Amazon Drops Two Fire TV Sticks and Recycles a Name

Amazon on September 30, 2026 pulled the Fire TV Stick 4K Select and Fire TV Stick 4K Plus, then put the old “Fire TV Stick 4K” name on a new Vega OS stick that lists at $59.99.

Four devices remain on the official ladder: the Fire TV Stick HD, the new 4K, the Fire TV Stick 4K Max, and the Fire TV Cube. U.S. shoppers can buy the new stick at $29.99 during Prime Big Deal Days on October 6 and 7, which is 50% off that list price.

Amazon Cut Two Sticks and Reused a Name

Amazon’s device blog said it is streamlining its stick lineup to three tiers: HD for everyday streaming, 4K as the new core 4K stick, and 4K Max for games and home theater. The Cube stays on sale for people who want hands-free Alexa+.

That is the cleanup. The naming is the mess it is cleaning up. Until late 2025, “Fire TV Stick 4K” was the 2023 Android stick. Amazon renamed that unit the 4K Plus after it launched the cheaper 4K Select. On September 30, 2026, both of those names left the official chart, and “Fire TV Stick 4K” came back for a Vega stick that does not match the old 4K’s Dolby Vision or app rules.

Select and Plus do not vanish overnight. Amazon said other existing models stay available while supplies last, so a shopper can still see five Fire TV boxes on a product page this week. The simpler ladder is a catalog decision, not an empty warehouse.

The New 4K Stick Lists at $59.99

The new Fire TV Stick 4K for $59.99 started shipping on September 30, 2026 in the United States, Canada, Japan, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, and Australia, with more countries due in late October. It uses the slimmer shell Amazon first put on the HD stick, and it can take power from a TV USB port through the included cable.

Inside, Amazon lists a quad-core 1.7 GHz processor, 8 GB of storage, Wi-Fi 6, and Bluetooth 5.3 plus Bluetooth Low Energy. It outputs 2160p, 1080p, and 720p at up to 60 frames per second, and it plays HDR10, HDR10+, and HLG. It does not play Dolby Vision. Codecs include H.265, H.264, VP9, and AV1. Alexa+ and the current Fire TV interface ship on the device.

The 1.7 GHz figure matches the HD class Amazon already sells. The speed pitch is aimed at a rival 4K stick Amazon will not name, and at the apps built into three 4K smart TVs it also left unnamed.

SPEED CLAIMS AMAZON PUBLISHED

• Versus a rival stick: Amazon says the new 4K gets people to content 20 to 40% faster than a similarly priced 4K stick from another leading brand.
• App launches: Apps open over 35% faster on Amazon’s tests.
• Playback start: Content starts playing nearly 20% faster than that unnamed rival stick.
• U.S. sale price: The $29.99 offer for Prime Big Deal Days on October 6 and 7 is 50% off the $59.99 list.

Direct Power is the change that actually clears space behind a TV. The wall adapter was the extra brick that turned a cheap dongle into a cable nest, and this 4K stick can skip that brick when the set’s USB port can feed it. If the TV has no spare USB, a USB-C cable and a wall adapter still work.

A Year of Select, Plus, and a Name Shuffle

The 4K Select was Amazon’s first Fire TV product on Vega OS. It launched on September 30, 2025, one year to the day before Amazon replaced it. The 4K Plus was not a new chip in a new box. It was the 2023 Fire TV Stick 4K with a new label, added after Select took the cheap 4K slot.

Amazon listed the Fire TV Stick HD launched at $34.99 on April 15, 2026, and called it about 30% slimmer than the last HD stick, with Direct Power and Wi-Fi 6. That HD model’s current U.S. list is $39.99. The new 4K sits above it as the 4K default, which is the job Select was supposed to hold for a full generation.

THE FIRE TV NAME PILE-UP

1. October 25, 2022: Amazon ships the third-generation Fire TV Cube, still the Cube on sale in 2026.
2. September 27, 2023: The second-generation Fire TV Stick 4K and Fire TV Stick 4K Max go on sale as the 4K pair.
3. September 30, 2025: Fire TV Stick 4K Select launches as the first Vega Fire TV stick, and the 2023 4K is later renamed 4K Plus.
4. April 15, 2026: Fire TV Stick HD arrives in the slimmer Direct Power shell at $34.99.
5. September 30, 2026: A new Fire TV Stick 4K on Vega replaces Select and Plus on the official ladder, and the 4K name returns.

Killing Select this fast tells you Amazon treated it as a Vega beachhead, not a long-life SKU. The new 4K is that beachhead with Wi-Fi 6, USB-C power, and a remote people can use without looking down. Owners of Select units were not told of any support change. They just no longer buy the model Amazon wants in the middle of the shelf.

Vega OS Now Owns the Mid-Range

The new stick runs Vega, Amazon’s Linux-based Fire TV system, not the Android-based Fire OS used on the 4K Max. Since the first Vega Fire TV product, Amazon said it has added over 2,000 apps, including Spotify, Xbox, VLC, and several VPNs, on top of Netflix, Disney+, YouTube, Prime Video, HBO Max, Peacock, Tubi, Pluto, and Instagram.

What it does not offer a regular buyer is Android-style sideloading from outside Amazon’s Appstore. That is the quiet half of the lineup cut. The cheap and mid 4K path is now a closed store. The Max is the stick Amazon still sells for people who want Fire OS, Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos, extra storage, Wi-Fi 6E, and Alexa+ Home Theater.

App makers still have a lab path. Amazon’s Vega docs describe Developer Mode on Vega Fire TV so developers can load test packages, which is not the same as a viewer installing an Android APK from unknown sources. Future Max hardware, if Amazon follows the line it has already drawn for new sticks, is expected to land on Vega too. The Max on sale now is the holdout.

THE 2026 FIRE TV LADDER

Leftover Select and Plus listings sit beside that table until stock runs out. Plus is the awkward one: it still offers Dolby Vision and Fire OS at a mid price, which is the combination the new 4K does not replace.

A Remote Built to Be Used in the Dark

The stick ships with a new Fire TV Remote. Amazon is also selling the new Fire TV Remote for $14.99 on its own, with U.S. shipments starting in late October, for people who want the shape on an older Fire TV box. It pairs with Amazon Ember TVs and with Fire TV players launched from 2019 onward.

Aidan Marcuss, Amazon’s VP of Fire TV, posted the launch the same morning and pointed at speed plus the tactile remote, not at the two SKUs that disappeared.

Today we're launching an all-new Fire TV Stick 4K and a new Fire TV Remote. The new 4K stick gets you to content fast and the new remote features more tactile controls. Check them out: https://t.co/NnImaUHf2G pic.twitter.com/lSbz8cWPwC

— Aidan Marcuss (@AidanMarcuss) September 30, 2026

WHAT CHANGED ON THE REMOTE

• The shape: A flat top and a curved, weighted bottom so you can tell which way you are holding it without looking.
• The home key: A distinct metal surface on the button Amazon said is pressed over 100 million times per day across Fire TV devices.
• Other keys: Indented or uniquely shaped so volume, playback, and the ring can be found by touch.
• Star button: A customizable control, previously kept on the premium remote, that can open an app or toggle closed captions or Screen Magnifier.
• TV keys: Power, volume, and mute for a compatible TV, soundbar, or receiver, as on earlier Fire TV remotes.

Find My Remote is not on this $14.99 unit. That feature, plus an aluminum shell and backlit keys, is reserved for Fire TV Remote Plus, due early in 2027 as the replacement for Alexa Voice Remote Pro. Saying “Alexa, find my remote” will make that later remote play a sound, through a compatible Alexa device, the Alexa app, or a Remote Finder control in the Fire TV mobile app.

The home button, pressed over 100 million times per day on average across Fire TV devices, now has its own distinct metal surface, and other buttons on the remote are indented or distinctly shaped to make finding them intuitive by touch alone.

Amazon, Fire TV hardware announcement, September 30, 2026

The remote is the piece of this launch you can judge in a dark room without a spreadsheet. The stick’s closed app store is the piece you only notice after you hunt for a player Amazon does not stock.

What the 4K Max Still Offers

Amazon kept the Fire TV Stick 4K Max on the chart at $84.99 and described it as the stick for gamers and home theater, with more storage, Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos, and Alexa+ Home Theater. It is also the last Fire TV stick Amazon still sells on Fire OS.

If you care about Dolby Vision, a full Android-style app library, or installing apps Amazon does not list, the new $59.99 stick is the wrong row. The Max is the row Amazon is keeping. Leftover 4K Plus units, while they last, are the last mid-price way to get that same Fire OS and Dolby Vision mix without paying Max money.

The $29.99 U.S. intro on the new 4K will pull a lot of carts because it undercuts that choice on price. It does not undercut it on picture format or on who is allowed to install software. Buy the sale stick for Netflix, YouTube, Prime Video, and the new remote. Buy the Max, or remaining Plus stock, if the living-room test is Dolby Vision or an app that never showed up in Amazon’s store.

Hands-Free Alexa+ Still Lives on a 2022 Cube

The Fire TV Cube remains the top box at $199.99, with hands-free Alexa+ and voice control, and it is still the 2022 model. Amazon did not announce a new Cube on September 30. The “best Fire TV streaming product” line is unchanged, which means the flagship of the simplified ladder is almost four years old.

Software is where Amazon is spending. A dedicated Alexa+ hub on Fire TV is due in November 2026 in the U.S. on Fire TV Stick 4K Max (2nd gen), the Cube, Amazon Ember TVs, and partner sets with Fire TV built in, including Hisense and TCL. Amazon said Alexa+ will reason across subscriptions, watch history, and availability, with questions such as a Marvel watch order or Emmys shows that were snubbed. The new Fire TV Stick 4K and more countries get that hub in early 2027, the same window as Fire TV Remote Plus.

Amazon also said it has folded live listings from over 40 apps, including YouTube TV, Peacock, Tubi, Sling TV, and DirecTV, into the Fire TV interface, and that a Fire TV mobile app update will let Alexa+ turn an article or a photo into a watchlist. Those features land on a ladder whose mid 4K stick no longer matches the 4K name people already own.

The catalog now reads HD, 4K, Max, Cube. The $29.99 U.S. price on October 6 and 7 will make the new Vega 4K the default Amazon dongle in a lot of carts. The 4K Plus still sitting in leftover bins is the last mid-price Fire OS stick Amazon is willing to sell, and it will not be there once those bins are empty.