![Amazon Fire Stick 'Isn't A Particularly Good Experience For Xbox Gaming', Argues Digital Foundry](https://images.purexbox.com/02cc063827b22/amazon-fire-stick-isnt-a-particularly-good-experience-for-xbox-gaming-argues-digital-foundry.900x.jpg)
Last week, Xbox officially brought its cloud streaming service to Amazon Fire Stick devices, allowing anyone with a compatible controller to enjoy hundreds of titles with a Game Pass Ultimate membership. Various Xbox users have been getting hands-on since then, including the analysis experts over at Digital Foundry.
Unfortunately, Digital Foundry doesn't seem particularly impressed so far. In the latest episode of DF Direct, it's argued that although Xbox Cloud Gaming boasts a good input lag response, the experience overall "isn't quite good enough":
"...the gameplay experience isn't quite good enough. The stream itself is starved of bitrate, meaning that the quality of the image is relatively poor - especially when streamed to a large, living room display."
"So, you don't need an Xbox to play Xbox. It's true. The streaming system works, but it isn't a particularly good experience for Xbox gaming. The simple solution would be to increase the bitrate of the video and thus improve the quality. Stadia did it, PlayStation Plus cloud streaming does it, GeForce Now does it. It works and it respects the target display in a way that Microsoft's current cloud streaming does not."
That said, this is just DF's view, and we've seen plenty of satisfied Xbox Cloud Gaming users as well. In fact, just a few days ago, we spotted someone on Reddit mentioning how they were "blown away" by Xbox's streaming service:
In short, there are a lot of mixed opinions out there about Xbox Cloud Gaming. Digital Foundry's mini-report on the topic is well worth a read if you're interested - there's some great constructive criticism that we hope Microsoft listens to!
If you're still on the fence about Xbox Cloud Gaming and don't know whether to invest in a Fire Stick or go for a console instead, we'd always suggest the latter if you can afford it - it's undoubtedly a better experience than cloud gaming overall. For those who have a fast internet connection and no desire to purchase a console though, we reckon there's still plenty of fun to be had with xCloud across Amazon Fire Sticks, TVs, mobiles, tablets and various other devices.
How Impressed Have You Been With Xbox Cloud Gaming? (374 votes)
- I think it's amazing, the quality is great!
- It's pretty good for the most part, yeah
- It's alright, not bad
- It's not great to be honest
- I actually think it's largely terrible!