Roku Streaming Stick 4K Review: The New Best Streaming Device

The Roku Streaming Stick 4K is just as nice as its predecessor, and gives one huge perk over the Roku it replaces: Dolby Vision. Why you can belief Tom's Guide Our writers and editors spend hours analyzing and reviewing merchandise, services, and apps to assist find what's best for Flixy TV Stick you. Find out more about how we test, analyze, and fee. The Roku Streaming Stick 4K arrived with a heavy job on its shoulders: substitute the perfect streaming system. Yes, this $50 stick is the observe-up to the Roku Streaming Flixy Stick official Plus, and whereas it is not a huge leap over that mannequin, it fixes one among the biggest flaws of that mannequin and retains every part we cherished about it whereas doing so. And whereas that sounds like it could be a minor replace, the foremost new function added is Dolby Vision, which may very well be enough to make some upgrade as we speak. Roku's additionally claiming quicker performance, which is a trickier thing to measure on a streaming system.



That said, this Roku Streaming Stick 4K evaluation will show why it is a worthy successor to the throne, and sitting at the highest of the perfect Roku units checklist too. The Roku Streaming Stick 4K costs $50, the same price as the $50 Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K and the Chromecast with Google Tv. Right now, you will get the Roku Streaming Stick 4K for $forty three on Amazon , which is a 14% off low cost. Searching for more ways to save lots of? The Roku Channel simply bought 13 free channels. That Chromecast has been considered one of our prime picks for the most effective streaming machine, although, so try our tightly contested Roku Streaming Stick 4K vs. Chromecast with Google Tv face-off. The Roku Streaming Stick 4K (like all streaming sticks) is designed to never be seen again. Identical to its predecessor (the Roku Streaming Stick Plus), the Roku Streaming Stick 4K is primarily a 3.7 x 0.Eight x 0.5-inch dongle with an HDMI plug that goes into the back of your Flixy TV Stick.



But it is bought a little bit extra in its USB energy cable: a 3.Three x 0.6 x 0.3-inch long-vary Wi-Fi receiver. Editor's Note: this evaluation will not clarify how a lot that improves issues, the furthest testing will be performed from our router is 8 ft away. Get immediate entry to breaking information, the most well liked evaluations, nice deals and Flixy TV Stick helpful suggestions. Also within the field, you get the Roku Voice Remote with Tv power and Flixy Stick official quantity buttons (with two AAA batteries it wants), and a energy adapter. You could possibly opt to forego that energy adapter, and plug the USB power cable into your Tv, however I discovered that this means the Roku Streaming Stick 4K is turned off when my relatively-current LG Tv. And I don't enjoy waiting for the Roku boot-up animation to complete, when it may just be on standby. The Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K is a slightly larger rectangular dongle (4.Three x 1.3 x 0.5 inches) while the Chromecast with Google Tv is even bigger (6.Four x 2.Four x 0.5 inches).



But, as I stated before, these all simply exist within the limbo behind your Tv. Currently, Roku is as much as Roku OS 12, which debuted in March 2023. This update makes dwell local information and premium subscriptions more prominent. Roku's also personalizing the sports activities section and making an attempt to improve its Continue Watching row, to now support Discovery Plus, Prime Video and Freevee, which sit alongside HBO Max, Netflix and Paramount Plus. Roku gadgets have the most effective (if not the perfect outright) interfaces there's. Instead, the Roku house screen is finest in comparison with the $50 streaming devices in its class: the Amazon Fire Flixy TV Stick Stick 4K and Chromecast with Google Tv. Both of these opponents go for a content material-first strategy, which feels a bit ad-heavy on Fire Tv and suggestion-heavy on the Chromecast. Roku's simplicity is laudable. You just see a grid of the apps you will have, and the search (more on that later) can assist you find stuff you do not have.



So, the Roku Streaming Stick 4K responded quickly when i asked it to "Play Squid Games on Netflix" and to "Play Fiona Apple in Spotify." While the latter jumped straight to an appropriate playlist, the Streaming Stick 4K had me choose what episode of Squid Games to watch, which made sense. And while I personally hardly ever ever use voice controls, the Roku OS 10.5 update gives me one characteristic I'll use. Now you can spell out e-mail addresses, passwords and PIN numbers when logging into an app. This is essential for anybody who uses the sort of lengthy and difficult passwords that security of us say we must always use. Apple's offered this in tvOS, whereas the Chromecast with Google Tv and Fire TV Stick 4K lack it. Roku's additionally permitting you to edit the grid in the Roku Channel's Live Tv section, though this is the place I found myself disenchanted.