In what continues to be a busy period for Amazon’s R&D department, the company has announced that its newest Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K model offers Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos and 4K HDR support for a mere $50/£50.
The next generation of Amazon’s popular video streamer, the Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K, accompanies the Fire TV 4K box, and does a lot more than its voice-supporting predecessor.
Support for 4K, Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos and HDR10+ is packed into the stick, allowing it to line up quite strongly next to the Google Chromecast Ultra dongle (offering support for 4K and HDR, at higher price), although of course, we won’t see Google’s next upgrade until next week.
Amazon states the 2018 version is its stick is “80% more powerful” than its 2017 model, a quadcore 1.7GHz processor, in addition to a 802.11ac WiFi chip and upgraded antenna technology for 4K streaming and quicker load times.
Voice control on the accompanying Alexa-powered voice remote means the stick can support commands like "find 4K movies” from owners, particularly targeted at making navigating the many titles on the company’ Prime Video platform easier. The remote comes with the Fire Stick, and can be purchased separately too. Other Alexa devices can also be paired for greater TV control.
The Fire TV Stick 4K will start shipping from October 31 in the US and Canada, followed by a 14 November release for Germany, India and the UK.