A new device is joining the Amazon Fire TV family of streaming devices – and this time, it’s a hybrid of an Amazon Echo, a Fire TV streaming device, a speaker – and even a universal remote of sorts.
The device is available for pre-order now for $120 (or $89.99 for Prime users – for one day only) – but unfortunately, it’s only available in the US for the time being. As is often the case with Amazon’s latest offerings, there’s no word yet on when it will port over to the UK, and judging by past devices, we’ll probably have to wait a few months.
Back in September 2017, Amazon announced the Fire TV 3, also known as the Fire TV 4K With HDR, also known as the “Pendant” Fire TV due to its shape. That device was a bit of a strange upgrade to those coming off the Fire TV 2, as it was less powerful, and felt more like an upgrade of the Fire TV Stick than the full-sized box.
Now, tech enthusiast are finally getting a more worthy upgrade, this time combining two of Amazon’s popular devices in one – the Fire TV and the Amazon Echo.
On the TV side, the new hands-free device, shaped like a cube, will support HDR10, Dolby Atmos sound, and 4K UHD video at 60fps. Internal storage space is a jump up from 8GB to 16GB, and it has the same processors the Fire TV 3 had. Unlike the first and second Fire TV set-top boxes, the device will not come with a built-in ethernet port but will come bundled with an ethernet adapter that plugs into the device’s mini-USB port.
The main new feature is the inclusion of Amazon’s Alexa – not just as part of a voice remote, but built-in to the device itself with 8 microphones and a speaker. With the Cube’s version of Alexa, you will be able to control both the Fire TV AND your TV (assuming they’re connected with an HDMI cable), as well as use all the regular Amazon Echo features – ask about the weather, set timers, listen to music, and argue with the robot that’s living in your house.
And, if you still have a lot of old-school devices in your living room, the Fire TV Cube also comes with an IR blaster (on all four sides), that allows it to control devices that have Infra Red remotes, such as your TV, sound bar, or your Freeview box. As with all the previous Fire TV models, the device will run a multitude of apps, from Netflix to BBC iPlayer, and even games.
The Amazon Fire TV Cube is available for pre-order now on the US Amazon Store, and will be released on June 21. As mentioned above, it is not yet available in the UK (not even for pre-order), and we’ll have to wait patiently until it crosses the pond.