The $40 Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Select ships with Vega OS

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The new Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Select is a media streamer that plugs into the HDMI port of your TV to let you stream content from Amazon, Netflix, and other media sources. You can also use it to stream games from Amazon's Luna or Microsoft's Xbox Gaming platforms, and it supports Amazon's Alexa+ AI features.

But there are two things that really make this new media streamer stand out from Amazon's earlier models. Available for pre-order for $40, it's the company's most affordable 4K streamer to date. And it's the first to ship with Vega OS instead of a version of Fire OS based on Android.

Amazon has been using Android as the basis for its Fire OS operating system since launching the first Fire Tablet in 2011, and the company tapped Android again for its TV-focused operating system when it launched the first Fire TV Stick in 2014.

But over the past few years the company has been developing a new operating system called Vega. I t's already powering some Echo Show smart displays, and we learned earlier this year that it was likely Amazon would eventually use it on Fire TV devices as well.

By moving away from Android and developing a new Linux-based operating system from scratch, Amazon has more control over the development, feature set, and security of its operating system without relying on Google for updates.

This could also make it more difficult for power users to sideload Android apps that may not be available from the Amazon Appstore or make other modifications to Amazon Fire devices. In fact, for the first time, Amazon includes a notice on the product page that says "for enhanced security, only apps from the Amazon Appstore are available for download."

But I suspect casual users won't notice much difference – the Fire TV Stick 4K Select supports 4K and HDR10+ video, and Amazon says it features "apps that launch remarkably fast." And most common media streaming apps wil l probably work out of the box.

As Amazon eventually transitions its full Fire TV lineup to the new operating system though, I can't help but wonder if older models that run Android-based Fire OS might become collector items for folks looking for hackable Fire TV devices.

Amazon introduced the Fire TV Stick 4K Select during its September 30, 2025 hardware launch event. As is usually the case, the company didn't spend much time talking about its hardware, but according to the product page, it features a quad-core processor, 1GB of RAM, and 8GB of storage, along with WiFi 5 support, which means it has more in common with the entry-level Fire TV Stick HD than with other 4K-ready models.

Here's how the new Fire TV 4K Select fits into Amazon's media streaming device lineup:

Fire TV Stick HD (2024)Fire TV Stick 4K Select (2025)Fire TV Stick 4K (2023)Fire TV Stick 4K Max (2023)Fire TV Cube (2022)Video1080p @ 60 fpsHDR10+4K @ 60 fpsHDR10+4K @ 60 fpsHDR10+4K @ 60 fpsHDR10+4K @ 60 fpsHDR10+CPUMT8695D1.7 GHz quad-core32-bit (software limitation)MT8698 MCM1.7 GHz ARM Cortex-A55 quad-coreMT8696D1.7 GHz ARM Cortex-A55 quad-core32-bit (software limitation)MT8696T2 GHz ARM Cortex-A55 quad-core32-bit (software limitation)Amlogic POP1-G4 x ARM Cortex-A73 cores @ 2.2 GHz4 x ARM Cortex-A53 cores @ 2 GHz32-bit (software limitation)GPUIMG GE8300 (650 MHz)Mali G310v2 (500 MHz)IMG GE9215(650 MHz)IMG GE9215(850 MHz)Mali-G52 MP8 (800MHz)RAM1GB LPDDR41GB LPDDR42GB LPDDR42GB LPDDR42GB LPDDR4x-4244Storage8GB8GB8GB16GB16GBWiFiWiFi 52 x 2 MIMOWiFi 52 x 2 MIMOWiFi 62 x 2 MIMOWiFi 6E2 x 2 MIMOWiFi 6E2 x 2 MIMOBluetoothBT 5.0BT 5.0BT 5.2BT 5.2BT 5.2OS Fire OS 7(Android 9)Vega OS (Linux-based)Fire OS 8(Android 11)Fire OS 8(Android 11)Fire OS 7(Android 9)Ethernet10/100 (with dongle)10/100 (with dongle)10/100 (with dongle)10/100 (with dongle)10/100 (built-in)USB port✓HDMI input✓AV1 decoding✓✓Cloud GamingAmazon LunaComing Soon: Amazon Luna & Xbox GamingAma zon Luna & Xbox GamingAmazon Luna & Xbox GamingAmazon Luna & Xbox GamingAlexa+ supportComing Soon✓✓✓Hands-free Alexa ✓Live View Picture-in-Picture✓✓✓Fire TV Ambient Experience✓✓Speaker✓RemoteAlexa voice remoteAlexa voice remoteAlexa voice remoteEnhanced Alexa voice remoteEnhanced Alexa Voice RemoteList Price$35$40$50$60$140

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