Amazon has unveiled a range of new Fire TV devices, including two new Fire TV sticks and a dedicated soundbar for Fire TVs.
Amazon said the new Fire TV Sticks are both powered by Amazon Alexa, the smart assistant, and promised it will be more helpful than ever in the new devices.
The more affordable offering is the new Fire TV Stick 4K, which boasts a 1.7Ghz processor that’s said to be 30% more powerful than its predecessor. It supports all major HDR formats, such as Dolby Vision, HDR10+, HDR10 and HLG, Dolby Atmos and Wi-Fi 6.
More powerful is the Amazon Fire TV 4K Max (pictured), which ups the processor speed to 2GHz and supports Wi-Fi 6E, which means it is capable of lower latency video streaming and faster speeds, so long as the router is also capable of the same. In addition, Amazon said it’s the first ever Fire TV Stick that comes with its Ambient Experience, allowing the TV to display artwork, sticky notes, smart home controls and calendar information when it’s not being used to watch something. This feature was first launched on Amazon’s Fire TV Omni QLED TVs earlier in the year.
The Amazon Fire TV 4K Max supports all of the main HDR formats as the above model, and has twice as much storage at 16GB.
In addition to the new Sticks, Amazon announced its first ever Fire TV soundbar, an audio device that’s dedicated to providing surround sound for Fire TV devices. It’s a two-channel soundbar that measures 24 inches across and is said to deliver room-filling sound, with support for the Dolby Audio and DTS Virtual:X surround sound formats. It’s compatible with all Fire TV devices, and Bluetooth connectivity means it can also connect to smartphones and tablets to stream music.
While the two new Fire TV Sticks support Amazon Alexa, the soundbar does not.
Alexa will soon be improved too, Amazon said, with a coming software update set to improve its search capabilities and let it fine-tune recommendations based on the conversations it has with users.
Amazon said the Fire TV 4K will cost £59.99, while the Fire TV 4K Max will retail at £69.99. As for the new Fire TV soundbar, that will cost $119.99 as a standalone purchase, and slightly more if the buyer wants to bundle in the Alexa Voice Remote Pro. However, Amazon hasn’t yet revealed prices for the bundle.
The new devices are available now, but might be a good idea to hold off buying them immediately if you’re looking for a discount. With the Amazon Prime Big Deal Days sale set to take place next month, we wouldn’t be at all surprised to see Amazon offering some kind of deal.
