Airtel has recently rebranded its streaming device and introduced two different rebranded models, Airtel Xstream Stick and Airtel Xstream Box 4K. We will cover Airtel Xstream Stick Review in today’s topic. I hope you will be helpful with it. Both the devices are available in the market even at the same price. Let’s begun our Airtel Xstream Stick review. Stay tuned till the end!
Airtel Xtream Stick Review – What is Airtel Xstream Stick?
Airtel Xstream Stick is a streaming device as well as an alternative to Fire TV Stick that helps you to make your ordinary TV a Smart TV. Similar to other streaming devices, it is also connected through an HDMI cable to the HDMI port of your TV and you can access it via an internet connection.
It offers the widest entertainment options with hundreds of satellite TV channels, OTT platforms, tens of thousands of movies, and shows in Hindi, English, and other Indian languages. You can get Airtel Xstream Stick at Rs. 3,999/- INR (subject to change) on Airtel retailers and online shopping platforms like Flipkart and Amazon.
Reason to Buy:
- YouTube and Netflix are pre-downloaded, so you can watch the live streaming from OTT platforms on your TV.
- It allows you to stream a lot of movies from Zee5 and Eros Now including a lot of Hindi movies.
- The voice-search option is pretty handy while searching for movies with long names on Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, and YouTube.
Airtel Xstream Stick Review: A Complete Review
There are so many TV streaming devices, among them, Airtel Xstream Stick is also an alternative to Fire TV Stick. And, today we will do a complete review on Airtel Xstream Stick. So, stick till the end to know more.
Airtel Xstream Stick Design, Setup, and Box Contents
The Airtel Xstream Stick almost looks similar to Google Chromecast 3 in terms of size and form factor. It’s compact, light, and plugs into the HDMI port of your TV. It comes with a short HDMI cable and plugs on one end, a Micro-USB port, and a cable to connect to a power source.
Similar to other TV streaming devices, Airtel Xstream Stick can be connected to your TV’s HDMI port. Then, connect your device to the internet and stream on your TV. Airtel provides a two-pin adapter and a micro-USB cable to power the device. Instead, you can use a USB Type-A cable for connecting to direct power, and works fine.
Airtel Xstream Stick UI and Software
The Xtream Stick has a quite similar user interface and functionality to Android TV. It’s easy to use and understand. This OTT dongle is based on Android 8.0 Oreo, powered by a 1.6GHz processor that comes with an inbuilt Chromecast and is designed for plug & a play experience on the TV screen.
It is found that the interface is quite zippy with minimum lag during switching between apps. However, there’s no problem in casting, and searching over your voice also works quite well. You will get a dedicated Google Assistant voice search button and Netflix hotkeys on the remote. Even Airtel offers its Xstream app for streaming and finding more content through your smartphone.
Airtel XStream Stick Features
Powered by Android TV Oreo, The XStream Stick has inbuilt Chromecast functionality to cast your screen from compatible devices. Due to the Airtel Xstream launcher, the interface looks different than the stock version of Android TV. You can’t exit from this launcher, so it’s the permanent interface you will get.
The Airtel XStream Stick provides a Bluetooth remote with basic functionality. However, we didn’t like the plastic body and odd shape of the remote. But the button layout is convenient and it gives most of the controls you may require. You can’t use the remote of the XStream Stick to control your TV as it’s not HDMI CEC enabled.
The remote includes several buttons like Power, Home, Apps, Back, Play/Pause, Volume, a Navigation D-pad, and a Netflix hotkey, excluding a mute button only. However, you can use a TV remote to mute the sound, but it’s not always convenient to use two remotes during watching TV. There’s also a Google Assistant button that allows you to search or give commands over your voice.
But we found that the voice recognition of the Airtel XStream Stick is quite bad. It recognized a random set of words very often instead of your given commands. It provides good results while recognizing the right command and delivering movies, and TV shows across different streaming services, including the Airtel XStream service. The launcher puts the XStream service front, and center and is categorized neatly & smartly by genre and language.
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Airtel XStream Stick Performance
If you have an FHD+ TV, the Airtel XStream Stick matches the maximum streaming resolution of the device. But it will disappoint you with a 4K TV, as there’s no 4K content available. We have mostly tested on the XStream platform and other services like Netflix and YouTube too.
However, Netflix and Amazon Prime Video have growing catalogs of 4K and HDR content that you can’t access, so firestickhub suggests you go with the Airtel XStream Box which also costs the same as the Stick and gives additional features including DTH access.
In the case of full-HD+ TV, the users will be happy enough with the video quality of the Airtel XStream Stick through a fast connection. The software and remote are quick and enough responsive to respond to your action. The Android TV apps like Netflix and YouTube deliver a pleasant experience as these apps have been specifically designed for use on big screens and remotes.
Airtel Xstream Stick comes with Dolby Atmos Audio to deliver a nice sound quality from the Dolby Audio contents like movies and TV shows. Whereas non-Dolby content sounds average to poor and inconsistent volume levels on some XStream content. However, you can overcome this issue by increasing the volume both on the television and the XStream Stick.
Content and plans of Airtel Xstream Stick
The Airtel Xstream Stick comes with pre-installed Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and ZEE5 and you can download other apps from the Google Play store. For the first 30 days, the users can access all the premium content at Rs. 999/- INR for free excluding Netflix and Prime Video. To access these OTT platforms, customers will need an active subscription pack.
If Airtel postpaid customers do recharges of Rs. 499/- INR or above, and using the Airtel Home Broadband plan of Rs. 1099/- INR or above, they will get a gift of a free Netflix subscription for up to three months. Even Airtel Fibre has started to deliver services in a few areas.
However, the combo broadband plan of Airtel offers complimentary three months Netflix subscription, Xstream services, and one-year Amazon Prime Video depending upon the value of your monthly plan. These plans start from Rs. 799/- INR per month and go up to Rs. 3,999/- INR per month.
XStream provides video and music content from various OTT platforms like Zee5, HoiChoi, Curiosity Stream, Eros Now, Hooq, Hungama Play, Ultra, AltBalaji, Shemaroo, and Airtel Wynk Music.
Last Words on Airtel Xtream Stick Review
After a complete review on Airtel XStream Stick, you will get to know about its well-laid-out interface, hardware, and ability to access a wide variety of OTT content. Airtel Xstream Stick is a decent streaming device and we also like the variety of movies and TV shows it offers.
If the Airtel XStream Stick seems expensive and at Rs. 3,999/- INR it doesn’t support 4K, you might think that the Airtel XStream Box is better at the same price. But Xstream Stick does the entire function independently of an Airtel DTH connection. Only, you need to connect your Wi-Fi for proper functioning.
If you find this article useful, and like our Airtel Xstream Stick review, share it with others. The XStream Stick does suit cord-cutters and if you are looking for a diverse and detailed catalog of streaming you should go with it. Share your thoughts in the comments below. Also, feel free to ask any queries in the comment section. Stay tuned and thanks for reading!
FAQs on Airtel Xtream Stick Review
1) Is Airtel Xtream Stick free?
The Airtel Xstream Stick is priced Rs 3,999. You can get this from Airtel retail stores, Vijay Sales, Croma, and brick-and-mortar market.
2) Does Airtel Xstream Stick requires WiFi connection?
You will need wifi connection & mobile hotspot to us Airtel Xtream Stick.
3) Which is better Amazon Firestick or Airtel Xtream Stick?
Airtel Xtream Stick is slightly cheaper than the premium versions of Amazon Firestick like the Firestick 4k, Firestick 4K Max, and Fire TV Cube. Features and performance of Airtel Xtream Stick and the premium versions of Amazon Firestick are pretty similar. So, it all depends on your choice, preference, and budget.
Dint know this stick is so good. Thanks