As if four new Kindles weren’t enough for the Amazon devices team to unveil this week, a new Fire TV Stick has landed. It’s twofold in that we have a new streaming stick from Amazon, but it also streamlines the lineup a bit.
The all-new Fire TV Stick HD is replacing both the Fire TV Stick and Fire TV Stick Lite as the entry point priced at $34.99 / £39.99 / AU$69, and it’s up for order right now. We’ve asked Amazon for availability and pricing for the United Kingdom and Australia, and we’ll update you once we hear back.
Just like the two streaming sticks it’s replacing, the Fire TV Stick HD is still a rectangular, black stick that will plug right into the HDMI port on the back of your TV. Out of sight and out of mind, though, it will need power, and Amazon is still opting for a micro USB port. That’s kind of wild in 2024, but Amazon includes a cable and power plug in the box.
Charging ports aside, the Fire TV Stick HD will deliver the classic experience Amazon’s streaming sticks—and boxes, err cubes—have become known for. It will stream content at up to 1080p HD and supports HDR, HDR 10, HDR10+, and HLG. Support for Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos is missing from that list, but this HDMI port does support Dolby-encoded audio.
It does not have all the bells and whistles for visual or audio standards that you’ll find on the Fire TV Stick 4K or the Fire TV Stick Max, but this should definitely be considered if you have an HD TV. Of course, stick around until we get the chance to review it as well.
Arguably, the more exciting part here is that entry-level Fire TV Stick now comes with an Alexa Voice Remote. That not only includes TV controls for power and volume, but by pressing and holding the blue Alexa button, you can control the Fire TV experience with just your voice and even ask for the content you want to watch. Amazon even includes two AA batteries in the box to power the remote.
Amazon’s platform supports all the major streaming services, including Prime Video, Netflix, Hulu, Apple TV+, Max, Paramount+, and Disney+. Of course, you’ll need an account to use them.
The Fire TV Stick HD supports Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth LE, and Bluetooth 5.0 for easy connectivity. Powering the whole experience is a 1.7Ghz Quad-Core processor paired with 1GB of RAM, and considering most of these applications are for streaming, the onboard 8GB of storage should be plenty.
It’s worth noting that beyond just watching movies or TV shows, you can also stream games through Amazon Luna on the Fire TV Stick HD, though we’re eager to see how this performs. Additionally, with Alexa on board, you can ask the assistant to control smart home devices and provide answers to other topical questions.
At just $34.99 / £39.99 / AU$69, the value that Amazon is aiming to bring here cannot be debated. It also cleans up the lineup, so you no longer need to debate between the Fire TV Stick Lite and Fire TV Stick—though if you really want one, these are both available until supply runs out.
If you’re in the market for the best streaming sticks available now, though, check out our full guide here – there are plenty of options from Amazon, Roku, Apple, and Google.
You Might Also Like…
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/mUWKvXoxnG3rML2txCmAzM-1200-80.jpg
Source link
jacob.krol@futurenet.com (Jacob Krol)
