firestick

[mitzimad]

during our weekend away on le drive we watched a film via the firestick and my phone hotspot today i got a data warning that i was close to my data limit. i didnt check where i was re data before we watched the film so not sure what it actually used but as im never anywhere near my limit i assume quite a lot.
ive seen people mention the data usage varies with the definition level but im not sure where i can set the level is it a phone setting or a firestick setting? as were watching on a very small screen we dont need hi def

 

[Odd-no-more]

It's in the firestick settings or individual app download settings

 

[TheBig1]

streaming in standard definition SD uses between 1/2 and 1 Gb per hour. HD can be three times that

 

[tonka]

I work on a very rough rule of thumb of 1gb of data for 1 hr of video. Very rough...
On Android phones or at least ones I have ever had you can set warning limits and dates to match your package, so check your settings.

 

[cmcardle75]

Some phones have data limits and warnings that aren't actually linked to your contract. They might be set ultra low (i.e. 2GB per month) or not on your actual renewal data and bear no relationship to your actual package.

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[Mr porky]

It’s quite handy the warning on my phone. It warns me after 2gb usage in 24hrs, this happens when I forget that the phone is set as a hot spot. The iPad has a unlimited data allowance so we prefer the tv uses that instead. It does however prefer to log onto my Samsung instead. Go figure

 

[63720]

Go to Settings and turn on Data Monitoring, you can then select the quality you want which in turn affects data usage. On lowest quality you'll be pushed to notice the change in the picture because it also changes the sound.

 

[kevenh]

On Firesticks, smart phones & tablets running the Prime Video app for media playback, as the default, Amazon will choose the highest quality playback streams.
On newer devices & 4G/5G networks, that can mean users on finite data plans can need to manually nobble the quality of the media to reduce the data consumption.

On the smart phones & tablets you goto the in-app settings area and choose what works best for you in two areas: streaming (when you choose & watch a program "live") & downloads (where you typically are at home on Wifi getting media to watch while travelling). This link looks a good site for more setup info here

On the Firestick, you just get one place to adjust video quality as it's just a streaming device. Sillious Sodus explains how to drop the data usage above.
If you want to go deep & really tune out the excess data usage look here. It describes stopping previews, ads and auto updates.

As for how lowering the video quality will effect viewing, that will depend on how big your screen is, how good you eyesight is, etc.
And if you can setup side by side comparisons to spot the difference.

Audio is usually a very small part of a video's footprint and I don't think Amazon are changing much here.
But dropping to lower audio bit rates in streams is possible but not by as much as I think it could give picture quality issues.
Maybe the top bit rates are multi channel Dolby Atmos & the lower ones are just stereo but - untested - I expect all streams are multi channel.

 

[mitzimad]

Some phones have data limits and warnings that aren't actually linked to your contract. They might be set ultra low (i.e. 2GB per month) or not on your actual renewal data and bear no relationship to your actual package.

mine is set just below my monthly limit which is 10g warned me at 9 yesterday after watching one film i dont normall use much more than 2 at home

 

[lorger]

You could download the films you want while on WiFi then just play them back on your phone while casting to firestick, we do this before any big trip even though we have unlimited data. It’s more to do with signal, if download we can play back without signal.

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[mitzimad]

You could download the films you want while on WiFi then just play them back on your phone while casting to firestick, we do this before any big trip even though we have unlimited data. It’s more to do with signal, if download we can play back without signal.

we tried to cast something from from phone but failed can you downlad onto the fire stick

 

[lorger]

we tried to cast something from from phone but failed can you downlad onto the fire stick

I don’t think that’s possible but not sure with the new firesticks, you can also download to laptop and plug into tv via HMDI or get a cable from phone to TV. We use OH phone which it Apple and it connects to firestick, if I have time I’ll go into van this week and do it then report back how it’s done.