Amazon Fire TV Stick Lite review: Streaming made cheap and cheerful

The days of regularly scheduled TV programs are behind us. Top streaming devices have set a new standard that allows for kicking back and watching our favorite shows and movies. Tuning into Prime Video, Netflix, Disney+, and loads more to binge our way through millions of shows at the click of a button is entertainment at its finest — and you don’t need a fancy smart TV to do it thanks to the Amazon Fire TV Stick Lite.

Even after its release in 2020, Amazon’s budget streaming device remains an excellent choice for transforming a standard TV into a streaming powerhouse. Much of that is due to its bargain $30 price tag and the fact that it includes an Alexa Voice Remote Lite and a few neat smart features. Does it let you stream in 4K quality or easily change the volume on your TV like other streaming devices? No, but those are the expected yet disappointing sacrifices you’ll have to make.

Nevertheless, as long as you have an HDMI output (and decent Wi-Fi), the Fire TV Stick Lite will set you up to tap into a wealth of entertainment goodness for cheap.

Price, availability, and specs

The Amazon Fire TV Stick Lite isn’t just the most affordable Amazon Fire TV streaming device, it’s also the go-to budget pick across the market. This isn’t too surprising, as it only provides up to 1080p (1920 x 1080) resolution, unlike the usual 4K (3840 x 2160) quality seen on other sticks, and a simplified remote control (more on that later).

You could grab a Fire TV Stick 4K or Walmart’s Onn Google TV 4K Pro for $50, but $20 can go a long way for those who need it — like students. Besides, sometimes 1080p is all that’s required, especially if you’re not using the Fire TV Stick Lite on a TV that supports 4K. You can purchase the Fire TV Stick Lite for $30 at Amazon, Best Buy, and other retailers.

What’s good about the Amazon Fire TV Stick Lite?

Quality streaming made easy (and cheap)

Along with its price, simplicity is the Amazon Fire TV Stick Lite’s greatest strength. From setup to navigating around its Fire OS interface, everything is convenient for users to boot up and start watching their favorite shows. All it takes is to plug the stick into an appropriate HDMI slot and power source, connect to Wi-Fi, wait for a few updates, and it’s ready to go.

While the stick is lightweight and portable, its design is still long and chunky. This makes it tricky to fit into HDMI ports on TVs with minimal space, but that’s what the included HDMI extender cable is for. It easily gives the Fire TV Stick Lite more wiggle room to accommodate all TV types. For example, I could fit it at the side of my larger bedroom TV but needed the extender on my 4K monitor as it was simply too large. Amazon states the HDMI extender is made to “improve Wi-Fi and remote performance,” but really, it’s there as an alternative option for plugging the stick into a TV.

There are a few small hiccups — like it took me to an app I asked to open rather than just launching it — but it does what it claims well.

There’s also the Alexa Voice Remote Lite thrown in (with a pair of AAA batteries, thankfully), and it’s a solid controller that comes with most of the essential buttons and then some. While its navigation controls, play/pause, fast-forward, rewind, and menu buttons are responsive and satisfyingly clicky, its niftiest feature is the Alexa Voice button.

By holding the Voice button down, you can ask the Fire TV Stick Lite to do a lot of legwork for you. Yes, it can pause, play, or rewind a show for a set amount of time, but it can also find and play specific movies or TV shows you want to watch, open a category of content (like comedies, thrillers, etc.), and even open the weather forecast for the day. There are a few small hiccups — like it took me to an app I asked to open rather than just launching it — but it does what it claims well.

If you’ve seen one Fire Stick interface, you’ve seen them all, and the Fire TV Stick Lite is no different. That’s a good thing, as it means you’ll get virtually the same interface and on-screen controls as pricier Amazon streaming devices. Its main hub is easy to navigate around, showing the streaming apps at the top for you to access and a near-never-ending list of shows just below you can jump into.

As expected, the shows shown off are primarily on Prime Video, meaning it’s best to have a Prime subscription to make the most of the device’s offerings. Still, you don’t need one, as there are plenty of other downloadable apps you can use quickly.

As for its quality, this isn’t the device to get if you’re after sublime picture quality with ultra-smooth frame rates, like in the Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max. The Fire TV Stick Lite offers 1080p at 60Hz at most, but it shouldn’t be sneezed at. You’ll still find plenty of TVs around 50 inches that only offer 1080p, and it’s perfectly suitable to comfortably watch blockbuster films with artistic or action-packed spectacles. I tuned into The Batman (2022) and was still impressed by Gotham’s city lights at night and the Caped Crusader taking care of some thugs.

What’s more, the Fire TV Stick Lite also supports HDR10+, which makes colors pop and improves the balance between lights and darks shown onscreen. This automatically boosts visual quality and promises a lot more bang for your buck at this price.

What’s bad about the Amazon Fire TV Stick Lite?

Slow and unsteady

While picture quality is great for the price, the Fire TV Stick Lite can’t contend with 4K streaming devices. Even though I could happily watch movies at 1080p on my 4K screen, the clarity can’t match what a 4K-capable device can offer, which other Amazon Fire streaming devices do. Amazon’s Fire TV Stick 4K retails for more, but we’ve also seen it on sale for $30. So, purchasing that over the Lite model will be a no-brainer for some.

The device’s general performance is another pain point. Scrolling through its hub is far from snappy; it will sometimes lag behind control inputs and stay in place for a good few seconds. On occasion, this leads to skipping tiles or options you’re trying to select, waiting for lines of images to load, and an overall stutter-filled experience. It’s no deal-breaker, but it is a nuisance requiring patience. If it gets unbearable, however, you can always try factory resetting the Fire TV Stick.

As for audio, the TV Stick Lite provides Dolby Digital audio pass-through rather than Dolby Atmos, so you won’t get that surround sound experience even if your sound system supports it. Otherwise, it’s standard audio fare.

Finally, is it too much to ask for volume controls and a power button on a remote? Apparently so, as the Alexa Voice Remote Lite doesn’t have any. Sure, the remote you already have is likely to have these buttons, but it’s annoying to mess around with two to keep tabs on the sound. One “helpful tip” that came up on the Fire TV stated that the Fire TV Stick Lite could control a TV’s volume through Alexa. This wasn’t the case for the two screens I tried it on, so don’t bet on it working on all TVs.

I was able to try out the Alexa Voice Remote Pro, which does have these buttons and plenty more. It’s a handy alternative, but it also costs $35 on its own — more than the TV Stick Lite.

Should you buy it?

If you’re set on giving your TV a smart makeover and aren’t concerned about 4K pixels or a lack of volume controls, there’s good reason to grab the Amazon Fire TV Stick Lite. The wealth of streaming apps and near-limitless content it offers alone is enough to warrant a purchase. And its easy setup, handy Alexa voice commands, and impressive visual quality make it a must-have streaming device.

The thing is, Amazon loves big sales, and the Fire TV Stick 4K can be seen dropping to the same $30 price tag. Unless you have a 4K display, however, that won’t be put to good use, even if it boasts better performance and a remote control with actual basic buttons and beyond. Either way, the Fire TV Stick Lite still shines as a budget streaming device for most, and that says a lot about a model that hasn’t seen an upgrade in years.