Fire TV Cube Running Slow: How To Fix [2023]

written by

Doug Stevenson

updated September 25, 2023

Ever since Amazon unveiled Alexa, I was hooked on incorporating it around my smart home.

Although it had its fair share of ups and downs, Alexa is my go-to smart assistant around the house.

One Alexa-enabled product that I invested in for a TV in my bedroom was the Fire TV Cube, which was quite a steal of a product for the $119 I paid for it at the time.

But soon after a few weeks, I started noticing video lagging, random UI stutters, keypress delays, etc that drastically deteriorated my viewing experience.

Enraged by all this, I went onto the internet to exploit possible key fixes and solutions, which I found to be quite scattered around.

So I made this in-depth article with all the Fire TV cube troubleshooting tips and tricks so that you can speed up your Fire TV Cube.

If your Fire TV Cube is running slow, check the cables, hardware temperature, and internet connection. Restart the Fire TV Cube and uninstall the least used apps. If the problem persists, disable notifications, data monitoring, and diagnostic data collection. If none of the above works, factory reset your Fire TV Cube.

Reasons Why Your Fire TV Cube Could Be Running Slow

The Amazon Fire TV series has been a very popular smart home inclusion. This might even be their first step into the smart home universe.

But I want to be clear about certain smart home experiences and Fire TV issues that might be a key factor to your experience.

Fire TV Cube 1st Gen vs Fire TV Cube 2nd Gen

One thing to note is that the generational difference between the 1st and 2nd generations of Fire TV Cube is massive.

The first-gen device Fire TV Cube was a laggy mess that came with a paltry quad-core CPU that could barely keep up with the daily functioning tasks.

It was basically a repackaged version of a Fire TV Stick( that was already a slow offering) and added hands-free Alexa on top of it to further deteriorate performance.

The 2nd Gen is the much better version with almost twice the performance gains with a newer Hexa core CPU and faster DDR4 RAM.

Although my article provides troubleshooting steps to both generations, solving performance issues of your 1st gen fire tv cube is difficult.

Software Updates Situation

Usually, software updates for system firmware and applications can be helpful to boost the overall UI performance and fix issues.

But users have been complaining about firmware updates after which their Fire TV Cube got very slow and faced a lot of lagging and UI stutters.

Downgrading to an older firmware is also risky as there are reports of Amazon implementing a version check for some Fire TVs that soft bricks downgraded devices.

Personally, I am on the latest firmware and I haven't faced such issues. But multiple people have reported this, so it's better to stay on a safer side.

Check Your Fire TV Cube Cables

The connection of cables to ports can get confusing for some, especially when dealing with similarly sized ports.

The physical state and specifications of your cables can significantly impact the signal you get out of your Fire TV Cube.

Amazon doesn't provide an HDMI cable out of the box. So when you are buying an HDMI cable, make sure it is properly specced to handle your streams.

Make sure your cables are fit properly. The cables should not have any loose shift near the plugged ends.

Also, check for wear and tear on all your cables. An exposed wire can lead to signal sync issues due to extra damage or dust settling.

If there are any signs of damage or errors, just change the cables.

Check Hardware Temperature

Overheating can cause performance drops due to the CPU throttling to manage temperatures. This can make your Amazon Fire Cube slow.

The best solution is to switch off the Fire TV and let it rest for a while, till it cools down naturally.

Also, make sure the device is placed in a well-ventilated area so that it can cool itself naturally faster.

Check Your Internet Connection

A slow internet connection can be a prime suspect to any slow UI interface or Fire TV Cube buffering issues, especially while finishing updates.

Simply check whether your internet is working by connecting your phone or laptop to the same internet and running some internet tasks.

Use an internet speed testing app on your phone, or simply head to speedtest.net to gauge your internet speeds.

If your jitter/ping speeds are high, that means your internet speeds are irregular and hence causing lag issues on your Fire TV Cube.

To fix this, unplug your wifi router/modem and plug it back in after a minute. This resets the power circuits of your router, fixing any router-related temporary issues.

If you are still having issues, try changing your connections to a wider bandwidth (5GHz band). The Fire TV cube does support both 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands natively.

If you have a dual-band compatible WiFi router, simply set up a separate SSID for a 5GHz signal from your default router gateway.

Do note that 5GHz prioritizes speed over connectivity range, so you might need to keep your router and Fire TV Cube near to each other or at least in the same room.

The absolute best method of relaying an internet connection to your fire TV cube is simply by using an ethernet cable as it has much higher link speeds than WiFi connections.

If you still face internet issues, try contacting your Internet Provider.

Restart your Fire TV Cube

This might seem a bit redundant but restart your Fire TV Cube properly.

There are two methods to restart: Soft restart and hard restart. I will take you through both methods.

To do a proper soft restart, simply follow the following steps:

Press and hold the Home button to access the menu

Select the Settings option from your home screen.

Choose the option My Fire TV

Click on Restart

This will soft reboot your Fire TV Cube safely.

If you are facing freezing issues while navigating the UI for the restart, just press and hold the Play/Pause buttons at the same time for about 5 seconds.

To do a proper hard restart or power cycle, simply follow the following steps:

Unplug your Fire TV Cube from the wall socket and wait for a minute.

Plug it back in. Turn on the Fire TV Cube.

Wait for another minute after turning it on. Let the device successfully boot all background services.

This will hard restart your Fire TV Cube.

Check your Device Settings

Some device settings can be a root cause of many issues relating to your overall experience with your Fire TV Cube.

Here are some of the settings that I feel you should check and look into:

Change Signal Resolution

If your resolution is preset to a higher or lower value with respect to your screen resolution and your internet connection, you are bound to face UI lag and buffering.

To change your signal resolution, simply follow the following steps:

Press the Up and Rewind buttons on the Fire TV Remote at the same time for 5 seconds

A menu will pop up that will let you scroll and set the desired resolution.

Choose your preferred resolution and select Use Current Resolution.

This will force set the resolution to your preferred option.

Uninstall Least Used Add-Ons and Apps

The Fire TV Cube is a budget offering with rather modest specifications, so clogging it will a lot of apps and add-ons will slow down the system.

These apps can run in the background of the system and will cause a lot of UI lag and even video buffer issues if the processor can't keep up.

To uninstall apps, simply follow the following steps:

Press and hold the Home button to access the Fire TV Cube menu

Select the Settings option and click on Applications

Select the Manage Installed Applications option

You will see the list of apps on your Fire TV Cube. Select the app you want to uninstall.

Click on Uninstall to remove the app from the system

You might notice some apps that can't be uninstalled and have the disable option instead. Those apps are system apps that can only be disabled.

Disabling them is totally fine as this restricts the apps from running in the background.

If there are apps that you rarely use but you need on the device once in a blue moon, then clear the data and cache of those apps.

To clear data and cache of apps, simply follow the following steps:

Press and hold the Home button to access the Fire TV Cube menu

Select the Settings option and click on Applications

Select the Manage Installed Applications option

You will see the list of apps on your Fire TV Cube. Select the app you want to clear data and cache.

Click on Clear data to instantly remove app data and cache

Click on Force Stop to prevent the app from running needlessly

This clears all the data of the app from the device, so it would be as if you freshly installed the app on the Fire TV Cube.

Features to Disable if Your Fire TV Cube Is Slow

Fire TV has a lot of features that are intended to improve the user experience, but instead, turn out to be a detriment to what is focused to improve upon.

The misc features that I have mentioned can lead to very minute performance improvements, but they are the tiny drops that make up this ocean of issues.

There are a lot of bloat features turned on by default that can impact the performance of your Fire TV Cube:

Notifications

Instant notifications can impact performance in the sense that it is a task that is constantly run in the background that frequently checks for information with the apps.

Pop-up views of notification alerts can also be a cause of UI lag and video playback issues.

The best solution is to completely disable notifications, which you can do by simply following the steps given:

Press and hold the Home button to access the Fire TV Cube menu

Select the Settings option and click on Preferences

Choose Notifiction Settings

Select Do not interrupt to disable notification pop ups

Data Monitoring and Diagnostic Data Collection

These are features that send anonymous data to Amazon to 'better improve the user experience and provide appropriate updates'

Whether you agree or disagree if this is a breach of privacy, it does collect and send data to Amazon servers, and hence disabling them can help in performance a bit.

Although data monitoring is a feature used to monitor used internet bandwidth and prioritize accordingly, it still sends anonymous data to servers.

To disable data monitoring, simply follow the following steps:

Press and hold the Home button to access the Fire TV Cube menu

Select the Settings option and click on Preferences

Choose Data Monitoring and disable it

To disable diagnostic data collection, simply follow the following steps:

Press and hold the Home button to access the Fire TV Cube menu

Select the Settings option and click on Applications

Choose Collect App Usage Data and disable it

VPN Settings

If you are accessing your internet through a VPN, that can sometimes give you long buffer times and general network issues.

I agree VPN is an essential part of any personal home network system, but if it comes at a cost of your time and user experience you might need to change your plans.

Try switching to a nearer server with better ping for the most reliable and fastest connection. If you are on a paid VPN plan, data bandwidth should be more relaxed.

If you still face issues, you might have to make a decision to prioritize your no-VPN internet speeds over privacy.

Factory Reset your Amazon Fire TV Cube

This is the final step in any troubleshooting guide that completely resets your Fire TV Cube back to its factory settings.

Do note that you will lose all your data from the Fire TV Cube, so make sure you make necessary backups.

To factory reset your Fire TV Cube, simply follow the following steps:

Press and hold the Home button to access the Fire TV Cube menu

Select the Settings option and click on Device

Click on Reset to Factory Defaults and choose Reset

This might take about 30 minutes to clean and reset, solving any issue you had with it.

Final Thoughts

Following this guide, you should be able to fix a laggy Fire TV Cube even if it might be temporary.

It is quite unfortunate Amazon packs their Fire TVs with only the bare necessities of hardware. But we still find ways to cope and improve upon such experiences.

I hope my article has provided you with the necessary steps to fix a fire cube that is running slow.

Have a good day!

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Can you jailbreak an Amazon Fire TV Cube?

Jailbreaking is a term used to gain access to core system functions on iOS devices. It does not work on any Amazon Fire TV product.

It is possible to gain root access though, although you will lose all security features.

Can I put my hot Fire TV Cube inside a freezer to cool it down faster?

Placing your hot Fire TV Cube that has been overheating directly inside the freezer would cause a rapid decrease in temperature, leading to freezing of internal components.

Can a Fire TV Cube get a virus?

There have been reports of crypto viruses infecting Amazon Fire TV Cube and other Fire TV devices, that enter when sideloading apps downloaded from malicious websites.

You May Also Enjoy Reading

Doug Stevenson

Hey! I'm Doug, My passion for tech started by fixing phones and computers for my friends and family.

I started Blinqblinq to give reliable tech advice to anyone who needs it, for free! If you have questions on anything tech-related, feel free to contact me.

Connect With Me