The Amazon Fire TV Stick, which shrinks the already-excellent Fire TV into a Chromecast-esque dongle, is finally coming to the UK.
The diminutive streaming device is already available in the US, but Amazon is announcing that it's bringing it across the Atlantic. The Stick will set you back £35 - not unreasonable - with shipping set to commence on April 15.
The even better news is that, for the next two days, Prime members can order the Fire TV Stick for £19, while new Prime customers can sign up for a 12-month membership and order the Fire TV Stick for just £7. Yes, you do have to sign up for the full 12 months if you want it that cheap - we checked.
The Fire TV Stick connects to the HDMI port on your TV and opens up a portal to movies, TV shows, apps and games. You can access all of Amazon's own content on Prime Instant Video as well as popular apps like Netflix and BBC iPlayer. Plus, it also supports casting from various smartphone apps.
Furthermore, Amazon's rolling out an update to both Fire TV and the Stick that will let them get around those annoying web authorisation pages that pop up on certain Wi-Fi networks.
Hotels often have a login page that many devices are unable to circumvent. The update will make both Fire TV and the Stick much better travel companions.
Burn baby burn
So, why would you buy a £79 Fire TV box if the Stick does the same job for less? There are a few differences to be aware of: the remote that comes bundled with the Stick doesn't include voice control like its Fire TV counterpart (though you can do it through the smartphone app); and the full-fat box adds ethernet, optical audio, a beefier processor, and USB to expand the memory.
It certainly doesn't sound like Amazon will be slowing momentum on the bigger box any time soon. Amazon told us: "What we saw in the US when we launched the Stick was that sales of the box went up. So we're still committed to the box, we think it's a great product. We think there's plenty of room in the market for a higher-end and a stick product."
Amazon's full Fire TV box costs £79 currently, meaning that you'll pay less than half for the Stick if you have no interest in joining Prime. Of course, by not doing so you'll miss out on a big chunk of content.
You can pre-order starting today by heading over here. Or, if you're not sure whether the Fire TV Stick is right for you, check out our existing review here. We'll be adding additional thoughts on the device as we get familiar with it UK-side.
- Read more: the best Amazon Firet TV Stick VPN
