Over the past year, Amazon’s lineup of Fire TV Sticks has begun to fundamentally change. It all started when the company unveiled the Fire TV Stick 4K Select last October, an entry-level 4K streaming stick that was unlike any other Fire TV Stick that had come before it in one key way: It runs Vega OS, Amazon’s new Linux-based operating system.
While Amazon highlighted Vega OS’s improved performance and efficiency as its two biggest upgrades over Android-based Fire OS (the OS Amazon has used on its Fire TV devices for more than a decade), it quickly became clear what Vega OS’s biggest downgrade was: It doesn’t support sideloading. Amazon said it made this change intentionally for “enhanced security.”
More recently, Amazon released a refreshed version of the Fire TV Stick HD, which also runs Vega OS. Shortly after the launch of the new Fire TV Stick HD though, Amazon made its long-suspected plans official: All future Fire TV Sticks will run Vega OS. In other words, the end of Android-based Fire TV Sticks is near.
The Fire TV Stick 4K Plus and 4K Max are currently the last two Fire TV Sticks Amazon sells that still run Fire OS, which includes all the freedoms that come with Android, such as the ability to sideload apps and install custom launchers. But if the company decides to release new devices this fall, as it typically does toward the end of September, the 4K Plus and 4K Max are the most likely to be refreshed. That means the end of Android Fire TV Sticks could be just a few short weeks away.
However, there is still hope that one device will stick with Android. And while it’s not a Fire TV Stick, it’s something Amazon has left without an upgrade for far too long.
The Fire TV Cube could still save the day
A new Android version is still on the cards
While Fire TV Sticks often get the most attention since they’re the cheapest option, Amazon has long sold the Fire TV Cube, its premium set-top streaming box designed to rival the Apple TV 4K, Google TV Streamer, and Roku Ultra.
However, the Fire TV Cube has largely been forgotten about, with Amazon’s last refresh dating all the way back to 2022, nearly four years ago. Its hardware has also fallen behind other Android-based streamers, considering it only has 2GB of RAM and 16GB of storage. That’s easily bested by Walmart’s cheaper $60 Onn 4K Pro, which has 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage, and the Google TV Streamer, which has 4GB of RAM and 32GB of storage. It also doesn’t help that Amazon recently increased the price of the Fire TV Cube to $200. That makes it not only outdated, but also extremely overpriced.
But while the Fire TV Cube’s current predicament is pretty dreary, I still have hope for its future. For one, when Amazon announced that all future Fire TV Sticks would run Vega OS, it said nothing about the Fire TV Cube. That means if the company does release a new version, it could continue to run Fire OS rather than switching to Vega OS.
It’s also worth noting that when Amazon initially announced Vega OS in 2025, it called itself a “multi-OS company” and said it would continue developing both Fire OS and Vega OS simultaneously, which it has done. The company also recently announced that it’s working on Fire OS 16, based on Android 16, and reportedly told developers to prepare for new devices running it. Could that be a hint at a new Fire TV Cube? It’s certainly possible.
Additionally, given that it’s been four years since Amazon released a new Fire TV Cube, that only increases the likelihood to me that a refresh could be coming soon. And if it does, chances are its hardware will be significantly better so it can actually compete with today’s set-top streamers, particularly the Google TV Streamer and Apple TV 4K. The latter, of course, is also rumored to finally be getting a new version this fall.
- Brand
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Amazon
- Operating System
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Fire OS
- Resolution
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4K
- RAM/storage
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2GB RAM, 16GB storage
Is a new Fire TV Cube coming soon?
Amazon hasn’t announced any plans just yet
While Amazon hasn’t said anything officially about the Fire TV Cube’s future, I’m still optimistic that a new version could be coming soon and that it will stick with Fire OS rather than switching to Vega OS. Amazon has said it’s working on Fire OS 16, after all, and when it announced that future devices would run Vega OS, it only specifically called out Fire TV Sticks.
But, of course, take all of this with a grain of salt. If Amazon does release a new Fire TV Cube, it’s entirely possible the company could put Vega OS on it anyway. That would mark the end of the Android era for both Fire TV Sticks and Fire TV Cubes. Fingers crossed that doesn’t happen.
Amazon also has a track record of hosting hardware events toward the end of September, when it typically announces new products, so hopefully we’ll find out soon enough what it has in store for the Fire TV Cube. That is, of course, if it even has anything planned at all.
