Amazon's Fire TV Stick offers voice remote service at affordable price

Amazon has launched a new version of the Fire TV Stick streaming device. Priced at $39.99, the Stick plugs into an HDMI port on TV. It also includes the voice-enabled remote control.

The Fire TV Stick is the company's follow-up to its successful streaming media box, Amazon's new Fire TV box. The product was first announced in 2014, and it offers 4K Ultra HD streaming content for Amazon Prime members

The Fire TV box is a good solution for those who already owned an Ultra HD TV but can't get much in the way of 4K content to actually enjoy at the moment. But for those who don't own 4K display, the Fire TV Stick is the best option to enjoy the streaming content with slight dip performance.

The Fire TV Stick is an easy way to enjoy Netflix, Amazon's Prime Video, Hulu, HBO NOW, low-cost movie rentals, live on-demand sports, music, photo, games, and more. However, the stick doesn't support any Google app.

The Fire TV Stick fits with most TV's HDMI ports and, unlike its main competitor Chromecast, it comes with a fairly decent remote.

To support its streaming device from the competitors, Amazon refused to stock Google's Chromecast and Android TV devices. The company justified the decision because they are not compatible with Amazon's own instant video and Prime Video Services.

The Stick has a dual-core processor with 6x the processing power of Roku Streaming Stick, a dedicated VideoCore4 GPU, and 8 GB of storage-4x that of Chromecast and 32x that of Roku Streaming Stick.

With the size that is not bigger than a USB stick, the Fire TV Stick offers smart TV experience even when a user is on travelling.

The Fire Stick TV now has the option to get an improved remote. As reported on Business Insider, the new remote costs an extra $10, and it makes getting around the Fire TV Stick much simpler.

The improved remote has a voice-activated service. New York Post meanwhile announced the voice remote version of Fire TV Stick will be available on November 13.

The improved remote still can't instantly launch apps, for example, Netflix, but it still pushes Amazon's Prime content first. Some commands are also reported to need to be phrased a specific way, but it is quick and near-constantly accurate.

However, according to Digitaltrends, consumers actually don't need to buy a Fire TV Stick or Fire TV to get Amazon Instant Video on TV.

In fact, they can enjoy the Amazon's video services by using Chromecast or Android TV. So if consumers already have one of those devices, they probably don't need to buy any other streaming devices at all.