Top 5 Roku Streaming Stick Plus
Roku is regarded as the brand that leads in TV streaming with innovative and easy to use devices. Having received overwhelming popularity with its innovative products the brand continued to evolve and over a span of time came with several different versions of the same TV streaming devices. Among the several reincarnations of Roku TV streaming sticks that we have come across so far, here we reintroduce the leading five if them.
1. Roku Express
For a Roku lover a bare minimum price tag to own a device was $50 but that changed with the fairly affordable and modest Roku Express which costs only $30. While the competition for Roku from the major players like Amazon and Google is getting hotter, this $30 price tag gives it a fair edge over others.
Design wise Rocky Express is pretty and small and it is much smaller than most other smart TV devices on offer in the market. Most importantly, while it offers a perfect HD TV watching experience, it comes cheaper than all others. The product comes with a remote which uses IR and that means you need to align the remote to the line of sight. Apart from that you can also control the device through connected iOS and android app. It comes packed with HDMI cable and it is something that many ambitiously priced smart TV devices do not come with.
2. Roku Express Plus
The Roku Express Plus is actually an analog incarnation of the earlier Roku Express. Priced slightly higher than its predecessor it comes packed with selected apps, very easy to use interface and a great search function.
The best thing about the Roku Express Plus is that it offers an analog audio and video output. This allows the users to to connect the device even to older generation TVs. At just $38 it’s not expensive compared to most of the best in class products in the market and its loaded with most popular streaming apps. If you want an affordable and easy to use streaming TV device for your older television set, it is just the ideal one.
3. Roku Streaming Stick
Do you want a high quality TV streaming experience with all major TV channels and apps playing faster and that too with just a reasonable price? Well, here is the $50 Roku Streaming Stick for you. Presently, it can be said to be the least expensive device for video streaming from all major and popular digi channels like Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, HBO and Sling TV. It is blazing fast and allows you listening through your headphone thanks to the new and updated app.
It works only via Wi-Fi and reasonably does not come with any Ethernet port. In that respect it is smarter than other streaming devices from the same company. If you are up for a great streaming video device priced exceptionally cheaper, Roku Streaming Stick is just a no-brainer choice for you.
4. Roku Streaming Stick Plus
The Roku Streaming Stick Plus taking button from its predecessor just opened up the possibilities of smart TV watching even further. The most important in-thing for this ‘Plus’ variation of the streaming stick is the open ecosystem of apps and more elaborate support for playing apps to ensure optimum viewing experience.
The app ecosystem offers by this device is fairly big with Netflix, Amazon Video, Now TV, Sky Store, Google Play, YouTube and a whole diversity of UK apps like BBC iPlayer, ITV Hub, All 4, and Demand 5. For music lovers it comes with the option of tuning in to TuneIn, Vevo, Spotify and Deezer. It also offers a wide variety of less known and niche apps.
5. Roku Ultra
The Roku Ultra is the ultimate Roku device as of now that made many aspirations come true for smart TV watching experience. The Roku Ultra allows the viewer watch more number of TV shows and movies with 4K and HDR quality compared to most other smart TV devices presently in the market. Moreover, as of now it is the most feature rich device among all Roku streaming devices we have come across so far.
It comes with a remote and a more robust range of app options. The device comes with the optical audio output which allows it to be utilised with older sound systems and bars for maximum listening pleasure.The only negative aspect is that it is a bit expensive compared to al other Roku devices including the Roku Premiere Plus. If you have already HDR TV and most popular apps running on it, you may not have the compelling reason to buy it. But for others it can be a worthy buy for smart TV watching experience.
Final verdict
If you have watched the offerings carefully, the basic and most essential smart TV watching experience with the presence of smart TV apps is a constant thing in all the devices mentioned above. The best thing is, even the most advanced Roku device is quite affordable compared to the ones comparable in the market. When it comes to enriching your viewing experience Roku has the range to meet your demands.
Keval Padia is the founder & CEO of Nimblechapps, a fast-growing mobile app development company. The current innovation and updates of the field lures him to express his views and thoughts on certain topics.