Leading the way are second-gen releases of Amazon’s two 4K-capable Fire TV Sticks: The Fire TV Stick 4K Max and Fire TV Stick 4K. The most headline-grabbing new feature of the more premium Max model is that it’s the first streaming media player able to handle the Fire TV Ambient Experience previously only available on Amazon’s Fire TV Omni QLED TV series. This means, for instance, that you can use the Fire TV Stick 4K Max to replace your TV’s usual blank screen when you’re not watching it with a digitised artwork. Amazon claims that more than 2,000 free, gallery-quality artworks are available from institutions including the Musee d’Orsay in paris, the Museo Del Prado in Madrid, and the Galleria D’Ate Moderna in Florence.
The Ambient Experience also enables customers to easily access their personal schedules via calendars and reminders; style their own photos using AI; control smart devices like cameras, lights and Ring doorbells; access audio from music services such as Amazon Music and Spotify; and even leave digital Sticky Notes for family members.
On a more technical level, the new Fire TV Stick 4K Max has been equipped with an upgraded 2.0GHz quad-core processor, making it Amazon’s most powerful streaming stick to date. It also carries 16GB of internal memory – double that of its predecessor – and becomes the first streaming stick equipped with support for Wi-Fi 6E, enabling customers with suitably capable routers to enjoy faster streaming speeds, less interference from other Wi-Fi devices, and lower latency.
The Fire TV Stick 4K Max is also the first Fire TV stick to come with the new Alexa Voice Remote Enhanced controller, which carries more dedicated channel buttons as well as a ‘recents’ button for one-touch, instant access to most recently used channels or apps.
These new features are joined, of course, by all the AV quality features provided by its predecessor, including support for 4K resolution, the advanced HDR10+ and Dolby Vision high dynamic range formats alongside the basic HDR10 system, and compatibility with the Dolby Atmos sound format.
This unusually extensive upgrade by Amazon Fire TV Stick standards is available to preorder now for just $60 in the US, and £69.99 in the UK.
This seems pretty fair value for what the Fire TV Stick 4K Max offers, but if you want something even cheaper the new entry-level Fire TV Stick 4K is available now for $20/£10 less than the Max. The main differences between the two new streaming sticks are: a 1.7GHz quad-core processor upgrade on the cheaper model versus the 2.0GHz upgrade in the Max; Wi-Fi 6 (1.146Gbps) support on the cheaper model versus Wi-Fi 6E (1.788Gbps) on the Max; and no support on the cheaper model for the Max’s new Alexa Voice Remote Enhanced controller or Ambient Experience features.
Also of interest to AV fans among Amazon’s latest announcements is a new Fire TV soundbar. This was mentioned during a video presentation on the new Amazon product line by Amazon’s VP for Alexa & Fire TV Daniel Rausch, where he stated that the soundbar would cost $120 (it doesn’t seem to have been confirmed for a UK launch yet), and be compatible with the company’s existing streamers and Fire TV-branded TVs.
In fact, the soundbar is already listed on Amazon’s US website, where the listing additionally reveals that it’s a compact design (just 24 inches wide by 2.5 inches high) featuring Bluetooth support, HDMI eARC/ARC connectivity (though there’s no HDMI loop through), and DTS Virtual:X and Dolby Audio sound format support.
—
Related reading
Amazon Prime Video Reveals New Films And TV Shows For September 2023
New Dolby Atmos TV Technology Lets You Add Immersion-Boosting Wireless Speakers
Read the full article here
