Fire TV Stick 4K Select Review: Worth It Even If Your TV Is Already Smart

If your television already runs apps, buying a streaming stick can look redundant. It usually is not, and the reason has little to do with the app list.

What it is

The real argument: TVs age badly, sticks are replaceable

A television is built to last a decade. The computer inside it is not. Two or three years in, the same TV that was responsive when you bought it takes several seconds to open an app, and the manufacturer has moved on to newer models. Some apps stop being updated for it entirely.

A stick separates the two. The screen stays; the computer driving it is a small, inexpensive part you can replace when it slows down. That is the strongest reason to add one to a TV that already streams.

If your smart TV is fast and up to date today, you do not need this today. Note the argument and revisit it when the TV starts to feel sluggish.

Where 4K actually applies

The stick outputs 4K, but three things must line up for you to see it: the TV must be 4K, the content must be available in 4K, and the plan you subscribe to must include it — several services put 4K on their most expensive tier only.

On a 1080p television a 4K stick still works fine and simply outputs 1080p. You are buying headroom for the next TV rather than a difference now.

Bandwidth is usually the limit, not the stick

4K streaming needs roughly 15–25 Mbps sustained. A connection that measures well but dips in the evening will drop the stream to a lower quality automatically, which reads as "the stick is bad" when it is the network.

Because the stick sits behind the television — often a metal-backed panel in the far corner of a room — Wi-Fi reception at that exact spot is frequently worse than anywhere else in the house. If streaming stutters there while your phone is fine two metres away, that is the cause, and an extender or a mesh node fixes it rather than a different stick.

Practical notes

• Power. Use the supplied adapter into a wall socket. A TV's own USB port often cannot supply enough current, and the result is random restarts that look like a faulty device.
• HDMI clearance. Wall-mounted TVs sometimes have no room behind them; the short HDMI extender in the box exists for this.
• Voice search is genuinely the fastest way to find something across services — searching by typing on an on-screen keyboard is the thing it replaces.
• The interface promotes Amazon's own content. Everything else is there, but the home screen has a point of view. Worth knowing before you buy.

Check the Fire TV Stick 4K Select on Amazon

Browse Wi-Fi extenders if reception behind the TV is the issue