After almost two years of rumors, Amazon has finally unveiled the first Fire TV device with its own Vega OS. It is cheaper but is also a downgrade in most areas.
The Fire TV Stick 4K Select is the first device to ship with Vega OS.
Vega OS is Amazon's own Linux-based operating system, giving the company full control over the underlying architecture instead of relying on Android Open Source Project (AOSP).
It is a downgrade
Amazon makes no secret of the fact that the Fire TV Stick 4K Select is a downgrade, as it priced $10 below the Fire TV Stick 4K (2nd Gen) from 2023. It is available now for $40.
While the lower starting price may appeal to some buyers, you should know what you are missing out on.
The Fire TV Stick 4K Select supports 4K video with HDR10 and HDR10+ but lacks Dolby Vision. It does not support Dolby Atmos either – nor any form of Dolby decoding, only passthrough. It is limited to WiFi 5 instead of WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0 instead of Bluetooth 5.2, as noted by AFTVNews.
It is powered by a Mediatek MT8698 chip with 8GB of storage and just 1GB of RAM, compared to 2GB in Amazon's other streaming sticks. While Vega OS may help optimize performance with less RAM, 1GB will cause limitations.
The Fire TV Stick 4K Select. Photo: AmazonThe app situation
Switching from Android to Linux-based Vega OS means existing apps no longer work. Amazon states that "only apps from the Amazon Appstore are available for download".
Apps must be rewritten for Vega OS. At launch Amazon confirmed support for Amazon Prime Video, BBC, DirecTV, Disney+, ESPN, FOD, Fubo, HBO Max, Hulu, Netflix, Pluto, Paramount+, Peacock, Plex, Sling, Starz, Tubi and YouTube.
However, some notable services are missing, including Apple TV, YouTube TV and many regional or local apps.
Game streaming apps are also absent, though Amazon says Xbox and Luna are "coming soon".
The Fire TV Stick 4K Select will gain Alexa+ support at a later date.
So yes, the Fire TV Stick 4K Select with Vega OS is cheaper, but it is also a downgrade. Whether Amazon can resolve the app situation before rolling out Vega OS to more devices remains to be seen.
- Source: Amazon, AFTVNews
