Now that Fire OS 5 is making its way to all versions of the Fire TV and Fire TV Stick, new and old, Amazon is ready to sell the new wifi-based voice remote once again for $29.99. This remote was briefly available for purchase in December for a couple days, but was likely pulled to prevent poor reviews from owners of 1st-gen Fire TVs and older Fire TV Sticks which were incompatible with the remote at the time. Since Fire OS 5 adds compatibility for this new remote to older Fire TV and Fire TV Stick devices, it’s finally safe to sell it without confusing uninformed customers.
Pre-orders for the new voice remote will ship on March 3rd, which is a good indicator that all Fire TV devices will receive the 5.0.5 software update by that date. Judging by the non-reflective buttons and the dark Amazon logo in the product’s photo, I’d guess customers who order this voice remote will receive the slightly cheaper “B” version of the two available models. An alternative to this new voice remote is the bluetooth based non-voice remote, which is also compatible with all Fire TV and Fire TV Stick models, and is still available separately from Amazon.
Update
The pre-order page has been taken down, but you can now order the remote from here.
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I had problems with the new “cheaper” remote (not surprising), my suspicions proved correct when I complained about it earlier in the year. It would sporadically not work, I would throw fresh batteries in it and it would work for about 10 mins then not work again, not even show up in the remote settings. Pull the battery for a sec, put it back in, and magic it would work again. I dealt with it, used the iphone app in the meantime but really needed it for a poker game i play, it started to get annoying calling donks all-ins when reaching for my phone and mistakenly hitting “call” or the reverse, going for a bet on a strong hand and folding by mistake.
i chatted with an amazon rep, he tried troubleshooting (which i knew was pointless, but allowed him to do his job and read the script on the screen in front of him) until finally he gave in and sent me a new remote free of charge. Hoping that it would be the better of the remotes, I was saddened to open the box and see it was the identical cheapo remote.
Never had a problem with my first remote albeit different connection etc.
It shows “currently unavailable” for me?
try this link
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B010U2JFKI?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00
Thanks! Ordered.
I kind of regret rooting my 1st gen boxes now …
lost a remote and I could only find the WiFi version .
Why not just buy the fire tv stick remote…just like your old one except no voice. And if you really need voice just use the amazon remote control app. Nothing to regret…