Amazon's new Fire TV Stick 4K lands as Prime Big Deal Days deals arrive early

Amazon says the updated remote is more tactile and easier to hold than before, with tweaks that let users navigate its buttons by touch alone without looking at it. The remote can also be bought separately to work with an older Fire TV stick. Discounts on the hardware have been promised to coincide with the Prime Big Deal Days sale, which officially begins on Tuesday, October 6, though TechRadar reports that many offers from Samsung, Blink, Nintendo, Philips and Anker are already live, with some products at their lowest prices yet on the retail site.

Separately, Meta has introduced a new Muse AI agent app designed to sit on a phone and offer proactive, context-sensitive assistance, from filling out online forms to keeping track of a grocery list. TechRadar Editor at Large Lance Ulanoff, who tested the app, found it works best when it knows as much about the user as possible, including calendar entries and email inbox contents, which means accepting a privacy trade-off that not everyone is likely to welcome.

Peloton executives Nick Caldwell and Meg Higgins told TechRadar's Fitness & Wearables Editor Matt Evans that the AI-powered camera tracking on the company's new treadmills can assess a user's workout form better than wearables strapped to the wrist. The machines also include a new cushioning system and a redesigned interface, features Peloton is presenting as reasons for serious athletes to consider upgrading.

Vivo has unveiled a G2 Ultra 4.7x teleconverter lens, a specialist add-on announced alongside its flagship X500 series phones that provides a substantial amount of zoom. TechRadar Cameras Editor Tim Coleman, who tested the accessory, described it as "a real showcase of what smartphone cameras can be capable of." The teleconverter is currently on sale only in China.

The Freckle phone was also among the week's notable devices. It offers phone-like functions such as calling and photo-taking while avoiding apps the maker considers potentially unhealthy, and it has a chunky, colourful design. TechRadar presented it as the latest attempt to answer the unsettled question of what age children should get phones and what those devices should be allowed to do. The same weekly roundup noted new ereaders from Amazon and new tablets from Samsung among the period's other releases.

Editor's Summary

Amazon's refreshed Fire TV Stick 4K and its early Prime Big Deal Days discounts led a week of hardware announcements that also included new Amazon ereaders and Samsung tablets. Meta's Muse agent, Peloton's camera-equipped treadmills, Vivo's teleconverter lens and the Freckle kids' phone each addressed a different part of the consumer device market, with privacy and screen-time trade-offs recurring as open questions.