Amazon promises at least 4 years of security updates for Fire TV hardware

Amazon Fire TV hardware, such as the newly released Amazon Fire TV Stick 4k Max, will be supported for at least 4 years by Amazon.

Amazon Fire TV devices are powered by Google's Android operating system. Guaranteed support periods differ widely between Android device manufacturers, with some devices receiving two years or even less of support.

Recent sustainability trends have improved the situation, but support periods are not streamlined still on Android.

Amazon releases new Fire TV hardware regularly, and customers may wonder for how long their purchased devices are supported by the company.

Amazon answers the question on the official Amazon Fire TV Software Security Updates page on the company's website.

The most important sentence is right at the top:

Amazon Fire TV streaming media devices, Fire TV Recast, Smart TVs, and Soundbars with Fire TV built-in receive guaranteed software security updates for at least four years after the device is last available for purchase on our websites.

It confirms that Amazon will support its devices by at least four years. Support means that the company will release security updates for the devices in the support period.

amazon fire tv stick 4k max

The "at least" term indicates that the support period may be longer. Amazon does not count the period from the first day of availability, but from the last day of availability. If a device is sold for two years, it will be supported by Amazon with security updates for a total of six years (2 years of availability, and 4 years of support after the device is no longer sold by Amazon).

All major Fire TV Stick devices released since 2016 will be supported at least until 2025. The 2016 released Fire TV Stick Basic Edition has a support period of nine years because of that. Some devices, like this year's Fire TV Stick 4K Max, are still on sale and its support phase can't be determined right now because of that.

Fire TV owners can check for updates in the following way:

New interface

Select Main Menu > Settings.
Open My Fire TV.
Select About. The device lists the currently installed version and the last time an update check was run.
Select Check for Updates.
If an update is found, select Install Update to upgrade your device.

Old interface

Select Main Menu > Settings.
Pick My Fire TV.
Select About.
Click install update or check for update.

Closing Words

Amazon does not reveal functional update information on its website. These bring new features and improvements to existing hardware, e.g. a new interface or support for a new format. Fire TV devices may become obsolete before the official support period ends; this may be the cause for low-power Fire TV stick devices, as they may deteriorate more when it comes to performance than newer versions.

Still, a minimum of four years of support, helps customers make educated buying decisions.

Now You: do you own Fire TV hardware? (via Deskmodder)

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