At the event of presentation of new devices, Amazon has unveiled the new Fire TV Stick 4K Select, a device that introduces the Vega OS.
This new Vega operating system is not based on Android, it is a specific version of Linux designed for the device. With this OS made to measure for the hardware it mounts takes advantage to cut costs and hardware. Inside we find only 1 GB of RAM which seems little, but moving an OS only for streaming apps without the demand for resources that Android asks for may be enough. According to its specifications, we can playback 4K HDR10.
This Stick is presented with a price of only $39.99 and aims to attract the public that only requires streaming apps, logically we can install any own app in a closed OS. A device that seems uninteresting compared to the Android TV competition and the Fire TV 4K Android.
Specifications of the Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Select
Inside the Fire TV Stick 4K Select, we find a Mediatek MT8698 MCM SoC, with four Cortex-A55 cores reaching 1.7 GHz. The GPU is a Mali G310v2 that reaches 500 MHz and is at least compatible with the AV1 codec. According to its specifications, it does not support Dolby Vision, but it is compatible with Dolby Atmos.
On the motherboard we have only 1 GB of RAM DDR4 and a meager 8 GB of eMMC storage, just enough to store streaming apps, OS and cache. We’ll see how this OS Vega can move with all the advertising that Amazon usually displays.
For wireless connectivity, we have WiFi 5 and Bluetooth 5.0. By default, we have the BT remote with microphone to give orders to the new Alexa assistant. On the front we have the HDMI male connector with additional extender and we have a single microUSB port (could be USB-C) for power.
Price and availability
- The new Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Select can be purchased on Amazon for $39.99 with free delivery and will ship on October 5.
