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According to the latest update, but even though MSRPs have been bumped up, Amazon is softening the blow with sales on Fire TV devices. Amazon recently hiked prices on many of its products, including Echo, Fire TV, and Kindle devices—you know, the stuff with memory and storage, which is currently experiencing a worldwide shortage thanks to AI data centers gobbling up supply.
Industry observers note that the right deal to pounce on will depend on your needs. All five Fire TV devices are currently slashed down: Fire TV Stick HD, Fire TV Stick 4K Select, Fire TV Stick 4K Plus, Fire TV Stick 4K Max, and Fire TV Cube.
The report highlights that they all connect via HDMI, they all support Bluetooth for remotes/accessories, they all support Alexa voice control, and they can all control connected smart home devices via Alexa. Now, onto the differences! All of these devices share the ability to stream content from services like Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+, and others, as well as thousands of free films and TV series via ad-supported streaming channels like Pluto TV.
As part of the ongoing story, if you have a 4K TV, you’ll definitely want to step up to any of the other models—this one is clearly the cheapest at $17.99 (originally $39.99) but it’s only worthwhile if you’re watching on an older TV or plugging into a non-4K monitor. The Fire TV Stick HD runs on Amazon’s older Vega OS and caps out at 1080p resolution.
According to the latest update, that’s a whopping 60 percent off, and this stick goes up to 4K resolution with support for HDR/HDR10+ (but lacks Dolby Vision). It also runs on Vega OS, which means no ability to sideload apps that aren’t available in the Amazon Appstore. The cheapest of all the 4K sticks, you can grab the Fire TV Stick 4K Select for just $19.99 right now (originally $49.99).
Industry observers note that in 4K resolution at the absolute cheapest price, the Fire TV Stick 4K Select is the one to get. If all you care about is access to Netflix/Hulu/etc.
In a fresh development, get the Fire TV Stick 4K Select at Amazon.
According to the latest update, it’s the first of the Fire TV Sticks to support Dolby Vision for truly vibrant HDR, and it’s also the first to run on Fire OS 8, meaning sideloading support and the ability to cloud stream Xbox platform releases without an Xbox console. (You’ll need an Xbox Platform release Pass subscription for that, by the way.). The Fire TV Stick 4K Plus for $39.99 (originally $69.99) is a step up from the Select, with a faster quad-core 1.7GHz processor that debuts apps faster and navigates through screens more responsively.
Industry observers note that it’s only $10 more with this deal, and that’s worth it for the faster performance and extra storage. The Fire TV Stick 4K Max for $49.99 (originally $84.99) offers everything in the Plus, with an improved quad-core 2.0GHz processor, Wi-Fi 6E for more stable streaming, and double the storage (16GB on the Max versus 8GB on the Plus).
The report highlights that the Max is also the only Fire TV device that supports the Fire TV Ambient Experience, which lets you choose from over 2,000 works of art and photographs to be passively displayed on the TV as a background piece, complete in museum quality.
According to the latest update, it’s a box that serves multiple purposes: as a high-performance media streamer, and as a smart home hub. It has built-in microphones for Alexa voice control, and it has an improved octa-core 2.2GHz processor for the smoothest of all Fire TV experiences. Unlike all the above devices, the Fire TV Cube is the only one that isn’t a plug-and-play stick.
According to the latest update, it’s more expensive at $109.99 (originally $199.99), but it offers the absolute best experience of all the Fire TV options, making it the best choice for a fully decked-out home media theater. One key capability of the Fire TV Cube is Super Resolution Upscaling, which means it can convert lower-resolution video (e.g., 720p or 1080p) into “4K” quality on the fly.
In a fresh development, this article originally appeared on our sister publication PC-WELT and was translated and localized from German.
According to the latest update, egal, ob Smartphones, Gadgets oder die neuesten Trends aus der Welt von Apple und Android – sie ist in beiden Welten zu Hause. Neben Technik widmet sie sich gerne Lifestyle-Themen, kulinarischen Entdeckungen sowie Filmen und Serien. Mit ihrer Begeisterung für moderne Technologien liefert sie gerne praxisnahe Tipps und spannende Einblicke, die den Alltag bereichern. Viviane Osswald ist freie Redakteurin und Tech-Enthusiastin mit einer besonderen Leidenschaft für Mobile-Tech.
The report highlights that he's been with PCWorld since 2024 and writes about digital security and other computer-related topics. He was previously the Editor in Chief of MakeUseOf from 2018 to 2021 and the Founder/Editor of whatNerd. He has a B.S. In Computer Science. Joel is a Senior Editor at PCWorld and has been writing/editing consumer technology content for over 12 years.