Friday, November 22, 2024

Upgrade your Fire TV Stick with Sky Q-like features for a more affordable fee this weekend

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It’s never been cheaper to supercharge your existing Fire TV Stick with a swathe of new features. Amazon has cut the price of its Alexa Voice Remote Pro down to just £24.99.

This clever accessory works with all Fire TV models and unlocks several clever features usually associated with some of the most popular set-top boxes from Sky TV, like Sky Q and Sky Glass. The Voice Remote Pro has a built-in speaker, so you can ask AI assistant Alexa to “find my remote” and it’ll emit a ring.


If you spend hours hunting for a lost remote under the sofa cushions, this could be worth the upgrade alone.

This isn’t the all-time lowest price tag we’ve seen for the Alexa Voice Remote Pro. Amazon cut the price tag down to just £22.99 during its Prime Day sale earlier this summer …although, as the name suggests, you wererequired to hold an active Amazon Prime membership to take advantage of that discount.

Ask any Alexa-enabled device, like an Amazon Echo or smartphone with the Alexa app, to “find my remote” and your Alexa Voice Remote Pro will start ringing so you can recover it in seconds

AMAZON PRESS OFFICE

The latest discount is available to anyone.

If you’re also looking to upgrade to a new Fire TV Stick, Amazon will bundle the Alexa Voice Remote Pro for just £10 when bought alongside select models, like the affordable Fire TV Stick Lite and standard Fire TV Stick.

As well as this much-loved remote (it boasts an average rating of 4.4 on Amazon from a dizzying 2,100 reviews) Amazon has also unveiled price drops to a number of its popular Fire TV Stick and Fire TVs too.

alexa voice pro fire tv remote control pictured on a white background

With two customisable buttons, channel controls, a shortcut to Bluetooth audio settings, and a button to speak with AI voice assistant Alexa, this Pro-grade remote control comes equipped with a swathe of new features

AMAZON PRESS OFFICE

What makes the Alexa Voice Remote Pro for Fire TV so special?

Unlike the standard Fire TV remote control included in the box with your set-top box, the premium Alexa Voice Remote Pro has a motion-activated backlight that illuminates the buttons in dimly lit rooms. This is something that Sky introduced with its newer Sky Glass and Sky Stream boxes, which both ship with an all-new remote.

As well as a backlight behind the keypad to make it easy to work out what button you need — even with the curtains closed for movie night, Amazon has fitted this Pro-grade remote control with two customisable buttons. These can be assigned to your favourite channels, apps or an Alexa command.

With a single tap, you’ll be able to launch an app like BBC iPlayer, Netflix, or Disney+ or trigger an Alexa command to dim the lights, summon a live view from a Ring video doorbell, or play a radio station. If you’ve got several Alexa-compatible smart home gadgets, this could prove especially powerful.

Voice Remote Pro also has universal TV controls. Without picking up another remote, you’ll be able to adjust the volume, channel surf with dedicated channel buttons, and switch off your television too.

It’s worth checking your current Fire TV remote as some pricier models ship with a version of the Alexa remote equipped with some universal remote functionality, although you won’t find the customisable shortcut buttons on any other model.

Amazon has fitted its remote with a Headphone button that summons an on-screen Bluetooth menu to help you pair wireless earbuds or headphones as fast as possible.

Unlike remote controls from Roku, which come equipped with a 3.5mm audio port to plug-in headphones to the remote, you’ll need to rely on Bluetooth with Fire TV.

But for those who want to watch a blockbuster late at night without disturbing family members or neighbours, this is a helpful new addition for streamers.

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