Fire TV Recast, over-the-air DVR, 1 TB, 150 hours, DVR for cord cutters

This device is a perfect companion product if you use a Fire TV Edition, Fire TV sticks, or other Amazon Fire TV family products. I just installed the 4 tuner/1TB version. We have 2 Fire TV Editions, and Fire Sticks on 3 other Smart TVs (not Fire TV Editions). Months ago we dumped our cable and went to over the air reception for ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, PBS, and a few other OTA channels. We use DirectTV NOW for streaming other programming including HBO and SHOWTIME, and also stream NETFLIX and Amazon PRIME Video services. DirectTV NOW has a free DVR web feature for recording any streaming programming, but they don't offer ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, or PBS programming in our area (even though it was initially listed as being included). Thus, we had no way to time shift/record any network programs. The Fire TV Recast perfectly addressed this need without a monthly subscription. It was exceedingly easy to install and setup. I just installed a splitter at one of our TVs and ran an antenna lead into the Recast. We have an outdoor antenna setup that is now giving us excellent free HD/4K OTA TV reception. I also had an Ethernet Router at that location and just plugged the Recast into our home network directly via Ethernet (it could also connect to the home WiFi there as well). I added it as a device to the Fire TV app on my phone and that took care of setting it up. A "DVR" menu now appears on the Fire TV HOME screen on each of the Fire Edition TVs, and on the other TVs, when the Fire TV stick input is selected, as well as on the phone's app screen. From any device, you can command a channel scan, and enable or disable any channels, and select FAVORITES. When you go to the ON NOW menu, it gives you two lists of channels, those coming directly from your antenna, and another list of those on the Recast. Thus, you could enable more or less channels from either source as you wish (we had 35 channels available over the air, but many were not of interest). The Recast and the Antenna Channel guides allow you to pick what shows to record individually, or as an entire series (more on this later). You can also select language or closed caption options. You can control the Recast from ANY of your Amazon remotes (Fire TV or Firestick), and also with your voice through the remote or via a connected Echo device. But, you'll need to learn and practice how to do specific repeated tasks with your voice. All good so far.... I've only used it a few days now, but it does record as expected, but I know there are some limitations on how to do 4 shows at once, but haven't checked that out yet. While I haven't used this feature yet, it is also a nice addition, and that it the ability to remotely watch live or recorded OTA content on a compatible phone or tablet via the Fire TV app anywhere you have an internet connection. You can also use your mobile device to remotely control setting up recordings. All excellent features. Now for the improvements. First, the tuner output from the Recast is only 720p. Its very good, but not as good as 1080p or 4K. For some images it is very acceptable, but for others you do notice the resolution difference from HD or 4K. But, its very watchable and better than missing the show! I would definitely be interested in a 1080p or better yet a 4K upgrade at some point, and encourage Amazon to offer it. Its operational menus are not intuitive, clear, and hard to find. For example, deleting a recording, or a series of recordings takes multiple menu steps (at least 3). Its best to use the Option key with the 3 lines on it to find the DELETE menu which isn't on the top level menu (it should be). Also, I found I accidentally recorded one program with Spanish audio by accident, and another with no audio. Care must be taken when setting up a recording. You can vary the start/stop times manually once you find that menu (good for sporting events that might run long). I also seem to have problems finding all the recordings I've made. You can get to recordings via various menu choices, but when I select Scheduled Recordings, it doesn't always show what's already recorded, and what's upcoming. A series recording shows a line of screen shot icons, but doesn't indicate which icon is a specific episode or date? A red dot is added to the show description on the GUIDE to indicate it is selected to record. Improvements to the operational GUI (Graphic User Interface) are certainly needed. Overall, its a great value product for what it does at a very reasonable price. I like that no subscription is necessary. I like how easy it setup and how compatible it is with other Amazon Fire Family products. I like the ability to setup and watch live or recorded TV remotely. I just wish it had higher resolution recording and output, and better menu's. And, if you're a Fire TV user with Over The Air channels, you NEED this!

First: I am always impressed with Amazon's product packaging. They make the most beautiful boxes. This product shipped via UPS and was delivered when promised and in good condition. Second, setup: in my case probably most especially, it was too easy. I had a brief dalliance with a simple.tv OTR recording device that did not end well, so I already had a power outlet and antennas (two, with a coupler) in place; installing this device was a simple swap out of the base unit and power supply. I had planned to do a wired ethernet connection from this unit to my router in hopes that it might head off any potential performance obstacles but realized that I had no ports open, so wireless it would be Third, soft setup: I installed the Fire TV app on my Fire Tablet and practically followed my nose. Just a touch of silliness, but no show-stopping surprises. Actually, there was a rather nice surprise: I found all of my local major network channels (and I'll count PBS as one for purposes of this review) and a number of other channels that I had no idea would be available over-the-air, for a total of 30. I never saw most of those channels with the simple.tv unit. Fourth, live tv: I'll be honest, I very seldom watch live tv. On mornings when it snows to check traffic and road conditions, honestly, that pretty much all. But I checked the local major network channels and was again happily surprised by the quality of the visual streams I was seeing. To be clear, if the review were to end here, it would be six out of five stars. Fifth: recording a show. I went all through my Fire TV app to find how to schedule a recording. No dice. You cannot schedule a recording with the Fire TV app. Dear Amazon, this is a gaping oversight and seriously needs to be a priority. I do not schedule tv shows in a vacuum; with my existing cable dvr, when I am scheduling shows, it is invariably while I am also watching tv shows. To be forced to do one *or* the other at a time is a not-minor ding. This was however easy enough to look up and Amazon's Recast TV Q&A page is quite inclusive. First, I used the tv listings on my Fire TV to schedule a 5 pm local newscast. (It was 4:45 at the time.) Then I resumed watching a show on the CBS All-Access app on my Fire TV. As an aside, it should be perfectly obvious at this point that I live comfortably in an all-Amazon universe. (I do have and happily use many Apple devices including the MacBook Pro that I am using to write this review and an Apple TV, and I do have and use a Roku. I like them all a lot but prefer Amazon and the Fire TV world for entertainment purposes.) I'm comfortable with that. The hits always outweigh the misses. (Glad I never bought the Fire Phone.) So I went into this purchase with high hopes and I am grading this product on that scale. I also asked Alexa (my living room Echo Show) to record "Live with Kelly and Ryan." That just worked. (I had already changed the default settings for the Recast to record only new shows, and that was a little-bit klunky...) I was able to view my new, upcoming recordings and series on my Fire TV (again though, not while I was watching something else...). Sixth, playback: The quality of the stream was good. The sound was not pumping through all of my speakers, but I cannot yet confirm that that was because of the Recast or because it was the evening news; I'm inclined to think the latter. I'll update as this becomes more clear. That said, the vanilla stereo I got was very good for, again, the evening news. Navigating was the next test, and there again was a bit of a letdown. The fast-forward button on the Amazon Fire TV remote while playing back a recorded Recast video skips ahead 30 seconds. This will take some practice on my part to get used to. I prefer how my cable-company-supplied dvr works: I click fast forward and I see the stream zoom forward really fast until I see my show come back from commercials and click play... Dear Amazon again, if you can make *that* happen, you can kill cable tv. Just sayin'. If you can do *that*, you can own the world. I know you'll catch up on the resolutions and sound mixers and stuff, but if you can do *this thing*, you win. Forever and ever. I know this is a big, fat ask... I know what makes this difficult, but this is the holy grail... Final First Impression Score: Four Stars. So far, I'm pleased. Quite pleased. Happy, even. Am I delighted and subscribing to a sling-or-fubo-like internet tv service and phoning my cable company to strip my service with them down to Internet-only? Not quite there yet... But so close, but not... ***Update*** The playback scenario has much improved. On the advice of a commenter, I found that holding the fast-forward button shows the playback progressing forward in a smallish window along the progress bar at the bottom of the screen. As I mentioned, it's smallish, so I'm not overjoyed, but I am certainly more comfortable navigating through commercials this way. It's a little early to call on the whole sound system thing based upon what I've been watching so far, but the sound is good enough that I feel comfortable moving more of my scheduled recordings from the cable dvr to the Recast. I'll update further when I watch a recording of something with a little more audio heft... PS, Dear Amazon, the whole setting-up recordings thing is still an important issue... ***Next Update*** Okay, I am now comfortable with the sound. It turns out that HD broadcasts have the whole multi-channel audio thing figured out and it works. That the plus. Now the minus. I was listening to NPR this morning and they were touting a documentary that is scheduled to air tomorrow night on a local PBS channel that I am very interested in watching. (To anyone who might have read that sentence and found me particularly... something... I understand. And I do apologize.) For the record, it is a documentary about the southern city that I willingly chose as a home and how it has grown over many decades, truly heartstring stuff. I set out to record this show on my Recast and ran into a few really annoying things. Things that pile on to the already annoying things about setting up Recast recordings. Okay, I already knew the title of the show I wished to find. Only, there's a problem, there is no search-for-program option. Clearly, there never has been. So I scan my channels and scroll to the time-slot that I know the program is scheduled to air. I scroll down through all of my local channels looking for the show. Repeatedly. Nothing. I accept the possibility that I might not have that (very local) channel available. I rescan for channels. I find I have two more channels than I did before. Lather, rinse, repeat, I still can't find that show. I look closer at what I'm seeing. The channels that I can identify as local PBS channels are only by the *incredibly tiny* icons on the channel listings. No call letters, just itty-bitty, puny icons. Looking at other channels, I see the same thing. And the broader texts on the screen showing me show information offer no clues as to their source, e.g., the actual channel name or call letters. Dear Amazon once more, you have a device that can topple the cable companies on your hands, but glaring flaws stand in your way. You *have* to improve your recording setup routines and a few user-experience gaffs. I don't want to guess what channel I am looking at by microscopic icons. Show me, with crystal clarity, that I am looking at WTVI (for example). (Yes, for me, that local channel with that show, in this case.) And you *must* allow for *many* recording setup options in your FireTV app. Period. I heard about this impending show during my commute to work in the morning. What a treat it would have been if I could have logged in to my Amazon account and set up that recording straightaway, by searching for the program name, right there in my browser. Or on my fire tablet. Or, practically anything other than being forced to wait until I got home, forced to use my FireTV exclusively and even then failing miserably to accomplish my wishes. PS, I was able to search for the program, by name, on my cable box and schedule it to record. *That* process was a bit painful, but it was utterly successful. ***Yet Another Update*** Trust has been established. This is the one that makes me dearly wish there was a possible half-star rating increment. I canceled the scheduled recordings of several of my cable dvr programs that I can now record over the air with the recast. I have viewed enough recordings on the recast to know that it is at least as reliable as my cable box. I am happy with that. Again, this would be a four-and-a-half star review if that were possible. The final half star comes with my usual, repeated gripe. This device has been out for a while now. I'm certain that there are many talented programmers employed by Amazon who are responsible for creating and maintaining it's various software. The gaping hole remains: Users need alternative methods, aside from the recast itself, to schedule programming. I don't care what form that would take -- the Alexa app, the Fire TV app, a specialized website, smoke signals, whatever -- I just know that this product needs this. Scheduling program recordings for the Recast is still its last and most glaring weakness. I can tolerate the puny scrolling fast-forward preview screenlet. But if I want to record a show or series, I want to be able to do that at any time from anywhere and this is non-negotiable. I promise, Dear Amazon, this is what you are missing and this is what will allow you to take over the OTA HD DVR recording world. That redundant rant aside, I do still love this product. If you have read this far, first, I'm sorry, and second, if you understand and can live with the desperately missing functionality that I have been screaming about, buy this.