Technology is evolving every day, similarly, tech products are getting a major upgrade. Today we will talk about Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max which is an upgraded model of Fire TV Stick 4K. The Fire TV stick 4K Max is available for ₹6,499 on amazon.in. There is no physical design change as it looks exactly the same as Fire TV Stick 4K and it will be hard to distinguish between both the products. The Fire TV Stick 4K is available for ₹4,499 which can be grabbed at discounts also.
Coming back to Fire TV Stick 4K Max in this the Max stands for 40 percent more powerful than the previous gen., which ultimately results in apps launching faster and navigating in UI of Fire TV Stick 4K Max feels fluid and shutter or lag-free. It is packed with more RAM so that the user gets a better experience in app reloads. It has a major upgrade from Wi-Fi to Wi-Fi 6 which performs wireless streaming smoother. It also bundles with a new remote which is the Alexa Voice remote which comes in handy to give Alexa commands.
As we have mentioned earlier it is very hard to differentiate with the standard Fire TV Stick 4K. Amazon could have upgraded to USB-C for the (required) plug-in power instead of the Micro USB on its side. The plugging of Fire TV Stick 4K Max into the HDMI port of the TV, finding the outlet and connect it with USB power adapter. It also comes with two AAA batteries for the remote which can be installed to switch on the Fire TV Stick 4K Max. The new remote not only includes the Alexa button but also dedicated TV controls for power and volume. And you’ll also find four branded shortcuts for Prime Video, Netflix, Amazon Music and a dedicated apps button. These buttons can be reprogrammed but it is a tough job. The Alexa button works not only for voice searches but also smart home commands. The Fire TV Stick 4K Max comes with a picture-in-picture view of your home cameras, this feature we have seen in the Fire TV Cube can also. The new remote also has a guide button which is easy to do a quick toggle with the live TV from supported services that integrate directly with Amazon’s channel guide.
When you talk about the visual capabilities of both the Fire TV Stick 4K Max and Fire TV Stick 4K are identical as they offer Dolby Vision, HDR10+, HDR10, and HLG. One major upgrade made to newer hardware is the support of AV1 video decoding which will be useful for YouTube.
The Audio for both the Fire TV sticks supports the same Dolby Atmos, the newer one is running on Fire OS 7 which gives full Atmos support for Netflix which can’t be experienced in the old Fire TV Stick. The experience of more immersive audio can be achieved using the Atmos soundbar or surround system.
The Fire TV Stick 4K Max runs on Fire OS 7 which is the latest and it offers to create user profiles that give a personalized touch to each user. The new Hardware comes with CPU and GPU upgrades, also has 2GB RAM instead of 1.5GB RAM. The app load is much faster than the Fire TV Stick 4K.
The user will see banner ads on the home screen and also TV becoming a giant rotating billboard for content or ads when in screensaver mode which I personally don’t like at all. If you are getting the 4K experience with the Dolby Vision, HDR 10+ and Atmos at ₹6,499 then you have to make some compromises with ads. If you want ad-free use then one can look for an expensive alternative like Apple TV 4K.
The Fire TV Stick 4K Max adds in the lineup with the Fire TV Stick Lite, Fire TV Stick, Fire TV Stick 4K, and the second-gen Fire TV Cube. The speed enhancements of Fire TV Stick 4K Max do make for a more satisfying user experience. And your home network isn’t yet running on Wi-Fi 6, but it can be looked at as future proof technology. The Fire TV Stick 4K Max checks nearly all the boxes for a fast and powerful media streamer, robust app support, app launches quickly and can control your smart home too.