Fire TV Stick 4K is my favorite streaming device of 2022

I’m a smart home fan. It is obvious to anyone who has ever set foot inside my home. With that in mind, I don’t like any unnecessary devices in my bedroom, but I don’t like yelling so loud that the Echo Show in my kitchen can hear me when I want to turn off the lights in my bedroom. Enter the Fire TV Stick 4K. With this handy little device, I can ask Alexa to turn off the lights via the remote, rather than turning up my volume so that a device across the room can hear me. It also has the added benefit of not having a built-in speaker, so the remote won’t wake me up with announcements or a boxed delivery unlike the Echo Dot.

I picked up this handy little streaming stick as an afterthought. I wanted to check out video game streaming with the Amazon Luna and the easiest way was with the Fire TV Stick. Since I already had a Roku, I didn’t expect to use the Fire TV Stick much. It turned out I was wrong. It has become one of my favorite purchases this year and solves the problem of screaming at smart devices in my kitchen. The best news? It’s only $40 on Amazon right now.

Fire TV Stick 4K features and performance

Right off the bat, the main feature of the Fire TV Stick 4K is the inclusion of Alexa. There is a blue button on the top of the remote control which when pressed activates the listening function on the remote control itself. All I have to do is tell Alexa to turn off the lights and every light in my house dims, an easy fix for when I forget to flip the switch in the kitchen before bed.

Beyond that, the Fire TV Stick 4K makes it incredibly easy to access all my favorite streaming services. Of course, Prime Video is the most popular service on the device (I mean, who would have thought?). Good thing it’s one of my favorite shows. psychic — It’s on Prime TV. Netflix, Hulu, HBO Max and every major streaming service is available. In fact, the only app I can’t seem to find on the Fire TV is Peacock.

However, it doesn’t just stream the content. Any streaming device can do this. The Fire TV Stick 4K supports Dolby Atmos, Dolby Vision and HDR10+, which virtually guarantee a viewing experience almost identical to a local IMAX trip (as long as you have a TV that can display those specs ).

The inclusion of Alexa gives it a number of other benefits as well. I can search for a show by simply asking Alexa to play it, and I can also display my security camera update on the screen, check the weather, and much more. Have you ever heard the doorbell while still in bed? You can simply ask Alexa to show you who’s at the door. Trust me, it’s great! It beats the Roku in that regard, and setup is just as easy.

My favorite device is the kind that doesn’t make me think about it, and I’ve never thought about the Fire TV Stick 4K beyond a few basic updates. In any case, most of them are done automatically. In other words, this streaming device is plug-and-play, install-it-and-forget-it.

Fire TV Stick 4K problems

Well, I could find out the truth little earlier: One major drawback is that the remote control does not have a backlight. The design is pretty simple to use (and you can use an Echo Dot or similar device to control your Fire TV if you can’t find the remote), but I’d prefer even dim lighting for use at night. There are four buttons on the bottom of the remote that will quickly load Prime Video, Netflix, Disney Plus and Hulu without having to navigate a menu, but I occasionally hit them by accident.

The other issue with the Fire TV Stick 4K isn’t with the device, but with the app. (Looking at you, HBO Max!) I, like thousands of others, keep the TV on for background noise, and more often than not, it just plays. friends again and again. For some reason, HBO Max sometimes loses video while continuing to play audio. The screen will go black or the Fire TV will throw an error message, but I can still listen to the episode in the background.

So far I haven’t really found a solution to this. A quick Google search shows that I’m far from the only user to have encountered this error, but the suggested fixes (updating the system OS, uninstalling and reinstalling the app, etc.) don’t seem to work. Fortunately, I can overcome the problem by simply going back to the home screen and resuming playback. It is not a big thing. If it does freeze, my surefire solution is to turn off the Fire TV and plug it back into the HDMI slot.

One last note. i mentioned i picked this up to test the game flow. Although it’s a certified Amazon Luna compatible device, I found the experience to be underwhelming. I suspect most of this is down to the Luna itself, not the Fire TV Stick. It doesn’t drop Wi-Fi or struggle to maintain a connection, and most of the lag comes from the games themselves. Just remember that Amazon Luna is not a replacement for a game console.

Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K. should i buy it?

I absolutely love the Fire TV Stick 4K, but that’s because I have an almost perfect use case for this device. My smart home is completely controlled by Alexa, I do most of my shopping through Amazon, and I’m a Prime subscriber. If I didn’t fit so neatly into the box, there isn’t anyway tons benefit for use with Roku or Apple TV. In fact, I think the Apple TV actually has a better interface.

But as I said. if you’re an Amazon user, the Fire TV Stick is a great addition. The ease of controlling the smart home, the simple yet sophisticated remote control, and the quality of the direct streaming and display options make it a great choice.

If you have Amazon Prime, you get free shipping, of course. Not a member yet? No problem. You can sign up for your free 30-day trial here. (By the way, those without Prime still get free shipping on orders of $25 or more.)

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Originally published December 28, 2022, 12:03 p.m