While most modern TVs tend to have some form of smart TV platform, that doesn’t mean it will be any good or work with your ecosystem. That’s why streaming sticks like the Fire TV are great; it works for TVs without a smart TV platform and allows you to be part of an ecosystem you’re familiar with. There’s even a great 4th of July sale going on right now on the Fire TV Stick 4K Max from Amazon, bringing it down to $25 rather than $55.
Why you should buy the Fire TV Stick 4K Max
With so many options for Fire Sticks, it can be hard to pick between the Fire TV Stick vs. Fire TV Stick 4K Max vs. Fire TV Cube, especially if you’ve just started taking a look at Fire TV sticks. Well, the long and short of it is that the Fire TV Stick 4k Max is likely what you want to aim for since the Cube has a ton of more complex features and has an associated higher cost, while the Fire TV Stick 4k is an older version of the Max that’s 60% less powerful. One of the most significant upgrades over the previous version is the inclusion of Wi-Fi 6, which gives you a more stable and faster connection overall when working with Wi-Fi 6 routers. It also means you don’t have to spring for Amazon’s ethernet adaptor, which is overpriced and clunky; at that point, you might as well go for the Cube.
Besides that, you get an extra half gig of RAM, bringing the total up to 2GB, and the new MediaTek MT8696 is 40% faster than the old one. Put those two new bits of hardware together, and you get an overall smoother experience when using the Fire TV Stick, which is what we’d expect, given how long the tech has been around. The Fire TV Stick 4k Max also comes with the new Alexa remote, which essentially functions as your Amazon hub when you’re around the TV. That means you can use it both as a regular TV remote and with the included microphone and give it any voice command you’re used to giving Alexa on your phone or Amazon smart speaker.
All in all, the Fire TV Stick 4k Max packs many features, and for just $25 from Amazon rather than the usual $55, it’s an excellent 4th of July deal. On the other hand, if you’d rather skip the stick and go for a TV with Fire on it, check out these great Amazon Fire TV deals instead.
