Amazon’s Prime Big Deal Days sale doesn’t start until October 6, but the Fire TV deals haven’t waited. Look closely, though, and the two cheapest sticks in the sale have one thing in common: neither will let you install an app from outside Amazon’s own store.
Amazon has discounted almost its entire Fire TV range ahead of its deal days on October 6 and 7, with the deals already live and running until October 13. The Fire TV Stick HD is down to £19.99 and the 4K Select to £21.99 – both back at their Prime Day prices, and within £2 of the lowest we’ve ever seen.
Both run Vega OS, Amazon’s own replacement for Android. Amazon says every new Fire TV stick will run it from now on – and leaked images suggest another new stick is already on its way.
The only two sticks that still run Android – the 4K Plus and 4K Max – are the last of their kind, and they haven’t been cut nearly as deeply (see the full price list below).
And all of this sits on top of a dramatic price rise. On September 3, Amazon raised Fire TV prices by 30% to 50%, pushing the 4K Max to £99.99 and the Cube to £199.99. That’s why every stick in this sale carries an eye-catching label of 53% to 67% off – and why missing a sale now costs you a lot more than it used to.
The Fire TV Range – And The New Prices
A quick bit of background first. Fire TV sticks plug into your TV’s HDMI port and add all the streaming apps – Netflix, BBC iPlayer, Prime Video and the rest. There are currently four of them, and they’re split down the middle by operating system.
The 4K Max and 4K Plus run the older Android-based Fire OS, with the full library of 30,000-plus apps and support for sideloading. The 4K Select and the HD run Amazon’s newer Vega OS, which is leaner but limited to around 3,000 apps, with no sideloading at all.
All the major UK services are on Vega, but less mainstream apps may be missing.
Then there are the prices. On September 3, the RRPs (Recommended Retail Prices) jumped across the range: the HD from £39.99 to £59.99, the Select from £49.99 to £64.99, the 4K Plus from £59.99 to £79.99, the Max from £69.99 to £99.99, and the Cube from £139.99 to £199.99. Amazon blamed rising memory and storage costs.
So instead of the “was” price, the more useful comparison is with what these devices actually sold for in previous sales. Here’s how the current deals stack up. (If you’re on a phone, you can scroll the table left and right.)
| Device | Now | RRP | Prime Day (June) | Lowest we’ve seen |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fire TV Stick HD | £19.99 | £59.99 | £19.99 | £19.99 |
| Fire TV Stick 4K Select | £21.99 | £64.99 | £21.99 | £19.99 |
| Fire TV Stick 4K Plus | £34.99 | £79.99 | £24.99 | £24.99 |
| Fire TV Stick 4K Max | £46.99 | £99.99 | £39.99 | £39.99 |
| Fire TV Cube (3rd Gen) | £109.99 | £199.99 | £109.99 | £109.99 |
| Alexa Voice Remote Pro | £24.99 | £34.99 | £24.99 | £19.99 |
| Fire TV Soundbar Plus | £169.99 | £249.99 | £149.99 | £149.99 |
Notice the pattern? The two Vega sticks are back at their Prime Day prices, within £2 of the lowest we’ve seen. The two Android sticks aren’t: the 4K Plus is £10 more than in June, and the Max is £7 more.
Whether or not Amazon is deliberately nudging buyers towards Vega, the effect is the same. In June, the 4K Plus cost just £3 more than the Select. Now the gap is £13 – and that changes the advice a little.
Fire TV Big Deal Days Deals
Fire TV Stick 4K Plus – £34.99 (RRP £79.99)
The 4K Plus is still the one I’d recommend for most people’s main TV. You get 4K with Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos, WiFi 6, 2GB of RAM, the full Android app library and sideloading.
But at £34.99 it’s not the steal it was in June, when it dropped to £24.99 – the same price it hit at Black Friday and Christmas. This is £10 above its best price, and only £2 cheaper than the back-to-school sale in August.
It’s also now £13 more than the 4K Select, rather than £3. For that money you’re getting a more capable device on the more open operating system, and one of the last Android sticks Amazon will make. For a main TV, I still think that’s worth it.
If you only ever use the big services and want a cheap stick for a spare room, though, the Select makes more sense at these prices than it did in the summer.
Fire TV Stick 4K Max (2nd Gen) – £46.99 (RRP £99.99)
The flagship stick has the fastest processor of the four, WiFi 6E, 16GB of storage (double the others), 2GB of RAM, and the Enhanced Alexa Voice Remote with its Recent and Settings buttons.
At £46.99 it’s £53 off the new £99.99 RRP, which sounds huge. But it sold for £39.99 at Prime Day, Black Friday and last October’s sale, so this is £7 above its usual sale price.
The gap to the 4K Plus is £12. Most people won’t notice a big difference in everyday use, so for the majority, the Plus is the better buy. The Max is for those who want the best performance and the extra storage for apps and games.
Fire TV Stick 4K Select – £21.99 (RRP £64.99)
The Select is Amazon’s cheapest 4K stick, and it runs Vega OS – so around 3,000 apps rather than 30,000, and no sideloading. VPN apps are available now (NordVPN and IPVanish both work), which wasn’t the case when it launched.
It’s also a more basic device than the 4K Plus: no Dolby Vision (just HDR10+), 1GB of RAM instead of 2GB, and WiFi 5 rather than WiFi 6.
At £21.99 it matches its Prime Day price, and it’s just £2 more than the lowest we’ve seen (£19.99, at Black Friday and Christmas).
With the 4K Plus now £13 more, the Select is the better value pick if you’re buying a second stick for a bedroom or kitchen TV and you stick to the main services. If you’ve ever sideloaded an app, though, it’s not for you.
Fire TV Stick HD – £19.99 (RRP £59.99)
The cheapest stick in the range, and the only one without 4K. Like the Select, it runs Vega OS, so the same app caveats apply.
At £19.99 it matches the lowest price we’ve seen, and it’s £40 less than its new RRP – a reminder of how odd a £59.99 “entry-level” stick really is.
Even so, the 4K Select is just £2 more, and gives you 4K output. The HD does have slightly better WiFi than the Select (WiFi 6 versus WiFi 5), but unless you’re certain the TV it’s going on will never be 4K, I’d spend the extra two quid.
Fire TV Cube (3rd Gen) – £109.99 (RRP £199.99)
The premium option, combining Fire TV streaming with an Echo speaker and hands-free Alexa, so you can give it commands without picking up the remote. It’s the most powerful Fire TV device, and like the Plus and Max it runs Android-based Fire OS.
The “45% off” label is the most flattering in the sale. At £109.99, the Cube is exactly the price it’s been at every sale we’ve covered, from last October to Prime Day in June. The only thing that’s changed is the RRP above it, which jumped from £139.99 to £199.99.
It’s also four years old now, having launched in 2022. Worth it if you specifically want the Echo integration and hands-free control – otherwise, the 4K Max covers the streaming side for less than half the price.
Alexa Voice Remote Pro – £24.99 (RRP £34.99)
The upgraded remote, with backlit buttons, a remote finder and customisable shortcut buttons. It works with any Fire TV device and doesn’t come bundled with any of them, so this is the way to add those features.
Unlike the streaming devices, its RRP hasn’t gone up – it’s still £34.99.
At £24.99 it’s the same price as at Prime Day. It did drop to £19.99 last October and at Black Friday, so if you’re not in a rush, it may go cheaper again later in the year.
Fire TV Soundbar Plus – £169.99 (RRP £249.99)
Not a streaming device – despite the “Fire TV” name, there’s no streaming or Alexa here at all – but a soundbar that surprised me when I reviewed it. It’s a 3.1 setup with a built-in subwoofer, Dolby Atmos and DTS:X, clear dialogue enhancement, and bass that punches well above its price.
Its RRP is also unchanged, at £249.99.
At £169.99 it’s £80 off, but that’s £20 more than it cost at Prime Day and Black Friday (£149.99). It’s the same price as last October’s sale, though, so it’s a decent deal rather than a great one. If you can wait, Black Friday may well bring it back down.
What About The New Fire TV Stick?
There’s one more thing worth knowing before you buy.
Amazon usually announces new devices around this time of year. Last year, it unveiled the 4K Select at the end of September. This year, it’s been quiet so far – but that may be about to change.
Marketing images of what looks like a new Fire TV Stick 4K have leaked via WinFuture, showing a squarer stick and a redesigned remote with a backlit home button.
There’s no spec sheet and no price yet, so we don’t know whether it runs Vega or Fire OS. But given that Amazon has already said all new sticks will run Vega, it would be a surprise if it didn’t.
Should you wait for it? I wouldn’t. Last year, the Select didn’t get its first discount until the Black Friday sale, more than a month after it went on sale. And with RRPs where they are now, it’s hard to imagine a new stick launching cheaply.
If you want an Android-based Fire TV stick, the 4K Plus and Max are the last ones – and while these aren’t their lowest prices, they’re a long way below the new RRPs. The deals run until October 13 – or until the promotional stock runs out.
For more TV and streaming news, don’t forget to join our free newsletter.