Unlike previous models, the latest Fire TV Stick 4K Max can showcase artwork and widgets when idle.
Planning on spending your Sunday watching the 97th annual Academy Awards or catching up on the latest episode of Severance? If you don’t already own a smart TV, Amazon’s latest Fire TV Stick 4K Max can make setup easy and inexpensive, especially now that it’s down to just $39.99 ($20 off) at Amazon, Best Buy, and Target. That’s just $7 shy of its lowest price to date and the best price we’ve seen this year.
Amazon’s newest 4K-capable streaming device functions a lot like its predecessor, only with a few added benefits. It features an upgraded processor for faster performance, for one thing, along with twice the storage (16GB vs. 8GB) and support for Wi-Fi 6E. It also can function more akin to an Echo Show when idle, allowing you to check the weather, gloss reminders, and view a host of widgets at a glance. You can also have it display famous works of art or a series of AI-generated images, which you can personalize with a simple Alexa prompt.
Additionally, the Fire TV Stick 4K Max provides access to a wide selection of streaming apps and Dolby Atmos, allowing for more immersive audio. It offers broad HDR support — including support for Dolby Vision and HDR10 Plus — and works impressively well with Alexa, to the point where you can make commands as specific as “Alexa, turn to ESPN on Sling TV” via the included Alexa remote. Admittedly, the interface is too Prime-centric for some of us at The Verge, but hey, they can’t all be as slick as Google’s TV Streamer.
More deals and discounts
All eyes were on Framework’s 4.5-liter gaming desktop this week, but if you could care less for customizable aesthetics and AMD’s Strix Halo, Apple’s M4 Mac Mini is on sale at Amazon with 16GB of RAM and 256GB of storage starting at $557 ($42 off). The step-up M4 Pro model offers faster Thunderbolt 5 storage and the option to upgrade to 10-gigabit ethernet; however, the compact entry-level configuration remains a fantastic value with outstanding performance and plenty of I/O. Read our review.
Nomad’s annual Overstock Sale is in full effect, giving you a chance to save up to 70 percent on chargers, cables, cases, and a variety of other goods through Monday, March 3rd. Personally, I’m partial to the Modern Leather Foio case for the iPhone 16 (now $49 $70) and the second-gen Stand One charger (now $88 $110), the latter of which features a hefty metal-and-glass design and can provide up to 15W of power to MagSafe-equipped iPhones. That being said, Nomad is also discounting a ton of “vintage” accessories, meaning you’re in luck if you’ve been holding out for a premium leather case for your *checks notes* Google Pixel 4.
I’ve been eagerly awaiting Thomas Ricker’s review of the forthcoming Aurzen Zip, which is still available on Kickstarter for $299 ($100 off) thanks to early bird pricing. The tri-fold projector — which is slated to launch later this month — can mirror your iPhone or Android device in portrait or landscape orientation, yet it’s compact enough that you can place it just about anywhere. It also offers 100 lumens of brightness and up to 80 minutes of battery life, though, sadly, it can’t stream from services like Netflix, Disney Plus, or Amazon Prime due to DRM restrictions.
