Tag: Fire TV

What’s Going on With Fire TV?

Amazon’s new “Select” 4k streaming stick with the new Vega OS has not been well received – especially by enthusiasts. In my latest video, we take a look at what’s going with the FireTV and why Amazon is moving away from the Android player we’ve come to know and mostly love over the last decade.

When I started covering tech on YouTube more than a decade ago, one of the earliest products I reviewed was the original Amazon Fire TV. It was a time when streaming boxes were still new and fragmented. Roku was around, but like today it was very limited in capabilities, and Apple’s TV box didn’t yet have apps. Amazon’s entry in 2014 was a surprise — an Android-based device with an interface built for television. It even beat Google’s Nexus Player, the first official Android TV device, to market by a few months.

Back then, the Fire TV felt like a meaningful step forward. Amazon had invested in game development studios and the box had decent graphics performance for casual play. You could sideload Android apps, and it was fast at launching video, caching streams so they started almost instantly. The platform was flexible, and the company was building a product that appealed to both mainstream users and enthusiasts.

Fast forward eleven years, and Amazon’s latest Fire TV device, the 4K Select, runs something entirely different. The operating system, called Vega OS, has replaced Android under the hood, but Amazon isn’t marketing it openly. It’s not mentioned on the box or in promotional materials. What’s more, this new system limits what the device can do. Apps now need to be rewritten for Vega OS, and many haven’t made the jump yet. In some cases, Amazon is actually streaming apps from the cloud to make them run on the new hardware, a workaround that shows how much compatibility has changed.

This move appears to be a shift in priorities. Vega OS likely helps Amazon build cheaper hardware with lower overhead, targeting the low-end streaming stick segment rather than the higher-performance devices that used to appeal to enthusiasts. Developers can build in React Native, which is cross-platform, but that still means maintaining another version of their app specifically for Vega. Whether streaming app makers will see that as worth the effort remains to be seen.

According to AFTVNews, Amazon is keeping Vega OS confined to the entry-level devices for now, while higher-end Fire TVs and smart TVs may move to a different system based on Android 14.

The timing of this change may have something to do with where Amazon stands in the streaming device market. Data from Pixalate shows Roku leading with about 36 percent of U.S. market share, far ahead of Fire TV’s 14 percent. Roku focuses almost entirely on delivering video streaming with a simple interface. Consumers seem to prefer that over devices that try to do more. Fire TV’s more advanced features don’t appear to be helping it compete.

Roku’s financials tell a similar story. They’ve been selling hardware at little or no profit but making nearly a billion dollars a quarter in gross profit from their platform business — most of it advertising. These devices aren’t meant to be powerful computers anymore; they’re ad platforms with remotes attached. Amazon seems to be trying that model, prioritizing simplicity and scale over capability.

Google is reportedly rethinking its own TV strategy as well, possibly moving away from its current Google TV platform. For users who enjoyed the flexibility of older devices like the NVIDIA Shield (compensated affiliate link), there may not be many options left. The Shield still offers features like sideloading, local media playback, and advanced home theater support with Dolby Vision and lossless ATMOS, but it’s starting to look like an artifact of a different era.

I find it telling that Amazon, a company that once encouraged experimentation on its Fire TV line, is now quietly locking it down. For people who use these boxes just to stream Netflix or Prime Video, that may not matter. But for those who like to tinker — to run emulators, custom apps, or personal media servers — this marks the end of an era. The industry seems to be moving toward simpler, more disposable devices designed to serve ads and stream content, not extend functionality.

My advice? Buy as many NVIDIA Shield devices as you can while they’re still for sale.

Amazon Fire TV 4k Stick Select Review

Amazon’s latest Fire TV Stick 4K Select (compensated affiliate link) marks a shift in direction for the company’s streaming devices. This one runs on a completely new operating system called Vega OS, replacing the Android-based OS Fire TVs have used over the last decade. But at launch, it’s clear this is a minimally viable product, and early adopters will need to temper expectations.

Check it out in my latest video review.

As far as the product lineup goes, this device sits just above the 1080p stick and just below the full-featured Fire TV Stick 4K. For now, I’d say it’s worth paying a little extra for the latter if you want a smoother experience. The Select model still uses micro USB for power, has just one gigabyte of RAM, and supports Wi-Fi 5 instead of Wi-Fi 6. It also lacks support for Dolby Vision which is found on the other 4k sticks.

Once set up, the interface looks familiar if you’ve used a Fire TV before. Most of the big-name streaming apps are available, but not all of them are native to the device. Some, like the NFL Network, are cloud-hosted, meaning both the app and its content stream over the internet. It works, but performance can feel sluggish, even on a fast connection. Specialized apps for devices such as the Tablo or HDHomeRun aren’t available yet, and while Plex is present, it’s missing many of the features found on its Android-based counterparts.

App support overall feels limited. There are no games and no sideloading options. The experience is closer to a Roku, but with fewer apps to choose from. For basic streaming, though, Netflix, Disney+, and YouTube run well enough. The device supports basic HDR (but again not Dolby Vision), and Dolby Atmos audio works through compatible services.

Performance on YouTube was mostly solid with 4K HDR playback, though I had to manually force it into 4K60 mode. There were occasional frame drops, but nothing too disruptive.

One issue that stood out was the lack of proper 24p output for films and TV shows in all of the apps I tested. Even with the “match frame rate” option enabled, the device stayed locked at 60Hz, resulting in uneven motion that film buffs will notice.

Voice control works as expected, with Alexa handling searches and smart home commands reliably. The remote can also control basic TV and receiver functions, though support for other devices appears trimmed down compared to earlier models.

At this stage, the Fire TV Stick 4K Select and its new Vega OS feel like a work in progress. It handles core streaming tasks fine, but beyond that, the limitations add up. This isn’t the Fire TV experience power users have come to expect—it’s more locked down, less flexible, and missing key features found on cheaper models. Amazon’s long-term plan is clearly to transition its lineup to this new platform, but until app developers catch up, it’s going to feel like a step back.

For now, it works if all you need are the major streaming apps on an older TV. But as Amazon moves further away from Android, this early look suggests the future of Fire TV could be more controlled and less open than before.

See more devices like this one here!

Amazon Fire TV Stick 4k and 4k Max Review

Amazon recently updated their Fire TV Stick 4k and 4k Max streaming devices (affiliate link). The original 4k stick first came out in 2018 making this new one a pretty big upgrade. The Max, however, made its debut only a year ago so this new one is more of an incremental update. You can see my full review here.

While I delved deep into the Max version in the video, I also touched upon the non-Max version, especially since there isn’t a significant performance difference between the two anymore. Both have the same processor with the Max’s CPU clocked slightly faster. But that uptick in performance will likely go unnoticed by most consumers.

The Max offers more storage, 16 gigabytes compared to the 8 GB on the regular 4K stick. This might be beneficial for those who download a lot of apps, especially games. Another difference is the Wi-Fi support. While both devices support the newer Wi-Fi 6 standard, the Max also supports the 6 gigahertz band, part of the Wi-Fi 6E standard. However, in my speed tests, I didn’t notice a significant difference between the two bands.

The Max also comes with a fancier remote with more buttons, allowing for more device control options. The Max has a new “ambient experience” that pops up with widgets and changing backdrops when the device is sitting idle. This feature is not on the regular 4k stick.

Both sticks support various HDR modes including Dolby Vision and HLG along with Dolby Atmos audio. They also support the new Dolby AC4 standard, which is part of the new ATSC3 broadcast standard.

For gaming enthusiasts, both Fire TV sticks should suffice for game streaming. I tried out Amazon Luna, Amazon’s streaming app, and found the performance to be adequate even over WiFi. The Fire TV ecosystem also offers native games, but the library is quite thin.

In conclusion, for the casual user, the regular 4K Fire TV Stick should be more than adequate. However, if you’re looking for specific features like ambient mode, the enhanced remote or more storage, the Max might be worth the extra cost.

Amazon Kills “Deep Linking” Impacting Plex, Reelgood, and Others on Fire TV

Over on AFTVNews my friend Elias Saba reported on a new development on the Fire TV platform that will impact Plex (affiliate link), Reelgood, Just Watch and other third party content search engines. Amazon reportedly will be disabling “deep linking” which is the practice of having one app link to content inside of another app. This topic is the subject of my latest video.

What this means is that if you’re maintaining a watchlist in Plex you can still maintain that list and find new content in the Plex database on FireTV, but Plex will no longer “drop you off” in another app to watch. You can, of course, use Amazon’s built in search which will continue to deep link into supported (paying) apps. This new Amazon policy mirrors a restriction Roku has had in place for its devices.

Why are they doing this? Because home screens and platform integrated search engines are a big business. Amazon and Roku can require providers to pay to be a part of search and/or get a higher position in query results. If you’re using a third party provider to find stuff to watch that impacts the bottom line. Those third parties apps can also charge for placement in their search engines which is a competitive activity.

Roku’s business model is no secret – most of the money they make from you using the device – not buying it. That’s why Roku and Amazon devices are so inexpensive. You can learn more in this video I made a little while back diving into Roku’s financial statements.

Like everything I do on this channel I went down a rabbit hole yesterday testing how deep linking works across all of the major platforms. Here’s how the others stack up:

Roku: No deep linking allowed but their built in search has good results (for now) that will deep link elsewhere.

Android TV / Google TV: Deep linking is still allowed but I’m finding that it’s broken for the most part. Linking into Netflix works ok but many other providers don’t seem to work reliably. Some deep links bring the user to the Google Play store even if the app is already installed.

Apple TV: Apple TV’s deep linking appears to work the best right now. Most of the apps I tested work through Plex and Reelgood. Apple TV is the most expensive box because the hardware isn’t as heavily subsidized vs. the other platforms making Apple less reliant on monetizing user activities.

All that said I still think third party watchlist apps are worth using to keep track of all of the great content we have available to us these days. You can see some prior coverage I did on those apps here.

Amazon Fire TV Cube Firmware Update Fixes Some (but not all) Lossless Audio Passthrough Problems

In my original review of the 3rd Generation Amazon Fire TV Cube I said that Amazon’s top of the line streamer is not something I can recommend for enthusiasts due to issues with lossless audio passthrough in Plex and similar apps.

Enthusiasts running Plex typically stream rips of Blu-Ray movies with lossless audio tracks containing Dolby ATMOS True HD audio or one of the many flavors of DTS. The only name-brand box that does it perfectly is the aging Nvidia Shield so many enthusiasts were hoping that Amazon would offer something to meet that need as well.

And then I got a DM from my friend Elias Saba at AFTVNews.com who passed along this story about those issues being addressed in a firmware update. So, I bought another box (I sold my original one to a viewer) and posted this followup video to see if they got it fixed.

The good news is that Dolby TrueHD ATMOS audio is passing through correctly now. The bad news is that no flavor of DTS audio is passing through and it looks like Dolby Vision support for enthusiast media that was working before is no longer working. All of my titles defaulted to HDR10 even with an embedded Dolby Vision track. Dolby Vision continues to works fine in streaming apps which is probably 99% of this product’s audience.

I am going to hold onto my Cube though as it appears Amazon is trying to address this enthusiast need. As new firmwares come down I’ll continually test things to see if anything changes. Stay tuned!