Amazon Launches New $69 Fire TV Dongle With 4K HDR Support

Wednesday September 27, 2017 11:53 AM PDT by Juli Clover
On the heels of the launch of the Apple TV 4K with support for HDR and 4K, Amazon today unveiled its next-generation Fire TV, which also has 4K HDR support.

The new device, which appears to replace both the Fire TV box and the Fire TV stick, features a 1.5GHz quad-core processor, an Alexa Voice Remote, Dolby Atmos support, 802.11ac WiFi, and 2160p video at up to 60 frames per second.

Image via The Verge
Designed to be more like the Chromecast than the Apple TV, the new Fire TV is a small, hockey puck-sized square with a cable at one end to plug into a television set. It has Alexa support and offers access to hundreds of apps.

Amazon plans to offer pre-orders for the device starting today, with a launch set for later this year.

Tag: Amazon
68 comments

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shareef777
27 months ago
Only with Apple does technology that's getting older get more expensive. 4K should of been included when the original Apple TV (4th gen) was released. They waited a couple years (so the parts for 4K have gone down in cost) and so Apple finally releases a 4K Apple TV and then STILL includes a price bump. SMH
Rating: 11 Votes
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jclardy
27 months ago

I assume it is supposed to hang from an HDMI port based on the cable length. Looks big enough put a strain on the port.

Yeah, kind of an awkward design. I don't really get the point of having a dongle for a TV when in 99% of homes you will have some kind of entertainment console already, and a 2"x2" box can be hid anywhere in there.

But $69 for 4K HDR and Dolby Atmos support is pretty impressive...something the $179 ATV 4k is missing at launch. I really hope Amazon comes through with their app on the ATV.
Rating: 7 Votes
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samxv
27 months ago
this is the right price for a device like this, how can apple justify their price point? In this day and age a PS4 basically does all of this already so no need for a separate device.
Rating: 7 Votes
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WilliamG
27 months ago
No Dolby Vision? Honestly, this is getting to be a mess. Some devices support some things but not others... seriously - get this stuff standardized across all platforms already.
Rating: 4 Votes
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OldSchoolMacGuy
27 months ago

Only with Apple does technology that's getting older get more expensive. 4K should of been included when the original Apple TV (4th gen) was released. They waited a couple years (so the parts for 4K have gone down in cost) and so Apple finally releases a 4K Apple TV and then STILL includes a price bump. SMH


They waited a couple years because 4K HDR content is still uncommon. Netflix and Amazon both have small catalogs of 4K content and most is upconverted and not true HDR.

Creating a device when there wasn't any content would pretty much guarantee failure. Apple waited because there's at least enough content at this point to justify going this route.
Rating: 3 Votes
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Glockworkorange
27 months ago

Yeah, kind of an awkward design. I don't really get the point of having a dongle for a TV when in 99% of homes you will have some kind of entertainment console already, and a 2"x2" box can be hid anywhere in there.

But $69 for 4K HDR and Dolby Atmos support is pretty impressive...something the $179 ATV 4k is missing at launch. I really hope Amazon comes through with their app on the ATV.


Plus I’m sure YouTube at 4K will work on this device. I cannot understand why Apple will not/cannot work that issue out.
Rating: 3 Votes
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Moonjumper
27 months ago
I assume it is supposed to hang from an HDMI port based on the cable length. Looks big enough put a strain on the port.
Rating: 3 Votes
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mmm1345
27 months ago
The ATV is a massive disappointment. It is just fundamentally broken. The problem with it not being able to automatically switch resolution is even more disastrous than I initially thought.

If I have my mode set to Dolby Vision and I run across a movie that's in 4K/HDR then it will either hang and not play at all or play that content in Dolby Vision. This tells me the box isn't actually streaming in proper HDR at all, much less 4k because I swear these streams are 1080p and my TV is just upscaling it. Now I know what the catch is to the free 4k/HDR upgrades. It's not delivering the proper streams at all.

Returning my ATV and will just use my ATV 4 until this garbage is fixed.
Rating: 2 Votes
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69Mustang
27 months ago

Will this be like Chromecast and you need another device to control it, or will it come with a remote?

From the article:

The new device... features... an Alexa Voice Remote,

Rating: 2 Votes
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dmylrea
27 months ago

I like it. Less clutter, compact, no HDMI cable to lose. Eventually they'll be able to fit 4K HDR into a stick, but this is good for now.


You lose your HDMI cable often? Mine is connected to the TV and the FireTV and every time I check, it is still there.

You might have to worry about losing the power adapter though. Better buy a spare! :)
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This is their midrange offering. There will be a new fire tv with gigabit Ethernet and all the other bells and whistles out later this year.

Built in alexia speaker too apparently!


This is conjecture on your part or is there something in writing that states this (other than this post!)?
Rating: 2 Votes
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