Amazon’s new name for the Fire TV Stick 4K only adds more confusion

Following the debut of Amazon’s $39.99 Fire TV Stick 4K Select, the company told The Verge that a name change was coming to the existing “Fire TV Stick 4K” to clarify where it sat in the lineup. Now, Amazon has introduced that new branding, relaunching the product as the Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Plus. Sure, the original name was confusing (is 4K better or worse than 4K Select?), but a mere name change in a lineup of four identical gadgets isn’t enough. It assumes you’re willing to do the mental gymnastics of recalling where other “Plus” products sit in their respective lineups, and what that might mean for this device’s capabilities. It doesn’t solve Amazon’s biggest problem, which is that it still sells three 4K-ready sticks within $10 of each other. Without a legible strategy, it probably shouldn’t have introduced the 4K Select in the first place. The differences between Amazon’s 4K-ready Fire TV Sticks are small. The 4K Select includes half the RAM of the 4K Plus and the 4K Max, meaning it’ll almost certainly be slower to navigate between menus and jump into apps. I haven’t tested it out, but I don’t think there’s a good reason to buy it currently, or ever, especially during the many times that the pricier 4K models are discounted throughout the year. Right now, you can buy the superior 4K Max for $34.99 with a coupon code. It should go without saying that there is absolutely no reason for any current or previous Fire TV Stick 4K owners to get this new one, as packaging aside, nothing else has changed.