Skip to Content

Fire TV Stuttering (Causes and How to Fix)

It’s incredibly annoying when you’re trying to watch your favorite show, and your Fire TV starts to stutter and lag. It’s even worse if you’re watching a movie and the audio and video aren’t synced up. I recently encountered this issue, and I was determined to find out the cause and a fix for the stuttering.

After doing a bit of research, I discovered some common causes of Fire TV stuttering, as well as some tips and tricks for fixing the issue. In this post, I’m going to share what I learned and provide some solutions for anyone else who is having this issue.

Fire TV stuttering is often caused by a problem in the software. The easiest solution is to restart your Fire TV through the settings. If that doesn’t fix the problem, you may want to check your power source and cables.

Causes of Fire TV StutteringSolutions
Problem in the softwareRestart your Fire TV
Buggy Fire OSRestart your Fire TV
Faulty power sources and HDMI cablesCheck for damage or improper connections
Leaving the Fire Stick in the TV for a long timeClean and unplug it from time to time

Buggy Fire OS 

Has your phone ever bugged out and stopped doing rather normal tasks? The first intuition at that point would be to restart it, and what do you know, the problem is fixed.

Most software operating systems sometimes need to be refreshed from time to time. The Fire TV OS is no exception. A buggy operating system can display faulty screens, blank ones, small ones, and stuttering ones.

You may want to restart your Fire TV to rule out the buggy software problem. Keep in mind that shutting down the TV and then turning it on again doesn’t count as a restart. You need to restart the system itself.

There are two ways for you to restart your Fire TV:

Through the Settings

Use your remote to go to the Settings of your Fire TV home screen. The settings icon looks like a gear logo.

Open the settings and look for an option named Device & Software. Once you click on it, it will open a list of more options for you. Restart should be among these options. Clicking on it will give you a prompt on the screen that tells you that the system is restarting.

You may also use the settings option from the remote which should take you to the same set of settings. You should know that if you have a Fire Smart TV, the settings button on the remote will take you to a different set of settings than the one you need.

Using the Remote Shortcut

The remote shortcut doesn’t mean that you should click on the settings button. Instead, click and hold both the Play and Select buttons for around 10 seconds.

The same restart prompt will appear on the screen and your Fire TV will restart.

Faulty Power Source

Before getting too worried that your Fire TV may be faulty. You may want to check if your power source is stable enough.

Start by using a different outlet than the one you used when you experience stuttering. If the problem persists, the problem could be in the wiring.

Check the wiring that connects your TV and your power source. See if there’s any damage through the wire. A damaged wire doesn’t properly conduct electricity and that unstable current may lead to a stuttering TV.

If you’re using a converter before you plug your TV into the outlet, consider trying a different converter as well.

Faulty Cables

HDMI cables are the bread and butter of the high-quality displays most TVs have. However, when those cables start to malfunction, they could cause various issues like black scenes, blank screens, and occasional stuttering or lagging.

When you use a brand new cable for the first time, it may prove to be unreliable right out of the box. On the other hand, a perfectly working cable could sustain any cut or damage that may prevent it from keeping the display clear.

It’s worth pointing out that perfectly working cables can still cause stuttering if they’re too long . HDMI cables can be as long as 60 feet. While that sounds like a good deal, it may not be because of the signal strength loss.

If your HDMI cable is over 50 feet, the signal strength will start to drop and you may experience screen stuttering. 

If you doubt that your HDMI cable is the problem, consider trying a different or a shorter one before you accuse your Fire TV.

Leaving the Fire Stick in the TV for a Long Time

Most Fire TV stick users tend to keep the firestick plugged in the TV for long periods that could reach years.

That’s not necessarily an issue but sometimes dust may clog inside and mess with the connection. In other cases, there may be some residual electricity in the firestick that could cause some current stability issues and render your screen stuttering.

Make a habit of cleaning your firestick from time to time. Pair that with a fire TV restart and you should avoid any problem related to leaving the stick in the TV for long periods.

Conclusion

Fire TV stuttering is a common problem among Fire TV users but luckily, it’s often easy to solve. Start by restarting your Fire TV using the right way. That should fix the problem for most users.

If not, try checking your power sources and cables and see if there’s anything faulty. Last but not least, check your firestick itself. It may need a simple unplug…clean…replug routine.