Fireplace Sticks are lastly getting Gigabit Ethernet

In a shock announcement final week, Amazon revealed it’s releasing a brand-new Fireplace TV Stick on April 29, a refreshed model of the Fire TV Stick HD, its entry-level 1080p streaming stick.

Certainly, the brand new Fireplace TV Stick HD’s greatest disadvantage is that it runs Vega OS, Amazon’s new Linux-based working system that does not assist sideloading. Although it isn’t all unhealthy information. The brand new Fireplace TV Stick HD has a number of welcome upgrades, together with improved efficiency and a brand new slim design, which Amazon claims makes it its “slimmest streaming gadget” ever. It additionally not requires a wall plug and could be powered straight out of your TV’s USB port, making setup even simpler.

Nonetheless, there may be yet another improve that flew underneath the radar that Amazon has packed into the brand new Fireplace TV Stick HD: it is geared up with a USB-C port reasonably than Micro-USB, marking the primary time ever a Fireplace Stick has featured USB-C.

Due to this, Amazon is releasing a brand-new Ethernet adapter to match its new USB-C connector, and it additionally has one main improve over the outdated Micro-USB model: it appears to supply Gigabit Ethernet as a substitute of 100 Mbps Ethernet (by way of AFTV News). Sadly, there’s one massive downside.

Amazon is not claiming the adapter is Gigabit

It is seemingly able to Gigabit, however it appears the Fireplace TV Stick HD cannot deal with it

Credit score: Amazon

Whereas Amazon is releasing a brand new Ethernet adapter for its new Fireplace TV Stick HD, it isn’t truly claiming it is a Gigabit adapter. On the product web page, it is marketed as supporting “as much as 480mbps when used with Fireplace TV Stick HD (2nd Gen).”

This implies it is not 100 Mbps Ethernet, neither is it actually Gigabit Ethernet. Since there isn’t any official Ethernet commonplace between 100 Mbps and Gigabit, the adapter must assist Gigabit to realize 480 Mbps on the brand new Fireplace TV Stick HD. So, why does not it attain 1 Gbps then?

As AFTV News reviews, the difficulty doubtless stems from the brand new Fireplace TV Stick HD’s USB-C port being restricted to USB 2.0 reasonably than USB 3.0. Which means though the adapter is technically able to Gigabit speeds, the brand new Fireplace TV Stick HD cannot truly obtain them as a result of USB 2.0’s bandwidth is simply too restricted.

So, what this boils right down to is that Amazon has launched a brand new Gigabit Ethernet adapter, however it hasn’t launched a brand new Fireplace TV Stick that may absolutely put it to use. At the very least, not but.

This new Ethernet adapter could possibly be an indication of what is to come back

A Fireplace TV Stick 4K Max with USB 3.0?

Credit score: Amazon

Though it is disappointing that the brand new Fireplace TV Stick HD tops out at simply 480 Mbps with Amazon’s new USB-C Ethernet adapter, it does increase an fascinating query about what this accent might imply for future Fireplace TV Sticks.

Amazon hasn’t confirmed something about its future roadmap, so that is purely hypothesis on my half, however it’s laborious to think about the corporate not ultimately releasing a brand new Fireplace TV Stick 4K Plus and 4K Max with the identical slim design as the brand new HD stick and a USB-C port that might assist sooner USB 3.0 speeds.

The brand new Fireplace TV Stick HD having USB 2.0 is not all that stunning, given it is a budget entry-level mannequin. However for pricier fashions, particularly a brand new Fireplace TV Stick 4K Max sooner or later, it could make a variety of sense for Amazon to step issues up by including correct USB 3.0 assist on the USB-C port.

If that occurs, this new USB-C Ethernet adapter immediately turns into much more fascinating. Whereas it is capped at 480 Mbps on the present HD stick, hopefully, it is solely a matter of time earlier than a brand new Fireplace TV Stick rolls round that is truly able to unlocking its full Gigabit capabilities.

For now, the brand new Fireplace TV Stick HD launches on April 29 for $35, and the brand new USB-C Ethernet Adapter for it prices $20.