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Amazon’s latest Fire Stick finally puts the volume buttons on the remote

Amazon’s latest Fire Stick finally puts the volume buttons on the remote

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If you thought Amazon was done with new hardware announcements for the year, think again: there’s now an updated version of the Amazon Fire TV Stick that features volume, mute, and power buttons on the Alexa remote for the first time. The new Fire TV Stick 4K also supports all three major HDR standards (HDR10, HDR10+, and Dolby Vision), as well as Dolby Atmos audio.

Of those, Dolby Vision and HDR10+ are the newcomers to Fire TV Stick line. The two standards offer support for dynamic metadata, which offers more detail in the brightest and darkest parts of an image if you’re watching compatible content on a compatible TV. It’s a subtle improvement, but if you’ve gone to the effort of buying a compatible TV, then it’s probably something you’ll care about.

Amazon has been one of the most significant cheerleaders of the fledgling HDR10+ standard, having previously announced that all its original content would feature support for the standard. Meanwhile, Dolby Vision content is available from Netflix, Vudu, Rakuten, and Amazon Prime Video.

If working out which Fire TV device supports which standard has you confused, the table below outlines all of the differences, including between competitors from Apple and Google.

Amazon’s Fire Devices Compared

FeatureAmazon Fire TV Stick 4K (2018)Amazon Fire TV Cube (2018)Amazon Fire TV (2017)Amazon Fire TV Stick (2016)Apple TV 4KChromecast Ultra
Maximum ResolutionUltra HDUltra HDUltra HDHDUltra HDUltra HD
HDR Formats supportedHDR10, Dolby Vision, HDR10+HDR10HDR10-HDR10, Dolby VisionHDR10, Dolby Vision
Dolby Atmos Support?YYYNYY
Price$49.99$119.99$69.99$39.99$179$69

The new Fire Stick will retail for $49.99, and it will start shipping on October 31st in North America before coming to the UK on November 14th. If you like the look of the remote but already own a Fire TV Cube, then you’ll be able to buy it separately for $29.99 or bundle both for $119.99.