood. Both ship with a remote. Both connect to a 4K TV over HDMI and to your home Wi-Fi. Both carry every major UK streaming app. Beyond that, they diverge.

Amazon's device is built around Prime Video and the Amazon shopping ecosystem. The home screen pushes Amazon's own content. The voice assistant is Alexa. The shopping integration goes deep — you can order things from Amazon UK using the remote.

Google's device is built around Google's services and the Android phone ecosystem. The home screen pushes Google TV's own movie store more lightly. The voice assistant is Google Assistant. The phone integration is the deepest of any streaming device on sale: an Android phone casts to a Google TV Streamer about as quickly as you can press the cast button.

What "Chromecast" means in 2026 (the lineage) #

The product line history matters because shoppers searching for "Chromecast UK" are landing on three different generations of device. The original Chromecast was a stick with no remote — you cast everything from a phone. The Chromecast with Google TV (2020) added a remote and a proper home-screen UI. The Google TV Streamer (2024) discontinued the old stick form factor entirely and replaced it with a small set-top box that ships with a better remote, more storage and faster hardware.

If you go shopping at Currys or Argos in 2026 looking for "a Chromecast", you will be sold a Google TV Streamer. The older Chromecast with Google TV is no longer manufactured but is still functional if you already own one. The streaming-only original Chromecast (no remote, cast-only) is functionally obsolete and not worth buying second-hand.

When this article says "Chromecast" from here on, it means the Google TV Streamer unless explicitly noted.

Fire TV Stick 4K vs Fire TV Stick 4K Max — quick clarifier #

On Amazon's side there are two confusable models on UK shelves. The Fire TV Stick 4K (third generation, around £59.99 list, £29.99 sale) supports 4K HDR including Dolby Vision and Atmos. The Fire TV Stick 4K Max (second generation, around £69.99 list, £35 to £39.99 sale) adds more RAM, Wi-Fi 6 support, faster app loading and a slightly nicer remote.

For most UK buyers in 2026, the 4K Max at sale price is the right one. The performance gap over the standard 4K is real, particularly for heavy apps like NOW and Prime Video, and the Wi-Fi 6 helps in a household with a busy mesh setup. The basic Fire TV Stick (non-4K) is no longer worth buying — at sale prices the 4K is barely more expensive.

When this article says "Firestick" from here on, it means the Fire TV Stick 4K Max.

Google TV Streamer (2024) — what's new #

The Streamer ships with two gigabytes of RAM (twice the old Chromecast with Google TV's one gigabyte), 32 gigabytes of internal storage, Wi-Fi 6 support, and a redesigned backlit remote with a programmable button. The form factor is a small flat puck — not a stick — that sits behind or beside the TV rather than dangling from an HDMI port. There's a Find My Remote feature: press a button on the device and the remote chimes loudly enough to find it down the back of the sofa.

It supports 4K HDR including Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos. The Google TV interface is a curated home screen with rows of recommendations across all your installed apps, plus a dedicated Apps tab if you'd rather just see icons. App switching is markedly faster than the old Chromecast with Google TV, particularly for heavy apps. Casting from Android phones works the way it always did — press cast on YouTube, Spotify, BBC iPlayer or any other cast-enabled app and the content jumps to the TV.

The Streamer pushes Google Movies & TV less aggressively than Amazon pushes Prime Video. The home screen is busier than an Apple TV's but considerably calmer than a Fire TV's.

Casting from a phone — where Google still wins #

Casting from a phone is the original Chromecast use case and it remains the area where Google's lineage genuinely outclasses Amazon's. From an Android phone, the cast button in YouTube, Netflix, Prime Video, Spotify, BBC iPlayer, ITVX, Disney+ and dozens of other apps connects to a Google TV Streamer in a single tap, with no setup beyond the device being on the same Wi-Fi. Audio cast (Spotify, podcasts) is similarly direct.

From an iPhone, casting works for many apps but not all. YouTube, Netflix, Prime Video and Spotify cast cleanly. Apps without first-party cast support — quite a lot of Apple-first apps — do not cast directly. AirPlay is not supported on the Streamer (or on the Firestick, for that matter).

The Firestick supports app-level cast for some services and Miracast for Windows screen mirroring, but does not have anything close to the one-tap cast experience the Google TV Streamer provides. If your household is full of Android phones, the Streamer is the right pick on this dimension alone.

Apple devices and AirPlay — neither is great here #

This is the section to read if you are an iPhone household. Neither the Firestick nor the Google TV Streamer supports AirPlay. AirPlay is Apple's own protocol and Apple licenses it sparingly — most TVs and the Apple TV 4K itself support it, but neither Amazon nor Google has chosen to licence it for their streaming devices.

If you absolutely must mirror an iPhone or iPad screen to the TV, the practical options are: buy an Apple TV 4K instead, buy a smart TV with built-in AirPlay support (most LG and many Samsung models from 2019 onwards), or use third-party apps that wrap a screen-mirroring solution over the Firestick (these are clunky and unreliable). For app-level casting from an iPhone, both the Firestick and the Google TV Streamer cover the major apps reasonably well, with the Streamer slightly ahead on consistency.

UK app availability compared #

For the apps a UK household actually uses, both devices are well-stocked. BBC iPlayer, ITVX, Channel 4, Channel 5 (My5), Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+, NOW, Sky Go and the EE TV app are all present on both the Firestick and the Google TV Streamer. Discovery+ is on both. DAZN is on both. Apple TV+ is on both, despite Apple being the rival ecosystem.

There are very small differences. Firestick gets some Amazon-tied apps that don't appear on Google TV (some Amazon Music regional features, certain shopping integrations). Google TV gets some YouTube-tied features that don't appear cleanly on Firestick (YouTube Music integration with Google Assistant, smarter YouTube recommendations). For mainstream UK viewing — iPlayer, ITVX, Channel 4, Netflix, Prime, Disney+, NOW — the two devices are functionally identical.

The Firestick's Alexa remote is fast and responsive. Voice search results push Amazon's own catalogue first and other apps second, which is less of a problem than it sounds because Alexa is genuinely good at finding shows. British accents (regional ones included) are handled well in our testing.

The Google TV Streamer's remote is backlit, which the Firestick remote is not. The light-up keys at low ambient light are a small but real quality-of-life upgrade for evening viewing. Google Assistant on the Streamer is, in our experience, the most accurate voice-search engine on a UK streaming device — universal search returns results across apps you have installed, in a single list, without a strong house preference.

The Streamer's "Find My Remote" feature is genuinely useful. The Firestick has no equivalent.

Ads and home-screen UX #

The Firestick home screen pushes Amazon Prime Video aggressively. Sponsored carousels appear above the apps you actually use. Voice search routes through Amazon's catalogue first. If you watch a lot of Prime Video, this is fine — the device is built for you. If you don't, it is a constant low-level annoyance.

The Google TV Streamer's home screen recommends content across all your installed apps, with a much milder Google Movies & TV upsell. There's an "Apps Only" view if you'd rather skip the recommendations entirely. Sponsored content exists but at a markedly lower intensity than Fire TV.

This is, for many UK buyers, the deciding factor. The Streamer is calmer to live with day-to-day.

Price and value at UK retailers #

Fire TV Stick 4K Max: list around £69.99 at Currys, John Lewis and Argos. Sale prices £35 to £39.99 on Amazon Prime Day in July and Black Friday in November. At sale prices, the Firestick is unbeatable on pure value.

Google TV Streamer: £99 at Currys, John Lewis and the Google Store. Sale discounts so far have been smaller — £79.99 has been the typical Black Friday floor for the Streamer's first generation. The price gap is real.

For a buyer purchasing at full retail, the Firestick is roughly 30% cheaper. For a buyer waiting for Prime Day, the gap doubles. The honest question is whether the Streamer's extra features (better remote, calmer home screen, faster casting from phones, better voice search, Find My Remote) are worth £40 to £60 over the Firestick. For a household with Android phones, the answer is generally yes. For a household already deep in Amazon Prime, the answer is probably no.

Verdict by buyer profile #

Buy the Firestick if: you have Amazon Prime, you watch Prime Video often, you tolerate the home-screen advertising, you are on a budget, you can wait for a sale, or you are buying for a guest bedroom or kitchen TV where the home-screen UX matters less.

Buy the Google TV Streamer if: you have Android phones in the household, you cast from your phone often, you are bothered by aggressive home-screen advertising, you want the better remote with backlight and Find My Remote, or you want the most accurate voice search with British accents on a non-Apple device.

Buy neither if: you are an iPhone household and you absolutely need AirPlay — the Apple TV 4K is the right device for you, despite the higher price.

The default answer for most UK buyers in 2026, if they don't have a strong reason to choose otherwise, is the Google TV Streamer at £99 (or its first sale price). The Fire TV Stick 4K Max wins on price at deep sale and remains a strong choice if Amazon Prime is already part of your household. There is no scenario in 2026 where the original cast-only Chromecast or the discontinued Chromecast with Google TV is the right new purchase.

Is the Chromecast with Google TV still sold in the UK? #

Not new. Google discontinued the Chromecast with Google TV in 2024, and Currys, Argos, John Lewis and the Google Store have all transitioned their listings to the Google TV Streamer. Existing Chromecast with Google TV units continue to receive software updates and remain functional, but anyone shopping for a "new Chromecast" in 2026 should buy the Google TV Streamer.

Can I cast from my iPhone to a Firestick? #

Partially. App-level casting from iOS works for the major apps (YouTube, Netflix, Prime Video, Spotify, BBC iPlayer) on both the Firestick and the Google TV Streamer. Full screen mirroring via AirPlay is not supported on either device — for that you need an Apple TV 4K or an AirPlay-supporting smart TV. iPhone users who only want to cast individual apps are well served by either device.

Which has better picture quality? #

The two devices are essentially identical for picture quality. Both support 4K HDR, both support Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos passthrough, both handle HDR10 and HDR10+ correctly. There is no meaningful picture-quality difference between a Fire TV Stick 4K Max and a Google TV Streamer when both are connected to the same TV with the same content. The differences are entirely in the user interface, the remote and the app-loading speed.

Does the Google TV Streamer have a remote? #

Yes. The Google TV Streamer ships with a backlit remote that has a programmable button on the bottom edge and a Find My Remote feature triggered from the device itself. This was a sore point for the very oldest streaming-only Chromecasts, which shipped without a remote — the new Streamer fixes this entirely.

Is Firestick blocked by some apps? #

Almost never on UK mainstream apps. BBC iPlayer, ITVX, Channel 4, Channel 5, NOW, Sky Go, EE TV, Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+ and Apple TV+ all run on the Firestick. The few apps that don't run on Fire TV are typically very small or region-specific products from outside the UK. For UK households watching UK and major global content, the Firestick has full app coverage.

Disclosure: best-iptv-uk.com only recommends licensed UK and Google-Play-listed apps. Retailer pricing for the Fire TV Stick 4K Max and the Google TV Streamer is indicative and varies by promotional cycle at Argos, Currys, John Lewis and Amazon UK. Always check current Currys / Argos pricing before buying.