Lenovo Tab Plus Gen 2 Hits Record $256 Low, Undercutting Prior Best by $14

Q: With Amazon blocking Android apps on its new OS, is the discounted Fire Stick actually a downgrade?

Yes—for buyers who relied on Android-style flexibility, the $29.99 Fire TV Stick 4K is effectively a downgrade, even if it is a strong value for basic streaming. The key issue is software. The new stick runs Amazon’s Linux-based Vega OS, not Android-based Fire OS. That means no Android APK sideloading, no custom launchers, and no broad compatibility with niche apps that many Fire TV power users treated as a major advantage. Amazon does offer a cloud app program for some Fire OS apps, but that is selective, developer-dependent, and not the same as open app support on older Fire devices. There are hardware tradeoffs too. The discounted stick is faster to load content, slimmer, supports Wi‑Fi 6, and can often run from a TV’s USB port through Direct Power, which is genuinely convenient. But it has 8GB of storage and 1GB of RAM, and it drops some higher-end features found on older Amazon models, including Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos support on the 2023 Fire TV Stick 4K Max. So whether it is a downgrade depends on the buyer. If you mainly use Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+, YouTube, and other mainstream apps, the sale price makes it one of the cheapest 4K streaming options available. If you previously bought Fire TV because it behaved like a budget Android streamer, this new model gives up the very feature set that made Fire Sticks unusually versatile. In that case, an older Fire TV Stick 4K Max or a Google TV/Android TV box is the better fit.

3 articles · Updated · 9to5Google · Oct 23

$256.49 is Lenovo’s new all-time low for the 8GB/128GB Tab Plus Gen 2, available at Lenovo with promo code EXTRAFIVE versus its usual $400 price.
The deal cuts more than $143, or about 36%, and beats the previous tracked low of roughly $270 from last month.
$269.99 is also available for the 8GB/256GB version at Amazon, matching the lowest price tracked for the higher-storage model.
The tablet targets media use with a 12.1-inch 2.5K 90Hz display, nine JBL speakers with Dolby Atmos, a Dimensity 7400 chip, and a 10,200mAh battery with 45W charging.