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Wednesday, September 30, 2026

Amazon Launches Faster Fire TV Stick 4K and Redesigned Remote, Adds Alexa+ Hub to Fire TV Interface

Wed, Sep 30, 2026 1:00 PM
Amazon Launches Faster Fire TV Stick 4K and Redesigned Remote, Adds Alexa+ Hub to Fire TV Interface

Amazon says its new Fire TV Stick 4K streaming device is the zippiest model it’s ever produced — claiming it not only powers up faster but also launches apps more than 35% faster than competing products.

In addition, the new device features a redesigned remote with more tactile controls, so the buttons can be found by touch alone. The home button has its own distinct metal surface, and other buttons on the remote are indented or distinctly shaped.

The new Fire TV Stick 4K starts playing content nearly 20% faster than “a similarly priced 4K stick from another leading brand,” according to Amazon. In its testing, the company said, the Fire TV Stick 4K also launched the three most popular apps on the platform faster than “the built-in experience of three 4K smart TVs from top-selling brands.” (Amazon reps declined to identify which competitors it ran the benchmark tests against.)

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The new Fire TV Stick 4K has a “direct power” feature, which lets users power the device using a TV’s USB port by using an included cable.

Fire TV Stick 4K is priced at $59.99 and starts shipping Wednesday, Sept. 30. Initially, it’s available in the U.S., Canada, Japan, Mexico, U.K., Ireland, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Australia and New Zealand, with additional countries following in late October.

The new Fire TV Remote is available now for pre-order as a standalone option for customers who want to upgrade their existing Fire TV device. It will start shipping in late October for $14.99 in the U.S.

In early 2027, Amazon will launch the new Fire TV Remote Plus, which will feature an aluminum housing and backlit buttons (replacing the Alexa Voice Remote Pro). Fire TV Remote Plus will include a built-in “find my remote” feature, which lets you say “Alexa, find my remote” and your remote will play a sound to help you locate it.

Amazon now offers three Fire TV Stick models: Fire TV Stick HD ($39.99), with support for 1080p HD; Fire TV Stick 4K ($59.99), which provides up to 4K Ultra HD resolution; and Fire TV Stick 4K Max ($84.99), designed for gamers and home-theater fans with even faster speeds, more storage and premium features like Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos and Alexa+ Home Theater. In addition Amazon still offers Fire TV Cube ($199.99), which includes hands-free Alexa+ functionality and voice control.

Overall, since releasing the first Fire TV product built on Amazon’s Vega operating system in 2025, the company has added over 2,000 apps, including Spotify, Xbox, VLC and a range of VPNs. That’s in addition to popular apps like Netflix, Disney+, YouTube, Prime Video, HBO Max, Peacock, Tubi, Pluto TV and Instagram.

Meanwhile, Amazon is adding a dedicated hub for Alexa+ on Fire TV that provides “smarter reasoning” when recommending movies and shows.

According to Amazon, Alexa+ “won’t just be matching keywords; it will be reasoning across a customer’s subscriptions, watch history, availability and world context to answer more nuanced questions.” For example, you will be able to ask more complex questions such as, “Alexa, I’m diving into the Marvel universe. Show me the movies in the universe timeline order” or “Alexa, find shows that were nominated for the recent Emmys but got snubbed.”

The Alexa+ updates on Fire TV will begin rolling out to U.S. customers in November on Fire TV Stick 4K Max (2nd Gen), Fire TV Cube, Amazon Ember TV, and partner TVs with Fire TV built-in, such as those from Hisense and TCL. The features will expand to the new Fire TV Stick 4K and to more countries early next year.

In other enhancements to the Fire TV interface, Amazon said it has now integrated live content from over 40 apps, including YouTube TV, Peacock, Tubi, Dish’s Sling TV and DirecTV. In addition, the interface’s Games hub now brings cloud gaming across Xbox, Luna and Nvidia GeForce Now into one experience, with merged game pages and a redesigned row to search by genre. There’s also a Creators hub, which aggregates content from top digital creators.

On the mobile front, Amazon is upgrading the Fire TV app to use Alexa+ to help users discover shows and manage watchlists. If you’re reading an article about recommended movies or shows, you can now share that link with the Fire TV mobile app — and Alexa+ turns the article into a curated list (and can add it to their watchlist). The app also lets you send photos of something that remind you of a movie or show (like a poster, a real-world location, a screenshot of a scene or meme) and send it to the app, and Alexa+ then tries to identify the picture and provide recommendations based on it.

The Fire TV mobile app will start to roll out to U.S. customers this year and will expand to more countries early next year.

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