Hearth Sticks are lastly getting Gigabit Ethernet

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

Unquestionably, the brand new Hearth TV Stick HD’s largest disadvantage is that it runs Vega OS, Amazon’s new Linux-based working system that does not help sideloading. Although it isn’t all dangerous information. The brand new Hearth 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 machine” ever. It additionally now not requires a wall plug and will be powered straight out of your TV’s USB port, making setup even simpler.

Nevertheless, there may be yet one more improve that flew below the radar that Amazon has packed into the brand new Hearth TV Stick HD: it is outfitted with a USB-C port somewhat than Micro-USB, marking the primary time ever a Hearth 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a brand-new Ethernet adapter to match its new USB-C connector, and it additionally has one main improve over the outdated Micro-USB model: it appears to supply Gigabit Ethernet as an alternative of 100 Mbps Ethernet (by way of AFTV News). Sadly, there’s one massive drawback.

Amazon is not claiming the adapter is Gigabit

It is seemingly able to Gigabit, but it surely appears the Hearth TV Stick HD cannot deal with it

Credit score: Amazon

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

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

As AFTV News studies, the problem possible stems from the brand new Hearth TV Stick HD’s USB-C port being restricted to USB 2.0 somewhat than USB 3.0. Because of this though the adapter is technically able to Gigabit speeds, the brand new Hearth TV Stick HD cannot really 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, but it surely hasn’t launched a brand new Hearth 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 return

A Hearth TV Stick 4K Max with USB 3.0?

Credit score: Amazon

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

Amazon hasn’t confirmed something about its future roadmap, so that is purely hypothesis on my half, but it surely’s exhausting to think about the corporate not ultimately releasing a brand new Hearth 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 help sooner USB 3.0 speeds.

The brand new Hearth 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 Hearth TV Stick 4K Max sooner or later, it could make loads of sense for Amazon to step issues up by including correct USB 3.0 help on the USB-C port.

If that occurs, this new USB-C Ethernet adapter all of the sudden turns into much more attention-grabbing. 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 Hearth TV Stick rolls round that is really able to unlocking its full Gigabit capabilities.

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