As part of its fall hardware refresh, Amazon on Wednesday introduced the next version of its Fire TV Stick 4K, which is now slimmer, faster, and can be directly charged via a TV’s USB port.
But the real news is that the device comes with an actually good remote control. No more blue Alexa button, a home button you can feel in the dark, a button for adding favorites, and a new shape that makes it more comfortable to hold in the hand.
It may seem funny that a remote control is the best part about the new streamer, which Amazon claims is 20% to 40% faster than leading competitors. But true TV connoisseurs know that a bad remote can ruin what would otherwise be a great watching experience. Amazon’s older voice remote wasn’t terrible, but it had plenty of room for improvement.
The new one features a different shape and curvature that make it easy to hold and point at the TV. Its buttons and layout have also been redesigned with an eye towards how people often use their remote controls: in a dark room.
If you’ve spent any time with remote controls, you know that you can sometimes struggle to find and mash the right button when you can’t see the device well, especially if the icons on the buttons don’t make much sense.
That was the case with the older remote, which featured a prominent, blue Alexa voice button at the top center. That button has now been replaced with a more subtle black microphone button at the top right, which also has a slight dish at the top, so you can find it by feel.
The new remote’s home button can also be found with touch only, as it has a metallic finish (and an orangeish-reddish hue) that makes it feel distinct. The power button at the top left is recessed, which helps you avoid accidentally turning off the device, and the D-pad is flatter, which makes it easier to roll your thumb around. Lastly, the center of the D-pad now has a more tactile click.
And, in response to user feedback, there’s finally a favorites button you can program to launch a preferred app or even enable an oft-used option, like toggling Closed Captions or Dialog Boost.
The new remote control will come with the Fire TV Stick 4K, but is also being sold separately for those who just want an upgrade.
The 4K Stick itself has 8GB of internal storage, a quad-core 1.7 GHz processor, and support for Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.3, and Bluetooth Low Energy. It also supports HDR10, HDR10+, HLG, H.265, H.264, VP9, and AV1 video formats, and can output at 2160p, 1080p, and 720p resolutions at up to 60 frames per second.
The 4K Stick joins the full lineup, which also includes an HD Stick, a 4K “Max” Stick (faster, more storage), and the Fire TV Cube.
The Fire TV 4K Stick is priced at $59.99, but will launch at a discounted price of $29.99. It’s initially available in the U.S., Canada, Japan, Mexico, United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Australia and New Zealand.
The remote will ship in late October, and costs $14.99 in the U.S.
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