Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos

Revealing its latest streaming media device this morning, Amazon.com Inc. looks like a winner. The Fire TV Stick is an HDMI dongle that enables users to watch content from streaming media providers, such as Netflix and Hulu Plus, on their high definition televisions. The Fire TV Stick could be a more attractive option than Google Inc.’s Chromecast, the reigning champion of streaming media dongles. Here are the top reasons Amazon’s device comes out ahead.

1) No Smartphone Necessary

Google Chromecast is frustratingly illogical. It requires both a wifi connection and a smartphone or tablet to operate. Those two requirements are redundant. If you have a smartphone that has access to content, either saved to its internal storage, or online via a mobile data plan, there’s absolutely no reason to require a wifi internet connection to cast that content to an HDMI dongle in order to watch it on the television.

Similarly, if you have an HDMI dongle that requires a wifi internet connection, there’s no valid reason to require an accompanying device. If it needs to connect to the internet on its own, let it connect directly to the online content. Samsung’s $99 All-Share Cast Hub demonstrates the former, allowing users to mirror everything on their phone to their TVs without a separate wifi internet connection.

The Fire TV Stick demonstrates the latter. It’s a standalone device that doesn’t require a smartphone or tablet. This setup is ideal for individuals who want to watch online content without sacrificing the use of their devices. You can watch Netflix on your television via the Fire TV Stick, and use your phone for texting, or Facebook, or whatever it is you do with your phone.

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2) Superior Hardware

The Fire TV Stick is a beast. It has a dual-core processor, compared to the single-core processor found in the Chromecast. With 1 GB of memory, the Fire TV Stick offers twice that of what’s found in Google’s product. The Chromecast’s 2 GB of storage is dwarfed by Amazon’s 8 GB Fire TV Stick. Amazon included a better Wi-Fi antenna, giving the Fire TV Stick a dual band/dual antenna (MIMO), compared to the Chromecast’s single band. The upgraded hardware adds up to a more enjoyable user experience on the Fire TV Stick.

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3) Voice Search

Although the Fire TV Stick doesn’t come with a voice remote, it is fully voice search capable, just like the Fire TV. With the purchase of the $29.99 voice remote, users can skip the hunt-and-peck virtual keyboard, and search quickly and efficiently with their voices. Google, which uses some of the most sophisticated voice recognition technology for Google Now, doesn’t have voice search functionality for the Chromecast.

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4) Games

The Fire TV Stick isn’t capable of playing some of the more advanced games that are available on the Fire TV, but it still has quite a few games to choose from. Users can play popular games such as Angry Birds and Flappy Bird using the included remote. All in all, the Fire TV Stick will have more than 200 playable games at launch. The Chromecast currently has less than 30 playable games.

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5) Amazon Prime Perks

One of the most useful features of the Fire TV Stick is its ability to take advantage of Amazon Prime. Amazon Prime Instant Video makes thousands of movies and television shows available to stream for free, for Prime members. They’re all available on the Fire TV Stick. Google’s Chromecast doesn’t have access to Amazon Prime Instant Video. Prime members also have access to free tunes via Prime Music. Fire TV Stick users can enjoy that benefit, while Chromecast users can’t. Amazon is deftly creating an ecosystem that rewards both Prime members and Amazon product owners. It will be interesting to see if Google will be able to leverage its products and services in similar ways.