TL; DR
- The new Roku Streaming Stick 4K has been announced.
- It has a faster processor and better WiFi performance compared to the older Streaming Stick Plus.
- The company is also rolling out a new operating system update with many new features.
There’s no doubt that streaming media on mobile devices, smart TVs, and set-top boxes is growing in popularity. Roku, who helped initiate this entertainment trend over 10 years ago, is now updating its popular streaming stick hardware for the fall and Christmas sales. Today the Roku Streaming Stick 4K was announced, which contains some pretty powerful hardware in its small body.
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The Roku Streaming Stick 4K contains a new processor that is 30% faster than the one in the older Roku Streaming Stick Plus. This should allow for better overall performance and faster loading of Roku apps. Additionally, the Wi-Fi hardware inside has been improved so that it can connect to your wireless router over a longer range and still be up to twice as fast to match the connection speed. The new streaming stick not only supports up to 4K resolutions for televisions, but also offers support for Dolby Vision and HDR10 Plus.
It also comes with a standard Roku voice remote so you can use it to perform voice commands like finding a new movie or TV show or launching a Roku app. It can also be voice controlled by connecting it to devices that support Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant. It supports Apple AirPlay 2 and HomeKit to control the stick via Siri. In the US, it will go on sale sometime in mid-October for $ 49.99.
Roku also introduces the Streaming Stick 4K Plus. This is the same hardware as the Streaming Stick 4K, except that it replaces the standard voice remote with the more advanced Roku Voice Remote Pro. It includes features like a built-in rechargeable battery (charged via a USB cable), a lost remote finder, two programmable buttons, and more. The Streaming Stick 4K Plus is priced at $ 69.99, which means it saves you $ 10 versus the Voice Remote Pro, which typically costs $ 29.99 alone. It will also go on sale in the USA from mid-October.
Another small novelty in the Roku hardware range is the Roku Ultra LT. This is the exclusive Walmart version of the 2020 edition of the Roku Ultra set-top box. The LT version includes most of the hardware features of the current Roku Ultra, including a faster processor, additional memory, an Ethernet port for wired networks, Bluetooth-supported audio streaming and more. The LT model lacks a USB port for local playback and it won’t offer Dolby Atmos decode support either. In addition, the supplied remote control does not have a remote finder function or programmable personal shortcuts. It will be available in Walmart stores and through Walmart.com for $ 79.99 sometime in the coming weeks.
Finally, anyone who purchases a new Roku device can get a 30-day free trial of HBO Max from October 1, 2021 to January 14, 2022. The trial version is only for new subscribers and the offer must be redeemed by January 22, 2022.
Roku OS 10.5: Lots of changes under the hood
Together with the Roku Streaming Stick 4K, the company will be rolling out a new update for its streaming operating system in the coming weeks and months. Roku OS 10.5 won’t have any major changes to its familiar user interface, but there will be some notable additions. For example, on the Roku home screen, users can install a new tile that displays the live TV options on the company’s own Roku channel. This tile leads the user directly to the 250+ entertainment, news and sports channels, which are set up similarly to the channels offered by Pluto TV.
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Many of the improvements in Roku OS 10.5 come on the audio side. For example, the Roku mobile app will be updated so users can control audio features on a connected Roku device or smart TV, including night mode, automatic volume control and speech intelligibility. This allows users to make adjustments without having to go directly to the settings area of their Roku device.
In addition, users who use wireless headphones for Roku’s private listening function can make adjustments via their smartphone when connected to the Roku mobile app. By using a smartphone camera, these users can measure the distance between themselves and the TV. This way, the new advanced A / V sync feature can fix any audio delays between the TV and the wireless headphones.
Owners of one of the intelligent soundbars from Roku can use the new operating system update 10.5. The soundbar can now become a center speaker for a 3.1 or 5.1 wireless speaker set up for a better home theater audio experience. Speaking of which, TCL, one of Roku’s TV partners, will be releasing a Roku TV wireless soundbar in October. It can be connected to any Roku TV and has great sound and automatic A / V syncing. It costs $ 179.99. We should have more information about this soundbar from TCL itself just before its release.
Roku also adds some new voice command features. It will soon support finding and starting broadcasts by voice from apps like Netflix and Spotify. In related messages, the OS update enables users to search by voice and play music, podcasts, and video podcasts. You can find these results from a “Music and Podcast” row. Also, voice commands can be used to complete device setup and add things like email, passwords and PIN information without having to navigate virtual keyboards with your remote control. Roku also adds a voice help section to its settings menu for people who have questions about these features.
Finally, the Roku mobile app will be updated to include its own home tab for quick access to the latest content available on the operating system. Users can also access the app to save any movies and TV shows to the save list so they can watch them at another time.
Roku Canal Growth and More
During our presentation of the new Roku Streaming Stick 4K and software updates, we were also briefed on Roku’s current business by Mark Ely, the company’s Vice President of Retail Product Strategy. Roku is still the largest streaming TV platform in the US with 55.1 million active users. It also has over 15 TV hardware partners that install the Roku operating system on their TVs. Recently, Amazon started selling its own smart TVs with the Fire TV operating system installed. However, Ely told us that Roku currently has no plans to launch its own branded TVs.
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The company’s own Roku channel, which offers free ad-supported content, continues to grow in terms of users and content. There are now over 40,000 film and TV episodes to watch, along with an ever-increasing number of Roku originals. This includes other unpublished content from the now discontinued Quibi service, as well as an upcoming two-hour sequel to the canceled NBC musical show Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist on vacation.
Unfortunately, Ely didn’t give us an update on Roku’s current dispute with Google over YouTube TV. The popular live TV service was removed from Roku for new users in late April 2021 after channel renewal talks failed.