Amazon has released a new Alexa Voice Remote for Fire TV devices. This remote has unofficially appeared in a few places already but now it is officially available for purchase. Amazon has also chosen to swap out the remote that comes with the 3rd-gen Fire TV Stick for this new remote in many regions, including the US, Canada, Germany, and others. This new remote preserves all the features of the existing Alexa Voice Remote and adds a few extras like a Live Guide button and four app buttons.
The most obvious difference between the new remote and the old one is the addition of four app buttons. This new remote marks the first time that Amazon has ever put app buttons on the remote that comes with a standalone Fire TV media player. Prior to this, app buttons have only been placed on the remotes that come with Fire TV Edition televisions and soundbars. When pressed, these app buttons immediately launch their associated app, giving quick access to those services.
In the US, the app buttons are for Prime Video, Netflix, Disney+, and Hulu. While it’s safe to assume that Prime Video and Netflix will always be the first two buttons, the other two buttons may differ from region to region and may change over time. In Germany, Canada, and several other countries, for example, the bottom two buttons are for Disney+ and Amazon Music. Interestingly, the third button on the remote sold in India is labeled as “Apps” and, presumably, will open the Fire TV’s grid of all apps when pressed.
Sentiment towards app buttons is certainly mixed. Some people love them, especially when they are for a service that they use often, because it speeds up access to their apps. Others hate them, especially if they are for apps that they don’t use or even have installed, because they seem like more advertisement and clutter up the remote. Unfortunately, Amazon has never allowed customers to customize which apps these buttons launch, so it’s safe to assume that won’t be any different with this new remote. That said, my Remapper app can be used to remap some of these buttons on Fire TV Edition remotes, but we’ll need to wait and see if it works for this new remote.
The other functionality that this new remote adds is a button with a TV icon on it that launches the Fire TV’s built-in channel guide. This button first appeared on Fire TV Edition remotes and later appeared on the Fire TV Stick Lite remote. This is the first time this button has been added to a remote that can also control your TV’s power and volume, making this new remote the most fully-featured Fire TV remote that Amazon has ever released.
The last changes on the new remote, compared to the existing remote, are cosmetic. Amazon has swapped out the standard black microphone button, which has existed on every Fire TV voice remote since the first Fire TV was released in 2014, for a bright blue button with an Alexa logo. This seems to be a direct response to Google which swapped out the microphone button on Android TV remotes for one with their Google Assistant logo.
One final subtle difference on the new remote is the addition of the Fire TV logo at the bottom of the remote. Amazon’s oldest Fire TV remotes had the full Amazon logo at the bottom but that was replaced by just the Amazon arrow on the most recent remotes. It seems like Amazon wants the Fire TV brand to stand out more, now that this new remote features the Fire TV logo and the remote that comes with Fire TV Edition televisions by Croma also include a Fire TV logo as a first for a Fire TV Edition remote.
It’s unclear exactly which Fire TV devices will ultimately come with this new remote. So far, Amazon has bundled the 3rd-gen Fire TV Stick with this new remote in several regions. They’ve also bundled this new remote with the 1st-gen Fire TV Stick 4K in Australia, Brazil, and Mexico, which just today received that model for the first time. However, it doesn’t appear that other regions are seeing the Fire TV Stick 4K bundled with this remote and no regions have this new remote bundled with the Fire TV Cube. It’s probably safe to assume that all Fire TV devices that come with the old remote will eventually be bundled with the new remote, but it’s unclear when or if that will actually happen.
The new remote, which Amazon calls the 3rd-Gen Alexa Voice Remote, is available to pre-order now for $29.99 and it will be released on April 14 in the US. This new remote is compatible with all the same Fire TV models that the old remote is compatible with, which includes the Fire TV Stick Lite, 2nd-gen Fire TV Stick, 3rd-gen Fire TV Stick, Fire TV Stick 4K, 3rd-gen Fire TV, 1st-gen Fire TV Cube, and 2nd-gen Fire TV Cube. If you’re not sure which Fire TV model you have, see this guide.
Here is a list, that I will keep updated as new listings appear, of regions and bundles that include this new remote. Please let me know in the comments if you find listings that are not present below.
@AFTVnews
AFTVnews
Release a new device (Fire Stick 3) and then 6 months later change the remote. Now handle costumers rightfully demanding vouchers for the new remote.
Agreed! Hate when manufacturers do things like this.
So the new remote isn’t compatible with the venerable and much loved Fire TV (box) 2nd edition???
No, it is not, but neither is the old remote that has TV power/volume buttons.
Pity… that’s a shame.
But FWIW, I just replaced one of my perfectly fine Fire Stick 4Ks with a Woot refurb Fire TV Cube 1st gen, because I just couldn’t make due any longer with the limited app storage on the 4K Stick. Now with the 16 GB Cube, albeit a bit slower in actual use, no more storage problems.
So, it looks like I’ll be getting the new remote to go with my newish Fire TV Cube 1st gen when the remote becomes available. Really wanted to have the Live Channels button that comes with the new remote, and having Amazon Prime Video and Hulu buttons won’t be bad either!
You could have expanded the storage on your original device with an otg cable and usb drive♂️✌
I have both with expanded storage, Cube and 4K.but 4K has more storage but the good thing is the cube expansion is so simple no adb but even the 4K is only 1 command 2 exp.
AFAIK, that OTG approach only works for providing user file storage, not for installing most apps, on OS5 devices. My problem was running out of space for apps.
The new remote needs a button to swap tv inputs as well..
If you’re not aware, you can change inputs by voice with the existing remote. See this guide that I just put up: How to switch TV inputs with the Fire TV or Firestick remote
I want the new remote solely for the Live TV button, but not for $30. For $20, I’d buy 3.
Still no input button…
How about either replacing the Hulu button with YouTube or simply add YouTube below current buttons? More importantly, where’s an “Input” button so that we can basically get rid of our factory TV’s remote and/or stop purchasing universal remotes that works everything?!
If you’re not aware, you can change inputs by voice with the existing remote. See this guide that I just put up: How to switch TV inputs with the Fire TV or Firestick remote
You can also program any button on the Sideclick to mimic the “input” function on your TV’s remote. Press the programmed button once to bring up a selection screen and addition presses to move the highlight to the input desired. After a brief rest the selected input appears on the TV.
For the new “Live TV” button, if you have your device hooked up to Recast, will those OTA Channels pop up also as well?
Yes, the OTA channels from the Fire TV Recast are included in the channel guide that the Live TV button brings up.
When will it be available in the UK?
Sorry, but I don’t know. It’s odd that the UK seems to be omitted entirely for this new remote. My guess is that they haven’t finalized the agreements for the app buttons yet and that the UK will get the new remote once they figure that out.
Thank you, I couldn’t find anything about it and was wondering.
The problem is the remotes are to small you have to look for that remote a lot make it a little bigger already ♀️♀️
$30 is too much. Given that the Fire TV stick (3rd Gen) comes with this remote for a total of $40, it’s hard to believe that the remote is 3/4th of the cost.
What I really need to know is if the new guide button an be emulated over USB to use with IR to USB adapters.
I have plugged in a keyboard and mashed every key I can think of, but the guide wasn’t triggered…
I’m hoping that a firmware update is in the wings waiting on the release date of the new remote.
fyi, I bought one of the cheapie Fire TVs on sale for Prime Day specifically to get the abovementioned 2021 version 3rd gen Fire TV voice remote with the dedicated Live TV Guide and Streaming Channel buttons…because I really wanted a one-button remote solution for accessing the live TV guide instead of fiddling with the FTV’s screen menus.
Good news to report — my one concern going in turns out to be unfounded. The new remote and its Live TV Guide and Streaming Channel dedicated buttons work perfectly fine with the alternate Wolf Launcher setup on my Fire TV 1st gen Cube.
I was worried going in that using the Wolf Launcher on my FTV might break some functionality of the new remote and its dedicated buttons. But thankfully, that turns out NOT to be the case, as I tested them all to work perfectly earlier today.
Really happy with the new remote (while the Fire TV device that came with it sits in a drawer). Makes the UI and functionality of my Cube so much nicer to deal with!
It looks as if the new remote will not pair with the Cube 1 and 2nd Gens.