Amazon has introduced a new FireStick HD, which replaces FireStick Lite and FireStick 3rd Gen, the two entry-level devices. This post covers everything you need to know about the new model.

Amazon has launched a new streaming stick, the Amazon Fire TV Stick HD. The latest model replaces the Fire TV Stick Lite and Fire TV Stick, the company’s entry-level streaming devices.

Although Amazon has not formally announced the new FireStick HD at the time of writing this article, it is available for order at Amazon.

Amazon is seemingly on a spree to release new devices, as this comes only a few days after it launched four new Kindles.

However, Amazon is not the only one offering new devices. Roku and Google have also unveiled new streaming devices, such as the Roku Ultra and Google Streamer.

The Fire TV Stick HD, priced at $34.99, replaces the FireStick Lite and 3rd Gen FireStick. Amazon is even offering a 20% discount for trade-ins of the outgoing Firesticks.

What’s New?

The Fire TV Stick HD looks like its predecessors. The compact streaming stick still attaches to your TV’s HDMI port and has a USB cable and plug. The Fire TV remote is still black and rectangular. However, the edges of the new remote are smoother and rounder. Overall, the remote is more compact and slimmer.

The new remote also features additional buttons. These include the power and volume buttons, which let you control your TV without the TV remote. The remote also has four pre-programmed app buttons, as seen in the Fire TV Stick 4K, 4K Max, and Fire TV Cube remote controls.

Apart from the outer look, the most important part of the new Fire TV Stick HD remote is the Alexa voice control feature. The Lite and 3rd Generation models lacked the Alexa Voice remote. With the new FireStick HD, all Amazon streaming devices are now Alexa-powered. You can use the FireStick HD Alexa remote to control other connected home devices like soundbars and cameras.

Regarding the specs, the new Fire TV Stick HD lets you stream in full HD, 1080p. This is a good look for an entry-level streaming device, and it’s great if you want to transform your HD non-smart TVs into smart TVs.

It also supports most video formats, including HDR10, HDR10+, HLG, and VP9. For audio, supported formats include HDMI audio passthrough of Dolby-encoded audio. Unfortunately, FireStick HD doesn’t support Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos.

There are no changes storage-wise because the new model offers up to 8GB like its other counterparts. It is powered by a 1.7 GHz Quad-core processor and 1GB RAM.

Fire TV Stick HD supports Bluetooth 5.0 and Bluetooth Low Energy to pair seamlessly with other devices like headphones and game controllers. Moreover, the Wi-Fi 5 compatibility provides decent streaming speeds.

Like the other advanced streaming sticks, Fire TV Stick HD offers many hours of free and paid content. Free apps like Freevee, Pluto TV, and Tubi let you watch up to 300,000 movies and TV shows for free.

On the other hand, subscription-based apps like Netflix, Disney+, and Prime Video will provide access to over 1.5 million on-demand videos. Music apps like Pandora, Amazon Music, and Spotify also offer access to millions of songs and albums.

For gaming enthusiasts, Fire TV Stick HD lets you into the world of online games through Amazon Luna.

Wrapping Up

Amazon has introduced another FireStick model, Fire TV Stick HD. First, the Fire TV Stick HD brings intelligence and online streaming capabilities to non-smart TV owners. Alexa adds to this ability, especially for users with other Amazon smart home devices. All these features are available at the entry-level price of $34.99.

Secondly, the new  FireStick HD brings the total number of Amazon Fire TV streaming devices to 4 from 5. The difference between FireStick Lite and 3rd Gen FireStick has been solved. Moreover, there is a clear distinction between FireStick HD, FireStick 4K, FireStick 4K Max, and Fire TV Cube.

The Lite and 3rd Gen Fire TV Stick are still on sale, but Amazon clarified that they won’t make more of them. Read our full comparison review for a guide to help you explore all streaming devices from Amazon.