Amazon has recently introduced the Fire TV Stick 4K Select media streamer with a MediaTek MT8698 quad-core Cortex-A55 processor, 1GB RAM, 8GB eMMC flash, HDMI 2.1 video output, and WiFi 5 and Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity.
However, the most interesting part of the announcement is the software, as Amazon has dropped the Android-based Fire OS used in its previous devices and instead relies on the new Linux-based Vega OS for the Fire TV Stick 4K Select.
Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Select (AFTCA002) specifications:
- SoC – MediaTek MT8698 MCM
- CPU – Quad-core Arm Cortex-A55 clocked up to 1.7 GHz
- GPU – Mali G310v2 up to 500 MHz with OpenGL ES 3.1 support
- VPU (hardware video decoder)
- AV1 up to 3840x2160p (4K) @ 60 fps, 100 Mbps, 8-bit and 10-bit input with HDR10, HDR10+, and HLG
- H.265 (HEVC) up to 3840x2160p (4K) @ 60 fps, 35 Mbps, 8-bit and 10-bit input with HDR10, HDR10+, and HLG
- H.264 (AVC) up to 3840x2160p (4K) @ 60 fps, 1080p @ 60 fps, or 720p @ 60 fps, 30 Mbps
- VP8 up to 1080p 30 fps
- VP9 up to 3840x2160p (4K) @ 60 fps, 30 Mbps, 8-bit and 10-bit input with HDR10, and HLG
- MPEG-2 up to 1080p @ 60 fps
- MPEG-4 up to 1080p @ 30 fps
- System Memory – 1GB LPDDR4
- Storage – 8GB eMMC flash
- Video Output – HDMI 2.1, 2.0, 1.4b video output with HDCP 1.4/2.2/2.3 support
- Audio
- HDMI Audio pass-through for Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital+, Dolby Atmos, DTS, DTS-HD (Basic Profile), MPEG-H.
- AAC Profile (AAC LC) up to 8 channels from 8 kHz to 48 kHz
- MPEG-4 HE AAC Profile (AAC+) up to 8 channels from 8 kHz to 48 kHz
- MPEG-4 HE AACv2 Profile (enhanced AAC+) up to 8 channels from 8 kHz to 48 kHz
- AAC ELD (enhanced low delay AAC) up to 8 channels from 8 kHz to 48 kHz
- xHE-AAC (enhanced HE-AAC) up to 8 channels from 8 kHz to 48 kHz
- FLAC up to 48 kHz, 2 channels, 16-bit and 24-bit (no dither for 24-bit)
- MP3 up to 48kHz, 2 channels in DSP (16-bit and 24-bit) and software (16-bit)
- Vorbis up to 8 channels, 48 kHz
- PCM/WAVE up to 192kHz, 8 channels, 16-bit and 24-bit
- Opus up to 8 channels, 48 kHz
- Voice control
- Far-field Alexa control – Hands-free voice control supported through a linked Echo device
- Near-field Alexa control – Mic button on remote supported through FTV App and FTV Remote
- Networking and Wireless
- Ethernet via USB adapter
- 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac WiFiv 5 2×2 MIMO (2.4 GHz and 5.0 GHz dual band); Miracast support
- Bluetooth 5.0 (BLE supported)
- DRM – PlayReady, WideVine, Fairplay
- Power Supply – 5V via micro USB port
- Dimensions – 99 x 30 x 14 mm
- Weight – 42 grams
In some ways, it’s a downgrade to the Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K (2023) with 2GB RAM, WiFi 6, and Dolby Vision. Vega OS 1.1 may use fewer resources than Fire OS, which could mitigate the lower RAM capacity.
Fire TV Stick 4K Select ships with an Alexa Voice Remote, a power adapter and cable, an HDMI extender cable, two AAA batteries, and a Quick Start Guide.
Switching to a Linux OS for the entry-level Fire TV 4K media streamer means some applications may not be supported anymore and sideloading APK files won’t be an option either.
The main benefit of Vega OS is that it is custom-built for media streamers, and is said to be “highly responsive with an efficient footprint, enabling fast app launches and smooth navigation”. Besides the Fire TV Stick 4K Select, Amazon’s new Echo devices also run on Vega. The downside will likely be app support at the beginning. To smoothen the transition, Amazon provides a getting started guide for Vega OS to help developers port their Fire TV apps to the new Vega OS operating system.
The SDK is comprised of the Vega Developer Tools with a Visual Studio Code extension, CLI tools, and React Native and web application frameworks. Amazon also confirms it is a “multi-OS company” and will continue to support and launch new devices on Fire OS. In other words, Fire OS is not going anywhere. Another point is that the SDK can only be used to develop apps for the Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Select, and apps for the new Echo devices running Vega OS are developed with a different process for Alexa apps.
The Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Select is sold on Amazon for $39.99.
Thanks to AB for the tip.
Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.
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Typo:
> Switching to a Linux OS for the entry-level Fire TV 4K media streamer means some applications may be supported anymore and sideloading APK files won’t be an option either.
may **not** be supported anymore
Also, Amazon sent mail to FireOS app developers saying that Amazon will provide cloud streaming of FireOS app on Vega devices, but it will become a paying service for the app developer.
So the end of the whole fire tv platform then, as that is just dumb.
At last. Bye bye Android, we need to celebrate! 🙂
What exactly? That amazon moves from a proven platform to an unproven, proprietary platform that they get more control over? It might be Linux based, but it’s anything but open sauce.
Not that fire tv was open sauce, but at least there are ways around some of the limitations, now we don’t don’t what may or may not work.
It’s literally over for Fire TV until proven otherwise, so you’ll only be celebrating its death. Heck, they even used their increased efficiency and OS control to give the latest version less RAM. It’s 100% a product for cattle, no tinkerers or pirates anymore. The unborn Fire TV 8K can burn in h3ll.
This explains why Amazon shut down their Android marketplace in August and left anyone who bought apps from them with no way to re-download them going forward.
Nobody did actually bought apps in thr marketplace instead a limited usage licenses could be purchased!
Android is also still linux, so they are replacing a linux system with big app ecosystem for a new linux system with no apps.
More walled gardens is what the world needs!
It’s using a heavily modified Linux kernel, it’s not Linux.
The userspace is totally different.
Linux is just the kernel so it is linux, its just not a gnu linux distro.
Linus Torvalds doesn’t dictate what is Linux.
I disagree
Since you have your own idea what Linux is, doesn’t mean you can dictate what it is, keep it as your own opinion. “Heavily” modified linux kernel? Wth that even means? Linux kernel can be modified in thousands of ways to run on your toaster, or somebody’s supercomputer and all in between, but still’s Linux.
Since Linux belongs to Linus, I’d have to respectfully disagree with you…
I don’t know what Amazon developers are doing, but they’re destroying what little goodwill FireTV has.
As an app developer I wouldn’t write apps for this if Amazon directly paid me to do so.
Comments make it sound like Amazon releases devices to make everyone pleased. They sell devices at loss, and they want to make profit from streaming content. They have zero interest in people sideloading apps for streaming from other sources and piracy. Legitimate users could still buy that stick and be happy with it. People buy Roku and Vizio devices.
You make it sound like we need to care what Amazon wants. They are degrading the functionality of their products, and that should be pointed out vigorously. If usercattle are happy with it, good for them. They may be satisfied with built-in smart TV features at this point.
> They are degrading the functionality of their products
Disclaimer: I have never clearly understood what people use such devices for. Anyway, being curious, I visited the developers link above and I’m seeing this mentioned in the FAQ:
8. Is Vega going to replace Fire OS?
We’ve always been a multi-OS company. We have launched and will continue to launch new devices on Fire OS.
9. Are Fire OS apps going away?
No. We continue to launch new features and devices on Fire OS and support existing experiences.
So it seems to me that they’re just issuing a lower end device with a different, lighter OS but keeping the previous one on other devices. At first glance it doesn’t seem wrong to me to reduce the footprint of an OS in order to reduce the hardware costs and power usage, it’s even the opposite of what software vendors usually do that makes people complain. Thus I’m failing to see what the problem is here, aside “oh no it’s a change and we don’t like changes”. Or maybe did developer value the higher weight of their previous android-based OS that forces them to use bigger hardware, in order to benefit from that hardware to do other stuff ?
You got the point, they do not care users like about you, just like you do not care about what amazon wants, it’s win-win situation if both parties would just buzz off from each other. Amazon will spend less time trying to protect their walled garden, middle-level tech savvy people will find some other device to tinker with (like Onn sticks, maybe?). And content providers and app developers will have more faith into the system security and will add less profits loss premiums into the pricing. They are improving their targeting into “usercattle” cohort, same approach as Apple does with iOS. I was not able to understand why people buy Smart TVs or use some streaming services until I had to deal with elderly people.
Yes. I saw the light years ago with the cheap and effective x86 boxes flooding the market, and pirate streaming works much more consistently directly on websites rather than in Kodi addons.
Onn does look like the obvious replacement for Amazon devices, offering a clean Android/Chrome TV (whatever they’re calling it now) experience. Some of their newer tablets are also very good for the low-end, especially on sale. I picked up an Onn Pro 2023 (10.4″/3GB) for $45.