Amazon’s newly revealed Fire Stick 4K is the first dongle in its range to offer Ultra HD visuals and HDR support. Is it the streamer to beat in 2018?
Until now, only the standard Fire TV devices have offered 4K support, but the company says it has listened to consumer feedback in order to offer the most visually-impressive Fire TV Stick yet and a better rival to the impressive Roku Streaming Stick Plus.
The company says the new HDMI dongle – which plugs directly into the back of a television – is the first to deliver support for the aforementioned high dynamic range standards, as well as Dolby Atmos sound for good measure.
Amazon says the device is available to pre-order now for £49.99 ahead of a shipping date of November 14. That’s only £10 more expensive than the existing Fire TV Stick, which we presume will remain on sale. The existing Fire TV box is being phased out, which means Amazon’s streaming offering will be entirely in stick form.
In terms of specs, the new Stick is 80% more powerful than its predecessor, thanks to a new quad-core 1.7GHz processor. It also boasts a new antenna and support for 802.11ac Wi-Fi .
Amazon is also pairing the Fire TV Stick 4K with an all-new Alexa Voice Remote, it combines Bluetooth and multidirectional infrared technology to offer control of compatible tellies, soundbars and receivers.
There’s also dedicated power, volume and mute buttons on the device to make it easier to control those other A/V gadgets you’re rocking alongside the Fire TV Stick 4K.
The company is providing the Alexa remote at no extra cost with the Fire TV Stick 4K, but will offer it for the standalone fee of £29.99 to those who might be looking to upgrade. However, it is only compatible with the latest-generation Fire TV devices.
Amazon points out that the new device is also capable of pairing with an Echo device for hands-free control, using far-field voice recognition. It says the Fire TV device (providing you only have one) will automatically pair with the Echo device as soon as users ask a Fire TV-related question.
As such, it is offering a sweet combo deal with a new Echo Dot and Fire TV Stick 4K for £78.98. That’s a saving of £20.
