Jordan O'BrienAmazon has launched an update to its Fire TV Stick, with the second generation model gaining an Alexa voice remote and a new quad-core processor.
While the Amazon Fire TV was updated earlier this year, with a new 4K model, the Fire TV Stick had been left well alone – after all it was a winning formula, offering the ability to watch streaming media for a rock-bottom £34.99 price.
The formula that made the Fire TV Stick a success has been messed with however – but it’s all good news; especially considering the price is expected to remain just £34.99.
With the latest model Amazon is shipping the Fire TV Stick with the Alexa Voice Remote, which was previously a £10 optional extra. The company has also upgraded the dual-core processor to one with four cores, in addition to support for faster Wi-Fi (802.11ac MIMO).
Unlike the Amazon Fire TV box, the Fire TV Stick still lacks some of the fancier features – such as the ability to handle 4K or HDR streams. At £34.99 that’s not entirely surprising, even Google’s Chromecast can’t handle 4K – which is why Google recently launched the Chromecast Ultra.
There’s no word on when Amazon’s second-generation is set to arrive in the UK, but it’s available in the US from October 20.