Amazon is running hundreds of thousands of deals for Black Friday, but as someone who spends a lot of time testing and writing about Fire TV devices, the deals that stand out most to me are -- unsurprisingly -- the Fire TV Stick deals.
In my opinion, there's only one worth considering this Black Friday: the Fire TV Stick 4K Max. Currently, you can grab a Fire TV Stick 4K Max on sale for $35, saving you $25 off its regular price of $60.
The 4K Max is Amazon's top-of-the-line Fire TV Stick, and with all models now just $5-$10 apart, it's clearly the best choice in terms of hardware, performance, and features. I'm here to help break all that down for you.
Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max
- Brand
- Amazon
- Resolution
- 4K
- Audio codecs
- Dolby Atmos
- RAM/storage
- 16 GB
Why you should choose the Fire TV Stick 4K Max
It's the most reliable Fire Stick Amazon sells
The Fire TV Stick 4K Max has two main advantages: it's the fastest model in the lineup, with a 2.0 GHz quad-core processor and 2 GB of RAM, and it offers double the storage compared to all the other Fire TV Sticks at 16 GB -- enough space to download all the streaming apps you want.
It also supports the fastest Wi-Fi standard of any Fire TV Stick: Wi-Fi 6E. This ensures smooth streaming without buffering or drops in quality. By comparison, the Fire TV Stick HD and 4K Select use Wi-Fi 5, while the 4K Plus has Wi-Fi 6. While those are decent, the 4K Max is the one that truly takes full advantage of fast internet speeds.
Here's a full breakdown of all Amazon's Fire TV Sticks by features and cost:
|
Picture quality |
1080p Full HD |
4K Ultra HD |
4K Ultra HD |
4K Ultra HD |
|
Supported video |
HDR10, HDR10+, HLG |
HDR10, HDR10+, HLG |
Dolby Vision, HDR10, HDR10+, HLG |
Dolby Vision, HDR10, HDR10+, HLG |
|
Supported audio |
Dolby-encoded audio (HDMI pass-through) |
Dolby-encoded audio (HDMI pass-through) |
Dolby Atmos |
Dolby Atmos |
|
Wi-Fi |
Wi-Fi 5 |
Wi-Fi 5 |
Wi-Fi 6 |
Wi-Fi 6E |
|
Storage |
8GB |
8GB |
8GB |
16GB |
|
Memory (RAM) |
1GB |
1GB |
2GB |
2GB |
|
Processor |
Quad-core 1.7Ghz |
Quad-core 1.7Ghz |
Quad-core 1.7Ghz |
Quad-core 2.0Ghz |
|
Cloud gaming |
Amazon Luna |
Coming soon: Amazon Luna, Xbox Game Pass |
Amazon Luna, Xbox Game Pass |
Amazon Luna, Xbox Game Pass |
|
Regular price |
$35 |
$40 |
$50 |
$60 |
|
Black Friday price |
$18 |
$20 |
$25 |
$35 |
The price is another key reason I recommend the Fire TV Stick 4K Max as the only model to consider this Black Friday. Right now, there's just a $10 difference between the Fire TV 4K Plus, on sale for $25, and the 4K Max, on sale for $35. For that small extra cost, the 4K Max offers more features and a device that’s far more future-proof. Amazon's entry-level 4K Select is the cheapest way to stream in 4K, but it lacks many of the 4K Max's features and runs a different operating system, Vega OS, which doesn't support as many apps as Fire OS.
I've been using the Fire TV Stick 4K Max as my main streaming device for nearly a year, and it hasn't disappointed. Streaming quality is excellent with 4K HDR support, including Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos. I've also enjoyed playing games via cloud services like Xbox Game Pass. Overall, if you're buying a Fire TV Stick this Black Friday, the 4K Max is the one to add to your cart thanks to its superior features and minimal price difference compared with the other models.