This was quickly fixed by going into the settings of the Fire Stick.

With NBN 50 internet, the Fire Stick had a few buffering delays, but loaded much faster when I upgraded to NBN 100. I signed into all of my most-used apps and with the TV ready to go, I booted up Disney+ and started watching The Book of Boba Fett. It didn’t set me up for a terrific UI experience, but I was soon impressed. This took a minute or two to scroll through. I use a TCL with integrated Google TV, so I selected TCL… Which was near the bottom of a drop-down menu which listed hundreds of TVs.

It runs through some calibration stuff with your TV in setup and asks you what apps you’d like installed from the getgo (I selected Netflix, Stan, Disney+, Twitch and YouTube).Īlso when setting up, it asks you what your TV model is (for better integration). Setting up the Fire Stick was also easy, requiring you to sign in with an Amazon account. It’s odd seeing Micro USB again in 2022, but it’s not a bad thing in this case. The Fire Stick is powered externally, via a wall socket and a Micro USB connection. If it can’t exactly fit in there (like with my TV) you also get a small extension cable, about 10cms. It includes the small Stick module where all the magic happens, which attaches via an HDMI port in the side of your TV. I look forward to using it when I stream something on my TV. No Binge, No Kayo, Needs sound calibration, less apps than Google TV. When I put the Fire TV Stick 4K Max beside alternatives like the Chromecast with Google TV ($99), the Chromecast 3rd Gen ($60) and the Apple TV 4K 32GB ($249), the Fire TV Stick 4K Max is the clear winner.Īmazon’s latest 4K TV streaming dongle. What criticisms I’ve built up around the Fire TV Stick 4K Max are menial, which I’m very happy to say considering I’ve been pretty disappointed with my TV’s inbuilt Google TV (it’s a bit slow and freezes often). It feels more powerful and capable than my Chromecast 4K, my inbuilt Google TV operating system and leaves me with a better impression than its closest rival, the Chromecast with Google TV.

The Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max is probably the most enjoyable streaming device I’ve used on a TV. BTW - prices are accurate and items in stock at the time of posting. We have affiliate and advertising partnerships, which means we may collect a share of sales or other compensation from the links on this page. At Gizmodo, we independently select and write about stuff we love and think you'll like too.

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