Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Streaming in Dolby Vision HDR for $ 50

For years, Roku has dominated the list of CNET-recommended broadcasters, while other affordable options include: Fire TV from Amazon and Google Chromecast – earned money and bronze at best. Google's latest attempt to overthrow Roku remains secret (at least until next week) but Amazon is now available for pre-order. And Roku could have something to fear.

The all-new 4K Fire Stick TV costs $ 50 and is equipped with Dolby Vision and HDR10 + video and Dolby Atmos audio, which promises superior video and audio quality to compatible TVs and audio systems.

Amazon has also "borrowed" a page from Roku adding the ability to control the volume, mute and power of your TV with dedicated buttons on the remote. I like this feature on Roku's own devices, like its 2017 version Streaming stickbecause it allows you to give up just about the clicker of your TV.

Amazon sells the new remote separately for $ 30. So you can enable this TV control on older Fire TV devices, including the Fire TV Cube – repairing one of my biggest problems with this unit, lack of volume control on the remote control.

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The Fire TV Stick 4K also has a 1.7 GHz processor, faster than the 1.5 GHz chip in the 2017 Fire TV, a 4K streamer with suspended "pendant" design. Amazon calls for smoother response times and faster loading.

All standard features of Fire TV are also on board. You speak into your microphone to make voice commands, such as telling you to read, go back, fast forward and navigate the content, or associate it with an Alexa speaker for hands-free control in the far field. Voice commands also arrive in other applications, including A & E, AMC, Sony Crackle, Hallmark Movies Now, HBO Now, History, IFC, Lifetime and VH1.

Amazon bubbles new products includes the friendly cord cutter Fire TV Recast, which requires a Fire TV device (such as the 4K key) and broadcasts TV shows via antenna.

the $ 50 Roku Premiere +, coming in October, is the fiercest competition of Fire TV 4K. Now that Roku has responded to Alexa's vocal challenge with the adding Google Assistant, the main differences between the two are the on-screen interface (Fire TV favors Amazon content, while Roku offers more equitable playing conditions for all applications) and Dolby Vision. From my experience, the benefits of Dolby Vision's image quality compared to the standard HDR10 format are at best minor, but if your TV supports the format, it's nice to have l & # 39; option.

Dolby Vision, HDR10, Technicolor and HLG: HDR formats explained

In Amazon's own catalog, the only current title of Dolby Vision is Tom Ryan from Tom Clancy. Many of his originals are in HDR10 + (supported by Samsung TVs), including The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Bosch, Sneaky Pete and The Man in the High Castle. The Netflix application on the Fire TV Stick 4K will support Dolby Vision at launch.

Most smart TVs incorporate Dolby Vision support into their streaming applications, but until now, the only stand-alone streamers available $ 70 Chromecast Ultra and the $ 180 Apple TV 4K.

Thanks to Amazon's proven Alexa voice system, support for the latest HDR formats and the new remote control, with the Amazon Fire TV 4K, offers a better chance than ever of defeating Roku. Stay tuned for the CNET Full Review.