New Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K: Price, Specs, and Vega OS Catch
Amazon unveiled the new Fire TV Stick 4K today, priced at $59.99 and replacing both the outgoing Fire TV Stick 4K Select and the 4K Plus in one move, according to Pocket-lint. It ships today in the US, Canada, and several other markets, and Amazon is running a launch promotion that drops the price to $30 for Prime Big Deal Days next week (Pocket-lint).
The catch: this stick runs Amazon's Vega OS instead of the Android-based Fire OS used by the outgoing 4K models and the current Fire TV Stick 4K Max, and that switch blocks Android app sideloading entirely, according to XDA Developers. That's a real trade-off for anyone who's used a Fire TV Stick to run third-party or sideloaded apps outside Amazon's Appstore. Here's what actually changed, what Amazon is claiming but hasn't proven, and who should buy now versus wait.
New Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K price, release date, and specs
The new Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K 2026 costs $59.99 and starts shipping today. Amazon's own announcement lists 11 launch countries, including the US, Canada, Japan, Mexico, the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, and Australia, with additional regions arriving in late October (Amazon). Engadget lists 13 countries, adding Ireland and New Zealand to that group, so check your regional Amazon storefront directly rather than assuming your country is left out.
Under the hood, the stick packs 8GB of storage, a quad-core 1.7GHz processor, Wi-Fi 6, and Bluetooth 5.3/LE, with 4K output up to 60fps supporting HDR10, HDR10+, and HLG (Amazon).
Design-wise, it's slimmer with a USB-C port, matching the look of the Fire TV Stick HD from earlier this year, and it adds Direct Power, letting it draw power straight from a TV's USB port with the included cable instead of a wall adapter (Pocket-lint; Amazon). Amazon's announcement doesn't spell out minimum USB-power requirements, so check what your TV's port can output before counting on skipping the adapter entirely.
How fast is the new Fire TV Stick 4K, really?
Amazon's headline claim is that the new stick is 20-40% faster than a similarly priced competing 4K stick, with apps launching over 35% faster and content starting nearly 20% faster (Engadget). Amazon also says the stick beat the built-in interfaces of three top-selling 4K smart TV brands during its own internal testing (Engadget).
Those numbers need a caveat. Amazon's announcement describes the comparison only as "another leading brand" without naming it, which means the performance figures are a company claim rather than independent benchmark data (Engadget). The comparison also targets that unnamed rival, not the outgoing 4K Select or 4K Plus this stick actually replaces, so anyone upgrading from an older Fire TV Stick has no verified figure to lean on yet. Treat the speed boost as a company claim until independent hands-on reviews back it up.
Fire TV Stick 4K vs. Fire TV Stick 4K Plus: what buyers give up
Amazon has trimmed its lineup back to three tiers: the Fire TV Stick HD, the new Fire TV Stick 4K at $59.99, and the Fire TV Stick 4K Max, according to Pocket-lint.
The downgrade worth knowing about: unlike the 4K Plus it replaces, the new stick drops Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos support entirely (Pocket-lint). At $59.99, it's cheaper than the 4K Plus it's replacing, but that lower price comes with those two features cut, so this isn't a straight upgrade for home-theater setups.
The 4K Max stays on Android-based Fire OS, the only model left running it now that the new 4K stick has moved to Vega OS (Pocket-lint). When Pocket-lint asked whether Amazon plans a Vega refresh for that model, the company declined to comment on future plans, which isn't evidence a refresh is coming or being ruled out, just that Amazon isn't saying yet (Pocket-lint).
Amazon says the outgoing 4K Select and 4K Plus will stay available while supplies last (Pocket-lint), so buyers who need Dolby Vision or Atmos can still track down existing stock rather than assuming the new 4K stick covers the same ground.
Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Vega OS: what it unlocks and what it blocks
Vega OS, Amazon's Linux-based platform, debuted on the redesigned Fire TV Stick HD earlier this year, when Amazon said all future Fire TV Sticks would move to it. The new Fire TV Stick 4K is the first model in that tier to make the switch, according to Pocket-lint.
The part that matters most: Vega OS blocks Android app sideloading entirely, ending a capability plenty of Fire TV owners relied on for years, according to XDA Developers.
Amazon says more than 2,000 apps have been added to Vega OS since its debut, including Netflix, Disney+, YouTube, Prime Video, HBO Max, Spotify, Xbox, VLC, and several VPN apps (XDA Developers). That's a real expansion, but app availability can vary by region, so anyone leaning on a niche or region-specific app should verify it's actually there before giving up an Android-based Fire TV Stick.
Out of the box, the new stick also ships with Alexa+ and what Amazon calls the new Fire TV experience, a refreshed interface and companion app built around the assistant, according to Amazon and Engadget. Amazon also says a dedicated Alexa+ hub is coming to Fire TV, a menu meant to surface relevant prompt suggestions during Alexa+ interactions, according to XDA Developers. None of the sources detail how the redesigned interface performs day to day, so treat it as a confirmed feature rather than a proven usability upgrade until reviewers get hands-on time.
If sideloading matters to your daily setup, the Fire TV Stick 4K Max is currently the only model in Amazon's new three-tier lineup still running Android-based Fire OS (Pocket-lint).
New Fire TV Stick 4K remote with customizable button, and what's still coming
The redesigned Fire TV Remote ships bundled with the new stick starting today. It has a flat top and curved, weighted base for more tactile handling, a metal Home button you can find by touch, and a customizable Star button that launches a chosen app or triggers accessibility shortcuts like closed captions or Screen Magnifier (Engadget; XDA Developers). Sold separately, it costs $14.99, with US shipping for that standalone version starting in late October (Amazon).
It works with Amazon Ember TVs and Fire TV players from 2019 onward (Engadget).
Reports conflict on whether this remote includes Find My Remote. Amazon's own announcement, along with Engadget, describes Find My Remote as exclusive to the pricier Fire TV Remote Plus, arriving in early 2027 with an aluminum body and backlit buttons, set to replace the Alexa Voice Remote Pro (Amazon). XDA Developers, though, reported that the redesigned remote shipping now already includes Find My Remote. That's a direct conflict between Amazon's first-party announcement and a secondary report, and the first-party version should carry more weight until Amazon's product listing clarifies it. Until that happens, don't buy the standard remote specifically for Find My Remote.
Should you buy the new Fire TV Stick 4K now?
For a mainstream streaming setup, the case is fairly simple. $59.99, or $30 for US buyers during Prime Big Deal Days next week, gets a slimmer stick, Direct Power, a more tactile remote, and an interface Amazon says is faster, even with that speed claim still unverified by anyone outside Amazon.
For anyone who sideloads apps, needs Dolby Vision or Atmos, or wants Find My Remote confirmed before committing, holding off makes more sense. Check the Fire TV Stick 4K Max or remaining 4K Plus stock for Android support and the audio and video features the new stick dropped, confirm the apps you actually use show up on Vega, and hold off on the standard remote if Find My Remote is a must-have until Amazon clears up the discrepancy.
Comments
Be the first, drop a comment!