At a glance
1. Best overall
2. Best for 1080p
3. Best performance
How to choose
A streaming stick is a cheap, easy-to-use device that brings you all of the content of a smart TV into your living room, and Amazon makes some of the best devices. The best Fire Stick offers plenty of performance and storage, support for all the major HDR standards, fast Wi-Fi, and access to all of the popular streaming services.
Our best overall pick is still the Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K as it offers 4K streaming, a handy Alexa remote, and Wi-Fi 6. It's easily one of the best streaming devices your can add to your TV. After reviewing and testing most of the Fire TV Stick options in the wild, we've summed up the best ones based on your needs.
At a glance
Best overall
The Fire TV Stick 4K supports 3840x2160 resolution as well as HDR, has Alexa built into the remote and you can control your TV with it. It has almost everything you would want in a streaming stick, at the right price.
Best for 1080p
The 2024 refresh of the Fire TV Stick is now called the Fire TV Stick HD. It replaces the older model and the Fire TV Stick Lite, so there's just one model for 1080p streaming. It also has an Alexa-enabled remote that can control your TV.
Best performance
This 2023 refresh of the Fire TV 4K Max has all of the options of the "standard" 4K stick, but with a more powerful processor, twice the storage of the previous model, and Wi-Fi 6E support.
Best overall
The Fire TV Stick 4K isn't the highest-end stick you can get from Amazon, but it comes with all of the most important features like support for 4K resolution and all the HDR formats. All of the Fire TV Sticks come with an Alexa-capable voice remote, but this model also supports TV controls so you can adjust your volume without looking for your TV remote. You can search and start movies and TV shows with just a voice command, so there's no need to waste time looking for the right app.
This stick supports an output resolution of up to 3,840 x 2,160 pixels, as well as all popular HDR formats like Dolby Vision, HDR, HDR 10, HDR10+, and HLG, so you can make the most of streamed content and get the most out of a newer TV. Amazon refreshed this model in 2023 with a faster processor and added Wi-Fi 6 to the mix.
While some folks won't need 4K just yet, if you think you might be upgrading your TV in the near future, the extra features will be nice to have.
Best for 1080p
Amazon streamlined its lower-end Fire TV Stick devices by launching a "new" Fire TV Stick HD in October 2024, replacing the Fire TV Stick and Fire TV Stick Lite. While you can still buy the latter two devices till stocks last, you probably shouldn't since the Fire TV Stick HD costs just $35, and is often on sale for about $20.
The Fire TV Stick HD is without a doubt the best 1080p Fire TV Stick you can currently buy. This version has plenty of storage, and a powerful 1.7GHz CPU with 1GB of RAM. Everything points towards it being similar to the outgoing Fire TV Stick, so performance should be similar too. While it doesn't support Dolby Atmos directly, it can do HDMI passthrough of Dolby-encoded audio.
You also get the same Alexa Voice Remote as the 4K version with TV controls. The new remote looks a bit more rounded than the previous one, and the Alexa symbol on the button is now a microphone. The Fire TV Stick HD is one of the best options for adding a bit more functionality to a 1080p non-smart TV. Since you can change your TV volume and power from the remote, you don't need to turn over cushions looking for more than one controller.
Best performance
Take all of the great things that you know about the Fire TV Stick 4K, add Wi-Fi 6E support, twice the storage, along with updated internals, and you get the Fire TV Stick 4K Max. At first glance, this offers the same great experience as the regular TV Stick 4K. However, Amazon includes a faster CPU, GPU, and 2GB of RAM instead of 1.5GB in the older model. In our Fire TV Stick 4K Max review, we noted how we appreciate the addition of Ambient Experience feature, which basically turns your TV into a digital painting, similar to the feature found in Samsung's 'The Frame' TV series.
Amazon claims the new processor offers better performance, which essentially equates to faster app starting and smoother navigation. And as we continue to see the rise in adoption of the best Wi-Fi 6E routers, the Fire TV Stick 4K Max will be able to take advantage of those faster speeds. That means less time waiting for your 4K HDR movie to start when you press play. Plus, you'll be able to use Live View picture-in-picture to keep an eye on the front door, or make sure that your little one is still enjoying their nap.
How to choose
Pick the right Fire Stick for your TV
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Amazon makes some of the best streaming devices around. Its Fire TV operating system is beloved for its ease of use and hooks into Amazon's media ecosystem. Even though the lineup of streamers isn't too complex, there are still some choices to be made when distinguishing between these devices.
Our pick for the best Fire TV Stick is the Fire TV Stick 4K. It has all the specs of higher-end streaming boxes, but comes in a modest size at a fantastic price. The Fire TV Stick or Fire TV Stick Lite are also good options, but the price is so close to the 4K version that they only make sense right now if you don't have or plan to get a 4K-enabled TV. To keep your connections safe, you can even use a VPN for your Fire TV Stick.
If you just need 1080p streaming for a smaller TV in the bedroom or your monitor, the new Fire TV Stick HD is the only option, making the sorting process even simpler. You no longer have to decide between the Fire TV Stick or the Stick Lite since the Stick HD offers all the features of its predecessor, but at prices (during frequent sales) of the Lite version.
Another reason why you might want to consider picking up one of the best Amazon Fire TV Sticks has to do with the company's renewed focus on updates. Amazon announced that it's guaranteeing at least four years of security updates for Fire TV devices. And the best part is that this new update policy includes older streaming sticks like the original Fire TV Stick released in 2016.
If you do choose to pick one of these Fire TV Sticks up, we can guarantee you that you'll enjoy your streaming media experience.
