Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max (2023) review: Inexpensive and feature-packed

After Amazon’s Fire TV Stick 4K Max, you can count on one hand the reasons to consider another streaming stick. If you don’t have a 4K TV and don’t plan on buying one, you probably don’t need this device. Need both Echo speakers? and For a capable streaming stick, you might want to splurge on Amazon’s 3rd generation Fire TV Cube. Also, if you don’t plan on using Wi-Fi 6E at home, you can also use the nearly identical Fire TV Stick 4K.

Otherwise, Fire TV Stick 4K Max is your living room’s new champion. It’s fast, responsive, easy to set up, and gives you access to HDR10 and Dolby Vision in one small device. The only caveat is that you’ll benefit the most if you’re already tied into Amazon’s ecosystem. If you don’t have Prime, you can add the Fire TV Stick 4K Max to your streaming setup, which is pretty good, but not great.

Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max (2nd generation)

Staff recommendation

The Fire TV Stick 4K Max is Amazon’s most feature-rich streaming stick. It can stream in 4K, HDR10, and Dolby Vision, and supports Wi-Fi 6E for faster transfers (if your home network matches).

Strong Points

• Easy way to get 4K, HDR10 and Dolby Vision
• Fire TV Stick 4K is now a little faster and has twice the storage
• Wi-Fi 6E (for those who can benefit)
• Built-in IR blaster in upgraded remote control

Cons

• Fire TV Stick 4K is $10 cheaper but has almost the same performance
• Although customizable, the interface feels cluttered
• AirPlay or Google Cast not supported

Price and availability

You can buy the Fire TV Stick 4K Max at regular brick-and-mortar electronics stores or on Amazon itself (obviously). Normally sold for $60, he has seen prices drop to $40 several times over the past year. Your best bet is to wait until then, or better yet, get it at Amazon’s typical Prime Day sale, where you’ll likely get the lowest price.

With the similar but older Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K, you can save $10 on a device that feels just as fast as the Fire TV Stick 4K Max, albeit with slightly less performance.

What’s good about Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max?

Well-coordinated upgrade

For just $10 more, go to Amazon’s Fire TV Stick 4K, which includes a slightly faster quad-core processor (1.7 GHz vs. 2.0 GHz), a slightly faster GPU, and twice the storage (16 GB instead of 8 GB) You can get a decent upgrade for it. You’ll most likely notice the streaming stick’s enhanced Wi-Fi capabilities (Wi-Fi 6E) and a slightly better remote control that comes with an integrated IR blaster for controlling other devices in your home entertainment center.

I wouldn’t pay twice the price of its predecessor for these extra features, but $10 feels completely fair. Otherwise, the Fire TV Stick 4K Max should look familiar to anyone who uses one of Amazon’s streaming devices.

Assuming your TV is capable, the streaming stick can output 4K images at up to 60Hz via an HDMI 2.1 connection (requires your TV’s HDCP 2.2-capable connection for full 4K glory). Like the Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K, the “Max” version supports both Dolby Vision and HDR+, as well as Dolby Atmos. It can also run all major streaming services, but is not limited to Amazon Prime Video.

Assuming you have a Wi-Fi 6E router (most people don’t) and your Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max is in the same room as that router, given the limited range you get on the 6GHz band. , you can sail with the fastest Wi-Fi speeds. This means faster downloads, but it won’t affect the quality of your 4K streaming much. (You don’t need a lot of wireless firepower to get his 4K stream in high quality; a 50-100 Mbps connection is plenty.)

Once up and running, the Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max’s interface is similar to that of the company’s other streaming devices. The front page of the interface displays a list of various shows and movies that can be accessed from connected services, as well as customizable quick links to other services such as Netflix, Freevee, and Disney+.

As long as you connect your controller to your Fire TV Stick 4K Max via Bluetooth, you can also launch free games from Prime Gaming and Amazon’s paid Luna service.

The Fire TV Stick 4K is not an Echo speaker, so you’ll need to use the Fire TV Stick 4K Max to take advantage of the handy Alexa button on the streaming stick’s remote. Holding this down gives you access to all the usual Alexa interactions, as well as the ability to create “sticky notes” on your streaming stick. These will appear in your device’s (for now) dedicated ambient experience. It’s like Screen Saver Plus. You can use it to get information about upcoming calendar events, check the weather forecast, play music, and more.

Heck, you can even create your own wallpaper from a prompt using fancy Amazon AI tools. This is a gimmicky but fun feature.

I liked the responsiveness of Amazon’s streaming stick. It was fast enough to load the various movies, TV shows, and apps I checked out. If you take a few minutes to set up convenient device control features, turning your entertainment center on and off is just as quick. It’s not as powerful as a universal remote control, but it can be used in an emergency.

What’s bad about Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max?

Not so much

There’s very little I didn’t like about my experience with Amazon’s Fire TV Stick 4K Max. The biggest and most obvious is that if you’re not already using Amazon’s services, you won’t be able to take much advantage of some of their features. Prime provides the latest information about several games and shipping, and you can call them up as graphics. In addition to Prime Video’s wide range of shows and movies, you can access your TV using Alexa. The same goes for Amazon Kids+, another streaming service that offers content for young children at home.

Beyond that, I find the interface too cluttered for my tastes. The giant banner across the top (which Amazon can’t help but use to highlight Prime Video content) eats up valuable screen space, and the interface is at times overwhelming with so many options that it feels Sometimes it feels like I’m yelling at you. That doesn’t stop me from using the streaming stick. You just need to spend a little more time customizing some of these annoyances.

Otherwise, my only issue is that I can’t use AirPlay or Google Cast with the streaming stick. That said, I was able to at least display my phone’s entire screen on my TV using the clunkier display mirroring option within the Fire TV Stick’s settings, so it’s a decent (though unsophisticated) ) was the solution. Of course, if you want a device that can do even more, you can use the Fire TV Cube instead.

related

Amazon Fire TV Cube (3rd generation): Smarter, faster, and more ad-rich

Hello, I have an Echo on my Fire TV!

Should I buy it?

this is easy

Amazon packs a ton of useful features and fast performance into its inexpensive streaming stick. For just $40, participate in Amazon’s frequent sales and you’ll get an incredibly powerful device and a handy microphone to summon Alexa. With it, you can stream whatever you want in (usually) the same high definition you get from all your favorite services.

My only hesitation in recommending this particular device is that the Wi-Fi 6E connectivity isn’t much to praise. However, you’ll only save about $10 on the Fire TV Stick 4K, so you might be better off taking the plunge and choosing Amazon’s more future-proof device. The UI may feel cluttered, but that’s really the only annoyance with the Fire TV Stick 4K Max. There’s nothing much better (or cheaper) than this.

Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max (2nd generation)

Staff recommendation

Fire TV Stick 4K Max is Amazon’s most feature-rich regular streamer. It can stream in 4K and supports faster Wi-Fi 6 networks. Additionally, you can use it to enjoy Atmos surround sound with Netflix and other streaming services.

related

Best streaming devices of 2024

There’s a lot of competition to host a weekend binge or movie night