The new Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max sees its first discount ahead of Black Friday.
As the second most powerful Fire TV device Amazon’s ever released, the Max was already competitively priced at a $55 MSRP. But now it’s quite the bargain, more than a third off, at $35.
The original 4K Stick was already pretty snappy, but the Max ups the ante with a beefier processor, more memory, and WiFi 6. In fact, Retro Game Corps indicates it’s about 75% as capable as the exceedingly capable NVIDIA SHIELD but at a fraction of the cost.
The updated remote bundled with the Max is something of a mixed bag, as Amazon has succumbed to spam buttons (thanks Netflix) but adds a live guide shortcut to quickly surface live streaming or over-the-air antenna content… via Amazon’s also-on-sale Recast DVR ($130).
The Recast DVR remains interesting. I don’t think Amazon has seen a lot of uptake as they continue to sell the original model. And I find the 720p transcoded picture quality somewhat inferior to competitors and the DVR management more cumbersome. HOWEVER, it’s pretty darn economical when on sale … and fee-free! Plus the direct integration into Fire TV and Echo Show are quite compelling. Jared Newman shares similar over at TechHive.
TiVo is testing a Stream with updated hardware. I’m curious to find out what new features it might offer? Perhaps the availability to view TiVo recordings?
Too late for us if TiVo will let you view recordings with a new Stream device. Switched to the Channels DVR and love it. No turning back.
Dave – I’ve been using the recast for 2-3 years and it’s just not that good. I think the issue runs deeper than Amazon not making a new product. They released the recast kind of half-baked and never circled back to it. I have to reboot the thing pretty regularly and it fails half the time I try to use it with my echo shows. I could go on with the issues (large and small), but I would be hard-pressed to recommend it to anyone.
I bought a new 4K Amazon Max Streaming Stick on Black Friday. It’s my 1st Amazon streamer. I set it up which was easy. Now it appears over half of my 65inch TV screen is filled with a Chevy Corvette photo and advertisement. I’m too old to fit in one of these things without a nurse to remove me.
The meat and potatoes streaming stuff and apps are all in tiny icons and not intuitive to find. The Amazon UI dev team folks need to hit the drawing board or hit the road. I love Amazon but this almost full screen advertising when I start this streaming stick is annoying. Reminds me of TiVo’s annoying streaming front-roll ads every time I start to watch a recorded program.
I think I’ll stick with my Roku which just puts on my screen what I tell it to…mostly.