Along with the new Fire TV Stick 4K, Amazon has announced an all-new Alexa Voice Remote that includes universal remote capabilities. The new remote is included with the Fire TV Stick 4K, but it is also being sold separately for $29.99 because it is compatible with the 2nd-gen Fire TV Stick, the 3rd-gen Fire TV (pendant), and the Fire TV Cube. This new remote includes power, volume, and mute buttons for controlling home theater equipment, but it also has the same Alexa equipment control capabilities as the Fire TV Cube to allow input switching and cable box channel changing via voice.
Whether the new Alexa Voice Remote is paired with the new Fire TV Stick 4K or an older compatible Fire TV model, the exact same equipment control menus that are found on the Fire TV Cube will become available. Once equipment control settings have been configured, the new remote will be able to control home theater devices through its extra buttons and through voice commands.
The new Alexa Voice Remote uses Bluetooth to communicate to your Fire TV or Fire TV Stick and uses a set of two IR blasters to control home theater equipment. The power button on the remote can be used to turn your TV on or off. The volume up, down, and mute buttons on the remote can also be configured to control your TV’s volume, but if you use an AV receiver or soundbar for TV audio, you can set those buttons on the remote to control the external audio, while the power button continues to control the TV.
In addition to power and volume controls, the remote itself is able to execute the exact same universal control functionality as the Fire TV Cube. Instead of the IR commands coming out of the media player, like with the Fire TV Cube, the commands come out of the front of the new remote, so you’ll need to point the remote at your home theater equipment when those devices are being controlled.
Like the Fire TV Cube, the new Alexa Voice Remote can control more than just power and volume through voice commands. Saying “Turn on the TV” into the remote’s microphone will power on your TV, set it to the appropriate input, power on your AV receiver/soundbar, and set it to the appropriate input. Likewise, saying “Turn off the TV” will turn everything off with a single voice command.
The new Alexa Voice Remote can also be used to control a cable or satellite box by voice. Saying “Switch to cable” will set all the right inputs to begin watching content through your traditional TV provider. Once watching traditional TV, you’ll be able to request channels by name by saying “Tune to ESPN” or by number by saying “Tune to channel 140.” The remote can also be configured to switch your home theater equipment ot other devices, such as game consoles, Blu-ray players, other media players, and more.
The new remote does not work hands-free, like the Fire TV Cube, so you’ll need to press the microphone button for each voice command. A blue LED on the remote indicates that Alexa is ready to receive a command. The blue LED will blink while equipment is being controlled, which indicates that you should be pointing the remote at your devices. The LED will also be used to convey other information, such as an unpaired remote or if the batteries are low.
Pairing the new remote with a Fire TV Stick 2 or Fire TV 3 will bring all the same equipment control functionality that is available with the new Fire TV Stick 4K and the Fire TV Cube to those older devices. The new Alexa Voice Remote is available to pre-order now for $29.99 and will arrive on October 31st in the US and Canada. The UK, Germany, and India will receive the new remote on November 14th and Japan will receive it by the end of the year. The new remote comes included with all Fire TV Stick 4Ks and, starting today, the Fire TV Cube will also come with the new remote for the same price of $119.99.
🇺🇸 United States buying options:
- Fire TV Stick 4K for $49.99
- 2 x Fire TV Stick 4K for $89.98 with promo code TWOPACK ($10 off)
- Fire TV Stick 4K + Echo Dot 3 for $79.98 ($20 off)
- Fire TV Stick 4K + 2-tuner Fire TV Recast + HD Antenna for $249.97 ($50 off)
- Alexa Voice Remote w/ power and volume buttons for $29.99
- Fire TV Cube w/ new Alexa Voice Remote for $119.99
- Fire TV Cube w/ new Alexa Voice Remote + Amazon Cloud Cam for $199.98 ($40 off)
🇬🇧 United Kingdom buying options:
- Fire TV Stick 4K for £49.99
- 2 x Fire TV Stick 4K for £89.98 (£10 off)
- Fire TV Stick 4K + Echo Dot 3 for £79.98 (£20 off)
- Alexa Voice Remote w/ power and volume buttons for £29.99
🇩🇪 Germany buying options:
- Fire TV Stick 4K for 59.99€
- 2 x Fire TV Stick 4K for 109.98€ (10€ off)
- Fire TV Stick 4K + Echo Dot 3 for 94.98€ (20€ off)
- Alexa Voice Remote w/ power and volume buttons for 29.99€
🇮🇳 India buying options:
- Fire TV Stick 4K for ₹5,999
- Alexa Voice Remote w/ power and volume buttons for ₹1,999
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I was considering buying a sideclick add-on for all my firetv remotes, but I may just get this instead. All I really need is power and volume controls. And I also won’t need to worry about batteries for two separate devices.
I had a sideclick in my cart for a couple of weeks and almost pulled the trigger a few times, really glad I didn’t. This is exactly what I was wanting and I was flabbergasted that it did not exist. Kind of sucks to have to pay $30 for another remote, but the sideclick is $30 anyway.
What kills me is android has built in volume control….ok so they added volume as an infrared to tv slash receivers…but what if they are out of line of sight? Just enable the API for built in volume control and I could justify spending 100 plus less vs shieldtv’s Would make things simpler across the board.
I have several of the Sideclicks (paid $20 on sale). They screw up the hand holding ergonomics, but they still work well enough that I’m happy with the purchase. Most importantly is the ability to program the buttons to do ANY function (they learn and repeat the IR code). The biggest need I have that I don’t believe the new Fire TV remotes have is not power or volume (both needed and used though), but rather its “Input”. I need to change from DirecTV, to FireTV, to AppleTV, to XBox One or PS4. Without the ability to switch inputs, I have to find the OEM remote for the TV or receiver and use that one.
Gaining input device control can be done — I’ve done it — but it’s a bit clunky with the Sideclick.
With my Fire TV 2nd gen box and Sideclick equipped remote, I programmed one SC key to match the Input key on my TV remote, a second SC key to match the horizontal movement key on my remote to move from input to input, and then I think a third SC key to match the OK/Select key on my TV remote.
Unfortunately, on my TV, the input selection process isn’t a toggle button where pressing the same key moves from input to input. The input key only brings up a menu. And then I have to use a cursor key to move from input to input. And then finally the OK/Select key to actually choose that particular input.
But, I do have the necessary keys on the Sideclick available, since I’m not using the nominal Channel Up/Down buttons on the Sideclick for that intended purpose, since I’m only using it to deal with streaming devices/boxes and not using it for any traditional TV/cable TV programming.
So the main other things I’m doing with the Sideclick buttons are the TV on/off toggle and the Volume Up and Volume Down buttons. The others are pretty much available to me.
So, will this then allow you to control your blu-ray player while switched to that device, or does this still only allow you to control the TV, Soundbar, and Fire TV (Cube in my case). I have issues with Alexa voice controlling my DirecTV box. If I try the “Tune to ESPN” command…no matter what I do my Fire TV tells me it is tuning to ESPN on ESPN..and then sends me to the ESPN app, which I don’t have installed…so it just takes me to the app screen. I honestly can’t say I have ever hated an Alexa device, but the Fire TV Cube is a very frustrating device to say the least.
It seems pretty half-baked that they can’t make the buttons context sensitive. So that you could preform basic controls on the device you are currently on (Blu-ray, cable box, etc). It doesn’t need complex controls, like DVR buttons, and menu buttons..but channel switching on the cable box, and play/pause on a Blu-ray player would be great.
Shawn Roth – You might need to enable the DirecTV skill and then use the command “Tune to ESPN on DirecTV” for that to work.
Trust me..I tried that…still same issue. I even tried resetting the device. Still same issue. I have spoken with Amazon Support..and they claim it is an issue that DirecTV has to fix..which makes so little sense…
Sorry to hear that. I’ve never had much luck with DirecTV for anything other than what they wanted to sell. I finally gave up on them, especially after they kept raising their prices.
The new remote (and Fire TV Cube) cannot control the Blu-ray player itself. It can only switch your equipment’s inputs to the Blu-ray player.
What can be controlled is:
– TV/AV Receiver/Soundbar: Power, Input, Volume, Mute
– Cable/Satellite Box: Power, Channel, Basic navigation (on some boxes) like viewing the program guide
To clarify, it only has buttons for power, volume up, volume down, and mute. For all other functions, like switching inputs, it looks like you have to put the remote to your face, press the voice button to give it a command like “switch to bluray”, and then quickly point it toward your equipment for the IR-blaster to do their thing. Seems hokey. But maybe the remote an IR-transmitter on the bottom, so you can keep the remote to your face? Or maybe you’re not supposed to lift the remote to your face at all but keep it pointed forward while you talk to it. I can now imagine household arguments of how one is holding it wrong. :)
It’s good that sell dates outside the USA are given :)
:) Sorry that I usually forget those. I’m making a real effort to include all countries from now on. Just look at that wall of country-specific links!
I’m a U.S. guy. But given that the Fire TV platform has long been extended outside the U.S., I think including the links and info for other primary Fire TV device countries is a nice touch and appreciated! Not to mention perhaps enhancing your Amazon affiliate revenue stream! :-)
Didn’t see any mention of fireTV edition TV’s. Will this control them?
It will not.
“Not compatible with Amazon Fire TV (1st and 2nd Gen), Fire TV Stick (1st Gen), or Amazon Fire TV Edition smart TVs. Look for “Check if the device control features of this product are compatible with your TV, sound equipment, and cable/satellite box” at the top of this page to make sure your TV, sound bar, and A/V receiver are compatible with all-new Alexa Voice Remote.”
“The new Alexa Voice Remote can also be used to control a cable or satellite box by voice.”
Elias, any idea if the enhanced control capability, and the ability to select specific channels by voice command, also will extend with this remote to selecting individual channels by name on streaming TV apps supported on the Fire TV like DirecTV Now, Sling TV, PS Vue, Fubo TV, Hulu Live, etc.???
For that, the app itself has to support deeper Alexa capabilities. This has nothing to do with the new remote since this can already be done with the existing remote and most of those services. I don’t know the full list of which services support channels by name.
Interesting, the new stick uses DDR4. Wonder if that impacted the decision to drop from 2gb to 1.5.
Excuse me can i assume Ram on the new stick is 1.5g And Rom is 8g again? Tia
Correct. RAM is 1.5GB and internal storage is 8GB.
Any idea if the bluetooth functionality will allow it to work with other devices? I’ve got a Vizio TV with bluetooth and an Nvidia ShieldTV Pro that would be nice to have better remote controls.
Sorry, I don’t know. I’ll be testing the new remote with the Shield TV when it arrives. I’m wondering if you program the power/volume/mute buttons with a Fire TV and then pair the remote to a Shield TV if the TV buttons will still work. Expect an article about this in early November.
There is NO “FREE SHIPPING” unless your a prime member, even though it’s over $25. I am beginning to hate Amazon and that’s why I dropped them as a prime member.
I’m curious if the power button will turn on both the TV and Cable/Satellite like a universal remote can. Also, starting with everything off, can you say “tune to NBC” and it turns on the TV, Cable and tunes to the right channel? My Cube can’t do that, but it seems it’s not that difficult given it’s capabilities.
Does this remote render the Cube’s IR emitter useless if you already have an IR blaster? I have both an IR blaster for my existing universal remote and use the Cube (which is in a cabinet) emitter to turn on the TV. I’d like to know that the various IR signals would no interfere. The Cube itself is an emitter too, right?
The power button on the remote can only turn one thing on. I specifically asked Amazon about this. To turn on multiple things, you’ll have to say “Turn on the TV” into the remote’s mic. I think this is done so that the power button is a true power button that instantly shoots off the IR command the second it is pressed. Whereas, with the multi-device voice controls, it takes a few seconds for things to start powering on because there are delays built in to ensure compatibility.
I’m told the remote works exactly like the Fire TV Cube, so if the Cube can’t do something then the remote won’t be able to do it either. The “tune to NBC” from an all off state that you’re talking about seems to be dependent on equipment compatibility. it works for some people’s setups but not for others.
I don’t know if both the remote and Cube’s IR emitters fire simultaneously or if one is disabled when both are being used. I would imagine that the Cube’s IR emitters would not be disabled in favor of the remote since you have to point the remote and you don’t have to do anything for the Cube to work. The remote also only has 2 IR blasters, while the Cube has 6 IR blasters plus the external one.
Many thanks for the insights. With the Cube I can turn on the TV alone with just the home button so no advantage with the new remote. The volume/mute buttons would be handy, especially when searching Netflix with their previews. If there is otherwise no better performance than the Cube e.g., switching inputs, then I’ll likely pass.
I can’t turn on multiple things with “Turn on the TV” and had talked to their support team about it back in June. I had to use the Alexa app to create a group for “Turn on Group_Name”. My cable provider is FIOS so I had thought that would work by now. It would really be cool for it to execute the Turn on Group with the Tune to Channel command. Glad to hear some people have it working.
Is this new stick going to be capable of the new Auto-refresh-rate-switching feature which the Cube and FTV Pendant got added recently?
Since this one has a MediaTek SOC (pendant+cube = amlogic), it is not that obvious. Especially since only the amlogic driven fire tv devices got this Feature so far.
don’t think the cube got it yet, Amazon is focused on releasing new things instead of fixing the “old” ones.
I just pre-ordered one of these. This is exactly what I’ve been waiting for. My only issue is that all my TVs have the full Fire TV boxes, not sticks or pendants. Are all the boxes considered Fire TV Gen1 or Gen2? Are there any boxes that this remote would control?
If not, it means that I would have to replace my boxes which I don’t want to do yet. But I have a box that is acting up right now so I already have a pendant on order anyway. I’ll test with that and see if it’s worth thinking about updating.
The new remote does not work with either the 1st or 2nd Gen Fire TV box. FYI, if the box has an optical audio port, its a 1st-gen, if it ha a microSD card slot, it’s a 2nd-gen.
Are you absolutely sure about this ? I read somewhere than the Gen 2 box is compatible. It’s all so confusing !
This is on the product page:
“Not compatible with Amazon Fire TV (1st and 2nd Gen), Fire TV Stick (1st Gen), or Amazon Fire TV Edition smart TVs. Look for “Check if the device control features of this product are compatible with your TV, sound equipment, and cable/satellite box” at the top of this page to make sure your TV, sound bar, and A/V receiver are compatible with all-new Alexa Voice Remote.”
Just an FYI to everyone. I saw on the Amazon website that the Fire TV Cube is going to start shipping with the new remote on October 31st (for the same 119 dollars). I currently own the Cube, and the remote that came with it is one of my biggest gripes. So I contacted Amazon customer service..because honestly..the Cube needs this remote to make it a complete device. I was told by Fire TV support to contact them again after the 31st because they were going to have a solution for existing Fire TV Cube owners. I was told that he wasn’t allowed to say what it was..but that I should contact them after the 31st. So maybe he was full of poo….but I sure hope not.
Yeah, the solution come Oct 31st and that you can buy the new remote. :) I just bought a few pendants so the new remote is 75% the cost of each!
Got off Amazon chat. Amazon will sell the remote at 50% off for each cube that you own. No discount for non-cube devices. Better than nothing. Didn’t ask when they will send the promo but I assume by 31st.
It’s about time! I switched from dish network to PSVUE so only operate within the FireTV OS. All I wanted was power and volume buttons added to the remote…. I’ll wait until black friday to upgrade, $30/remote is pretty steep.
kinda BS that Amazon releases this stuff 4 months after they release a new lineup, not even giving discounts to the people who just bought a new Fire TV…. no thank you.
What a joke [to me]. Glad to see I can save some money with this release. It is worthless to me. Personally, I think it is a dumb idea. Going to have so many trouble calls waiting the CSR’s time.
I know this isn’t compatible with the Fire TV 1 Stick, but what about the first generation box ? In my opinion the first generation box is still the best of the lot and I’d love to use the new remote with it.
Cheers
Any ideas on why this remote isn’t compatible with a 2nd gen Fire TV box? Still a very capable device. I’ve got 3 and don’t feel what I would gain by upgrading to get the remote would be worth the expense. I’m heavily into Amazon ecosystem with the fire tvs and multiple echos. Very disappointing :(
Only thing I can guess about is that the Fire TV 2nd Gen doesn’t support A2DP, AVRCP, GAVDP, and IOPT Bluetooth profiles but the 2nd Gen stick does. Otherwise I don’t get it at all since my Fire TV 2nd Gen and Fire TV 3rd Gen came with what looks like the same remote, not sure why adding IR capabilities to it would make it compatible with one but not the other.
I have one ordered for my 3rd Gen, but I will definitely be testing to see if it works on my 2nd Gen because I’d like to have one for both.
“Only thing I can guess about is that the Fire TV 2nd Gen doesn’t support A2DP, AVRCP, GAVDP, and IOPT Bluetooth profiles but the 2nd Gen stick does.”
Forgot to mention that I would have guessed it had something to do with Fire OS 6 supporting it and 5 not, but since the 2nd Gen Stick supports it that doesn’t seem to be the case – that’s why the supported Bluetooth profiles seem to be the only difference between them.
For setting the new buttons, any idea if this is a learning remote or you just pick the brand/device from a list? I think I rather have a change-input button than a mute button so it would be nice if I can customize the mute button for that.
do you think that they would update the official remote app and maybe add in the volume buttons…?
The remote works fine with my Fire Stick and it controls power and volume on my TV just fine. It won’t connect with my Emotiva UMC-200 even though Amazon lists in among the devices it can control. I cannot get past the power on/off setup for this device. That means I cannot use it with my 7.1 surround system.
I tried to write a review on Amazon, but was told the device is not yet available and so cannot be reviewed. Neither can I find a customer service link for the device, though I could probably try harder on that front.
I had great hopes for this device, but it is not there yet.