The 2nd-gen Fire TV Gaming Edition has joined the regular 2nd-gen Fire TV and is now also out of stock. The gaming edition currently lists an in stock date of November 3rd. The regular 2nd-gen Fire TV package, which includes just a voice remote, is now showing a restock date of November 4th. When the regular bundle first went out of stock, Amazon listed an in stock date of October 19th which was then changed to October 30th. The 2nd-gen Fire TV was pushed out of stock as a result of a mistake which listed the device on Amazon for $20 off for several hours. The conspiracy theorists among you may believe Amazon is artificially holding back stock until they release their upcoming software update which is expected to fix several issues with the new device. I personally don’t think that’s the case. The new device has recovered slightly from initial poor reviews and has moved from a mid 2 star rating to 3.1 stars and continues to climb.
This new FireTV is what I expected for a new device. Once the fixes take place in the next few weeks it is going to be a superior device over the original.
You are a very forgiving person. It wasn’t ready for release. With new vendors for CPU and GPU, I’m not convinced OS updates will fix it. I also think the remote needs a redesign.
1/10 of the remotes I get are buggy. at times I have to bang them on my hand a few times to get it to respond / send signal to box.
I don’t think it’s the banging in your hand that gets them to work. They drop connectivity and then get reconnected…it happens. Pretty sure it’s not banging them that actually gets them to reconnect.
It might be battery or battery connector spring issue or both.
I experienced in other product , you just have to do little DIY adjustment on connector,spring. Also check the battery juice.
Trust me , remote control under Amazon brand are among the best.
Has Amazon given any indication when it will be rolling out OS5 to the FireTV 1 yet?
What’s the rush ? Why do you need to upgrade ?
You will not get 4k even if you are on OS5 with AFTV1.
I pre-ordered a regular Fire TV but didn’t get it until last Saturday (I was able to get a $20 credit for the short lived price drop)and didn’t get it set up until Sunday morning. I have a hardwired ethernet connection. After reading all the horrible reviews online I was pretty worried about how well it would work. But I guess the first audio patch update timing was perfect for me since I’ve had no problem with it playing 5.1 sound in every app (Netflix, HBO Go, Kodi, etc.). I’ve also never had the remote lose connection and have to be reset even once. I use FireStarter as the launcher and it was also updated and runs flawlessly. I’ve not been overly impressed with Alexa, doesn’t seem very useful although perhaps that will change for the better over time.
Perhaps I’m in the minority but I haven’t had even the slightest complaint about my box and am excited about how fast and smooth it is. I imagine it’s possible that there was some QC problems with early batches of the boxes. But I think it is still the best box in the market for the price, especially as a Kodi streamer. Although I hope that for those that are frustrated and having problems with their boxes they get the quirks worked out soon.
Yes the box is very fast. I am waiting on the DD 5.1 fix so that my TV can pass-thru the audio via TOSLink to my old receiver.
I have sideloaded a bunch of apps (You can download from the Google App Store using an android device. In my case, the Nook HD which I no longer use. Use APKExtractor and it will extract the apk for every app you download. Since the APKs are from Google Play Store … there is less risk of it being buggy.
I can run the Xfinity and the CNN app – I have the Logitech K400 wireless connected to it. Works great.
Also I use the Application Organizer App (available at Amazon Store, no side loading needed) … it allows me to organize the apps neatly.
Very happy with the box.
After I read your post , I search through Amazon for legendary Logitech K400.
All sold out! , they’re no longer available through “Ship and Sold by Amazon”.
I think alot of AFTV owner went there and bought K400 after your post!
Hello Amazon , pls restock Logitech K400!
Save your money and the clutter of another remote. I use my iphone and iPad with the “renote mouse for FireTV” app. You need the app on your iphone/iPad and on your FireTV. Once you get it paired it works well.
Instead of extracting the apk try Apps2Fire. It can sideload any app on your Android device direct to your Fire.
@Grinder – that worked great. Coming from an Apple ecosystem – I am always paranoid about the ease with which Android OS allows such kind of access. Hopefully its all safe. Enjoying the Fire TV
Make it available before Oct 21st, unless Amazon wants to give Roku 4 a big slice of pie during the launch.
I sideloaded an app called Data Counter Widget from the AppStore – it provides real time data usage.
A 5 minute streaming of a 4K video on Amazon (Dolphins IMAX 4K) consumed close to 1GB.
A 5 minute streaming of a 4K video from the Netflix App (House of Cards) consumed lost to 700MB
Thats excessive !!
@vulcan195
Thanks a lot for the info.
That’s explains the occasional frame drop/skip on Amazon stream ( my eyes might be wrong on this though). And this also explains Amazon video looks more vivid and beautiful.
First impression is everything especially when you got the apple TV, roku 4 and nexus player 2nd gen coming out very soon. It is smart to stop selling anymore and update the software to fix the bugs. The 1st gen fire TV never had these complaints and was getting awesome reviews from day 1.
Agreed, but if that’s the case, why did Amazon continuing selling gaming edition and leave keep it available a retail partners like Best Buy?
I thought Nexus player was dead. There’s a 2nd gen coming?
Maybe. Needs Ethernet and probably 4K (for marketing reasons).
I wonder what happens when Google releases androidTV OS more widely. I hear that’s next year. Then ibwoukd expect innovation and variety in the platform that will far exceed FireTV’s semi closed system.
Any big vendor can do selling and fixing concurrently, just like Microsoft Windows updates fix. It’s an on going process.
It’s game over if you stop selling 10 days after your launch just because there’s a bugs in it.
My guess is AFTV2 really sold out just like Apple iPhone 6 launch.
I will stick with my 2 First Gen Fire TV’s and 1 First Gen Fire Stick.
I have no need or desire for 4K Video. I just don’t really get the whole HD thing.
I have an Xbox One, Wii U, PS3, PSP, PS Vita and 3DS – so I am good when it comes to gaming.
Things are running A LOT smoother after I factory reset my 2nd gen fireTV. If anyone is still having issues, give it a shot.
HI there,
i have the 2nd gen Fire TV , and i have noticed that Torrents on KODI does not work on the 2nd gen device… i also have the first gen device and the torrents works good on it… so it is because the android 5.1 or something else?