Best Roku devices 2022 Tom s Guide
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• Roku OS 11.5 will make streaming easier to manage. And we at Tom's Guide not only test Roku devices rigorously, but some of us use them for our own personal streaming. For example, we love the $50 Roku Streaming Stick 4K (and there's a 4K Plus model too), so much that we rank it as the best streaming device overall. The Roku Streaming Stick 4K is also an excellent streaming device for its small size, which makes it a perfect gadget for traveling. Our senior editor explained why he always brings this Roku on vacation (though he had to order a new one as he left his last one in Chicago). That 4K Plus model, though, used to stand out by being the only Roku that packed in the excellent Roku Voice Remote Pro. That said, things have changed, as the Roku Ultra finally got more "ultra" by adding Roku's best remote. Roku was one of the first big brands to develop a stand-alone streaming player, and now it's the top streaming platform in the industry, with Amazon Fire TV nipping at its heels. But, like any other product with a decade-plus history, Roku's lineup has gotten a little tangled, and has maybe one too many devices. We also reviewed Roku's Express 4K Plus, which made it to this list as the best Roku device under $40. Roku's elegant menu system puts apps (and not ads) first, and offer everything from inexpensive Full HD streaming, to premium 4K picture quality coming straight out of a soundbar. As long as you pick one of the best Roku sticks or players, you will get snappy streaming at a competitive price.
We first got the Streaming Stick+ as I already had the 3rd gen Fire TV Pendent which was working fine for me. When I saw how the remote worked on the Streaming Stick+ to control our TV, I wanted to get one for my TV in the man-cave.
But after numerous tests with my DTS decoder, I found that various MKVs that I ripped from my Blu-Ray collection would refuse to play from my Plex media server with the Roku Plex player app. I like to rip my audio as a full copy (rather than convert it to AC3, etc) so that when DTS is being passed through to my DTS decoder, I'm hopefully getting the best possible sound. My DTS decoder doesn't have an HDMI input/output so I have to feed it from the optical out from my TV to the decoder via pass-through.
The Roku Plex app would play the video with no sound for some reason and I was unable to ever get it to work. However, my Fire TV 3rd gen had no issues what-so-ever with passing the DTS signal through to the DTS decoder. Also, the Fire TV Plex app had the option of doing either HDMI or Optical pass-through which might be the reason.
Most of the movies are ripped in AC3 (since that's the original audio track), but for some reason, even some of those refuse to play through the Roku Plex app. I don't know if it's an issue with the Plex app on Roku or a Roku hardware/software limitation or a combination of both. I also discovered that some movies (John Wick 2) would refuse to play at all through the Roku but John Wick 1 and 3 worked fine on the Roku and they were all ripped the same way. For the Fire TV, all 3 movies played with no issues.
So with that, I ordered the Fire TV 4K stick and I have been very pleased with it. Also, the voice commands with the remote allow me to switch from one HDMI port to another as well as to the cable port (where I have a digital antenna attached) so I no longer need the TV remote for anything, unless I want to change channels when watching over-the-air channels which is rare on my man-cave TV. Roku, when I try to tell it to switch to a different HDMI port, just tells me that the function is no implemented.
The Roku works great for the upstairs living room though except when we want to watch some of the movies from the Plex media server that refuse to work on the Roku for some reason. It's going to depend on what you like (Amazon pushed content UI vs. a cleaner interface on the Roku).
One thing I do like with the Roku is that when I want to search for free movies, it looks across all the different channels that would provide it and shows them first. For Amazon, it will only show content via Amazon Prime which is a shame but I understand that Amazon is trying to run a business with their Prime Video service. I also wish on the Fire TV I could actually tell it to use the "All Apps" view as the default where I can see all the apps I have installed as opposed to being forced the Amazon suggested videos to watch and having to scroll through my apps. A hold on the "Home" button will bring up a menu where I can then choose "All Apps" or you can scroll down to the carousel apps list and navigate to the left to find the "All Apps" button there. I find the "Home" button short-cut is faster, especially depending on where you've scrolled through all of Amazon's suggestions and are far down below the "Apps" list.
Overall, I do like both devices. Each has their pluses and minuses and for our house, they each serve a purpose in the room they are in. The family TV is used more by my family to stream Netflix, Hulu, Disney+ whereas my man-cave is more for the movie experience via my Plex server so we don't have to go to the shelf to pull out a Blu-Ray and turn on the Blu-Ray player, insert the disc and wait for it to load up and possibly have to skip through dozens of previews before we can even get to the movie itself. Works great for the TV shows I have on Blu-Ray too. No disc swapping (and it saves wear and tear on the discs). Roku can play most of my content, but for others, I'd either have to re-rip them, possibly downgrading the audio, or else just not be able to watch them. Fire TV seems to handle all of my ripped Blu-Rays without an issue. Reply View All 1 Comment MOST READMOST SHARED1Amazon Fire TV Cube (2022) review2The best workout headphones in 20223Daily Quordle #274 - answers and hints for Tuesday, October 254The best business laptops in 20225The best laptops in 2022: 20 top picks tested and rated1The best workout headphones in 20222Daily Quordle #274 - answers and hints for Tuesday, October 253The best business laptops in 20224The best laptops in 2022: 20 top picks tested and rated5Best laptops for college students in 2022
Best Roku devices 2022
By Henry T. Casey published 13 October 2022 Here are the five best Roku devices for your entertainment center, recommended based on functionality and price Included in this guide:1Roku Streaming Stick 4...View (opens in new tab)2Roku Express 4K+ (2021...Check Price (opens in new tab)3RokuUltra 2020Check Price (opens in new tab)4RokuStreaming Stick 4K+Check Price (opens in new tab)5RokuStreambarCheck Price (opens in new tab)6RokuExpress (2022)Check Price (opens in new tab) (Image credit: Roku) The best Roku devices continue to provide some of the best streaming experiences, especially for those who don't want to break the bank. They range in price from the new $29 Roku Express (2022) to the $99 Roku Ultra - and that's before you get to the soundbars.Latest Roku News (updated Oct. 13)• Our Roku Express (2022) review explains how it fares against other $30 streamers.• Roku OS 11.5 will make streaming easier to manage. And we at Tom's Guide not only test Roku devices rigorously, but some of us use them for our own personal streaming. For example, we love the $50 Roku Streaming Stick 4K (and there's a 4K Plus model too), so much that we rank it as the best streaming device overall. The Roku Streaming Stick 4K is also an excellent streaming device for its small size, which makes it a perfect gadget for traveling. Our senior editor explained why he always brings this Roku on vacation (though he had to order a new one as he left his last one in Chicago). That 4K Plus model, though, used to stand out by being the only Roku that packed in the excellent Roku Voice Remote Pro. That said, things have changed, as the Roku Ultra finally got more "ultra" by adding Roku's best remote. Roku was one of the first big brands to develop a stand-alone streaming player, and now it's the top streaming platform in the industry, with Amazon Fire TV nipping at its heels. But, like any other product with a decade-plus history, Roku's lineup has gotten a little tangled, and has maybe one too many devices. We also reviewed Roku's Express 4K Plus, which made it to this list as the best Roku device under $40. Roku's elegant menu system puts apps (and not ads) first, and offer everything from inexpensive Full HD streaming, to premium 4K picture quality coming straight out of a soundbar. As long as you pick one of the best Roku sticks or players, you will get snappy streaming at a competitive price.
The best Roku devices you can find today
(Image credit: Henry T. Casey)1 Roku Streaming Stick 4K
The best Roku device overallSpecifications
Size: 3.7 x 0.8 x 0.5 inchesMax Resolution: Up to 4K UHD at 60 fpsPorts: HDMI, USBRemote: Voice RemoteDevice Type: StickToday's Best DealsVisit Site (opens in new tab)Reasons to buy
+Excellent 4K HDR quality+Dolby Vision, finally+Snappy perfomanceReasons to avoid
-No Dolby Atmos-Amazon offers better live TV The Roku Streaming Stick 4K is the best streaming device, so no wonder it's also the best Roku device, the Streaming Stick+. While it's not a huge leap over that model, it keeps everything we loved and fixes one of the biggest flaws of its predecessor by adding Dolby Vision. Roku has also added a new quad-core processor in the Roku Streaming Stick 4K, for what it claims provide 30% faster app boot times. That's a bit hard to measure, but the Roku Streaming Stick 4K felt snappy and fast enough. Major apps opened within 11 seconds. If you find your Roku not working at some point, don't worry, as it's easily fixed. Now that the stick supports Dolby Vision (along with HDR10/+), you can stream all your shows and movies just as beautifully as anything else. The picture plays in crisp UHD image quality. However, the device is lacking on audio standards, missing the spatially-focused Dolby Atmos sound technology. The standard remote works fine, but if you want the superior Voice Remote Pro, check out our write-up of the Roku Streaming Stick 4K+ below. And check out our Roku Streaming Stick 4K vs. Chromecast with Google TV face-off to see how it fares against the other best $50 streaming stick. Read our full Roku Streaming Stick 4K review. (Image credit: Tom's Guide/Henry T. Casey)2 Roku Express 4K Plus
The best Roku device under $40Specifications
Size: 3.3 x 1.5 x 0.7 inchesMax Resolution: 3840 x 2160Ports: NoneRemote: Network Voice remoteDevice Type: BoxToday's Best DealsView at Amazon (opens in new tab)View at Walmart (opens in new tab)View at Best Buy (opens in new tab)Reasons to buy
+Excellent 4K HDR performance+Decent navigation+Improved remoteReasons to avoid
-Awkward design-No Dolby Vision or Atmos Getting crisp 4K streaming at under $40 is rare, and always comes with a caveat or two. The new Roku Express 4K Plus fixes one of the big annoyances of the Roku Premiere it replaces, by giving you a better remote. This remote doesn't require a direct line of sight, so you can point it in whichever direction you please. That upgrade, plus fast performance and UHD streaming makes the Roku Express 4K Plus a great option for those trying to get a 4K Roku (and all the apps that it comes with) at the lowest price. That said, we still have two reasons to consider paying a little more. Its design is a little too light, so you might spend a minute fiddling with it to have it lie flat on a surface - making the Streaming Stick Plus' easy-to-use design even better by comparison. Also, there's no Dolby Vision or Atmos Audio, but some might not see that as worthy of going higher up the price-chain. We've recently raised this unit in our rankings, as it's continued to impress more TG staffers with its value proposition - which is why we named it the best cheap streaming device. Read our full Roku Express 4K Plus review. (Image credit: Tom's Guide)3 Roku Ultra 2020
The best premium Roku deviceSpecifications
Size: 4.9 x 4.9 x 0.9 inchesMax Resolution: 3840 x 2160Ports: Ethernet, USBRemote: Roku Voice Remote ProDevice Type: BoxToday's Best DealsView at Walmart (opens in new tab)View at Best Buy (opens in new tab)Check Amazon (opens in new tab)Reasons to buy
+Great performance+Includes Roku Voice Remote Pro+USB portReasons to avoid
-Expensive-Almost nothing new from last year's model The Roku Ultra is expensive, but true to its name, it will give you the most comprehensive Roku experience that money can buy. As with other high-end Roku devices, you get thousands of channels, full 4K resolution and extremely fast navigation. But with the Ultra, you also get an Ethernet port for a steadier Internet connection, as well as a USB port to provide your own videos and music. Also, the 2020 Roku Ultra is a bit faster in places (though you might not notice it all the time) and offers improved wireless streaming range. The included Roku Voice Remote Pro has many great features, but our favorite is the fact that it doesn't require batteries. Oh, and it also has hands-free voice controls - crucial if you can't find yours. It also has two programmable buttons, and a headphone jack for private listening. Maybe a bit too expensive for most, the Roku Ultra is my preferred streaming device these days, after I ditched my Apple TV 4K for the Roku Ultra. Not only does it have comparable features (just missing Twitch on the app front), but its version of Netflix proves more stable when it comes to Dolby Atmos than my Apple TV 4K. Read our full Roku Ultra (2020) review. (Image credit: Kelly Woo/Tom's Guide)4 Roku Streaming Stick 4K Plus
The best Roku device packaged with the best remoteSpecifications
Size: 3.7 x 0.8 x 0.5 inchesMax Resolution: Up to 4K UHD at 60 fpsPorts: HDMI, USBRemote: Voice Remote ProDevice Type: StickToday's Best DealsView at Amazon (opens in new tab)Reasons to buy
+Dolby Vision+Voice Remote Pro is a great upgrade+Speedy performanceReasons to avoid
-Lacks Dolby Atmos-Not a big upgrade from previous model The Roku Streaming Stick 4K Plus is slightly faster and more powerful, is finally capable of playing high-quality Dolby Vision and comes with the excellent Voice Remote Pro. It has everything we loved about the previous model, the Streaming Stick Plus, with a bit more juice and features. The Roku Streaming Stick 4K Plus delivers all the ultra-HD streaming, video quality and speed that anyone could need, along with a wonderfully simple OS, and at a very reasonable price. And it comes with the excellent Voice Remote Pro. It's got a rechargeable battery, an optional always-listening function and two customizable buttons. Read our full Roku Streaming Stick 4K Plus review. (Image credit: Roku)5 Roku Streambar
The best Roku device that's also a speakerSpecifications
Size: 14.0 x 4.2 x 2.4 inchesMax Resolution: 3840 x 2160Ports: Optical audio, HDMI, USBRemote: Voice remote with TV volume and power controlsDevice Type: SoundbarToday's Best DealsView at Walmart (opens in new tab)View at Amazon (opens in new tab)View at Best Buy (opens in new tab)Reasons to buy
+4K streaming+Clear, loud sound+Compact designReasons to avoid
-Bass could be stronger-Lacks Ethernet port When you want the excellence of the Roku platform, but your TV doesn't have the strong sound you want? Well, the Roku Streambar is a great solution that's often on sale. It's design won't take up too much space on your counter top or entertainment center, but also provides quality sound with both loudness and clarity. Its bass leaves something to be asked for, though, but that's not a problem for most TV. And this way, you can combine your streaming device and soundbar into the same package, and save more space. Read our full Roku Streambar review. (Image credit: Henry T. Casey / Tom's Guide)5 Roku Express 2022
The best cheap Roku deviceSpecifications
Size: 3.0 x 1.5 x 0.8 inchesMax Resolution: 1920 x 1080Ports: NoneRemote: Standard IR remoteDevice Type: BoxToday's Best DealsView at Amazon (opens in new tab)Reasons to buy
+Remote no longer requires accurate aiming+Good performance+Customizable interfaceReasons to avoid
-No included power adapter-No HDR (which Chromecast HD has) Roku improved the Express' remote for its 2022 edition, but this streaming device entered a more competitive market. Sure, if you only compare it against other Rokus, you'll see it as a competent $30 HD streaming device. The kind of streamer you buy to upgrade a 'dumb' TV or display that doesn't have any apps. Its performance is relatively snappy for its price point (but by no means as fast as above models), and it's still a Roku, so you still get all the standards like a customizable home screen and all the apps. Plus, that Remote app allows for wireless private listening. But, at $30, it's got to contend against the Chromecast with Google TV HD, which has a better remote, as well as the Amazon Fire TV Stick Lite, which has a voice-enabled remote. While it's a good streaming device, it's not our favorite Roku by far, and it's not the best $30 streamer either. Read our full Roku Express (2022) review.Round up of today's best deals (opens in new tab)Roku Express 4K+ (2021) (opens in new tab) (opens in new tab)$38.80 (opens in new tab)View (opens in new tab)See all pricesReduced Price (opens in new tab)Roku Ultra 2020 (opens in new tab) (opens in new tab)$99.99 (opens in new tab)$89.99 (opens in new tab)View (opens in new tab)See all prices (opens in new tab)Roku Streaming Stick 4K+ (opens in new tab) (opens in new tab)$69.62 (opens in new tab)View (opens in new tab)See all pricesReduced Price (opens in new tab)Roku Streambar (opens in new tab) (opens in new tab)$129.99 (opens in new tab)$113 (opens in new tab)View (opens in new tab)See all prices (opens in new tab)Roku Express (2022) (opens in new tab) (opens in new tab)$29.99 (opens in new tab)View (opens in new tab)See all pricesWe check over 250 million products every day for the best pricespowered byBe In the Know
Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. Henry T. CaseySenior EditorHenry is a senior editor at Tom's Guide covering streaming media, laptops and all things Apple, reviewing devices and services for the past seven years. Prior to joining Tom's Guide, he reviewed software and hardware for TechRadar Pro, and interviewed artists for Patek Philippe International Magazine. He's also covered the wild world of professional wrestling for Cageside Seats, interviewing athletes and other industry veterans. More about streaming Amazon Fire TV Cube (2022) review 7 new movies to watch this week on HBO Max, Netflix and more (Oct. 25-28)Latest The best workout headphones in 2022See more latest ► Topics Back to School Streaming TV What to Watch See all comments (1) 1 Comment Comment from the forums isamuelson We have both the Streaming Stick+ (in our living room) and a Fire TV 4K (in my man-cave where I have the surround sound set up, reclining couch, etc).We first got the Streaming Stick+ as I already had the 3rd gen Fire TV Pendent which was working fine for me. When I saw how the remote worked on the Streaming Stick+ to control our TV, I wanted to get one for my TV in the man-cave.
But after numerous tests with my DTS decoder, I found that various MKVs that I ripped from my Blu-Ray collection would refuse to play from my Plex media server with the Roku Plex player app. I like to rip my audio as a full copy (rather than convert it to AC3, etc) so that when DTS is being passed through to my DTS decoder, I'm hopefully getting the best possible sound. My DTS decoder doesn't have an HDMI input/output so I have to feed it from the optical out from my TV to the decoder via pass-through.
The Roku Plex app would play the video with no sound for some reason and I was unable to ever get it to work. However, my Fire TV 3rd gen had no issues what-so-ever with passing the DTS signal through to the DTS decoder. Also, the Fire TV Plex app had the option of doing either HDMI or Optical pass-through which might be the reason.
Most of the movies are ripped in AC3 (since that's the original audio track), but for some reason, even some of those refuse to play through the Roku Plex app. I don't know if it's an issue with the Plex app on Roku or a Roku hardware/software limitation or a combination of both. I also discovered that some movies (John Wick 2) would refuse to play at all through the Roku but John Wick 1 and 3 worked fine on the Roku and they were all ripped the same way. For the Fire TV, all 3 movies played with no issues.
So with that, I ordered the Fire TV 4K stick and I have been very pleased with it. Also, the voice commands with the remote allow me to switch from one HDMI port to another as well as to the cable port (where I have a digital antenna attached) so I no longer need the TV remote for anything, unless I want to change channels when watching over-the-air channels which is rare on my man-cave TV. Roku, when I try to tell it to switch to a different HDMI port, just tells me that the function is no implemented.
The Roku works great for the upstairs living room though except when we want to watch some of the movies from the Plex media server that refuse to work on the Roku for some reason. It's going to depend on what you like (Amazon pushed content UI vs. a cleaner interface on the Roku).
One thing I do like with the Roku is that when I want to search for free movies, it looks across all the different channels that would provide it and shows them first. For Amazon, it will only show content via Amazon Prime which is a shame but I understand that Amazon is trying to run a business with their Prime Video service. I also wish on the Fire TV I could actually tell it to use the "All Apps" view as the default where I can see all the apps I have installed as opposed to being forced the Amazon suggested videos to watch and having to scroll through my apps. A hold on the "Home" button will bring up a menu where I can then choose "All Apps" or you can scroll down to the carousel apps list and navigate to the left to find the "All Apps" button there. I find the "Home" button short-cut is faster, especially depending on where you've scrolled through all of Amazon's suggestions and are far down below the "Apps" list.
Overall, I do like both devices. Each has their pluses and minuses and for our house, they each serve a purpose in the room they are in. The family TV is used more by my family to stream Netflix, Hulu, Disney+ whereas my man-cave is more for the movie experience via my Plex server so we don't have to go to the shelf to pull out a Blu-Ray and turn on the Blu-Ray player, insert the disc and wait for it to load up and possibly have to skip through dozens of previews before we can even get to the movie itself. Works great for the TV shows I have on Blu-Ray too. No disc swapping (and it saves wear and tear on the discs). Roku can play most of my content, but for others, I'd either have to re-rip them, possibly downgrading the audio, or else just not be able to watch them. Fire TV seems to handle all of my ripped Blu-Rays without an issue. Reply View All 1 Comment MOST READMOST SHARED1Amazon Fire TV Cube (2022) review2The best workout headphones in 20223Daily Quordle #274 - answers and hints for Tuesday, October 254The best business laptops in 20225The best laptops in 2022: 20 top picks tested and rated1The best workout headphones in 20222Daily Quordle #274 - answers and hints for Tuesday, October 253The best business laptops in 20224The best laptops in 2022: 20 top picks tested and rated5Best laptops for college students in 2022