Amazon’s New Fire TV Stick 4K Select is Getting Lots of Bad Reviews

Amazon’s new Fire TV Stick 4K Select, which is running the company’s new Vega OS instead of the Android-based Fire TV OS, is getting lots of bad reviews. With a 2.8 rating as of this writing, the situation appears to be so dire that Amazon may be in damage control mode.

AFTVnews reported yesterday that Amazon briefly deleted a 1-star review saying that the device “isn’t worth a crap,” before eventually restoring it. The publication also got in touch with a customer who claimed to have been contacted by an Amazon representative after submitting a 1-star review that wasn’t published immediately.

The current top review for the Fire TV Stick 4K Select describes the product as “a major set back from previous version”, with “terrible” performance and a lackluster app store. Several reviews also pointed out the inability to sideload apps, which is a big problem for a new platform in need of more developer support.

The Fire TV Stick 4K Select, which is currently priced at $39.99, cuts a lot of corners compared to other 4K models running the Android-based Fire TV OS. There’s just 1GB of memory on the latest stick, slower Wi-Fi 5 connectivity, and no support for Dolby Vision HDR. Support for Alexa+ and cloud gaming via Amazon Luna and Xbox Cloud Gaming is also currently listed as “coming soon.”

While Amazon is still shipping new Fire TV smart TVs running its Android-based Fire TV OS, the company’s Linux-based Vega OS appears to still need some work. The company’s new Echo speakers and smart displays hinted at a more premium positioning for Amazon’s hardware, so it’s quite strange to see the new Fire TV Stick 4K Select go in the opposite direction.