Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K and 4K Max refreshed with faster Wi-Fi and more

(Image credit: Amazon)

published 20 September 2023

As previously rumoured, Amazon has announced a couple of new Fire TV Stick streamers during its devices launch event in the US.

The Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K is being updated with Wi-Fi 6 for more stable, faster connectivity. It also gets a bump in processing, so is claimed to be 30% faster than the previous generation.

Perhaps the biggest refresh is with the Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max, which replaces the 2021 model with double the storage space (16GB), a new 2.0 GHz processor, and Wi-Fi 6E for the range's fastest wireless internet connection yet.

This should enable smoother 4K HDR video streaming with Dolby Atmos audio without needing an Ethernet hook up.

You will need a compatible router, of course, but if you do, you'll likely see videos start almost instantly with no pre-buffering. And, the lack of latency should allow Amazon to serve other streamed content more effectively, such as Amazon Luna cloud gaming.

Also available on the new Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max is the new Fire TV Ambient Experience.

This allows the streaming device to show artwork in a similar way to Amazon Fire TV Omni QLED Series sets. It can either show art or information on a TV through just an Alexa command or two.

By the end of the year, customers in the US will also be able to use generative AI to create their own customised art to display. It will be a free update when it arrives.

The new Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K is available to pre-order today for $49.99 in the States, £59.99 in the UK and AUD$79. The Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max can also be pre-ordered, priced at $59.99 / £69.99 / AUD$119. Both feature a slightly rounder design and we're still waiting for UK details.

Amazon has also announced an all-new Fire TV product, the Fire TV Soundbar which is a 24-inch speaker system that can be wallmounted. Strangely, regardless of its name, it doesn't include Fire TV functionality.

Instead, it is designed to enhance the audio of a Fire TV 2-Series, 4-Series or Omni QLED television.

That's available now for $119.99 in the US, but is yet to be announced for the UK market.

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Rik is T3’s news editor, which means he looks after the news team and the up-to-the-minute coverage of all the hottest gadgets and products you’ll definitely want to read about. And, with more than 35 years of experience in tech and entertainment journalism, including editing and writing for numerous websites, magazines, and newspapers, he’s always got an eye on the next big thing.

Rik also has extensive knowledge of AV, TV streaming and smart home kit, plus just about everything to do with games since the late 80s. Prior to T3, he spent 13 years at Pocket-lint heading up its news team, and was a TV producer and presenter on such shows as Channel 4's GamesMaster, plus Sky's Games World, Game Over, and Virtual World of Sport.