Whenever an Amazon device goes on sale, someone inevitably says that Amazon is clearing out old stock to make room for a new model that must be right around the corner. Since the Amazon Fire TV Stick is currently on sale for $29.99 and this is the 5th sale for the device this year, which is unusually high, I’ve been getting a lot of questions about a possible Fire TV Stick 3. Here’s a rundown of what we know about the Fire TV Stick 3, when to expect it, and a whole bunch of speculation.
The current 2nd generation Fire TV Stick was released in October 2016, which was roughly 2 years after the 1st Fire TV Stick was released. The current Fire TV Stick will be 2 years old this October, so I think we’ll see a new Fire TV Stick 3 released near the end of this year, in October or November 2018.
But what about all the Fire TV Stick sales we’ve been seeing? Surely that’s an indicator of a new Firestick being released sooner than the end of the year, right? No, it isn’t. Amazon doesn’t tend to be the type to over produce their devices and necessitate a sale to get rid of stock. The only time that really happens with Amazon is if a device is a market failure, like the Fire Phone and all the sales it had at the end of its life cycle.
Amazon hardware sales are not an indicator that a new model will be coming out soon. A better indicator of a new Amazon device model coming out soon is a current device that unexpectedly goes out of stock and stays out of stock for a long period of time. It isn’t always the case, but several Fire TV models have become “currently unavailable” on Amazon several weeks before a new model is released. The 1st Gen Fire TV Stick voice bundle went out of stock about a month before the 2nd Gen Fire TV Stick was released and the Fire TV 1 went out of stock about a month before the Fire TV 2 was released.
As far as what we know about a potential Fire TV Stick 3, unfortunately, it’s nothing. There has been absolutely no indication whatsoever that a new Fire TV Stick is in the works at Amazon. Unlike past Fire TV and Fire TV stick models which leaked in one way or another, there have been no leaks at all of a Fire TV Stick 3. That’s not to say a new Firestick isn’t in the works. It’s likely just that Amazon has gotten a lot better at preventing leaks. We’re also still half a year from my predicted release date of October/November 2018, so it would be unusual to see leaks this early.
Since we don’t know what a Fire TV Stick 3 will have to offer, we can only speculate. I don’t think a new Fire TV Stick 3 will be all that different from the current Fire TV Stick 2. I’d expect it to have a very slightly faster processor, but nothing anywhere near the improvement we saw between the 1st Gen and 2nd Gen Fire TV Sticks. I would say we’ll perhaps see a bump up from 1 GB of RAM to 2 GB, but even that I don’t expect. I don’t think anyone who buys a Fire TV Stick 2 will be kicking themselves for not waiting for a new version.
I don’t think the Fire TV Stick 3 will be capable of 4K or HDR because I don’t think it’s possible yet to sell a 4K device for $39.99. I don’t think Amazon will increase the price of their entry level Fire TV Stick just to make all Fire TV models a 4K device. Until its possible to make a 4K Fire TV Stick for $39.99, which I don’t think will happen this year, I think the Fire TV Stick will continue to be a 1080p device.
That doesn’t mean a 4K Fire TV Stick this year is out of the question. I’d say there’s a 50/50 chance we’ll see a true Fire TV Stick capable of 4K and HDR that replaces the current Fire TV 3 pendant this year. If a 4K Fire TV Stick does get released, I think it’ll replace the current Fire TV 3 and be announced in addition to a new 1080p Fire TV Stick 3. I’d expect a 4K Fire TV Stick to cost $59.99, but a price of $49.99 is also plausible if Amazon wants to be very aggressive.
So, in my opinion, the Fire TV lineup this holiday season will be a new 1080p Fire TV Stick 3 for $39.99, either the existing 4K Fire TV 3 with a possible price drop or a new 4K Fire TV Stick for around $59.99, and the new cube-shaped Fire TV as the flagship model.
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Wait. There’s gonna be an even worse device than the Fire TV 3?
Seems like any further downgrade of what they are calling Fire TV 3, would simply result in a current Fire STick 2. Maybe that is there goal, to make them all one unified cheap device.
I sure will miss the quality that Fire TV 2 was.
hmm,, what are they called, the one by Nvidia oh,, Shield.
maybe its time to research, just in case.
Nothing to research. Shield works fantastic. $149.99 is about as cheap as they get.
AFTV 1 and two were 50 USD with promotion at some point. And are still good devices.
As is said in the article, this is all speculation, especially the part about a theoretical 4K Fire TV Stick. If a 4K Fire TV Stick is released, there is no reason to keep the current Fire TV 3 on the market. I’d expect a 4K Fire TV Stick to have identical capabilities to the current Fire TV 3 at a cheaper price. That would be a pretty killer product, which is why I call it a coin flip if we’d see it at the end of this year or not.
what will see as far as the next OS update for Fire Sticks will it go to 6 or still be on 5
Where’s the Cube?
I have no new information to share about the cube-shaped Fire TV. Seems like it has been delayed but I expect it’ll be released in the coming months.
The cube is a bad Idea. I put my echo dot near my tv, didn’t work well since I had to complete with the speakers
Compete? Too many collisions on the Ethernet? Upgrade your Hub to a Switch. Or buy extra routers so you can saturate all the bands available to you.
Your voice commands can’t compete with the speakers
The Echo Dot was not designed to be placed near a TV, whereas the cube will be designed that way, so you shouldn’t assume they’ll behave the same way. The big advantage the cube will have is it knows what audio is coming from your TV speakers since it’s putting that audio out, so theoretically it will be able to filter TV audio out and hear your commands better. Of course, we’ll have to wait and see if that’s the case.
All I want is a stick that is 10 bit HEVC compatible.
I agree. I was surprised that the current stick supports HEVC but not 10bit HEVC. I don’t need 4K so getting the FireTV 3 just for 10bit support is overkill.
I don’t want the Fire Stick 3, I want a Fire Box (the cube) 3
I don’t want the cube, I want the old box with 4k HDR
I myself, dont care if its cube or box, as long as its an upgrade and does not dangle its weight on my HDMI port to damage it.
Cube does have interesting aspects as you would not have to also keep a an Echo device in same room.
I have to say. Who cares about any possible Fire TV Stick 3? All we care about is this mysterious none existent Fire TV Cube! Where is it???! No rumours, nada, nothing. Have Amazon ditched the cube design model and launched the Fire TV 3 Dongle in its place instead?
While you do not care about the Fire TV Stick, there are others who do. Keep in mind that the Fire TV Stick outsells the Fire TV by multiple orders of magnitude. There are many people who contact me asking if I know anything about the next Fire TV Stick. That is why I wrote this article. If I had new information to share about the cube-shaped Fire TV, obviously I would have already written an article with that information.
I’m sure many do care about it, but the comments on here at least seem to reflect otherwise. Surely you must understand the frustration with the cube being teased, and then for several months no information what so ever on it?
I don’t think they will launch a new Fire TV Stick and will drop it in favour of the Fire TV 3.
Because the cube is a bad idea commands can’t compete with the speakers.
Commands? Speakers? The Stick has speakers? Aren’t command just software?
The Stick should end. The current Fire TV 3 is the new stick. The only upgrade should be to a stand alone box version of the Fire TV, maybe Fire TV3 Pro or something, similar in size and shape to the Fire TV 2.
I‘m sad to admit it, but after 3 years of dedication to the Fire TV 1 & 2 boxes, I was so disappointed by the current Fire TV 3 and the latest software updates for the Fire TV 2 which just introduced more ads, broke Blutooth headphones playback and resulted in frequent stuttering within Amazon Video, Netflix, and MrMC and still do not support auto frame-rate switching for Amazon Video and Netflix, I finally switched to an Apple TV 4K three months ago.
The only thing I regret is, that I did not make the switch earlier.
Everything just works great on the Apple TV 4K. Not only does it have native Apps for Amazon Video, Netflix, iTunes, MrMC and Infuse, but also for some streaming services which are still not (and will probably never be) available on the Fire TV, such as Sky Ticket (Germany).
As a result I put my Fire TV 2 box out of service and do not plan to go back.
Sadly I agree with Dots comment.
I have one of about all of them and take turns using them (haha). I bought the 4K Apple TV and it is awesome, very powerful and in a class by itself.
Apple TV is the best underrated device. I use it to steam everything. I guess the reason why it is underrated is the price and the touch remote which is the only thing I hate about it.
hope they put Ethernet, microSD card slot and at least one USB port
In case you didn’t realize, this article is about the Fire TV Stick. Ethernet, microSD, and USB ports will never be on the Stick because the whole point of the Stick is to be as cheap as possible with only the bare minimum features.
it would take less than 5 dollars to put these features on the device. Amazon could, and should, provide that connectivity on the stick.
5 dollars on a 30-40 USD device is a 15% price increase.
I am not trying to be snarky, but this “article” appears to be nothing but speculation.
@aftvnews, are any of your opinions of what is to come based on actual Intel?
Will there ever be an update for my second generation fire box to give it true 4K instead of 4k@30
For many, an Amazon device is simply a vehicle to run KODI.
In that respect, the Fire TV 3 is an utter disappointment and complete waste.
I don’t know the technicals of the situation, but I’ve never been able to play live KODI video on a Fire TV 3 without debilitating issues.
If Amazon’s goal was to frustrate the KODI user, they have succeeded by killing the ported Fire TV series and introducing a bomb of a device called the Fire TV 3.
And there has to be a reason that the Fire TV 3 is on perpetual sale. And that’s because it “sucks.”
I am not getting this. Since the Apple TV got the Prime Video app it blows circles over the FTV. First no stupid forced video ads for there dumb originals. It also loads much quicker and ramps up much quicker.
I hope they move to a USB-C power cord. I have fixed so many friends and family firesticks that have bent the stem by putting the cord in the wrong way. There is no wrong way with USB-C.
Wished Amazon had just updated the Fire TV 2 instead of releasing the Fire TV 3 in its current state, such a let down