The updated Fire TV OS makes it easier to find something to watch no matter which model you choose. It pulls recommendations from your subscriptions and adds tabs across the top of your screen for categories like TV shows, news, sports, and live content, so you can quickly jump to what you want to watch. There’s also a redesigned apps row that lets you pin up to 20 favorites instead of just six, making it quicker to jump between services. You can also navigate with your voice thanks to support for Alexa Plus, which lets you issue specific commands like asking it to open ESPN on Sling TV, search for particular scenes or content, check sports scores, or control compatible smart home devices. You even use the remote to quickly view feeds from devices like Ring cameras.
The biggest differences between the two sticks mainly come down to hardware. As the higher-end option, the Fire TV Stick 4K Max comes with a few extra features. Both models support Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos, but the Fire TV Stick 4K Max offers double the storage at 16GB along with support for Wi-Fi 6E instead of Wi-Fi 6 for faster connectivity. It also comes with Amazon’s Alexa Voice Remote Enhanced, which adds extra shortcuts like a button for quick access to live TV channel listings.