What is the Amazon Fire Stick? Your guide to how it all works
How the smart stick functions and what you can expect from it.
In today's climate of smart TVs, apps and fancy home setups, it can be easy to forget about the humble streaming stick. But if you're one of the many people not willing to spend hundreds on a brand-new TV, just so you can catch up on the last series of The Crown, then smaller devices like the Amazon Fire Stick are the perfect affordable option.
But just what is an Amazon Fire TV Stick, and exactly how does it work?
Below, we’ve put together a straightforward guide outlining what to expect from the streaming stick and why you might want to get your hands on one of your own.
For more information, you can see our Amazon Fire TV Stick review and our guides to Amazon Prime stick channels, the Fire TV Stick costs and Chromecast vs Fire TV Stick. Or, if you're already certain that you want to purchase a Fire Stick, you can see our best Amazon Fire TV Stick deals.
Buy Amazon Fire TV Stick for £69.99 £44.99 (save £25 or 35%) at Amazon
Get 'lowest price ever' for Amazon Fire Stick 4K Max in Prime Day sale
This Amazon Prime Day, you can get the Amazon Fire Stick 4K Max for £34.99, down from £59.99.
That saves you £25 or 42%, making this the 'lowest price ever' for the streaming stick.
Buy Amazon Fire Stick 4K Max for £59.99 £34.99 (save £25 or 42%) at Amazon
Thinking about upgrading your TV setup? Make sure to check out our best smart TV guide.
You can find the best deals on streaming in our best Disney Plus offers page, or you can check out free streaming service Freevee by Amazon for even more savings.
What is the Amazon Fire Stick?
The Amazon Fire Stick is a smart TV device, which essentially allows you to access a range of channels and platforms straight to your TV simply by plugging it in.
The Fire Stick is one of the market leaders for this type of streaming device and boasts a generous 8GB of storage for apps such as Netflix and the BBC iPlayer.
There are four versions of the Fire Stick; the standard model, the cheaper Lite model, the 4K version and the 4K Max. The Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max is the latest streaming stick to come out, it has a slightly higher price tag but will allow you to watch in the best quality, with ultra HD streaming.
Buy Amazon Fire TV Stick for £69.99 £44.99 (save £25 or 35%) at Amazon
If you want to see how the Fire Stick stacks up against other smart home tech, read our Chromecast with Google TV review. And if you want to use the streaming device to watch sport, head over to our guide on how to watch live football on Amazon Fire TV Stick.
How does an Amazon Fire TV stick work?
The Fire Stick allows you to watch and listen to all your favourite content with one simple device. Being portable and pocket-sized, you can take it with you wherever you go and access all your content just by plugging it into the back of a TV.
Every smart stick apart from the Lite also comes with Alexa voice control, meaning you can search for shows and control what you’re watching without having to use the remote.
You can access Prime Video content as well as a long list of apps including ITV X, Channel 4, BBC iPlayer, Hayu, Netflix and Disney+. You can also rent and buy films through Amazon with the Fire Stick and even browse the internet.
Music fans would also benefit from the device as you can listen to songs and playlists from the likes of Amazon Music, Apple Music and Spotify, all of which are available on the smart stick.
The Amazon Fire Stick essentially collates everything into one place, so you don’t need to spend time logging in to all your accounts in different locations. Plus, you can use voice control to easily control and stream everything from your favourite show to your latest playlist.
Buy Amazon Fire TV Stick for £69.99 £44.99 (save £25 or 35%) at Amazon
Did you know that Amazon Prime also recently updated their prices, make sure you read our new Prime Video price guide.
Plus, here's how to watch Disney Plus on Amazon Fire Stick.
How much is an Amazon Fire Stick?
The standard price of an Amazon Fire Stick depends on the model. The price of the regular Fire Stick is usually £44.99.
For the other models, the RRP ranges from £21.99 for the Lite, to £44.99 for the 4K Max.
- Buy Amazon Fire TV Stick Lite for
£34.99£21.99 (save £14 or 37%) at Amazon - Buy Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K for
£59.99£34.99 (save £25 or 42%) at Amazon - Buy Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max for
£69.99£44.99 (save £25 or 36%) at Amazon
And if you're interested in buying an Amazon Echo, too, we suggest reading our Amazon Fire TV Cube review. It's Amazon's most sophisticated device and combines the Alexa voice recognition technology with a streaming device, this baby costs just £109.99.
We've got plenty more deals available, like the best BT Sport offers, the best laptop deals and best Amazon Echo deals.
For more information about Amazon Fire TV Sticks, take a look at our guide on can you watch normal TV on an Amazon Fire TV Stick?
