Pre-Order: Amazon Fire TV w/ 4K UHD + Echo Dot $79.99 at amazon.com + FS

The main differences are:

What really matters
Gen 3: Hardware accelerated up to 3840x2160p (4K) @ 60fps, 35 Mbps, Main 10 Profile Level 5.0, Color space 8-bit and 10-bit input with HDR10 support in rendering pipelines

Gen 2: Hardware accelerated up to 3840x2160p (4K) @ 30fps, 25 Mbps, Main 10 Profile Level 5.0, Color space 8-bit and 10-bit input but just 8-bit output

CPU
Gen 3: Quad core ARM Cortex-A53 CPU up to 1.5GHz
Gen 2: Quad Core (dual core ARM Cortex A72 up to 2 GHz, dual core ARM Cortex A53 up to 1.573 Ghz). 64-bit.

GPU
Gen 3: Mali-450 MP3
Gen 2: PowerVR Rogue GX6250

System on Chip
Gen 3: Amlogic S905Z
Gen 2: MediaTek 8173C

4K Refresh Rates
Gen 3: 3840 x 2160 (2160p / 4K) – 60Hz
Gen 2: 3840 x 2160 (2160p / 4K) – 30Hz

WiFi, Bluetooth, RAM and Storage remain the same on the Gen 3 (8 GB storage, 2 GB RAM)

What’s missing on the Gen 3:

– NO integrated NIC (wired ethernet)
– NO expandable memory slot
– NO USB port (credit: bootymaster)
– OpenGL Properties and Limits are half the limits of the Gen 2

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Conclusion:If you simply need full HDR10 support, then go with the FireTV Gen 3. Otherwise, the Gen 2 is a much better value.