When Amazon announced Vega OS, its new Linux-based operating system, last year, it looked like the end was near for Android-based Fire TV Sticks. Vega doesn’t support Android apps, custom launchers, or sideloading, marking a major departure from Fire OS, the Android-based operating system Amazon has used on Fire TV Sticks, Fire TVs, and Fire TV Cubes for more than a decade.
At first, Amazon insisted it was now a “multi-OS company” and would support both Fire OS and Vega OS moving forward. So far, it has followed through on that promise, launching its redesigned Fire TV experience on both platforms earlier this year.
But when Amazon launched the new Fire TV Stick HD with Vega OS in April, it also made an announcement that seemed inevitable: All future Fire TV Sticks would run Vega OS, not Fire OS.
In other words, Amazon isn’t releasing a new Android-based Fire TV Stick ever again, leaving the Fire TV Stick 4K Plus and 4K Max as the final Android models.
For a while, it seemed Android Fire TV Sticks might end this year. Amazon typically announces new devices in the fall, and both the Fire TV Stick 4K Plus and 4K Max are long overdue for a refresh.
However, with the recent launch of its new Fire TV Stick 4K, Amazon has surprisingly revealed that it’s keeping its last remaining Android-based Fire TV Stick around for a little while longer: the 4K Max.
The Fire TV Stick 4K Max is the last Android Fire Stick
Amazon won’t say if it’s being refreshed soon
With the launch of its new Fire TV Stick 4K, Amazon is shaking up its Fire Stick lineup, with the new 4K streaming stick replacing both the Fire TV Stick 4K Select and 4K Plus.
Despite running Vega OS, the new Fire TV Stick 4K isn’t all bad. It features an all-new slim design, a redesigned Fire TV remote, and can be powered entirely by your TV’s USB port, just like the new Fire TV Stick HD Amazon launched in April. You can read more about it in my other Pocket-lint story here.
But the key takeaway from Amazon’s Fire TV Stick 4K announcement is that it isn’t replacing the 4K Max, only the 4K Select and 4K Plus. That means Amazon is keeping the 4K Max around for the foreseeable future, so the last Android Fire Stick will live on — for now. You can check out Amazon’s updated Fire Stick lineup below, which now includes just three models: the Fire TV Stick HD, 4K, and 4K Max.
Pocket-lint asked Amazon whether it plans to release a new Fire TV Stick 4K Max soon, but the company declined to comment on future plans.
Now that Amazon’s Fire Stick lineup includes the new Fire TV Stick HD and Fire TV Stick 4K, the 4K Max is officially the oldest model in the lineup. And considering Amazon spent 2026 refreshing its Fire TV Stick lineup with slimmer designs and Vega OS, it’s hard not to imagine the Fire TV Stick 4K Max eventually getting the same treatment. The only question is when.
Amazon has typically announced new Fire TV devices at various points throughout the year, including in September, January, and April. I could see the company waiting until CES 2027 in January to announce a new 4K Max, but that’s just speculation on my part.
Whatever the case may be, the current Fire TV Stick 4K Max gets to stick around for the foreseeable future now that the new Fire TV Stick 4K is just replacing the 4K Select and 4K Plus. That means if you want an Android-based Fire TV Stick, the 4K Max is one to get before it inevitably gets the Vega OS treatment next.
