Want an Amazon Fire TV Stick? Here’s why you should wait until Prime Day 2021
Amazon’s own streaming devices are often the main focus of its Prime Day sales
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AmazonFire TVstreaming devicesare a great choice for those in the market for a budget streamer, andPrime Day 2021may well be the best time to do it.
Amazon Prime Day (landingJune 21-22this year) is a time when the online retailer slashes prices across vast swathes of its product stock: everything from thebest TVsand streaming sticks to home appliances and vacuums. But the company’s own ranges of Amazon-branded products are often pushed the hardest in the sales.
It makes sense for Amazon to highlight the first-party products it has the biggest margins on, and it certainly helps that the Fire TV range is full of some great streamers.
The first Fire TV streamers were launched as far back as 2014, and Amazon has had a sizeable presence in the streaming hardware market ever since. You won’t get the mid-sized Fire TV streamer anymore, but there is a host of streaming sticks as well as a more decked-outFire TV Cubeoption for those with the cash for it – all of which we’ll run you through below.
Budget sticks and fancy cubes
Streaming sticks are a quick and affordable solution for those with asmart TVwith a basic interface and limited app support – or even those still holding on to a ‘dumb’ TV without smart capabilities at all. All you need is an HDMI port to plug a streamer into, and you can get started.
The cheapest option is theAmazon Fire TV Stick Lite, which launched in 2020. This basic streaming stick only offers Full HD streaming, though it does pack inHDRsupport and 60fps playback for smooth motion and rich color (provided you have a TV capable of those formats). You won’t, however, get volume or TV controls on the Alexa voice remote, meaning you’ll have to juggle it alongside your TV remote.
The best thing about the Fire TV Stick Lite, though, is the price. It costs $29.99 / £29.99 / AU$59.99 for most of the year, though sales could see it knocked down even further. We’ve seen the Litediscounted to just $19.99 in the US– making for a third off – and similar prices are possible in other regions.
It’s a short uptick in price for theFire TV Stick (2020), a slightly more specified Full HD model that retails at $39.99 / £39.99 / AU$79. The model is broadly similar to the Lite, but packs inDolby Atmosaudio capability (again, if your TV orsurround sound systemsupports it) as well as including AV and volume controls on the Alexa voice remote.
If you’re after4KHDRstreaming, though, you’ll want theFire TV Stick 4K, an identically-looking streaming stick that supportsUltra HDresolution. That brings the cost up to $49.99 / £49.99 / AU$99 – though we’ve seen that figure drop by 20% before,to just $39 in the US.
It’s very likely we’ll see discounts across all three of these streaming sticks, meaning you can get the Fire TV Stick (2020) for the price of the Lite, and the Fire TV Stick 4K for the price of the step-down Full HD model – so it’s well worth your while keeping an eye on the sales.
Of course, if you have the cash on a high-endstreaming devicelike theApple TV 4K 2021orNvidia Shield TV Pro, Amazon has its own alternative for you to consider: theFire TV Cube.
The Fire TV Cube is a curious invention, one that melds the streaming smarts of a Fire TV Stick with the audio capabilities of anAmazon Echospeaker. It can act as an AV control center, and means you won’t need a separatesmart speakerin your living room (if that’s something you were considering). It currently retails for $119.99 / £109.99 (around AU$160), though we’ve seen that figure cut tojust $99.99 in the USand£69.99 in the UK, meaning big savings are possible.
Of course, given it’s been two years since a Fire TV Cube model launched, the hardware is possibly due a refresh, and it might be worth waiting for Amazon to do so – though there’s no telling when that could happen, or if it’ll see a new lease of life at all.
If you want to make the most of the savings in this year’sPrime Day deals, then it’s worth deciding which streamer takes your fancy – and you can always opt for a budget streaming stick like the Fire TV Stick Lite if you’re only looking for a temporary measure before Amazon brings out a new iteration of the Cube.
Can’t wait until Prime Day, or don’t need an extra saving? Check out the best deals on Fire TV streamers in your region below:
TechRadar is rounding up all the top deals in the run up to the Amazon Prime Day 2021 sales period, and we’ve put together a hub of all the AmazonPrime Day 2021news you’ll need to prepare yourself for the discount period.
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Henry is a freelance technology journalist, and former News & Features Editor for TechRadar, where he specialized in home entertainment gadgets such as TVs, projectors, soundbars, and smart speakers. Other bylines include Edge, T3, iMore, GamesRadar, NBC News, Healthline, and The Times.
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