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Amazon has come a long way from being an online bookstore and is now one of the largest corporations in the world. It’s not just a mega-retailer that sells practically anything you can think of, but also a cloud-based web services company, a movie and TV studio complete with a streaming service, and a digital assistant provider through its Alexa products. In addition to all that, Amazon also manufactures its own line of smart TVs and streaming devices under its Fire TV branding.
Fire TV devices can make great gifts for your loved ones, especially during the holiday season. For one thing, they’re typically affordable and are frequently discounted by Amazon. They also seamlessly integrate with your Amazon account and work well with the many different Alexa-enabled smart speakers and other devices that Amazon makes, such as Amazon Fire tablets. While some Fire TV products may not be as high-end as premium alternatives from other brands, they’re often easy to set up and use.
If you’re gift-shopping, you’ll likely be aiming toward more affordable choices that won’t frustrate the recipients with overly complicated instructions, making a Fire TV device a good option. Backed by positive reviews and our own hands-on testing, here are five Amazon Fire TV devices that would make great gifts for the holidays.
Fire TV Stick Lite
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The Fire TV Stick Lite is about as basic as a streaming device that you can ask for and is small enough and cheap enough to make for a great gift — or even a stocking stuffer.
It’s a great option for older parents or loved ones who aren’t tech-savvy because its setup is a cinch. The stick just needs to be plugged into an HDMI port on your TV and connected to your internet. From there, you’ll have access to most major streaming apps, like Netflix and Max, as well as over 300,000 free movies and TV shows from ad-supported services like Tubi, Pluto TV, and Freevee. Certain apps will also allow for live TV and can replace a cumbersome and expensive cable TV box by hiding behind the television for a clean decor.
The stick is capable of full HD, though not 4K or higher resolution. Its remote includes support for Alexa, allowing you to search and launch apps and content with your voice. At SlashGear, we’ve long had an appreciation for the Amazon Fire TV Stick Lite, although it still has one annoying drawback — the included remote can’t control your TV. Considering it’s Amazon’s low-end streaming stick, downsides like this aren’t a total surprise, and you might consider it an acceptable trade-off in exchange for its simplicity and affordable price. The MSRP for the Fire TV Stick Lite is $29.99, but it’s currently on sale for just $17.99.
Fire TV Omni QLED
If you’re looking to get a big, showy gift for a loved one to really make their holiday something special, you could go with a big-screen 4K television. Of course, 4K TVs can be expensive, costing thousands of dollars, but the Amazon Fire TV Omni QLED is relatively affordable for what it offers. In addition to its 4K Quantum Dot display, the Fire TV comes equipped with advanced HDR and HDR10+, Dolby Vision IQ, deep contrast, and an adaptive brightness feature that uses built-in sensors to adjust your picture based on the brightness of the media as well as the lighting in your room.
In our own hands-on review of the Fire TV Omni QLED series, we found both the audio and picture quality to be solid and noted its relatively simple setup and controls, including its Alexa voice remote (and the privacy option to turn off the built-in mics). We also enjoyed the subtle industrial design of the TV, though we found Amazon to be annoyingly persistent about upselling its branded content and services, a problem that many of its Fire TV and other first-party devices are plagued by.
You have plenty of options to find the right size (and price point) for your loved one. The Fire TV Omni QLED Series comes in five options, ranging from 43 to 75 inches. The 65-inch Amazon Fire TV Omni QLED is priced at $799.99, though it is currently 25% off and $200 cheaper than usual.
Fire TV Stick 4K Max
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If you’re looking for a relatively affordable techie gift for the holidays that isn’t super basic, the Fire TV Stick 4K Max is a good middle ground. It’s small and cheap, like the Fire TV Stick Lite, but offers 4K resolution and more features for just a little more money. It also has 16GB of storage (for apps, games, and other downloads) and a faster processor, which makes its menus less sluggish and is capable of Dolby Vision, HDR10+, and immersive Dolby Atmos sound. Another neat feature is the Fire TV Ambient Experience, which will turn your TV into living artwork by displaying over 2,000 different museum-quality art and photography pieces.
Plus, the latest-generation version of the stick includes widgets that will display things like your weather, calendar, and even recipes on your screen when you’re not actively using it. Unfortunately, the Fire TV Stick 4K Max shares the same drawback many other Amazon products do, bombarding you with constant promotions and other ads through its interface. However, that’s also partly why it’s so inexpensive. The list price for the Fire TV Stick 4K Max is $60, but Amazon is currently selling it for $45.
Fire TV Soundbar
If you’re looking for a Fire TV device for someone who already owns a streaming device or TV, you can go with the Fire TV Soundbar. It’s a pretty basic speaker that doesn’t offer a ton of bells and whistles, but unlike many other soundbars, it isn’t overpriced. Reviewers have praised the device’s sound quality in comparison to its relatively low price. As it’s very easy to set up (unlike many other audio peripherals), it can make a great gift for older parents or for a child’s game room — something that upgrades an entertainment center with little effort.
While it has the Fire TV branding, it’s dissimilar to other products like smart TVs and streaming sticks in Amazon’s lineup, in that it doesn’t utilize Alexa voice control. That seems like a weird oversight, considering who makes the device, but if you’re shopping for someone who doesn’t use voice control or likes the idea of microphones constantly recording the audio in their home to begin with, this won’t be an issue. Amazon sells its Fire TV Soundbar for $119.99, though it is currently on sale for $99.99.
Fire TV Cube
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For those who prefer to keep all their devices in the same ecosystem for simplicity’s sake and prefer using Alexa and Amazon products over Apple or Android devices, the Fire TV Cube would be a great gift. With eight cores in its processor, it’s twice as fast as the Fire TV Stick 4K Max and has the distinction of being Amazon’s first streaming device to be equipped with Wi-Fi 6E support. It’s easy to plug into your TV, and will immediately offer 4K resolution, Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos, and HDR.
One major advantage the Fire TV Cube has over Fire TV streaming sticks is that you don’t need a remote to control it since it’s essentially a smart speaker as well as a streaming device and can be used with Alexa just as you would with an Echo device. It also has a one-touch button so you can easily disconnect the microphone when it’s not in use if privacy is a concern.
We gave the Fire TV Cube a solid 8 out of 10 score in our hands-on review of the device, though we noted its lack of gigabit ethernet to be a pretty disappointing flaw, in addition to sharing other Fire TV products’ penchant for excessive integrated advertising. If having high-end internet speed isn’t a concern for the person you’re shopping for, you can purchase the Amazon Fire TV Cube for $139.99 — though it’s currently 14% off.
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