Fortunately, content searches aggregate multiple services outside of Amazon, so you can probably find whatever movie or TV show you want to watch if you ask Alexa for it. The home screen’s content recommendations are predictably Amazon-centric, with an occasional row of suggestions from HBO Max and other services thrown in as you scroll down. If you really want to play games on the device, though, you should consider getting an Amazon Luna Controller and the Amazon Luna game streaming service for much better options than the overwhelming number of simpler, adapted-from-mobile games in the Fire TV store.
Some games are available as well, and you can pair a Bluetooth controller with the stick. There are also thousands of additional, smaller apps and services spanning many different interests and regions. If you use your TV's audio or any speakers connected to it, most big music streaming services are also available, including Amazon Music, Pandora, SiriusXM, Spotify, Tidal, and YouTube Music. All of the major video streaming services are here, including Amazon Prime Video (of course), Apple TV, Disney+, HBOMax, Hulu, Netflix, Paramount Plus, Peacock, Twitch, and YouTube. Fire TV FunctionalityĪs a Fire TV device, the Fire TV Stick 4K Max is loaded with apps and features, built around a friendly but visually dense tile-based interface. The remote can directly control your TV’s audio over HDMI-CEC. Menu, playback, and TV volume controls can be found below it, with dedicated service buttons for Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, Hulu, and Netflix farther down. Power and Alexa buttons sit above the pad, along with a pinhole microphone. The included remote is standard Fire TV fare, a flat black wand with a prominent circular navigation pad near the top. Aside from the power cable and adapter, the stick includes a short HDMI extender, in case the ports on your TV are too tightly packed. The stick is intended to be powered with the included USB-to-micro USB cable and wall adapter Amazon doesn’t recommend trying to run it off of your TV’s USB ports, which might be underpowered. For comparison, the $119.99 Fire TV Cube, which offers hands-free Alexa voice control, has dual CPU cores (2.2GHz and 1.9GHz) and a 800MHz GPU. It features a 1.8GHz CPU and a 750MHz GPU compared with the Fire TV Stick 4K’s 1.7GHz CPU and 650MHz GPU, and has half a gigabyte more memory, for a total of 2GB. A Wi-Fi 6 radio (801.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax) is the most obvious addition, but it’s a bit more powerful as well. While it doesn’t feel any different, the Fire TV Stick 4K Max has some small upgrades over the Fire TV Stick 4K on the inside. There are no other connections on the device, and no indicator lights or controls. A newer USB-C port would have been nice as it’s easier to plug in, but since it’s only used for power, it’s understandable why Amazon didn’t bother to even change the stick’s plastic casing to accommodate a different port. The side of the stick holds a micro USB port, just like the Fire TV Stick 4K. It’s a plain, rectangular black stick measuring 3.9 by 1.2 by 0.6 inches (LWD), with an HDMI plug sticking out of one end. Physically, the Fire TV Stick 4K Max is identical to the Fire TV Stick 4K.
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