Amazon’s New $60 Fire TV Stick 4K Leaves Android Behind. Know What You’re Giving Up

Amazon’s best-selling streaming stick just changed what’s under the hood. The new Fire TV Stick 4K, on sale since September 30 for $59.99, no longer runs Fire OS, the Android-based software that has powered Fire TV devices for a decade. It runs Vega OS, Amazon’s own platform. For most people that switch will be invisible. For anyone who treats a Fire Stick as a cheap little Android box, it’s a dealbreaker.

What you get for $59.99

The hardware is a solid step up. According to Thurrott, the stick uses a quad-core 1.7GHz processor with 8GB of storage, Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.3. It supports HDR10+ and the AV1 codec, and it uses the slimmer body Amazon introduced with the Fire TV Stick HD. A new perk: it can draw power from your TV’s USB port instead of needing a wall outlet, as 9to5Google notes.

Amazon’s speed claims vary depending on how they’re framed. The company says the stick is “around 20-40% faster in most tasks compared to other 4K streaming devices and TVs,” and specifically that apps launch more than 35% faster and content starts nearly 20% faster than competing 4K models. Those are Amazon’s numbers, not ours, but the direction is believable given the newer chip.

The remote got a redesign too: an asymmetric shape with a flat top and rounded bottom, a metal home button you can find by touch, a customizable Star button and IR controls for TV gear. Amazon will sell it on its own for $14.99 starting in late October.

How it compares with the 4K Max

The one notable omission is Dolby Vision. If your TV supports it and you care, you’ll need to step up to the Fire TV Stick 4K Max.

The catch: no more sideloading

Here’s what matters most to Android Captain readers. Fire OS was Android underneath, which meant you could install apps from outside Amazon’s store, whether that was a niche media player, a smart home dashboard or a utility Amazon never approved. Vega OS shuts that door. There is no sideloading.

Amazon’s explanation, given to The Athletic and reported by The Next Web, is that the change is meant “to support creators and protect customers, because piracy can expose users to malware and fraud.” Piracy is clearly a target. But legitimate tinkerers lose out too, and there’s no setting to opt back in.

Don’t expect regulators to force the issue, at least in Europe. The Next Web points out that the EU’s Digital Markets Act requires gatekeepers to allow outside app installs on their designated operating systems. Amazon is a designated gatekeeper, but only for its Marketplace and advertising businesses, and Vega OS isn’t on the list. In the U.S., there’s no comparable rule at all.

Amazon’s counterargument is the app catalog. It says Vega OS has added more than 2,000 apps over the past year, including Spotify, Xbox and VLC. If every service you use is already there, you may never notice the difference.

Who should buy it, and who shouldn’t

If you want a fast, cheap 4K stick for Netflix, Prime Video and the big-name apps, this is a good one, and at the $29.99 Prime Big Deal Days price on October 6 and 7 it’s an easy impulse buy. Alexa+ is built in, too.

If you bought a Fire Stick because it was secretly an Android device you could bend to your will, don’t upgrade. Hang on to your current Android-based model, or look at a Google TV device instead, where Android apps and sideloading remain part of the deal. Amazon has made its choice. You should make yours knowing exactly what it costs.

Sources: 9to5Google, Thurrott, The Next Web. Photo by Jonas Leupe on Unsplash.