Roku today announced "the biggest streaming player launch in Roku history," with the company revealing a total of five new devices that let users stream media onto their TVs, with varying levels of picture quality and features. The new additions to Roku's lineup join the Roku Streaming Stick, which got an upgrade in April and retails for $49.99.
With a price of $29.99, the company's new low-end Roku Express comes in even cheaper than the Streaming Stick and offers 1080p HD streaming "with a complete channel lineup." The Roku Express+, for $39.99, offers the same features but is outfitted for older TV sets, including a composite jack and A/V cable. Both Express models are aimed at users new to streaming, or those who want to extend Roku throughout their home at a cheaper rate.
The second tier of devices are called the Roku Premiere and Roku Premiere+, which run for $79.99 and $99.99, respectively. Both models have a quad-core processor and can stream 4K video in up to 60 frames per second, but the higher-cost Premiere+ also supports HDR "for vibrant picture quality," and has a headphone jack in its remote control.
The last new Roku model -- the "fully loaded" Roku Ultra -- is the priciest at $129.99, and includes each feature of the previous models with the addition of support for Dolby Digital Plus decoding, voice search, and a feature that helps users find a lost remote. Each device announced today offers access to 3,500 streaming channels including 350,000 movies and TV episodes.
Roku players have features called "Hotel Connect" and "Dorm Connect" to make it easy to connect to public networks and stream when not at home. There's also a free iOS app [Direct Link] that lets users control their Roku device through an iPhone or iPad, and even gain access to features like voice search, private listening, and more.
The company said that each of the five new devices can be pre-ordered starting today and are "expected" to launch in retail stores on October 9. The Roku Express+ will be exclusively available in Walmart stores, however.
Top Rated Comments
And I'm not really trying to bash Apple there- just basically showing some admiration for what a relatively small team with small cash can accomplish when they are singularly focused on doing the most they can with this kind of product. Just think what Apple could do with theirs if they were as focused.
Why are there 4 different buttons that all look like they are pointing back in some way? Which one is the actual back button? Why does anyone want 4 dedicated app buttons? Why are the 4 dedicated app buttons in a different place on each remote? Does Roku actually expect someone to be a subscriber to both Netflix, Sling, and Hulu, when there is so much overlap between those services?
The remotes I hate the most are the ones with gazillions of buttons that usually come with disc players, TVs, A/V receivers etc. ...