The Fire TV stick is a nifty little device to consume content, especially if you are one that does not have a smart TV or own a TV with minimal smart features. The only drawback of using the search function, be it voice or typing, was that the results were limited to the content available via Amazon Prime Videos. So for example, searching for Stranger Things yielded no results. All that is about to change. The Fire TV search experience, both voice and typing, will now include results from Netflix alongside content from Prime Videos. So now if you search for Love, Death + Robots, you will see the Netflix show as a result of your search. The new search experience will be available on both the standard Fire TV stick along with the 4K variant of the device.
It is nice to see the company integrate Netflix search on Fire TV sticks, however, we wish Amazon went all guns blazing and included results from other streaming services like Hotstar, Voot, Jio Cinema and more. It would be nice to search for Game of Thrones or The Night Of and see Hotstar results as a part of the mix. Maybe this is something we will see in the future. The new search experience is something we have seen in the new TVOS on the Apple TV and the PatchWall UI on Xiaomi TVs.
Speaking of the Fire TV stick, the device is available in two options – one that supports a maximum resolution of 1080p and the other which supports 4K and HDR. The standard 1080p variant of the device is priced at Rs 3,999 whereas the 4K variant of the stick is priced at Rs 5,999. The 4K variant of the Fire TV stick supports features like Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos, HDR, HDR-10, HLG, and HDR-10+. Both the sticks look identical and come with an Alexa voice-enabled remote control, an HDMI extender, USB cable and a wall socket. Apart from Prime Videos and Netflix, the stick supports a number of streaming services and games which can be played on the device.