Skip to main content

Digital Trends may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Why trust us?

Amazon simplifies its lineup with the new Fire TV Stick HD

A promo image of the Amazon Fire TV Stick HD.
Amazon

It’s a little hard to believe we’ve gone through most of 2024 without a new Amazon Fire TV Stick. That is, until now. The Fire TV Stick HD has been announced, with the $35 device reducing the Fire TV Stick lineup from four to three and in the process replacing the two oldest sticks in the family. The $40 Fire TV Stick and the $30 Fire TV Stick Lite will still be around while they’re in stock. But after that, they’re gone.

The other two current devices remain the second-generation Fire TV Stick 4K, and the second-gen Fire TV Stick 4K Max, which we still consider to be the best Fire TV Stick to get.

Recommended Videos

There’s not a ton to write home about here. The Fire TV Stick HD, as the name implies, tops out at 1080p. It does support HDR, HDR 10, HDR10+, and HLG, but there’s no Dolby Vision, or Dolby Atmos for audio, for that matter. (It does support HDMI passthrough of Dolby-encoded audio, though.) It comes with the basic Alexa Voice remote, uses the older Wi-Fi 5 (that’s 802.11ac) standard, and has just 8GB of storage for apps and movies or whatever, along with 1GB of RAM. It’ll work with Amazon’s Luna cloud gaming service, but not Xbox Game Pass.

And it’s still using Micro USB for power. In 2024.

It’s also lacking other Fire TV OS features like the Ambient Experience, which allows for AI-generated artwork, and you won’t even get picture-in-picture support on this stick.

So this stick’s as much about Amazon consolidating things at the low end as it is anything else. Good for a spare room, perhaps, but probably not for your living room.

Phil Nickinson
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Phil spent the 2000s making newspapers with the Pensacola (Fla.) News Journal, the 2010s with Android Central and then the…
Amazon celebrates a decade of Fire TV with (what else?) an AI update
Search results for The Sandlot on Amazon Fire TV.

Ask Alexa for the movie with the famous line "You're killin' me, Smalls!" and it will know it's from "The Sandlot" and where you can stream it. Phil Nickinson / Digital Trends

When Amazon unveiled the current generation of Fire TV hardware and software at its fall event at HQ2 in Virginia, it spent a fair amount of time showing off search improvements thanks to AI. Now those improvements will start to really see the light of day.

Read more
Hisense takes its Amazon Fire TV QLED televisions to Costco
A promo lifestyle image of the Hisense QD6 television.

Let it never be said that there aren't enough smart TV available from enough retailers. To wit: Hisense is taking its QD6 series with Amazon Fire TV on board to Costco.

The range starts at $199 and comes in a spread of 43, 50, 55, 65, and 75 inches. All but the largest are available now in stores or online. The 75-incher — which tops out at just $579 — will be available on the Costco website on June 10.

Read more
Samsung prices its entry-level S85D OLED TV starting at $1,700
Samsung S85D 4K OLED TV.

In January, Samsung teased that it would be adding a new line of OLED TVs priced below the S95D and S90D. That new model is the S85D and we now know that it will come in 55-, 65-, and 77-inch sizes, with prices starting at $1,700. This puts Samsung and LG on an even playing field in terms of OLED pricing, at least as it relates to LG's OLED C4 lineup.

Samsung has also confirmed new sizes for its S90D OLED TV, which will now be available in tiny (42-inch) and huge (83-inch) versions in addition to the previously announced 48-, 55-, 65-, and 77-inch models.

Read more