Amazon rebrands 'Fire TV Stick 4K Plus' amid backlash over sideloading removal on new VegaOS

Amazon’s replacement of Android on the Fire TV platform is underway and, well, customers aren’t very happy about it. Amid backlash over the removal of sideloading on new Fire TV Stick, Amazon has been caught censoring reviews, and also had to rebrand one of its other devices to prevent confusion.

The Fire TV Stick lineup as it stands today contains four devices. The high-end Fire TV Stick 4K Max is the most expensive and capable of the bunch, while the Fire TV Stick HDis the most affordable at $35. But, in between, there’s the Fire TV Stick 4K Select and Fire TV Stick 4K, and with only $10 separating the two, the only real difference is that one runs Android, and the other runs Amazon’s new VegaOS.

The Fire TV Stick 4K Select joined the lineup earlier this month as the launchpad for VegaOS, and also threw a bit of a wrench in the lineup. With the same technical capabilities as the Fire TV Stick 4K, the branding just didn’t make sense. As a result, Amazon has now rebranded the latter as the “Fire TV Stick 4K Plus,” with the “Plus” seemingly referring the Android base.

That new branding is now in place on the company’s listing for the product for $49.99, but you can still somewhat hilariously buy an “old name” model with the original non-Plus branding… for the same price. There’s an on-page coupon right now that drives the price down to $25.

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The separation in naming is also pretty important right now, as the Fire TV Stick 4K Select is not being received well.

Where the rest of Amazon’s lineup managed to get around 4.5 stars or higher in customer reviews, the Fire TV Stick 4K Select is currently at a 2.8 star average. Customers are criticizing the device for slow performance (likely a result of cutting the memory in half), a limited app store, and more than anything the lack of sideloading. Amazon warns customers of this on the product listing as we pointed out earlier this month, but it’s abundantly clear that customers still expect this option.

As AFTVNews points out, Amazon appears to be censoring some reviews that discuss sideloading. Reviews were slow to show up on the listing and some customers have noted that their reviews were removed by Amazon after being submitted.

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