After sales ban: Amazon launches new “Fire TV Stick HD”

Just two weeks ago, Amazon had to remove several models of its FireTV stick from its offering. However, the shipping giant has now released a brand new entry-level version. However, it cannot replace the 4K models that have disappeared from the website. Amazon

New old FireTV stick

Amazon has launched a new model of its popular FireTV stick. German customers can now also buy the Fire TV Stick HD. The device is at the lower end of the product range and is clearly similar to the Fire TV Stick Lite, which has been sold since 2020. The new stick offers dual-band WLAN, WiFi 5 and Bluetooth 5.0. A number of apps can be installed on the eight gigabytes of internal memory.

The HDR standards HLG and HDR10 (Plus) are also supported. However, the maximum resolution is 1080p and 60 fps. When it comes to specifications, there doesn’t seem to be any differences between the Fire TV Stick HD and the 3rd generation FireTV Stick. Only the remote control is different.

Remote control upgrade

Because the Fire TV Stick HD comes with the same remote control that is already known from the 4K models. It has the blue Alexa button with which the voice assistant can be activated with one click. There is also the button for switching to live TV and the buttons for starting the streaming apps Prime Video and Netflix. In addition, the television can be switched on and off using the remote control.

The volume on the TV can also be adjusted. The new Fire TV Stick HD can be ordered directly from Amazon for 49.99 euros. It is currently the only model available for German customers (apart from the Fire TV Cube and the Fire TV Stick Lite).

Ban on sales of 4K

More or less in time for Prime Day on October 8th and 9th, the sale of several Amazon Fire TV Sticks to German customers was stopped. The reason for this was a patent dispute with Nokia. This was about a technology that allows streaming content to be scaled efficiently and was used in the 4K-capable FireTV sticks.

Since Amazon and Nokia could not agree on a license fee, the Finnish company had the Munich I regional court ban the sale of the devices. It is still unclear when the devices will be available again in Germany via Amazon. If you still want to get your hands on a FireTV Stick 4K or 4K Max, you can do so at other retailers such as Media Markt. The devices are still available here for 59 or 69 euros.