Amazon's latest Prime Day sales – called Prime Big Deal Days – kicks off fully on Tuesday 7 October and runs for 48 hours. However, there are plenty of deals to be found during the build up, including on Amazon's own devices.
Take its Fire TV Sticks, for example. After announcing an all-new model that's available to preorder now, all current devices have been slashed by up to 57%. And, for a number of reasons, it means you can pay a lot less for a better device than the upcoming new variant.
While the Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Select looks good, it's not as powerful as the existing top-end 4K models. The older Fire TV 4K Max has a faster processor and better Wi-Fi support, yet is £10 cheaper at its sale price, while the similarly spec'ed Fire TV 4K is almost half the price. So it's really a no brainer.
It's a similar story in the US and other regions.
Why is the Amazon Fire TV Stick Select so different?
Available to preorder now for a 15 October shipping date, the new Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Select has been priced aggressively in comparison with the other family members – at least at their usual prices.
To get the price down but retain speed and 4K performance, it's the first Fire TV device to run on Amazon's own in-house software – Vega OS. Unlike previous models, this is not based on Android, so doesn't naturally support the same streaming apps as its siblings.
However, it can still access the likes of Netflix and Disney+ through cloud streaming, where the entire app experience will be streamed over the internet, not just the shows and movies. This is similar to the way games are playable on Xbox Cloud Gaming or Nvidia GeForce Now.
The app isn't stored on the Fire TV 4K Select, just a clickable portal – the rest, including menus, is then streamed to you from Amazon's own web servers. It is unlikely you'll notice any different.
One benefit to this is that the app does not depend on the performance of your device and can be updated remotely with the latest features.
There's definitely a case for it to become the default standard over the coming years, but for now, at Prime Big Deal Days prices, it's hard to look beyond the existing Fire TV Sticks.
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