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How to Tell the Difference Between the Amazon Fire TV Stick Models (Physically)?
How to Tell the Difference Between the Amazon Fire TV Stick Models (Physically)?

How to tell the difference between Amazon Fire TV Stick models by looking at the physical body of the device.

Updated over a month ago

With the release of the Amazon Signage Stick, it is recommended that you purchase this device over an Amazon Fire TV device if you are intending to set up ScreenCloud. Amazon has created this new device to work perfectly with digital signage, so that your content will no longer be interrupted by the Fire TV home screen and other consumer and home services. Please refer to How to Set Up ScreenCloud on the Amazon Signage Stick for Digital Signage to learn how the device works and how you can set up ScreenCloud to display your digital signage content.


Since releasing the first Fire TV Stick in 2014, Amazon has continued to improve it, releasing additional more powerful generations of the device with the most recent being the Fire TV Stick 4K Max 2nd generation, released on September 2023.

List of released Fire TV Stick models

The full list of Amazon Fire TV Sticks Amazon has released is as follows, starting from the newest device:

  • Fire TV Stick 4K Max (2nd gen, 2023) AFTKRT - Available (Current generation)

  • Fire TV Stick 4K (2nd gen, 2023) AFTKM - Available (Current generation)

  • Fire TV Stick 4K Max (1st gen, 2021) AFTKA - Discontinued (Previous generation)

  • Fire TV Stick (3rd gen, 2020) AFTSS - Available (Current generation)

  • Fire TV Stick Lite (1st gen, 2020) AFTSS - Available (Current generation)

  • Fire TV Stick 4K (1st gen, 2018) AFTMM - Discontinued (Previous generation)

  • Fire TV Stick Basic Edition (1st gen, 2017) AFTT - Discontinued (Previous generation)

  • Fire TV Stick (2nd gen, 2016) AFTT - Discontinued (Previous generation)

  • Fire TV Stick (1st gen, 2014) AFTM - Discontinued (Previous generation)

The easiest way to differentiate between different models is by looking at the size of the device and the remote control.

Comparing Fire TV Stick models

Amazon Fire TV Sticks Comparison 2024.jpg

Image source: Amazon store website.

The models pictured above would usually depict the logos of popular entertainment streaming services, such as Prime Video or Netflix, for example, on the four buttons just above the 'Fire TV' logo at the bottom of the remote controllers.


The Fire TV Stick 4K Max (2nd gen, 2023) has a sleek, compact, rectangular design with rounded edges and a matte black finish, similar to a USB drive. The logo depicted on the media player reads 'fire tv', set above Amazon's arrow. The remote features a modern ergonomic design with dedicated buttons for popular streaming services like Netflix, Prime Video, and Disney+, along with a blue microphone button for Alexa voice control, a volume and power button, and a new "Live TV" button for accessing live streaming services.

The Fire TV Stick 4K (2nd gen, 2023) shares a similar compact and rectangular yet rounded-edged design with a matte black finish as the 4K Max, also with the same 'fire TV' and Amazon arrow logo. The remote is almost identical, including dedicated buttons for streaming services, volume control, power, and Alexa voice control, but it lacks some of the minor design refinements and 3 additional buttons found in the 4K Max remote.

The Fire TV Stick (3rd gen, 2020) features a slim media player and rectangular shape with a matte black finish, continuing the compact design tradition of the original Fire TV Sticks. On the device is just the iconic arrow of the Amazon logo. The remote includes basic features like the blue Alexa voice control, volume, power, and some shortcut buttons for streaming services, with a straightforward layout that focuses on essential functionality without the refinements of the newer models.

The Fire TV Stick Lite (1st gen, 2020) maintains the familiar original compact media player rectangular design with a matte black finish, giving the most basic version in terms of appearance. It continues with just the iconic arrow of the Amazon logo. The Lite remote is much more simplified than the rest, offering the blue Alexa voice control button but lacking volume control, power buttons, and other advanced features, focusing instead on providing essential streaming functionality at a lower cost.

You can tell which devices are the older discontinued models by their remote controllers, which lack a blue Alexa button and online streaming service brand buttons. Compare the above image to the one below.

Amazon Fire TV Sticks Comparison OLD 2024.png

For more information about the differences in the models and their specifications, please check out Amazon's Which Fire TV Device Do I Have? page.

Which Fire TV Sticks can I use with ScreenCloud?

Please select the devices we recommend on our hardware page or the Fire OS Hardware guide.

How can I set up ScreenCloud on a Fire TV Stick?

To learn about setting up ScreenCloud on your Amazon Fire TV Stick, please see A Beginner’s Guide to the Amazon Fire TV Stick.

Please note: We recommend not using any discontinued Fire TV Stick models with ScreenCloud, as they are now limited in their specs and not powerful enough to run ScreenCloud without complication. We also do not recommend using models that run Fire OS 8 due to the complicated app permission setup process (see here).

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