What’s in a name? Apparently quite a bit, according to Amazon. The company recently announced yet another change to its Fire TV devices lineup, which just means they renamed a few things yet again. The family now includes the $35 Fire TV Stick HD, the $40 Fire TV Stick 4K Select, the $50 Fire TV Stick 4K Plus, the $60 Fire TV Stick 4K Max and the $140 Fire TV Cube.
That was a pain to type out and probably a pain to read (my apologies). Two of those devices were “rebranded” previously within the past year, so if you’re confused, you’re likely not alone. What’s a humble shopper to do when you’re trying to decide which is the best (and budget-friendly) option to upgrade an old TV so you can binge-watch Hunting Wives and ask Alexa about tomorrow’s weather forecast?
I’ll make your decision quite easy: just get the Fire TV Stick 4K Max. Really, if you’re looking for the best streaming device, period, we recommend turning to Google for that. But if you’ve decided Amazon’s Fire TV lineup is where you want to spend your money, the 4K Max is the best option of the bunch. Not only has it stuck around without being subject to a “rebrand” for quite some time, but it also has arguably the best balance of features and price of any Fire TV streaming device.
The Fire TV Stick 4K Max gives you 4K streaming capabilities with Dolby Vision and all the HDRs that matter, Dolby Atmos audio and support for Amazon Luna and Xbox Game Pass. (It has some decent retro gaming chops, too, as our Jeff Dunn has previously explained.) Aside from the lack of an onboard Ethernet port present on the Fire TV Cube, the 4K Max has the same Wi-Fi 6E support as the more expensive Cube, plus the same 16GB of storage and 2GB of memory.
When compared to the other dongles in the Fire TV lineup, things get even more perplexing. The $60 4K Max and the $50 4K Plus are essentially the same stick, but the latter has less storage, only Wi-Fi 6 capabilities (not 6E), a standard Alexa Voice remote and no support for the Fire TV ambient experience, which turns your TV into an Alexa smart display when you’re not actively watching anything. Step down further once more to the $40 4K Select and you miss out on Dolby Vision and extra memory, and you’ll have to settle for Wi-Fi 5.
If you’re going to make all those compromises to save a few dollars, then you should just get the entry-level $35 Fire TV Stick HD. The biggest thing here is that it only supports 1080p streaming, but that will be ok for some people. We consider it to be the best budget streaming device on the market right now, and for folks just looking to make a cheap, basic upgrade to an aging set — go off and know your $35 was well spent (or, pro tip: wait for a sale and pick one up for less than $20).
The case for the $140 Fire TV Cube isn’t a strong one, but it’s one that I’ll admit might be attractive to some users. It adds into the mix an Ethernet port, hands-free Alexa controls (meaning you don’t have to press a button on its remote to activate the virtual assistant, you can just talk to it) and it can control your other entertainment devices like a cable box and game console. It ultimately gives you more control over both the other things in your entertainment ecosystem and Alexa all in one device.
That means Amazon has three strong streaming devices with very clear value propositions: the $35 Stick HD, the $60 4K Max and the $140 TV Cube. Affordable, mid-tier and high-end categories are covered and most people will find something that fits in their budget and their needs with these three. The two Sticks sandwiched in the middle do nothing but confuse consumers. Looking at a comparison chart of all the Fire TV streaming devices, you might start to ask yourself, do I really need Wi-Fi 6E over Wi-Fi 6? Will one extra gigabyte of memory make a difference? Can I live without the Alexa Voice Remote Enhanced?
You shouldn’t be asking yourself these questions; you have better things to do. There are only three Fire TV streaming devices worth considering, and I’d take it one step further and say most people should just get the Fire TV Stick 4K Max when it inevitably goes on sale for Black Friday for around $35. You’ll spend less and get a better product.
