By Engadget | Created at 2026-09-30 13:05:12 | Updated at 2026-09-30 13:55:24
55 minutes ago
It will cost just $30 during the Prime Day deals event next week, and retail for $60 otherwise.
Amazon
Just ahead of its October Prime Day event, Amazon has unveiled a new Fire TV Stick 4K that it says is part of a "new generation of Fire TV hardware that started with Fire TV Stick HD earlier this year." The company also redesigned its remote control and updated its interface and companion app to better integrate and feature Alexa+. And while it did roll out a new Fire TV Stick model today, Amazon is streamlining the Fire TV Stick lineup, doing away with the "Select" and "Plus" labels that previously distinguished its multiple 4K dongles.
According to the company, the new Fire TV Stick 4K is fast. It's not only faster than older models, but about 20 to 40 percent "faster than a similarly priced 4K stick from another leading brand." Specifically, Amazon says its newest dongle "turns on faster, apps launch over 35 percent faster, and content starts playing nearly 20 percent faster."
The company also said it tested the Fire TV Stick 4K "against the built-in experience of three 4K smart TVs from top-selling brands." It checked to see how quickly the three most popular apps on the Fire TV platform would respond on all these devices, and says it found that on average, the "Fire TV Stick 4K played content faster than all three of the TVs we tested."
We haven't seen the testing methodology ourselves, and can't vouch for the claims. Amazon did provide the following video showing the speed comparison it described.
Speed aside, the new Fire TV Stick 4K is slimmer than older models, featuring a design similar to the HD model launched in April. It's also capable of drawing power directly from your TV set's USB port with the included cable, so you don't need to deal with long wires or unsightly cords just to reach a distance power outlet. If you prefer, though, you can still plug it into a wall socket, of course.
Inside, the Fire TV Stick 4K has 8GB of built-in storage and a quad-core 1.7GHz processor. It supports Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.3 and LE, as well as a variety of display standards and media formats. It can play resolutions of 2160p, 1080p and 720p at up to 60 frames per second, too. Like other recent Amazon streaming sticks, the latest model will run Amazon's Vega operating system, come with Alexa+ and have the new Fire TV experience out of the box.
The new Fire TV remote
Amazon
Amazon also showed off a new remote control today, and it features a curved, weighted bottom with more tactile buttons and controls. The top edge, which is the part where the power and microphone buttons sit, is flat and straight, whereas the bottom is rounded. This way, you'll be able to quickly identify which side to point at your TV.
One of the most noticeable changes to the buttons on the Fire TV remote is the home button, which now has a metal surface so you can tell where it is by touch alone. Other buttons like power, microphone and back, each have different shapes or indentations so you can feel them out. Amazon is also bringing a customizable star remote to the new Fire TV Remote, which is a feature that was previously limited to the more premium controller. You can program this to do what you want, whether that be launching your favorite app or, like Amazon says, "to toggle settings like closed captioning or Screen Magnifier."
Like most remotes for smart TVs or streamers, the new version can also control the settings of your TV set like volume or power. You can use it with all Amazon Ember TVs and al fire TV streaming media players launched from 2019 onwards.
Amazon also promised a new Fire TV Remote Plus, saying it's coming early next year. This more premium model will have an aluminum housing and backlit buttons, and it will replace the Alexa Voice Remote Pro. It will also work with the company's Find My Remote feature so you can ask your Echo speaker, Echo Show display or any other Alexa device (including the app on your phone) to locate your remote and get it to play a sound.
The Fire TV Stick 4K is available starting today in the US, Canada, Japan, Mexico, United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Australia and New Zealand. It will retail for $60, although during the Prime Big Deal Days next week it will be available for $30. It will ship with a Fire TV Remote, which is also available on its own for $15. You can pre-order it now, and Amazon says it will start to ship in late October in the US.
