Amazon is swapping in a slimmer, faster Fire TV Stick 4K and giving the remote a redesign.
The new stick is thinner and faster than its predecessor, according to Amazon, and ships with a redesigned remote control. Pricing follows Amazon's usual playbook: the device sells for $30 during next week's Prime Day deals event, then settles into a $60 regular retail price once the promotion ends. Amazon has not detailed the specific chip, storage, or interface changes behind the speed claims, so those remain unverified for now.
Streaming sticks are largely a loss-leader business for Amazon - the real money sits in the Fire TV ecosystem's ads and content deals, so a cheaper, snappier entry point keeps more living rooms running Amazon's software instead of Roku's or Google's. Tying the launch discount to Prime Day also turns a routine hardware refresh into a membership funnel, nudging $30 stick buyers toward Prime signups.
Thinner and faster are easy words to put on a box. We will reserve judgment on real-world speed until someone can actually clock this stick against the one it replaces.