'What is the Amazon Fire TV Stick?': Everything you need to know about Amazon's flash drive-shaped streaming device

• The Amazon Fire TV Stick is a flash drive-shaped streaming device that plugs into your TV's HDMI port.
• It's a tiny streaming media player that turns your TV into a Smart TV, with "tens of thousands" of streaming video channels.
• The Amazon Fire TV Stick is easy to set up and use - just plug it into your TV and use its included remote control to complete the setup.
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The Amazon Fire TV Stick is a streaming video player sold by Amazon. Similar in many ways to the Roku Streaming Stick, the Fire TV stick is the entry-level product in Amazon's streaming media player family, priced at about $40. The Fire TV Stick is shaped like an oversized USB flash drive and plugs directly into a TV's HDMI video input. Rather than storing files, though, it is a full-featured streaming player, able to turn any television with an HDMI port into a Smart TV.

What you can do with the Amazon Fire TV Stick

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Amazon says that the Fire TV Stick adds "tens of thousands" of channels to your TV. That includes all the streaming services you are most familiar with, including Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, Netflix, and HBO Now, along with network TV apps, sports, and, of course, thousands of less common niche channels you may not be familiar with.

The stick comes with a remote control that has a built-in microphone for voice control. Because this is an Amazon product, you might expect that it has Alexa support, and you would be right - you can give commands to the Fire TV Stick using Alexa skills, and control all the home automation products (like the Ring doorbell, Philips Hue lights, and ecobee thermostat, among others) just as if you were talking to an Amazon Echo speaker.

What Amazon Fire TV Sticks cost

The Fire TV family includes the Fire TV Stick ($39.99) and the Fire TV Stick 4K ($49.99). The 4K version costs a little more and is identical to the Fire TV Stick except that it (as the name implies) works with 4K video. The original Fire TV Stick sends standard 1080p high definition video instead.

Amazon also sells the Fire TV Cube. Priced at $119.99, this media player includes a built-in speaker and a microphone that listens for voice commands from across the room - you don't need to talk into a remote control. While the two versions of the Fire TV Stick require Wi-Fi, the Cube is able to connect to Ethernet for faster, more reliable internet access. (It's possible to connect the Fire TV sticks to Ethernet with an optional Ethernet adapter.)

How to set up an Amazon Fire TV Stick

Setting up an Amazon Fire Stick is little more than a three step process.

You simply need to plug the Fire TV stick into its supplied power adapter and then plug the stick into your TV's HDMI video input. Then, turn on your TV and make sure it's set to the correct HDMI input.

Finally, using the remote control, step through the welcome and setup instructions on the TV screen. You'll need to enter your Wi-Fi password and log into your Amazon account. After that, setup is largely complete; you'll just need to add and log into any streaming channels you use (like Netflix, Hulu, and so on).

Related coverage from How To Do Everything: Tech:

• 'What is Amazon Fire TV?': Everything you need to know about Amazon's media streaming devices

• All the ways you can watch Amazon Prime Video on your TV

• 'What can the Amazon Echo do?': Everything you need to know about Amazon's smart speakers

• How to download Amazon Prime movies and shows to your phone or tablet