Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max 1st Gen 2025 Review
Editors' Note: There's a brand new model of the Fire TV Stick 4K Max. Wi-Fi 6 is succesful of upper speeds and higher performance than the Wi-Fi 5 we're used to, particularly in crowded community environments, Flixy Official and Amazon’s Fire TV Stick 4K Max is the primary media streamer underneath $a hundred we’ve seen to support the usual (the $180 Apple Tv 4K also uses it). The $54.Ninety nine Fire TV Stick 4K Max is just like the $49.99 Fire TV Stick 4K, however with a Wi-Fi 6 radio and a barely quicker processor. For simply $5 extra, it actually seems like a superb deal, but 4K video can solely be improved by bandwidth to a certain extent, and Wi-Fi 5 already exceeds that. So until you've a Wi-Fi 6 router, an incredibly quick internet connection, and optimum wireless circumstances, the standard Fire TV Stick 4K will suit you simply superb and remains our Editors' Choice winner. Physically, the Fire TV Stick 4K Max is equivalent to the Fire TV Stick 4K. It’s a plain, rectangular black stick measuring 3.9 by 1.2 by 0.6 inches (LWD), with an HDMI plug sticking out of one end.
The aspect of the stick holds a micro USB port, simply just like the Fire TV Stick 4K. A newer USB-C port would have been good as it’s easier to plug in, but since it’s only used for power, it’s comprehensible why Amazon didn’t trouble to even change the stick’s plastic casing to accommodate a unique port. There are no other connections on the machine, and no indicator lights or controls. While it doesn’t really feel any different, the Fire TV Stick 4K Max has some small upgrades over the Fire TV Stick 4K on the inside. A Wi-Fi 6 radio (801.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax) is the obvious addition, however it’s a bit more highly effective as properly. It options a 1.8GHz CPU and a 750MHz GPU compared with the Fire TV Stick 4K’s 1.7GHz CPU and 650MHz GPU, and has half a gigabyte more reminiscence, for a total of 2GB. For comparability, the $119.99 Fire Tv Cube, which offers arms-free Alexa voice control, has dual CPU cores (2.2GHz and 1.9GHz) and a 800MHz GPU.
The stick is meant to be powered with the included USB-to-micro USB cable and wall adapter; Amazon doesn’t suggest making an attempt to run it off of your TV’s USB ports, which may be underpowered. Other than the ability cable and adapter, the stick consists of a brief HDMI extender, in case the ports in your Tv are too tightly packed. The included distant is customary Fire Tv fare, a flat black wand with a distinguished circular navigation pad near the highest. Power and Alexa buttons sit above the pad, along with a pinhole microphone. Hulu, and Netflix farther down. The distant can immediately management your TV’s audio over HDMI-CEC. As a fireplace Tv machine, the Fire TV Stick 4K Max is loaded with apps and features, constructed round a pleasant however visually dense tile-based mostly interface. HBOMax, Hulu, Netflix, Paramount Plus, Peacock, Twitch, and YouTube. If you utilize your Flixy TV Stick's audio or any speakers linked to it, most massive music streaming services are also accessible, together with Amazon Music, Pandora, SiriusXM, Spotify, Tidal, and YouTube Music.
There are also thousands of additional, smaller apps and providers spanning many alternative pursuits and regions. Some games are available as nicely, and you can pair a Bluetooth controller with the stick. If you actually want to play video games on the system, although, you must consider getting an Amazon Luna Controller and the Amazon Luna game streaming service for a lot better options than the overwhelming variety of less complicated, tailored-from-mobile games in the Fire Tv store. The home screen’s content material recommendations are predictably Amazon-centric, with an occasional row of solutions from HBO Max and other companies thrown in as you scroll down. Fortunately, content searches aggregate a number of companies outdoors of Amazon, so you'll be able to most likely discover whatever movie or Tv show you need to watch when you ask Alexa for it. And if an app is on the Recent Apps bar on the house display, content recommendations will appear beneath it if you move the cursor over its icon.
