Amazon’s smart tv content streamer FireTV Stick 4K Max is a must have if you have a tele that just doesn’t have the smarts, or does but you want an alternative to its native OS.

Without re-reviewing the FireTV Stick 4K Max again, I’ll do a real quick recap.

Clearly it is 4K compatible, hence the product name, but will work on any scale TV. The FireTV Stick 4K Max connects in to your screen via HDMI and does require USB power (Amazon provide you with a AC adaptor).

And while you can stream all your favs and do movie or series marathons with Prime, Netflix, Disney and more, Xbox has recently released an app for the FireTV Stick 4K Max.

You’ll need a GamePass subscription, and once you’ve got that you can start streaming gameplay.

Get yourself a Xbox One or Xbox Series X|S gamepad, sync it up via Bluetooth and start gaming – without a console.

While there can be some delays in connecting to Xbox Cloud (or there was in my experience) and a few attempts at syncing up the Xbox controller, once your connected, you’re good to game, without the need of an Xbox console.

Having played games via GamePass on the Firestick 4K many times now, I can say that gameplay is fluid without any framerate drop or connection problems (once in-game).

With Xbox now available on Amazon’s FireTV Stick 4K Max places the smart streaming device an all-round entertainment hub.

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If you happen to still be rocking a 10+ year old flat screen TV, then it’s likely it doesn’t have the smarts of a new model.

If that’s the case, there’s no need to head out and replace when Amazon has the perfect solution to bring your tele in to 2023 with the Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max.

In the box you’ll get everything you need to get yourself up and running in no time.

Set up requires you to power the Fire TV Stick 4K Max via USB and plug it in to one of the TVs spare HDMI ports.

I recommend here that you get the Alexa App for your smartphone. This makes set up easier and future customisation by way of features and options ensured.

You’ll need to use the Fire TV Stick 4K Max’s remote to go through the onscreen guide, get the unit connected to your home’s WIFI and before you know it, your aging but still good tele has all of the smart features of a new one, in 4K.

Now it is true that you ideally should have a 4K TV to actually get that crispy high res picture. And while most 4K TVs are already newer smart TVs, 4K monitors aren’t. So yeah, you can use a monitor just as effectively as you use a home TV.

On offer is a smorgasbord of apps with streamable content. Netflix, YouTube and of course Amazon Prime.

Whichever you subscribe to, log in and begin your content streaming.

There’s more to the Fire TV Stick 4K Max though.

With built-in Alexa you can control your Fire TV Stick 4K Max with voice, and as mentioned, if you get the Alexa app you can integrate the Fire TV Stick 4K Max with your phone.

The Fire TV Stick 4K Max also has Ambient mode. You can have artwork across your screen when the TV is not in use for series or movie marathons. There’s Alexa Widgets too, which offer up nuggets of info that pertain to you. Again it is up to you to personalise the Fire TV Stick 4K Max (and Alexa app) to your liking.

For only around a hundred bucks the Fire TV Stick 4K Max is a fantastic device that’s designed to breath new life in to older or cheaper non-smart flat screen TVs or stream content on 4K monitors.

Stream like you mean it and give Alexa the control of your TV time with the Fire TV Stick 4K Max.

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Amazon announced a range of updates to its popular Fire TV family, introducing the most powerful Fire TV Stick yet the all- new Fire TV Stick 4K Max, now with the Fire TV Ambient Experience.

“Our mission for Fire TV is to reinvent what customers can expect from a smart TV experience. The Fire TV Ambient Experience transforms the TV into a beautiful, always-smart display, not only making smart TVs smarter and more useful, but transforming the home into something more beautiful,” said Patrick Walker, Country Manager of Amazon Devices, Australia and New Zealand. “We’re thrilled to bring the Ambient Experience, featuring work from local Australian artists, to customers in New Zealand with the new Fire TV Stick 4K Max.”

The new Fire TV Stick 4K Max is the first streaming media player to come with the Fire TV Ambient Experience, and features an upgraded 2.0 GHz quad-core processor, making it Amazon’s smartest and most powerful streaming stick yet. The Fire TV Stick 4K Max is the industry’s first streaming stick to include support for Wi-Fi 6E, meaning customers with a compatible router can enjoy the smoothest streaming experience with lower latency, faster speeds, and less interference from other Wi-Fi-enabled devices in the home. With ultra- cinematic, vibrant 4K Ultra HD, and support for Dolby Vision, HDR, HDR10+, and immersive Dolby Atmos audio, the new Fire TV Stick 4K Max delivers Fire TV Stick’s best visual and audio experience yet.

Fire TV Stick 4K Max features 16GB of storage, doubling the previous generation’s capacity – enabling customers to store even more apps and games directly on the device, including ThreeNow, TVNZ+, Sky Sport Now, Neon and more. It is also the first Fire TV Stick to come with the Alexa Voice Remote Enhanced, giving customers a “Recents” button for one-touch, instant access to their most recently used app or channel.

Fire TV Ambient Experience—Now available on the all-new Fire TV Stick 4K Max, and upgraded with hundreds of new pieces of free artwork, including from renowned Indigenous Australian artist Biddee Baadjo, and Australian contemporary artist Nicole Blake

The Fire TV Ambient Experience transforms the TV into a beautiful, always-smart display, and is now available with the launch of the all-new Fire TV Stick 4K Max.

The Ambient Experience can turn the TV into an in-home art gallery, with no monthly subscription required.

Today, Amazon added hundreds of new images to a collection of more than 2,000 free, gallery-quality pieces of artwork, and expanded its collection to include artists from Australia, France, Spain, Italy, and Japan with art from notable institutions including Musée d’Orsay in Paris, Museo del Prado in Madrid, and Galleria d’Arte Moderna in Florence.

Customers can also choose from motion graphics, landscape art, and personal photos. As part of the new Ambient Experience, there is artwork available to showcase in homes across the world from renowned Indigenous Australian artist Biddee Baadjo, and Australian contemporary artist Nicole Blake. “Having the opportunity to have my work reach Fire TV customers and be displayed on screens across the globe is something special,” said Nicole. “I create art with the goal of infusing beauty into the world, and through this collaboration I hope to continue this mission and bring the wonder of Australia’s natural landscape, as well as more joy, directly to the home.”

Customers can activate the Ambient Experience when not streaming by holding down the “Home” or “Alexa” buttons on the remote—or simply by asking Alexa—to replace blank TV screens with helpful information and beautiful artwork. With the Ambient Experience, customers can also see glance-able information like their schedule with Calendars and

Reminders, leave Sticky Notes for family members, control smart devices like a thermostat or Ring doorbell, and play audio from services like Amazon Music and Spotify.

The all-new Fire TV Stick 4K Max uses more-sustainable materials and implements a design that reduces its overall lifetime energy consumption. The wood-fiber based materials in the devices’ packaging is made from responsibly managed forests or recycled sources, and the device includes Low Power Mode, which conserves energy when a device goes to sleep due to inactivity.

The Fire TV Stick 4K Max is available for pre-order from today and will begin shipping to customers from September 27th 2023.

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The days of expensive set top boxes cluttering your TV unit are well and truly over.

As we all progress in to smart TVs in our homes and gaming dens, depending on your particular model, you’ll find there’s an App for everything.

But not all smart TVs have all of the apps, and cannot install everything – or do not have any apps at all.

Amazon have the answer here with their Fire TV Stick 4K Max.

Yep, it’s 4K, but if your tele isn’t 4K don’t stress it will still work at a lower resolution.

From the box you’ll have all of the bits you need. The Fire Stick 4K Max, an HDMI extender, remote and USB AC power adaptor.

I recommend setting up using the HDMI extender as most TVs HDMI ports are notched in to a hard to reach and sometimes fiddly placing.

Plug it in to a spare HDMI port and power the Fire Stick 4K Max up.

The Fire Stick 4K Max has a built-in 1.8GHz Quad-core processor which prevents any lag (Android based smart TVs can be notorious for needing full restarts), it’s quick and super responsive.

Setting up is via an on-screen guide, recommend you use or get the Amazon app, and Amazon have embraced the future of home WiFi and added WiFi 6.

In a few clicks you’re good to go and now turned perhaps an ageing tele in to a whole new device of smarts.

Your usual suspects are already there, Netflix for example and of course Amazon’s very own Prime. And Alexa is your smart assistant. Mirror from your Android smartphone and even play mobile games on the Fire Stick.

You can use the Fire Stick 4K Max to watch local channels digitally, these are generally free.

Visual enhancements such as Dolby Vision, HDR 10, HDR10+ are built-in as well as Dolby Atmos to bolster sound. For Dolby Atmos though, I do recommend using an external soundbar or similar that is compatible to really get the audio experience.

If an app that you want isn’t already there, most likely you’ll be able to download it from the store real quick.

My setup included using WiFi 6 and with that and due to the processing power of the Fire Stick 4K Max I’ve not had any lag, drops or needed to restart the device at all.

If your TV has an ARC3 port, use that. As the remote will then be able to control your TV as well as the onscreen entertainment.

The Amazon Fire Stick 4K Max comes in at around $100 (NZD) and is super charged, super quick and not only breathes new live in to an older flat screen TV, it also offers up a wealth of options and features that your current model may not offer.

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