Amazon has recently introduced its second-generation Fire TV Stick 4K and Fire TV Stick 4K Max 2023 powered by MediaTek MT8696D and MT8696T Arm Cortex-A55 processors respectively and going for $49.99 and $59.99 on Amazon.
The new Fire TV Stick 4K Max model is an incremental update compared to the Fire TV Stick 4K Max (2021) with basically the same processor but clocked slightly higher, twice the storage capacity, and WiFi 6E support instead of just WiFi 6. The Fire TV Stick 4K (2023) is a more notable update compared to the very first Fire TV Stick 4K launched in 2018.
Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K / 4K Max (codenames: AFTKM and AFTKRT) specifications:
- SoC
- Fire TV Stick 4K (2023) – MediaTek MT8696D with quad-core Arm Cortex-A55 processor @ 1.7 GHz, Imagination GE9215 GPU @ 650MHz
- Fire TV Stick 4K Max (2023) – MediaTek MT8696T with quad-core Arm Cortex-A55 processor @ 2.0 GHz, Imagination GE9215 GPU @ 850MHz
- System Memory – 2GB LPDDR4
- Storage
- Fire TV Stick 4K (2023) – 8GB eMMC flash
- Fire TV Stick 4K Max (2023) – 16GB eMMC flash
- Video Output – HDMI 2.1 up to 4Kp60 with ARC input support
- Video codecs
- AV1 up to 3840x2160p (4K) @ 60fps, 100Mbps, Main Profile Level 5.1, Color space 8-bit and 10-bit input with HDR10, HDR10+, and HLG.
- H.265 (HEVC) up to 3840x2160p (4K) @ 60fps, 35 Mbps, Main 10 Profile Level 5.1, Color space 8-bit and 10-bit input with HDR10, HDR10+, and HLG.
- H.264 up to 3840x2160p (4K) @ 60fps, 20 Mbps, High 10 Profile Level 5.2
- H.263 up to 1080p30
- VP8 up to 1080p30
- VP9 up to 4K @ 60fps, Profile 2 up to 30 Mbps
- MPEG-2 up to 1080p @ 60fps
- MPEG-4 up to 1080p @ 30fps
- HDR
- Dolby Vision. Dolby Vision support for Profile 4-MEL, 5, 8, 9 (Up to Level 9 for profiles 5 and 8. Up to Level 5 for Profile 9)
- HDR10, HDR10+, HLG
- Audio codecs
- Dolby MAT transcoding for Streaming application
- Dolby Atmos, AC3 (Dolby Digital), eAC3 (Dolby Digital Plus), TrueHD
- MPEG-H passthrough
- AAC-LC, HE-AACv1 (AAC+), HE-AACv2 (enhanced AAC+), AAC ELD (enhanced low delay AAC), xHE-AAC (enhanced HE-AAC) up to 48kHz, up to 8 channels
- FLAC up to 48kHz, 2 channels, 16-bit and 24-bit (no dither for 24-bit)
- MIDI (Type 0 and 1), DLS (Version 1 and 2), XMF, and Mobile XMF. Ringtone formats RTTTL/RTX, OTA, and iMelody.
- MP3 up to 48kHz, 2 channels in DSP (16-bit and 24-bit) and software (16-bit).
- Vorbis, Opus
- PCM/Wave up to 96kHz, 6 channels, 16-bit and 24-bit.
- AMR-NB
- Opus up to 8 channels, 48 kHz
- DRM – Microsoft PlayReady 3.3, Google WideVine V16.3 L1 & L3, Fairplay V5.9.21
- Connectivity
- WiFi
- Fire TV Stick 4K (2023) – 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax Wi-Fi 6 (2.4 GHz, 5.0 dual band)
- Fire TV Stick 4K Max (2023) – 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax Wi-Fi 6E (2.4 GHz, 5.0 GHz, and 6 GHz tri-band)
- Bluetooth 5.2 + BLE
- Optional 10/100 Mbps Ethernet with external dongle
- WiFi
The Max model also comes with the “Alexa Voice Remote Enhanced” Bluetooth and infrared remote control, while the cheaper model ships with the “Alexa Voice Remote” with Bluetooth only.
The devices also ships with an HDMI extender, a power adapter, and a power cable. The 10/100M Ethernet dongle is optional.
The hardware specifications are pretty similar to the older model, but there may also be changes to audio support with some new features and codec appearing such as “Dolby MAT transcoding”, AAC ELD, and xHE-AAC. There aren’t any changes to the video codecs supported. The software has also been updated as the new sticks run Fire OS 8 based on Android 11.
You may find additional details in the announcement and the specifications page.
Thanks to TLS for the tip.
Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.
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4K Max (2023) gained +200 MHz compared to 4K Max (2021). An 11% increase if sustainable.
Based on my past use of it and everything I’ve heard, the doubling of internal storage to 16 GB will be a massive improvement, because when it fill up with apps and cache, performance tanks.
About 5.5 GB was usable out of the box, so if it’s 13.5 GB now, that’s 2.45x.
I keep running out of space on the older ones and that’s only having 3-4 apps installed, as the streaming apps end up eating up a lot of space for local caching and what not. So 16 GB should make a huge difference.
It’s hilarious these Amazon sticks still come on 8GB configurations. 16GB should be the bare minimum for the OS and a few apps, the Max should come with 32GB.
For a few years, the Amazon Kindle e-reader came in 8 or 32 GB configs. That would have been nice to see here. Except for the part where 8 GB models become screwy and get tossed as e-waste.
I’m still waiting to see if there will ever be a Fire TV 8K. As long as people keep buying these and hijacking smart TVs to substitute the Amazon ecosystem, I think it will happen eventually.
Same for Google and most other devices like this.
Can u run normal android tv on them?, or is it only meant for prime etc?
It’s Amazon’s take on Android TV, so no. But you can install most streaming apps, so no issue there.