Fire TV gets a new look, plus new lifestyle TVs, Fire TV Stick HD and Alexa+ updates

There’s a big Fire TV update coming and it’s going to affect a boatload of products, so take a deep breath as there’s plenty to get through here.

But in short, we have a new TV, a revised and streamlined interface, a new Fire TV streaming stick and wider availability for (the still in Early Access) Alexa+.

The All New Fire TV Experience (again)

All New Fire TV Experience 2026 — Image Credit (Amazon)

First off, there’s a new, redesigned Fire TV experience, launching six years after the first big redesign. Amazon says the new Fire TV interface will be “cleaner, faster, and better organised for customers”.

Categories have been added so viewers can “more easily” see their movies, TV shows, news, live content and sports. Amazon says it’s also 30% faster to use than the previous version.

In the next few weeks Amazon will also roll out its Fire TV Channels section that will allow customers to dive into latest content about stuff they’re interested in, whether that be sports, music videos, comedy, lifestyle and more. Its free to view and supported by ads. Simply turn on a Fire TV device, head to Fire TV Channels and you’ll find what’s trending across your favourite topics.

And with the World Cup 2026 on the horizon, Amazon is introducing a new football hub with the new Fire TV Experience that’ll allow viewers to keep up to speed with their teams as well as take them directly to watch live games through their local providers. Expect the hub to come back in different forms based on major global sporting events.

Alexa+ is here to help

A quick note on Alexa+. While it’s still in Early Access stage, Alexa+ on Fire TV will be officially available in the UK on compatible devices.

So if you have the new Fire TV Stick HD or Ember Artline lifestye TV, she’ll be there to answer any question or start a conversation about what you want to watch.

The slimmest and fastest Fire TV Stick HD

Amazon Fire TV Stick HD 2026 — Image Credit (Amazon)

Amazon’s enty-level Fire TV Stick is getting an upgrade. After the Select joined the Fire TV Stick roster in 2025, the HD model is getting a revised version.

It’s smaller in volume and width than the previous models, and can run on your TV’s USB port without the need for a separate power adapter. Not only does it mean it can fit more neatly behind a TV, but it should make it more accessible for taking on your travels as well.

This new version is also 30% faster than the previous models, which in layman’s terms should make for a faster powering up process and apps opening up quicker too.

In the coming months Amazon will be adding a new Adaptive Display setting to the Fire TV Stick HD, an accessibility feature that makes text, menus, and content easier to see and navigate.

It can increase the size of smaller items like text and menus while “scaling up” larger items such as content artwork to create a more balanced browsing experience. Users can also choose from multiple size options to create an experience that works best for them.

You can pre-order the Fire TV Stick HD now, priced at £39.99, with shipping starting on April 29th.

Amazon saunters into the lifestyle market with Ember Artline

Amazon Ember Artline light — Image Credit (Amazon)

Finally, there’s a new lifestyle TV joining Amazon’s TV range. The Ember Artline works in similar fashion to the Samsung Frame and Hisense Canvas, offering a “global” collection of over 2000 curated art pieces at no extra cost beyond what you pay for the TV.

The selection includes Impressionist classics to more contemporary photography, and there’s an AI function called “Match the Room” that aims to make it easier to find artwork that matches your TV’s surroundings. Also, the Ember Artline comes with one of 10 frame colours to choose from at checkout, so you’re not stuck with a boring black frame.

The introduction of the Ember Artline, along with the “All New Fire TV Experience”, will also be part of the Amazon’s rebrand of its TVs. No longer will they be called Amazon Fire TVs. The latest generation will now be known as the Amazon Ember TVs.

The Ember Artline TV comes in 55- and 65-inch sizes, priced at £949 and £1199 respectively. You can pre-order today with the TVs expected to ship on May 7th.

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Stephan Dorsey

Stephan is the sports journalist for the Maple Grove Report.

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Recent Reviews

If the Fire Phone returns, I’m praying Amazon fixes its app store problem first

Amazon Fire Phone Jeff Bezos — Bloomberg / Getty Images

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ZDNET’s key takeaways

Amazon is reportedly developing a new Fire Phone.
The previous model had several issues, including an inferior app store experience.
Under new supervision (and with more experience), Amazon can do better this time.

Well, I don’t know about you, but I certainly didn’t have “new Amazon smartphone” on my 2026 bingo card. As it turns out, according to Reuters, the retailer may be developing a new smartphone, internally known as “Transformer.”

Those familiar with the industry will instantly draw parallels to Amazon’s previous smartphone effort, the Fire Phone from 2014. Appropriately, that phone ended up as part of a fire sale about a year later.

Now, in 2026, with no fewer than five phone brands in the US — Apple, Samsung, Google, Motorola, and OnePlus — Amazon faces a lot of competition. In fairness, it also has two fewer platforms to compete against. In 2014, Windows Phone and BlackBerry were still very much part of the smartphone conversation; these days, not so much.

The AppStore problem

But there’s one mistake Amazon made in its first effort that will absolutely torpedo its chances at succeeding — the Amazon AppStore and specifically the decision to forego Google Play services. Google is simply too valuable in too many lives to not support the platform. Oh, and the Amazon AppStore is terrible.

Also: What’s right (and wrong) with the Amazon Fire Phone

It has admittedly been a few years since I last inventoried the Amazon AppStore, but when I last checked, the Amazon AppStore was a wasteland of half-supported or unsupported apps, with two notable exceptions. Finance, home control, and communication apps were either absent or had not received updates for years prior.

The only apps in the Amazon AppStore that remained up to date were productivity apps (largely powered by Microsoft) and streaming apps. Those two categories work very well on the cheap, underpowered hardware that Amazon usually launches, and that’s fine. A coffee-table tablet is a nice thing to have lying around.

A spark of hope

But a phone is another animal entirely. If a tablet is a device to entertain, a phone is a device for everything else. One of the key reasons Windows Phone failed was its lack of an app ecosystem. The Senior Vice President of Devices and Services, Panos Panay, is very familiar with that saga, so I’m hopeful that he will make the same arguments to the powers that be at Amazon.

Honestly, if there is anyone who I think can pull off an Amazon phone revival, it’s probably Panay, who understands design and product development better than most, and to be perfectly honest, he’s my absolute favorite product presenter.

Also: Amazon Fire Phone review: Not a great smartphone

Of course, all of this is early days. This phone is being worked on internally, and even Reuters reports that it could get the axe long before it sees the light of day. Personally, I’m intrigued by the idea, but I sincerely hope that Amazon doesn’t make this the shopping phone it tried to build in 2014.

If Amazon just wants to make a nice, well-built smartphone, with a skin that pushes Amazon content to the fore, I’m fine with that. But leaving Google behind is a mistake that Amazon cannot afford to make again. Fool me once, and all that.

So, if this phone is to have a chance at success, it needs to embrace Google services so it can be a phone that everyone can use. Amazon has the brand power to make a phone like this work, even up against juggernauts like Apple and Samsung, but it needs to approach this correctly, lest it end up in yet another Fire phone fire sale.

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