What’s The Difference Between The Original Fire Stick And The 4K Fire Stick?
These days, you would be hard-pressed to find someone who has not yet cut the cord to rely on streaming services for their TV viewing entertainment. There are many options available out there for streaming your favorite content. Amazon’s line of Fire Stick products is among them, but you might wonder whether it’s worth choosing the 4K version or the original Fire Stick.
Table of Contents
- What’s The Difference Between The Original Fire Stick And The 4K Fire Stick?
- What’s the Difference Between the Two Fire Stick Versions?
- Is It Worth Upgrading to the Fire Stick 4K if You Have the Original Fire Stick?
What’s The Difference Between The Original Fire Stick And The 4K Fire Stick?
Compared with the original Amazon Fire Stick, the Amazon Fire Stick 4K is larger, has better, more powerful Bluetooth performance and is faster. However, if you mount your TV to the wall, the Amazon Fire Stick 4K will also stick out from the TV’s edge, which could be an annoyance for some people.
What Are the Pros and Cons of the Amazon Fire Stick and Amazon Fire Stick 4K?
The pros of the original Amazon Fire Stick are that it has Dolby Atmos support and its remote has controls for your TV. The cons of the Fire Stick are that it lacks an Ethernet connection and doesn’t support 4K or HDR.
The Amazon Fire Stick 4K’s pros are that it has support for 4K, HDR, Dolby Atmos, and Dolby Vision. However, a con for some is that it doesn’t come equipped with an Ethernet connection.
Both Fire Stick versions can stream all the major streaming services, which is a huge advantage for anyone considering buying one of them.
However, unlike some streaming devices, Amazon Fire Stick and Fire Stick 4K are not able to stream live TV channels. This might be a big downside for certain viewers.
Certain subscriptions for streaming services require the Amazon Fire Stick 4K instead of the original Fire Stick. For example, if you have one of the pricier Netflix subscriptions, you cannot stream content with the original Fire Stick due to the necessity for more bandwidth.
What’s the Difference Between the Two Fire Stick Versions?
The original Fire Stick is slimmer and more compact than the Fire Stick 4K. This makes sense due to the fact that the Fire Stick 4K packs more power and is capable of connecting to Bluetooth 5.0 and buffers twice as much memory. The 4K version, however, is also bulkier, which might be an irritation to some users.
A major difference between the original Amazon Fire Stick and the Fire Stick 4K is that the 4K is 80% faster, according to Amazon.
It offers support for better quality streaming, but it’s not necessarily easy to find 4K or HDR content to stream on Amazon Prime, Netflix, or Hulu.
It’s possible to search for it specifically while using Alexa, which can then present options for you.
One large difference between the original Fire Stick and the Fire Stick 4K is that only the 4K has shortcut buttons for four streaming services at the bottom of their remotes.
You get those in the form of Amazon Prime, Netflix, Disney+ and Hulu.
With the original Amazon Fire Stick, you get basic buttons on the slim remote and voice control. The Fire Stick 4K has more bells and whistles in comparison, including a microphone for voice control.
Is It Worth Upgrading to the Fire Stick 4K if You Have the Original Fire Stick?
If you own the original Amazon Fire Stick, it might feel outdated at this point, considering all the newer technology that’s come out since its release. You might wonder if it’s worth upgrading to the Fire Stick 4K.
Considering that the Fire Stick 4K has a better, more powerful remote and a slew of upgraded features, it’s not a bad idea to upgrade.
You can open certain streaming services with a simple touch of a button on the remote or do so using the Alexa voice feature.
The original Amazon Fire Stick has very limited storage at only 8 GB and only 1 GB of memory. However, the Amazon Fire Stick 4K is also equipped with only 8 GB of storage.
In some situations, you might find yourself in need of freeing up space if you receive a “Critically Low on Storage” message appearing on your TV screen.
Fortunately, it’s possible to free up storage on your Fire Stick 4K by uninstalling any apps you don’t use. You can also do it by clearing app data and the cache before resetting your Amazon Fire Stick 4K. Follow the instructions on your TV while using your streaming device and you will be left with a few extra GB.
When you upgrade from the original Amazon Fire Stick to the Amazon Fire Stick 4K, it’s possible to access certain content that you would not otherwise be able to see. You cannot access anything in 4K quality with the original Fire Stick.
Certain additional services allow you to access content that might otherwise be restricted.
There are no volume or mute buttons on the original Fire Stick by Amazon, which could be a letdown for many users these days. By contrast, the Amazon Fire Stick 4K has those buttons.
This is convenient if you prefer not to have to stand up and change the volume on your TV itself and want a mute button.
The overall price of the Amazon Fire Stick 4K should please anyone who is considering upgrading from the original Fire Stick.
The regular retail price for the streaming device is now $35, but it’s possible to snag it for even cheaper with good deals and depending on where you purchase it.
At the end of the day, if you have the original Amazon Fire Stick from 2014, it’s definitely time to upgrade to the Fire Stick 4K.
Although both of these Amazon streaming devices share many things in common, their differences are notable and the improvements on the Fire Stick 4K make it well worth upgrading.
You can also take advantage of better viewing options with your subscriptions on your favorite video streaming services.