Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max: Amazon's most powerful streaming stick yet?
Amazon has said the new streaming player has 40% more power than its predecessor, the Fire TV Stick 4K. Here's how you can buy one today.
Amazon recently revealed the new Fire TV Stick 4K Max, describing it as its “most powerful” high-definition streaming and media player. It was released on Thursday 7th October 2021 and is available right now, but should you buy one? We’re taking a look at the facts and figures to find out.
With support for Ultra HD, Dolby Vision, HDR and HDR10+, the new stick is reportedly 40% more powerful than its predecessor, the Fire TV Stick 4K, and its specs mean that its apps open faster and navigation will be much more fluid.
The Fire TV Stick range is one of the easiest ways to expand your TV’s functionality – with the device working as a central hub for services such as Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+, Apple TV and more – while also supporting Alexa voice controls.
If you want to read more about the previous iterations, don’t miss our previous coverage, including this Fire TV Stick Lite review and Fire TV Stick (2020) review.
Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max release date: When can you buy the streaming stick?
The Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max was released on Thursday the 7th of October, and you can order it right now using the link below. If you’re still deciding whether the stick is for you, take a look at our Amazon Fire TV Stick channels round-up, which will give you the lowdown on the channels the stick offers currently.
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Or, if you want to check out the competition before making a purchase, take a look at our Chromecast vs Fire TV Stick page or the Roku vs Fire TV Stick page. To see a wider range of the competition, check out our best streaming stick round-up.
If you need help choosing a subscription service in 2022, don’t miss our breakdown of the best streaming service UK, comparing pricing and features of each major platform, including Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime Video, BritBox and Apple TV+.
Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max price: How much does the streaming stick cost?
The new Fire TV Stick 4K Max is priced at £54.99 and is available right now.
If you still can’t decide whether or not it’s the right purchase for you, why not take a look at our Amazon Prime Video guide for more info? If that’s not helped you make up your mind, take a look at our analysis of the best streaming device out there right now. We’ll determine whether or not Amazon’s latest offering makes the list once we’ve tested it fully.
Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max specs: What features does the streaming stick have?
The stick comes with a quad-core 1.8GHz processor and 2GB RAM – which should be more than enough to keep performance smooth even when handling power-intensive apps that stream high-definition content. For comparison, the previous Fire TV Stick 4K had a quad-core 1.7 GHz processor and 1.5 GB of RAM.
The new stick supports 4K UHD, HDR and HDR10+ streaming alongside both Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos. Like the previous high-def model, the stick continues to offer voice commands via an Alexa Voice Remote, but one neat trick is that it’s the first stick to come with a feature called Live View Picture-in-Picture.
That can be used to display feeds of your video doorbells and security cameras on the screen from products such as the Ring Video Doorbell.
To bulk up the audio, the stick can be connected wirelessly to an Echo Studio or a pair of Echo (4th Gen) smart speakers – so that will help to immerse you in whatever content you are watching. The initial set-up for the streaming stick remains extremely simple – plugging directly into the TV’s HDMI port and a wall socket.
But one of the biggest selling points is that it comes with Wi-Fi 6 support. It’s the first time an Amazon streaming stick has had this ability, using a new type of Mediatek chipset that ultimately results in smoother 4K video and gaming when multiple Wi-Fi 6-connected devices are streaming – a big plus for futureproofing.
Amazon is pitching the new stick as a good way to access its game cloud streaming service, Luna. Prime members can currently request early access to the service. The newly-launched IMDb TV is also free of charge to watch for those with a Fire TV device.
We look forward to trying the Fire TV Stick 4K Max ahead of its release when we are able to tell you if it’s worth the price and how it compares to the other sticks in the series, the Fire TV Stick Lite, Fire TV Stick and Fire TV Stick 4K.
At time of writing, the Fire TV Stick Lite costs £29.99, while the Fire TV Stick costs £39.99, and the Fire TV Stick 4K costs £49.99.
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