/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24937547/Screenshot_2023_09_20_at_11.52.52_AM.png "Amazon announces faster, smarter streaming sticks and new Fire TV Soundbar")
Today, Amazon is introducing its latest streaming players, the upgraded Fire TV Stick 4K ($49.99) and Fire TV Stick 4K Max ($59.99). During the company’s fall hardware event, Amazon’s Daniel Rausch said both devices feature upgraded processors for faster performance compared to their predecessors.
The standard Fire TV Stick 4K is 30 percent more powerful than the previous model, offers Wi-Fi 6, and 4K streaming. The Max builds on top of that with Wi-Fi 6E along with broad HDR support for Dolby Vision, HDR10, and HDR10 Plus. It also offers Dolby Atmos. For just $10, I’m not sure who wouldn’t opt for this one over the regular stick, but not everyone needs those frills for all of their TVs, I suppose.
Rausch also announced a new $119.99 Fire TV Soundbar that will be compatible with the company’s existing streamers and Fire TV-branded televisions. He didn’t make any big claims about sound quality, so it sounds like this is being positioned as a simple solution for anyone who wants to step up from their TV’s built-in speakers. The Fire TV Soundbar is available beginning today.
During his presentation, Rausch demoed a smarter, more comprehensive Alexa voice experience coming to Fire TV products that’s based upon Amazon’s new LLM Alexa model. Once the software update is released later this year, search will get more powerful, with Alexa able to whittle down recommendations based on your conversation.