We've had some really in-depth dialog on the Amazon Fire TV/Fire Stick side-loaded with Kodi within the We've Cut the Cable thread here:
https://forums.footballguys.com/forum/index.php?/topic/586089-weve-cut-the-cable/page-51
I use it and to sum it up, it's what you're doing with a laptop and Chromecast but without the laptop middleman, basically a pseudo-computer environment. It can be frustrating, as it's effectively using custom developed programs coded to the Kodi environment to re-purpose internet streams of movies, TV shows, etc. so you are very dependent on the development community to keep things going smoothly. I have gotten frustrated with it many times, and have a high threshold/tolerance for things not working and technology in general so it's not "1-2-3 you're done." With all of those disclaimers out of the way, if you plan to cut the cord, it's 100% worthy an investment of your time to read up on it and try to implement it in your home. I'm running in parallel with traditional basic cable right now, and getting ready to snip the cord (I found a closed community that re-broadcasts sports streams and select TV channels for about $10 a month on private servers similar to frontrowsports, etc. streaming sites on your computer). Like I said though, that works for me personally and would not recommend for everyone as a blanket statement. Lots of great stuff in the thread, though.