Professional’s Ranking
Professionals
- 16GB of storage
- All fashionable streaming providers
- Ambient Expertise and generative AI
Cons
- Nonetheless an excessive amount of self-promotion
- Voice Distant Professional would have been good
- Micro-USB energy connector
Our Verdict
The identify could be a mouthful, however the 2nd-gen Hearth TV Stick 4K Max is likely one of the greatest (and greatest worth) streaming sticks on the market in case you want all of the bells and whistles.
In 2024 Amazon’s Hearth TV Stick will have fun its 10th anniversary, and it isn’t exhausting to see why it’s so fashionable. The cheap streaming machine is a small dongle that plugs into an HDMI port and offers any TV entry to a great deal of streaming providers.
It’s an inexpensive option to improve an older good TV, and a superb choice if you wish to use a spare pc monitor as a small TV within the kitchen or a bed room.
You possibly can even bung it in your suitcase and take it on vacation to plug into your resort room’s TV.
Hearth TV Sticks are recognized for being low-cost, so how does this newest, most costly mannequin evaluate for worth?
Options & design
- Up to date design
- Wi-Fi 6E
- Micro-USB energy connector
That is the primary time Amazon has modified the look of the Hearth TV Stick, though these modifications solely lengthen to some extra rounded corners.
It’s nonetheless a black, plastic dongle and you continue to get a brief HDMI extension within the field in case it isn’t attainable to plug the twond-gen 4K Max straight into one among your TV’s inputs.
What hasn’t modified is the annoying micro-USB energy connector. It’s a minor gripe because it isn’t as in case you’ll be disconnecting the facility cable fairly often. Given the value enhance, it will have been good to see a USB-C port.
Jim Martin / Foundry
The additional cash has gone on a barely quicker processor (a quad-core 2GHz) and, usefully, double the storage of the unique 4K Max. With 16GB on board, and round 12GB of precise, usable storage, you may set up a bunch of apps and video games with out worrying an excessive amount of.
Wi-Fi has been upgraded to 6E, which means this new 4K Max can reap the benefits of the 6GHz band
Plus, Amazon has lastly began rolling out an Auto-offload characteristic which uninstalls apps you don’t use usually when that storage is sort of full. It’s a characteristic customers have been requesting for some time, so it’s good that it’s taking place.
There’s nonetheless 2GB of RAM, however Wi-Fi has been upgraded to 6E, which means this new 4K Max can reap the benefits of the 6GHz band. That’s solely you probably have a Wi-Fi 6E router, although, and it’s shut sufficient. In any other case, it’ll nonetheless use 5- or 2.4GHz identical to older Hearth TV Sticks.
You continue to get an influence provide within the field, and it’s nonetheless the identical 5W mannequin as ever, which means the twond-gen Hearth TV Stick 4K Max makes use of barely any energy regardless of these {hardware} upgrades.
Additionally within the field is an Alexa Voice Distant Enhanced. It’s not fairly the Voice Distant Professional, which has backlit buttons and the power to beep once you lose it, but it surely does have extra buttons together with one for settings and one other for dwell TV.
Throughout setup it’ll determine find out how to management your TV so you need to use it to regulate the amount, change channel and different issues with out having to succeed in in your unique TV distant. The actual fact it makes use of infrared permits it to regulate all kinds of kit which is one thing you may’t do with a Roku or Apple TV distant.
As a substitute of creating all 4 of the lower-most buttons shortcuts to particular streaming providers, the UK model allocates one to Apps. Though you may ask Alexa to launch any app together with your voice, you continue to need to press a button to try this as there’s no hands-free Alexa right here.
So the shortcut could be very welcome because it saves just a few button presses to navigate via the house display to all apps, and was one among my criticisms of the older streaming stick’s distant.
Audio and video help is unchanged from the unique 4K Max, so there’s Dolby Atmos, Dolby Imaginative and prescient, HDR10+ and HLG. Video as much as 4K60 is supported, however whether or not you’ll get any of it will rely on the precise content material you’re watching and your AV tools.
One other helpful characteristic is Alexa Dwelling Cinema, which helps you to pair as much as two Echo audio system and an Echo Sub
One other helpful characteristic is Alexa Dwelling Cinema, which helps you to pair as much as two Echo audio system and an Echo Sub. You’ll then hear audio from these audio system as an alternative of your TV, and it’s attainable to regulate any delay to remove lip sync points.
Jim Martin / Foundry
Higher nonetheless, the 4K Max (each generations and the brand new 2nd-gen Hearth TV Stick 4K) helps you to hear different sources related to your TV, similar to a video games console, via these Echo audio system by utilizing your TV’s HDMI ARC port.
Final, however not least, it’s good you can management the amount of related Bluetooth audio system (or headphones) with the distant’s quantity buttons. Most older Hearth TV Sticks can’t do that.
Interface & content material
- Barely improved
- Extensive selection of apps and video games
- Ambient Expertise
The Hearth TV interface is one thing that appears to divide opinion. Some say it’s unintuitive, others that it’s too cluttered with adverts and self-promotion.
I fairly prefer it, total, however that may very well be as a result of I’ve Hearth TV Sticks for all of the TVs in my residence and I’m used to it.
There’s no denying that the house display promotes Amazon’s personal content material on Prime Video and Freevee far more than every other streaming service, and it grates to typically see banner adverts in the course of the rows of content material. Admittedly, I didn’t see any of those whereas testing this time round, simply numerous SPONSORED rows of content material.
Jim Martin / Foundry
It’s straightforward to seek for issues to look at, although. There are numerous methods to do it, however the best is simply to press the Alexa button on the distant and ask for no matter you’re feeling like. For instance, you may say “Alexa, present me spooky reveals” or “Alexa, present me some good motion films”.
Later in 2023 – within the US a minimum of – homeowners will be capable to ask much more nuanced and open-ended questions similar to “Alexa, discover me motion films with automobile chases” or “Alexa, present me comedies which might be free to me”.
Jim Martin / Foundry
Plus, one thing I and many individuals have wished for a very long time is being added: a ‘proceed watching’ row.
Though that’s in virtually each streaming app (and on the Apple TV) already, you’ve at all times been pressured to launch the app first and use its personal Proceed watching part to hold on the place you left off.
Hopefully, this replace will clear up that individual woe and might be rolled out within the UK as nicely very quickly.
One factor that isn’t new however worthy of a point out is the Stay TV row which shows all of the reveals which might be at the moment being broadcast dwell from the apps you’ve gotten put in. That didn’t fairly work as anticipated: I noticed solely ITV and Prime Video channels and nothing from BBC, Channel 4 or different UK streaming providers.
Jim Martin / Foundry
Whenever you press the Stay TV button on the distant you get a conventional EPG that reveals what’s on. It’s odd seeing this for Prime and Freevee, given it’s all obtainable on demand.
After all, it’s most helpful when dwell sports activities are on, and naturally Prime Video has some dwell sport now similar to Premier League matches and Rugby Union.
Unique to the brand new 4K Max is a characteristic known as Ambient Expertise
Unique to the brand new 4K Max is a characteristic known as Ambient Expertise. Till now, this was obtainable solely on Amazon’s Omni QLED TVs. It’s a cross between a display saver and an Amazon Echo Present, and is totally customisable.
Jim Martin / Foundry
You possibly can select from a wide range of background kinds – largely static, however just a few animated – and determine whether or not you need widgets to be displayed on prime of them.
There are eight to select from within the UK together with climate forecast, your calendar, reminders and sticky notes. It’s also possible to work together with some widgets, such because the good residence one which means that you can flip lights on and off, or alter the thermostat temperature in case you personal appropriate good gadgets.
Ambient Expertise performs good with Ring doorbells (identical to the earlier 4K Max did) and it’ll additionally allow you to stream music from Spotify, Amazon Music and different providers.
In case you like art work, Ambient Expertise consists of over 2000 curated items with the good contact of displaying details about what you’re .
Jim Martin / Foundry
Amazon’s purpose, simply as on the Omni QLED, is to supply helpful info and delightful pictures once you’re not watching movies. It gained’t enchantment to everybody, however in case you use Alexa for good residence already and use the app for reminders and calendar, the widgets would possibly nicely be really helpful.
Jim Martin / Foundry
Whenever you head into the settings, it’s good that there are distinguished warnings to OLED TV homeowners that displaying static info can result in burn-in, in addition to the choice to show widgets that disappear after a short while.
And only for completeness, it’s value saying you can set Ambient Expertise to show photographs you’ve uploaded to Amazon Pictures. However that is one thing all Hearth TV Sticks can do.
Worth & availability
Within the UK, the Hearth TV Stick 4K Max 2nd gen prices £69.99 from Amazon, which is a full £15 greater than the unique.
US consumers aren’t hit with such a hike: solely $5 extra at $59.99 from Amazon.
This implies the 2023 Hearth TV Stick 4K Max is best worth within the US, and a more durable promote within the UK.
Nonetheless, realizing that Amazon often reductions its good residence {hardware} for Prime Day, Black Friday and in different seasons, there’s each probability you may choose one up so much cheaper in case you can watch for a type of gross sales.
If not, you should buy the twond-gen Hearth TV Stick 4K for £10 / $10 much less. The one variations are that it has half the storage, Wi-Fi 6 and no Ambient Expertise. Oh, and the included distant is the usual model with fewer buttons.
After all, you may as well learn our full roundup of the very best streaming gadgets if you’d like various choices.
Ought to I purchase the twond-gen Hearth TV 4K Max?
Objectively, that is the very best streaming stick Amazon has ever made. It’s probably the most highly effective, has probably the most storage and probably the most options.
It’s additionally the most costly, and also you won’t use or profit from a few of the options. Others, such because the generative AI capabilities, aren’t obtainable but and there’s no telling how lengthy it is going to be earlier than they’re obtainable within the UK: there aren’t any ensures and Amazon hasn’t even talked about rolling them out anyplace besides the US.
Nonetheless, even with that caveat, it’s nonetheless a fantastic selection. There’s not loads of level in saving £10 / $10 and going for the twond-gen Hearth TV 4K as an alternative; in case you’re on a good price range and nonetheless want 4K both wait till these newest fashions are discounted in a sale, or search for an older refurbished or pre-owned one.