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My quick googling says "Plus" is a gimmick "cosmetic rebrand of the standard 2nd-generation Fire TV Stick 4K" I briefly thought this was the "Max" but it's not.
Nope Google didn't get it right. This is the newest generation with AI,faster processor, and Amazon's new Fire operating system. The down side is actually that you can no longer side load outside apps into this new OP system. I honestly think that is why Amazon has been offering big discounts to the new gen sticks. I have actually been buying the older gen off sites like Woot and putting a few back because I do side load outside apps. Good deal if you don't use outside apps. I have a few of these and they are great so far.
Last edited by Jeckyl13 June 20, 2026 at 11:48 AM.
Nope Google didn't get it right. This is the newest generation with AI,faster processor, and Amazon's new Fire operating system. The down side is actually that you can no longer side load outside apps into this new OP system. I honestly think that is why Amazon has been offering big discounts to the new gen sticks. I have actually been buying the older gen off sites like Woot and putting a few back because I do side load outside apps. Good deal if you don't use outside apps. I have a few of these and they are great so far.
I'm seeing
"Date First Available October 15, 2025"
Have there been multiple generations of "Plus"? I really don't keep track of Amazon products
Nope Google didn't get it right. This is the newest generation with AI,faster processor, and Amazon's new Fire operating system. The down side is actually that you can no longer side load outside apps into this new OP system. I honestly think that is why Amazon has been offering big discounts to the new gen sticks. I have actually been buying the older gen off sites like Woot and putting a few back because I do side load outside apps. Good deal if you don't use outside apps. I have a few of these and they are great so far.
According to Alexa you can still sideload on the Fire OS, which is still on the Plus and Max versions. All future versions of the Fire Stick will be converted to their proprietary Vega OS, which doesn't allow sideloading and currently only supports about 54 of the top 100 Fire TV apps. The Fire Stick Select has already been converted to Vega. The Vega OS seemed mainly for Amazon's benefit, by freeing them from reliance on Google product and allowing Amazon to monetize more content. Though apparently it is somewhat streamlined and somewhat faster with lower memory requirements.
The plus just means it comes with the voice remote instead of the non voice remote. The plus means the same for Roku devices.
This is not the new SELECT device with the Vega OS. You CAN sideload apps to this device. The devices with Vega have a disclaimer clearly posted on the product page saying they can only accept apps from the Amazon app store.
Fire TV Stick 4K Select ($17.99) and the Fire TV Stick HD ($15.99) are the ones that cannot accept sideloaded apks.
Nope Google didn't get it right. This is the newest generation with AI,faster processor, and Amazon's new Fire operating system. The down side is actually that you can no longer side load outside apps into this new OP system. I honestly think that is why Amazon has been offering big discounts to the new gen sticks. I have actually been buying the older gen off sites like Woot and putting a few back because I do side load outside apps. Good deal if you don't use outside apps. I have a few of these and they are great so far.
I have an Onn 4k and era of sideloading apps is pretty cooked. Many of the main players have disappeared in the past few months.
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"cosmetic rebrand of the standard 2nd-generation Fire TV Stick 4K"
I briefly thought this was the "Max" but it's not.
"Date First Available October 15, 2025"
Have there been multiple generations of "Plus"? I really don't keep track of Amazon products
good to know re side load lockout.
This is not the new SELECT device with the Vega OS. You CAN sideload apps to this device. The devices with Vega have a disclaimer clearly posted on the product page saying they can only accept apps from the Amazon app store.
Fire TV Stick 4K Select ($17.99) and the Fire TV Stick HD ($15.99) are the ones that cannot accept sideloaded apks.
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