Roku Streaming Stick 4K review: The new best streaming device
Our Verdict
The Roku Streaming Stick 4K is just every bit great as its predecessor, and offers one large perk over the Roku it replaces: Dolby Vision.
For
- First-class 4K HDR quality
- Dolby Vision, finally
- Snappy perfomance
- Practically every app you need
- Splendid interface and home screen
- Phonation-entry for user ID and password
Against
- No Dolby Atmos
- Amazon offers better live TV integration
Tom's Guide Verdict
The Roku Streaming Stick 4K is but every bit nifty as its predecessor, and offers one big perk over the Roku it replaces: Dolby Vision.
Pros
- +
Excellent 4K HDR quality
- +
Dolby Vision, finally
- +
Snappy perfomance
- +
Practically every app you need
- +
Excellent interface and home screen
- +
Voice-entry for user ID and countersign
Cons
- -
No Dolby Atmos
- -
Amazon offers better live Boob tube integration
The Roku Streaming Stick 4K arrives with a heavy job on its shoulders: replace our pick for the all-time streaming device. Yes, this $50 stick replaces the Roku Streaming Stick Plus, and while it's not a huge leap over that model, it fixes ane of the biggest flaws of that model and keeps everything we loved about it while doing so.
And while that sounds like it might be a minor update, the major new feature added is Dolby Vision, which could be enough to make some upgrade today. Roku'south also claiming faster performance, which is a trickier thing to measure on a streaming device. That said, this Roku Streaming Stick 4K review will testify why it's a worthy successor to the throne, and sitting at the summit of the best Roku devices list also.
- The best streaming services, ranked
- Check out our Roku Streaming Stick 4K Plus review
Roku Streaming Stick 4K review: Specs
| Roku Streaming Stick 4K | |
|---|---|
| Starting cost | $49.99 |
| Resolution | Up to 4K UHD at sixty fps |
| Processor | Quad-core CPU |
| Wireless | 802.11ac MIMO dual-band Wi-Fi |
| Dimensions | three.seven ten 0.8 x 0.v inches |
| Colors | Black |
| Audio | Dolby-encoded audio, DTS Digital Surround, Digital stereo |
| Video | Dolby Vision, HDR10/10+ and HLG |
| Remote | Roku Voice Remote with TV power and book buttons |
Roku Streaming Stick 4K review: Price and availability
The Roku Streaming Stick 4K costs $50, the same price as the $50 Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K and the Chromecast with Google Boob tube.
That Chromecast has been one of our peak picks for the best streaming device, though, so check out our tightly contested Roku Streaming Stick 4K vs. Chromecast with Google TV face-off.
The Roku Streaming Stick 4K is on pre-order and comes out on October 17, 2021.
Roku Streaming Stick 4K review: Design
The Roku Streaming Stick 4K (similar all streaming sticks) is designed to never be seen once again. Identical to its predecessor (the Roku Streaming Stick Plus), the Roku Streaming Stick 4K is primarily a three.vii ten 0.8 x 0.5-inch dongle with an HDMI plug that goes into the back of your Television set. Merely it'south got a little actress in its USB power cablevision: a 3.3 x 0.vi x 0.3-inch long-range Wi-Fi receiver. Editor'south Note: this review won't explain how much that improves things, the furthest testing tin can be done from our router is eight feet abroad.
Also in the box, you become the Roku Vocalism Remote with Telly power and volume buttons (with two AAA batteries information technology needs), and a power adapter. You could opt to forego that power adapter, and plug the USB power cable into your Television set, but I found that this ways the Roku Streaming Stick 4K is turned off when my relatively-contempo LG TV. And I don't savor waiting for the Roku boot-upwardly animation to finish, when it could just exist on standby.
The Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K is a slightly larger rectangular dongle (4.3 10 1.3 x 0.5 inches) while the Chromecast with Google Television set is even larger (six.4 ten ii.4 10 0.5 inches). Simply, as I said before, these all only exist in the limbo behind your TV.
Roku Streaming Stick 4K review: RokuOS 10.5 interface and mobile app
Roku devices have i of the best (if not the best outright) interfaces at that place is. We similar the look and lack of ads in tvOS on the Apple TV 4K more than, simply that $179 device is hardly comparable to the $49 Roku Streaming Stick 4K.
Instead, the Roku home screen is best compared to the $50 streaming devices in its form: the Amazon Burn TV Stick 4K and Chromecast with Google TV. Both of those competitors become for a content-first approach, which feels a fleck advertizement-heavy on Fire Television set and recommendation-heavy on the Chromecast. Roku'due south simplicity is laudable. You just see a grid of the apps you have, and the search (more on that later) tin can assistance y'all observe stuff you don't have.
RokuOS 10.five brings a bunch of updates that revolve around voice — something that those who buy the Roku Streaming Stick 4K Plus with its always-listening Voice Remote Pro may capeesh more those with the regular Roku remote in the Streaming Stick 4K.
So, the Roku Streaming Stick 4K responded quickly when I asked information technology 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 choice what episode of Squid Games to watch, which made sense.
And while I personally rarely e'er use voice controls, the Roku OS 10.5 update gives me one feature I will use. You can now spell out email addresses, passwords and PIN numbers when logging into an app. This is important for anyone who uses the kind of long and complicated passwords that security folks say we should employ. Apple tree's offered this in tvOS, while the Chromecast with Google TV and Fire TV Stick 4K lack it.
Roku'due south likewise allowing you to edit the filigree in The Roku Channel'southward Alive Goggle box section, though this is where I found myself disappointed.
This section only allows The Roku Channel's free linear Boob tube content (which is made up of ad-supported content from names yous may exist familiar with, such as This Former House, ABC News Live, NBC News At present, Vice), and your mileage may vary.
The Burn Television's Live Telly grid, though, integrates with cord-cutter services such as Sling TV — a huge boon for cord-cutters similar myself.
The Roku mobile app allows yous to have private listening via whatsoever headphones you lot use. Roku'due south added optimizations for wireless headphones this year, for reducing latency (of which I saw none) between sound and video. I had one bad-mannered moment with individual listening via the app, though: I heard pocket-size beeps during the first few minutes of testing. They went away quickly.
Roku Streaming Stick 4K review: Performance
Overall, the Roku Streaming Stick 4K is snappy, and fast enough — with zero glaring bug. And that'due south how information technology should be. Roku's added a new quad-core processor in the Roku Streaming Stick 4K, for what it claims provide xxx% faster app boot times vs. the Roku Streaming Stick Plus. Unfortunately, we don't have a Roku Streaming Stick Plus on paw to examination that against, but nosotros did accept the top $l streaming devices: the Chromecast with Google TV and Amazon Burn TV Stick 4K.
And in terms of app load times, the Roku Streaming Stick Plus is simply good. I don't mean that every bit an insult, it'due south more than simply the fact that the app load times on the major streaming devices are hard to test and can vary profoundly. To effort and put them all on an even playing field, We restarted the Roku Streaming Stick 4K, the Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K and the Chromecast with Google TV, and then on the stopwatch app timed how long information technology took to open Netflix, YouTube, Disney Plus, Sling TV and Apple tree Tv Plus.
The times, as you'll meet below, are pretty similar throughout.
| Roku Streaming Stick 4K | Amazon Burn down Television Stick 4K | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Netflix (load time in seconds) | iii | 23 | 2 |
| YouTube (load time in seconds) | vii | 7 | 5 |
| Disney Plus (load time in seconds) | 9 | 10 | 12 |
| Sling TV (load time in seconds) | ten | 27 | 8 |
| Apple Telly Plus (load time in seconds) | 11 | ix | viii |
And at that place is going to exist some small margin of fault here, since it involves timing taps on a screen and a remote in tandem. The biggest takeaway from this testing is that the Roku Streaming Stick 4K may be a second or three slower on Apple TV Plus, Netflix and YouTube, only it'south non got the terrible load time issues the Fire Idiot box Stick 4K sees on Sling and Netflix.
Only those are just the first load times after a reset (and how often practice you lot reset your streaming device?). Nearly of the time, the Roku Streaming Stick 4K and these other devices are pretty similar in speed. The only issue I ever noted most load times is that there'due south a small delay in loading YouTube on Roku (and not merely on this device), where a square YouTube logo appears before the app itself loads. It'due south something I always forget about, until I see it again.
Roku Streaming Stick 4K review: Audio and video
For a while, I always looked a bit sideways at the Roku Streaming Stick Plus because it lacked Dolby Vision — which both the Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K and Chromecast with Google TV both pack. At present that that's consummate, the Roku Streaming Stick 4K is going to stream all your shows and movies just as beautifully equally anything else, which I saw when I rewatched some of the best Netflix shows (which stream in Dolby Vision).
The cerise and blue hues of the paper-throwing game in Squid Game episode 1 popped and the greenish and pink hues of the iconic firm that Beth Harmon lives in besides rendered properly. In the scene where Beth chugs her first beer, the black tone of her sweater looked pitch-black, with first-class contrast. The Roku Streaming Stick 4K also supports HDR10 and HDR10+, which likewise enable dark black tones and quality contrast.
The crisp UHD image quality connected through to the opening scene of Thor: Ragnarok, where individual engravings on the Mjolnir hammer looked crisp as information technology flew effectually a cave, demolishing baddies.
The Roku Streaming Stick 4K is lacking on audio standards, missing the spatially-focused Dolby Atmos audio engineering science. So, while I heard some dimensionality to that fight scene, every bit the hammer circled Thor (it was likely using either Dolby-encoded audio, DTS Digital Environs or Digital stereo) it maybe could have been better (my Tv does support Dolby Atmos). The Amazon Fire Television Stick 4K and Chromecast with Google TV both also have Dolby Atmos.
Roku Streaming Stick 4K review: Search
There's a whole lot of stuff to watch these days, and the seemingly always-increasing number of streaming services are making finding those shows and movies even more confusing. When I searched for Fast and Furious movies in Roku, I discovered that the Roku has a Zone (essentially a way to view a collection of related movies) for the Fast & Furious movies, and then you tin can see where each movie is stored.
The Roku Streaming Stick 4K helps y'all navigate the wide world of streaming well, even when you're not able to watch at the moment. For example, say I'm out at a dainty outdoors bar, and a friend tells me I demand to see the anime moving-picture show Paprika. I could throw that recommendation into my favorite list-making app Todoist (one of the best productivity apps), or I could add it to my Save List in the latest version of the Roku app. I simply blazon the movie's name into the search field, select it from the results and tap "Add to save list."
While I couldn't find the Salve List in the Roku interface, I didn't demand to. You can open Salvage List movies on your Roku when you're dorsum at abode, past opening the Remote app, and (if you're on the same Wi-Fi network as your Roku), you lot tin outset streaming movies on your Roku from the Save listing in the Remote app.
The ane matter I didn't like about Roku's search is its list-based search results, which I got when typing in "Vin Diesel." I prefer using Voice Search on the Roku remote gave me the visual results window, with thumbnails of the movies in question. Voice Search on the new Fire Television Stick 4K Max ($55) sometimes left a picayune to be desired, every bit it would skip the results and go directly to a (incorrect) upshot when information technology idea it knew where I wanted to go.
One pocket-size mode the Roku Streaming Stick 4K beats Amazon'due south Fire Telly is in its understanding of linguistic communication. In our Fire Idiot box Stick 4K review, we noticed that Alexa hears "4K movies" every bit "four k movies," which leads to minimal related search results (and a bad time trying to make the about of the new streaming stick on your ultra high-def TV). Roku does better by hearing "4K movies" every bit "4k movies" and including a 4K Movies and Goggle box Zone (with everything from Avengers: Endgame to Breaking Bad) as one of the search results.
Roku Streaming Stick 4K review: Remote
The included Roku remote is the standard Roku remote, which ways it's pretty basic. It's got standard navigation buttons, both for moving around menus and scanning throughout a bear witness. That means you go a directional-pad, Back, Home and Options buttons for moving throughout Roku OS, instant replay, play/pause, fast forward and rewind buttons for going to the right moment.
While I wish the Roku remote had the input-selection button that the Chromecast with Google TV remote has, none of the other remotes in question have that instant replay push — which I always wind up using when I miss some thing I don't recall I heard or saw correct.
The $69 Roku Streaming Stick 4K is $20 more than, and gives upgrades that some may love. That includes a headphone jack for private listening over headphones (you can practise this over the Roku app with your phone if that's nearby), programmable shortcut buttons and a USB-port for recharging (it does not utilize batteries).
Of course, you still get those abrasive branded app buttons: putting Netflix, Disney Plus , Apple TV Plus and Hulu. I by and large ignore these buttons, but I notice when an app I value drops away. The Roku Ultra 2020's remote (which uses batteries and doesn't have always-on listening) had a Sling Television button, which I (as a Sling user) thought was neat.
That wouldn't be an issue if the Roku remote had the programmable buttons that the Roku Voice Remote Pro has.
Roku Streaming Stick 4K review: Content and apps
Roku is practically perfect when it comes to the apps you need. The ane abrasive exception is that the YouTube TV app is no longer in the Roku Channel Shop, thank you to a spat between Google/YouTube and Roku. Now, you need to sign into YouTube Telly inside of the YouTube app, which isn't awkward at all. While the functionality is still there, the state of affairs does reflect poorly on both sides involved. Roku doesn't publish how many apps there are in its store, merely the site 42matters claims there are more than 26,000 apps at this point. The Fire Television set supposedly has 12,700 apps. But I can't effigy out anything missing from other side.
As well, the Roku Streaming Stick 4K supports screen mirroring (which isn't every bit great every bit the Casting you tin can exercise with a Chromecast), while the Fire Goggle box Stick 4K doesn't.
The Roku Streaming Stick 4K only tin can't exercise the other kinds of streaming. The Fire TV Stick 4K lets yous cheque on live smart home camera feeds, while the Chromecast with Google Goggle box tin open up Nest cam feeds and game with Google Stadia.
The Roku Streaming Stick 4K'south library includes all of the all-time streaming services and the all-time cable Telly alternative apps are there, though as I noted before YouTube TV is nestled in the YouTube app. It'south as well got the likes of Spotify, Vimeo, Movies Anywhere, Criterion Channel, Plex and many more.
Roku Streaming Stick 4K review: Bottom line
Those looking for a great 4K streaming device accept a relatively piece of cake decision to make. No thing if you pick the Roku Streaming Stick 4K, or one of its competent competitors, you're going to become (generally) speedy Ultra Hard disk streaming, with great film quality. But as this Roku Streaming Stick 4K review has shown, each has its own tradeoffs.
If you know you lot want the immersive sound of Dolby Atmos, you will desire to go with the Chromecast with Google Television or Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K, though each of those feature an interface that kind of gets in the fashion of your apps, recommending content and serving ads, respectively. Also, Netflix and Sling can (sometimes) take forever to load on a Burn Idiot box Stick 4K.
But we all the same honey the Roku Streaming Stick 4K just a piddling bit more than those devices, primarily for its straightforward apps-starting time interface. Plus, it's dandy to see how the Roku mobile app is getting smarter and smarter. This all goes to show, though, that the fight to make the best $50 streaming device is closer than ever. Your slightest preferences could make the deciding factor.
Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/reviews/roku-streaming-stick-4k
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