• Fox is acquiring Roku for $22 billion
• The agreement will combine Fox's networks with the Roku TV platform
• The deal will close in 2027, but Roku users are already seeking alternative streaming devices

Fox Corp has announced a new agreement that will see the television giant acquire streaming company Roku for a staggering $22 billion — a deal that will no doubt shake up the entertainment sphere.

The companies announced the deal today (June 15, 2026), and it will mark the next step in Fox’s plan to become more competitive in the streaming world, reports CNBC. The deal will combine Fox’s plethora of news, sports, and entertainment networks with the Roku TV platform, The Roku Channel, and first-party data to reach the 100 million households that use Roku.

Additionally, this will also combine one of the best free streaming services, Tubi, which Fox acquired for $440 million back in 2020.

As per the agreement, Fox will acquire Roku for $160 per share in a cash-and-stock transaction, and the company says it has already secured $12 billion in loans to finance it. The deal has already been approved by the boards of directors from both companies and is projected to close in the first half of 2027, pending regulatory approvals.

During an analyst call, Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch described the deal as a “defining moment” for Fox and “a natural extension of the deliberate and focused strategy we have been executing for nearly a decade."

He added, “Today, we take the next step: bringing together the most valuable live content portfolio in video consumption with the preeminent streaming platform through which America watches it,” as Variety reports.

As for Roku CEO and founder, Anthony Wood, he will join Fox’s board of directors and will assume an “ongoing role” as a result of the acquisition. “I’m incredibly proud of what our team has built, and the combination with Fox is an extraordinary opportunity to accelerate our vision, scale faster and innovate more aggressively for viewers, partners and advertisers,” Wood shared in a statement, which Variety also reported.

Fox’s merger with Roku is the company’s first major deal since Disney acquired Fox’s entertainment business, which saw recognizable franchises including The Simpsons and X-Men, as well as programming from Fox-owned channels National Geographic and FX Networks, make their way to Disney+.

For years, Fox hasn’t quite been able to compete with streaming giants such as Netflix and YouTube. Combining its networks with Roku opens another gateway for Fox to expand into streaming and subscriptions, but Roku users are already considering alternatives.

For some Roku users, it's all downhill from here

Entertainment companies seem to be joining forces quite a bit recently. The deal between Paramount+ and Warner Bros. Discovery has now been approved by the US Department of Justice, but Fox’s acquisition of Roku has particularly shaken things up for Roku users. They've already been quite vocal on their concerns for what this agreement could mean — especially regarding the controversial Fox News.

According to one user on Reddit, their Roku device has apparently been pushing ads for Fox News, suggesting this deal has been in development for quite some time. “Time for a new streaming stick,” they added. But it’s not just the ads that users are worried about.

Other users flocked to the Reddit thread to share their concerns, and many believe that the ubiquity of Fox News will only escalate from here. One user says that, gradually, Fox could “show their propaganda and misinformation more and more by defaulting users to Fox News”.

Another user highlighted that Roku is a popular, budget-friendly streaming option, which is also built into a lot of cheaper smart TVs, giving Fox another easy gateway into this particular market.

• The Roku interface is getting a huge update
• It leans into organization, with some AI
• It remains recognizable for long-term users, though

Your Roku TV Home Screen is getting a significant free update — but don't worry, it'll still feel familiar.

I often tell people that the best TV remote in the business is from Roku. Nothing even comes close, but what's often overlooked in the mix is the Roku interface or Home Screen for your Roku device or TV. It's not only simple, but playful.

The sleep screen is a hideout of iconic pop-culture references, slightly altered so as not to incur intellectual property wrath, but we all get the inside jokes. The business side of the interface, where you navigate platforms and content via tiles, is just as simple.

"Simplicity has always been our north star," noted Margaret Schmidt, Roku's VP User Experience & Design.

As a longtime Roku customer, first on my TCL 65-inch TV and now on a variety of sticks and set-top boxes, I was a bit worried about this Home Screen update. Why mess with what works?

But the changes, which were announced today (May 27, 2026), look mostly intelligent (yes, there's even some AI) and still on-brand for the company with a purple, playful spirit (and a reported 100 million households).

The updates focus on personalization and content access, and run relatively deep. "This is our first major update to Roku Home Screen in a decade," said Preston Smalley Roku VP of Viewer Product, during Wednesday's launch event.

As for why now, Smalley said Roku research showed them that "It's not always as easy as it should be to find something to watch, even with all that content." (This may qualify as the understatement of the year.)

When I use my Roku devices, I often quickly navigate to Sling TV, where I watch most of my local broadcast channels. In Roku's new interface, there's now a Quick Access panel, so I don't need to scroll or hunt for the tile.

Of course, Roku had to get in on the AI craze, and now it's using it to power the zeitgeist-rich "You Daily Scoop," which presents trending shows and other pop culture events like celebrity birthdays.

It lives inside the new "For You" section that will, of course, try to surface content you might like based on past activities. Roku claims your selection will be unlike anyone else's.

As Rohit Mahto, Roku's Director of Recommendations, explained, "[Users] expect deeper personalization from day one.” But he added that there are literally billions of home screen permutations. "Machine learning and AI helped us get it right," he added.

When I asked about the level of AI at work here, Mahto explained that "it's a mixed bag thing." While they use "state-of-the-art LLMs," the focus for Roku is different. "We are hyper-focused on the streaming space, streaming data."

Roku's approach is similar to what I've seen from Amazon Fire TV and Apple TV. I don't mind it. However, these feeds often lead to services and platforms where you're not already a subscriber. Hopefully, Roku sticks with the services you already use and doesn't try to squeeze in or tease new shows on platforms where you're not already a subscriber.

To help with the "what to watch" hunt, Roku is introducing "Destinations," a sort of mood-based section. You know, "What are you in the mood for?" It gives you broad, category-based selections.

In Roku's research, they found "82% wanted to turn on their TV and have the show they have in mind right at the top of their TV. Essentially, they wanted us to read their minds,” said Smalley.

The interface has also been reorganized, with a collapsed Home Screen menu and shortcuts that get you more quickly to, say, where you left off with "Continue Watching".

Finally, City Tile gives you a closer look at Roku City. It basically takes you through all the sometimes hidden features for more discovery and, of course, engagement.

Summarizing the changes, Smalley said, "It’s really moving from a static app grid to something that’s dynamic and personalized around you." As for what's next for Roku and the Home Screen, he said, "We’re only just getting started.”

Roku says these changes are rolling out now, though we expect it may take a bit of time for them to show up on all of your Roku devices. I'll be checking mine tonight.

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• Roku adds more free channels covering reality TV and westerns
• Instant Resume is coming to more popular streaming apps
• Roku Store apps of a certain size must use the feature from October 2026

Roku has added another six free channels to its Roku TVs and Roku streaming devices. As with previous additions there's quite the mix here, with classic Westerns, comedy, reality shows and music, as spotted by Cord Cutters News.

Roku is also planning to improve its Instant Resume feature. From October 1 2026, the feature will be coming to stacks of apps in Roku's streaming store, again according to Cord Cutters News.

High-traffic streaming apps that meet certain criteria (audience size, hours streamed) will be obliged to support Instant Resume, which enables you to pick up from exactly where you left off even if you've been watching on a different device or haven't used your device in a while. It's a handy feature and a welcome addition to third-party streaming apps.

Roku's new free channels for April 2026

The first new channel, channel 313, is dedicated to the classic TV show Rawhide. Rawhide is one of the most famous Western shows of all time, has one of the most famous theme songs of all time (a song that also soundtracked a memorable bit of The Blues Brothers movie) and introduced the world to a young actor called Clint Eastwood. It's a classic of 1950s and 1960s TV and I've got the theme tune in my head right now. Hah! Rawhide!

There are more Westerns where that one came from. Channel 6036 is going to be streaming a wide selection of vintage and classic cowboy movies and shows, and once again it's going to be round-the-clock streaming of gunfights, cattle ranches, showdowns, wagon trains and outlaw gangs.

Meanwhile over on channel 314, there's another classic: the Beverly Hillbillies, the much-loved 1960s show that follows the adventures and misadventures of the Clampett family as they bring their simple, folksy ways to the rich neighborhoods of Beverly Hills.

If you prefer a bit of reality, channel 624 is where you'll find Ink Master. That's a reality TV competition where tattoo artists take on challenges that push their skills and their patience to the limit. We're promised drama, excitement and dramatic reveals.

For younger Spanish speakers, channel 978 delivers MTV en Español, a high-energy, youth-oriented channel mixing music videos (an MTV that still does music!), reality shows, celebrity interviews and "culturally resonant programming" that showcases Latin music and lifestyles.

Last but not least there's Toso.o on channel 815. I'm intrigued by this one, because the description doesn't really describe anything: it's "vibrant", "eclectic", "unique" and provides a "variety of niche content". How very mysterious.

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• New Roku channels include sports, outdoor adventures, comedy and drama
• Upgraded local news coverage and News Near You
• Roku hopes AI will mean smaller advertisers can do more video ads

Roku has added nine free channels to The Roku Channel and updated its local and national news. The new channels are free and ad-supported, and there's now easier access to local news affiliates and a brand new News Near You feature.

The Roku Channel is the closest thing to old-school cable TV that Roku offers on its devices and in its app, with hundreds of channels streaming live – but unlike cable you don't need to pay to tune in, because these channels follow the broadcast TV model and are funded by advertising.

According to trade website AdExchanger, Roku's streaming hours hit 145.6 billion last year, a 15% year-on-year increase, and The Roku Channel was the US's favorite free, ad-supported streaming app outside of YouTube.

And Roku is keen to monetize those hours more effectively and expects AI to be a big part of that – so in addition to more channels, you can expect more slightly disconcerting AI-powered ads too.

What are the new free channels on The Roku Channel?

Here are the new channels and their channel numbers in the Live TV guide on your Roku device or app, as discovered by CordCutter News (via ZDNet):

• 197 Willow Sports
• 371 Felicity
• 372 Fuel TV
• 429 Pokémon
• 496 MeatEater
• 822 America’s Funniest Videos
• 823 The Bernie Mac Show
• 829 Cougar Town
• 832 Blossom

Roku's AI experiments are being used to improve recommendations, highlight content and tweak how apps and shows are displayed on the screen, as well as generating copy telling you why you should watch a specific show.

AdExchanger says that the Roku Voice voice assistant is also getting an AI assist for more conversational interactions, and it suggests that sports is an area where AI could be deployed very effectively to deliver short-form clips, highlights and even commentary.

Most of all, AI could help Roku sell more ads by enabling mom-and-pop businesses to create video ads for tiny costs: as CEO Anthony Wood told investors in a conference call this week, "the easier it is to create video ads the larger the number of advertisers that can advertise on a TV platform" – and presumably the more ads that can be pushed to you.

For Roku, it seems, potential advertisers are like Pokémon: it's gotta catch 'em all.

Thinking of buying a new TV?

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• Roku has added a new Subscriptions section to its home screen
• It brings together all your subscribed services in one place
• Not everyone is pleased about the change that's been rolled out

Roku users, your home screen interface layout is changing again: you should now notice a new Subscriptions view available from your Roku device home screen, which keeps you up to date with content from the various services you're signed up for.

As spotted by Cord Cutters News, this new section displays the programs you've most recently watched via your subscribed streaming services. There are also spots for new and popular films and shows from these services.

In theory, this should make it easier to keep track of content on platforms like Netflix, Disney+, Max, Paramount+, or Peacock, as long as you've signed up through the Roku interface rather than directly on the relevant apps and sites themselves.

It works automatically too: Roku will do the work of figuring out the subscriptions you have active, and what you're currently watching through those subscriptions. It should make it easier to manage your viewing across multiple platforms.

'The last thing I want'

Finally, a new feature that I can use! from r/Roku

Reaction to the change has been somewhat mixed, according to one Reddit thread. While several users are welcoming the innovation and the boost in convenience it might bring, others are asking how the feature might be disabled.

"The last thing I want to do is open an app right to the last sappy thing my wife watched," opines one Roku user – but the new Subscriptions option can be hidden, like everything else in the home screen menu, via Settings > What to Watch.

Other users aren't noticing much difference between the Subscriptions tab and the existing Continue Watching and What to Watch sections. It seems as though your mileage may vary depending on how many services you're signed up to through your Roku.

Being able to subscribe to the best streaming services through other devices and platforms is fairly common now, and it can be more convenient to have everything in one place – but bear in mind you could miss out on the best pricing and bundle options.

• Amazon is expanding its collection of free straming channels in its new partnership with Roku
• Fire TV users now have access to around 50 free channels from The Roku Channel streaming platform
• This follows Amazon recent Fire TV interface upgrade, which saw its biggest overhaul in five years

Hot on the heels of Amazon’s successful showcase at CES 2026, where it unveiled the new Ember Artline ‘lifestyle TV’, the company is joining forces with Roku to bring you new free streaming content from The Roku Channel – one of our best free streaming services.

Now, Amazon Fire TV users can access a selection of around 50 free new streaming channels, expanding its wide collection of FAST entertainment and sports programming. In addition to Fire TV’s new Roku channels, Amazon is also adding select channels from Fubo, which is another popular free streaming service for entertainment and sports.

One of the biggest wins with this partnership is that you don’t need any additional subscriptions or hardware such as streaming sticks to enjoy free viewing, which sounds too good to be true. Previously, you could only access Roku’s flagship FAST service on a Roku device, be that the Roku Streaming Stick Plus or the Roku Pro Series (2025), but now the company is slowly migrating out of that business model while also upgrading its own collection of channels. In October 2025, Roku devices in the UK received over 40 new free TV channels.

You can find new FAST content from The Roku Channel in the newly updated Live Guide tab on Fire TV devices, which serves as the home for all of Amazon’s free streaming platforms including PlutoTV, Tubi, and its very own Freevee.

Now that The Roku Channel is joining the Fire TV family of FAST, this brings it to a total of 14 free-to-stream services, meaning that there are now over a staggering 1,900 channels across these platforms to stream, encapsulating designated channels for reality TV, classic cinema, food, 24/7 news reports, and more.

Not only will this move result in wider access of Roku channels to non-Roku device owners, it’s also a big win for Fire TV itself as it expands its plethora of entertainment options for customers, increasing its value as a streamer.

Recently Amazon gave the Fire TV interface a huge facelift – the first one in five years I should add – which now allows you to pin up to 20 of your favorite streaming services in your homepage, making it easier for you to find its new array of free Roku channels.

• The Roku app has been updated on Android and iOS
• The interface has been overhauled, and there's a new design for the remote control
• 12 new channels have been added for free, including BBC Drama and BBC Adventures

Roku owners are getting some nifty upgrades for absolutely nothing: a refreshed mobile app with much-improved remote control functionality and a dozen new channels.

Let's start with the new Android and iOS apps for Roku TVs and players, which, as Cord Cutters reports, include a major upgrade in terms of the remote. Instead of the buttons that you previously had to tap, there's now a virtual touchpad that you can swipe in any direction to navigate the menus.

So, rather than tap-tap-tapping to shift the selection cursor to the right, you can just swipe the cursor across, a much more natural way of navigation, which isn't so stressful on the fingers. A further embellishment is haptic feedback that delivers subtle vibrations while swiping, adding to the natural feel of touchscreens that support this.

If you don't like the sound of the new way of working, then you can simply switch off the swipe control scheme and revert to tapping the directional arrows.

Alongside that, the interface of the Roku mobile app has been given a makeover, including a more streamlined home screen and quick shortcuts to access recently viewed channels. A networking tweak should also mean faster pairing over Wi-Fi networks.

The refreshed app is currently rolling out for Android and iOS, so you should have it soon.

A dozen new free channels

As for the 12 new channels added to the Roku experience, these freebies were also picked up by Cord Cutters.

They are as follows:

• Channel 343: Heartland Classic
• Channel 369: BBC Drama
• Channel 498: PBS Travel
• Channel 499: PBS Nature
• Channel 547: Acorn TV Mysteries
• Channel 555: Grownday Network
• Channel 730: BBC Adventures
• Channel 731: Braxton Family Adventures
• Channel 732: Bridezillas
• Channel 931: Teleports Ahora
• Channel 952: Homeful en Español
• Channel 989: Cucando Los Ángeles

As you can see, those channels include a couple from the BBC, and as the name suggests, BBC Drama will show a bunch of critically acclaimed drama series.

There's also BBC Adventures, which features exploration and survival stories, and it's worth noting that Acorn TV Mysteries carries British (as well as international) crime shows.

Amazon's latest crackdown on illegal streaming has caused quite a stir. After more than a decade of piracy on its Fire TV Sticks, the latest measure is intended to put a definitive end to the scourge of 'dodgy Fire Sticks'.

But, does Amazon really think its new measures will work? And are its competitors worried they might be next to carry the flame of digital piracy?

"Piracy is illegal"

When we asked how confident Amazon was in its new measures, a spokesperson came back with a bold, if bland, response:

“Piracy is illegal, and we’ve always worked to block it from our Appstore.

Through an expanded program led by the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE), a global coalition fighting digital piracy, we’ll now block apps identified as providing access to pirated content, including those downloaded from outside our Appstore."

Amazon was unresponsive when pressed to comment on how effective its new policy was going to be.

The comment we received is identical to the one given to The Sun earlier this week, in an article which also confirmed the rollout would begin across Europe before spreading worldwide.

Since the rollout of the new measures began, Reddit threads have emerged confirming several popular piracy sites remain usable on Fire TV Stick despite the update. An anonymous source told TechRadar they still had access to illegal content.

That said, as reported by The Athletic, four individuals were arrested at the end of October in relation to illegal sports streaming. So, if pirates are still active in some streaming waters, the navy is beginning to close in.

This then raises the question: will the update achieve its goals?

ACE's Trusted Notifier program appears to be at the heart of the blocking system. It relies on continuous relationships with advertising partners, domain registrars, and now streaming devices.

These sites are only blacklisted once they're identified by ACE but there's little to stop a new site appearing in its place once the original is blocked.

ACE's complete list has not been made public, though it's likely by the reports on Reddit, that many of the big names in piracy do not currently appear on it.

Amazon recently launched its latest Fire TV Stick, which now runs on its own Vega OS.

Linux-based, rather than Android, the new operating system should make sideloading a more challenging option for users, though by no means impossible. The move has resulted in several security apps, primarily VPNs, rushing to create working solutions – with NordVPN and IPVanish the only two to manage as yet.

The wider response

If Amazon is slowly closing the gates on pirated content, people will likely still look for workarounds. One comment on our previous coverage summed up the sentiment perfectly: "OK, so I'll use something else instead."

So, is this more of a passing of the torch to another media streamer, instead of a Fire TV Stick?

Google and Roku are two of the industry's other biggest players. So, will pirates move to these media streamers instead? It won't be that simple.

When we reached out to Roku, they had very little to say. Perhaps because sideloading – the practice behind access to many piracy apps – is a much more convoluted process on Roku devices, meaning pirating content on a Roku device is much harder than on an Amazon Fire TV Stick.

Google was also unresponsive. The company is adding a developer verification system in 2026, which will make it impossible to sideload apps created by unverified developers onto Android devices. The global rollout of this feature isn't expected until 2027, so it's still a possible alternative for pirates until then.

While the course that the pirate streaming network will take right now is uncertain, it's clear that the tide is shifting. Amazon has brought out the heavy artillery, leaving the pirates in potentially rocky waters.

The nights are drawing in, the days are getting colder, and – whisper it – the holidays are growing nearer, all of which makes it the right time to get the perfect home theater setup installed and ready.

If that sounds like a lot of hassle and expense, never fear: You don’t need a sprawling living room or a sky-high budget to transform your evenings, just the right combination of display, audio, and apps.

Today, we're focusing on smart, affordable pairings that deliver genuine cinematic impact for the money.

To do so, we’ve matched more affordable examples of the best TVs with some of the best soundbars and the best streaming devices.

Each setup is simple to connect, stylish enough to suit smaller spaces, and versatile whether you’re watching a blockbuster or catching up on a series.

Whether you’re starting from scratch or upgrading an older screen, these combos show that a proper home theater doesn’t need to be complicated – or expensive – to feel special.

The best home theater combos

We've chosen three pairings that seamlessly balance performance and practicality – everything you need for a great movie night, without the tangle of extra speakers or confusing settings.

Each bundle has been built around one idea: picture and sound that feel cinematic, on a realistic budget.

Combo 1: Small lounge, starter setup

• TV: Roku Plus Series
• Soundbar: Sonos Ray
• Streamer: Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Plus

If you’re starting small, this trio proves you don’t need to spend much to enjoy proper home theater thrills.

The Roku Plus Series is one of the best-looking affordable mini-LED TVs, offering bright, colourful pictures, low input lag for gaming, and support for both the Dolby Vision and HDR10+ high dynamic range formats. Plus Series TVs also have a clean, slim design that suits almost any space.

Add the Sonos Ray and you’ll immediately notice sharper dialogue and more presence than any built-in TV speaker can manage.

The Ray connects to your TV's optical digital port rather than HDMI eARC, which keeps setup simple, and its tuning delivers well-balanced mids that make speech feel crisp without harshness.

To complete the setup, the Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K offers slick navigation, robust app compatibility, and strong HDR and Atmos support across major platforms. It’s responsive, compact, and regularly updated, making it a safe pick for anyone who wants premium streaming performance at a mid-range price.

Combo 2: The sweet-spot upgrade

• TV: Hisense U7N
• Soundbar: Sony HT-S2000
• Streamer: Roku Streaming Stick 4K

If you want a more cinematic feel without tipping into premium prices, we think this combination nails the sweet spot.

The Hisense U7N’s mini-LED backlighting delivers impressive brightness and excellent contrast control, while Dolby Vision and HDR10+ support make streamed films and sports look punchy and detailed.

Its motion smoothing and colour accuracy are far better than you’d expect at this level, making it a true standout for value.

Sony’s HT-S2000 soundbar complements it perfectly.

Using virtual Dolby Atmos processing, it creates a wide, surprisingly tall soundstage from a single enclosure, while HDMI eARC support keeps wiring straightforward. Voices are clear, effects have room to breathe, and its “Voice Mode” subtly boosts dialogue in busy mixes.

Finishing this first combo, the Roku Streaming Stick 4K delivers a fast, intuitive interface and wide app support. Its simple remote and cross-platform search make it perfect for viewers who just want to get to their shows quickly.

Combo 3: Bright rooms, bigger screen

• TV: Hisense U8QG
• Soundbar: Samsung HW-Q800D
• Streamer: Apple TV 4K

For viewers who want a more immersive, full-room experience, our third combination should feel like a genuine step up.

Hisense’s U8QG is among the best-value big-screen TVs you can buy, offering superb peak brightness and finely controlled local dimming. Its mini-LED backlight produces vivid HDR images that stay punchy even in daylight, with accurate skin tones and realistic contrast.

Adding the Samsung HW-Q800D rounds out the sound with real sonic depth.

The wireless subwoofer provides rich, powerful bass that instantly adds scale, while the main bar supports Dolby Atmos and DTS:X for convincing height and spatial effects. It connects via HDMI eARC for quick, reliable setup, and its adaptive sound mode dynamically adjusts the mix for different content types.

Finally, the Apple TV 4K remains the most polished streaming device around. Its interface is smooth and simple, its app assortment unmatched, and it integrates beautifully with Apple’s ecosystem, including impressive Apple Arcade games.

It also supports Dolby Vision and HDR10+, pairing perfectly with this hardware, and the end result is a setup that looks and sounds genuinely premium in 2025.

A setup that actually makes a difference

Even the best TV and soundbar combination can underperform if it’s not set up properly. A few quick tweaks, though, can transform the experience without needing professional help.

Start by getting the connections right: plug your streamer into one of the TV’s HDMI ports, then use a certified Ultra High Speed HDMI cable to link the soundbar to the TV’s HDMI eARC socket.

Next, take a few minutes to adjust your picture settings.

Most TVs arrive in an overly bright “Vivid” or “Dynamic” mode that looks harsh in normal lighting. Switching to the “Movie” or “Cinema” preset gives you more natural colour and better contrast, especially during darker scenes.

Finally, pay attention to placement. A soundbar performs best when centred under the screen and aimed roughly at ear level, with nothing blocking its drivers.

If you’re using a subwoofer, leave a little breathing room from walls and corners to prevent booming. Many soundbars also offer dialogue-boost or night-listening modes, so it’s worth experimenting to find what suits your space and viewing habits.

Where to save and where to spend

When building a starter home cinema, the trick is knowing where your money makes the biggest impact.

We recommend spending most of your budget on the TV’s panel quality and the soundbar’s audio performance as these two elements define your experience far more than the streamer does.

A mini-LED screen will give you bright HDR, powerful contrast, and rich colours, while a decent soundbar ensures dialogue clarity and a sense of sonic depth that built-in TV speakers can’t match.

And don’t forget cables – a certified HDMI 2.1 cable can cost very little yet makes all the difference for stable, high-quality playback.

FAQs

• Do I need Dolby Vision and Atmos for great picture and sound? Not necessarily. They add extra polish, but a good HDR TV and balanced soundbar still deliver an excellent experience.
• Is a subwoofer essential in a small room? No. While it adds depth, most modern soundbars can produce satisfying bass on their own.
• Are external streamers better than built-in smart TV apps? Usually yes, since they’re faster, get updates more often, and support more formats.
• What’s the simplest way to connect everything? Plug the streamer into the TV and run one HDMI eARC or optical digital cable from the TV to the soundbar.
• Do I need expensive cables for good quality? No. A certified Ultra High Speed HDMI cable is all you need for reliable 4K HDR and Dolby Atmos.

The TechRadar team is delighted to present the winners of the TechRadar Choice Awards 2025! These are our biggest awards ever, honoring the best products of the last 12 months in the major tech areas, while bringing in hot new categories such as open earbuds, and making sure we still have price-conscious categories, to represent how people are really buying gadgets today.

As always, the TechRadar Choice Awards are chosen by a combination of our expert judges' verdicts based on their experience with the products, with votes from you, the TechRadar readers. The vast majority are awards are voted on by the public, to make sure that products that people really love in the real-word are represented.

Our first category is our Readers' Choice Award, which is the award chosen 100% by reader votes, then we have our Editors' Choice Awards, which are selected solely by our expert judges. After that, every winner was picked by a 50/50 combination of the votes of our readers with the scores from our judges.

Readers' Choice Award

Editor's Choice Awards

Phone of the Year

Camera of the Year

Laptop of the Year

Gaming device of the year

TV of the Year

Streaming Service of the Year

Headphones of the Year

Health and Fitness Device of the Year

Home Device of the Year

One to Watch

Brand of the Year

Phones category winners

Phones Brand of the Year

Best Value Phone

Best Mid-Range Phone

Best Folding Phone

Best Flip Phone

Best Camera Phone

Best Gaming Phone

Best Phone Accessory

Best Tablet

Best AI Phone

Best eReader

Best Writing Tablet

Cameras category winners

Camera Brand of the Year

Best Beginner Camera

Best Mid-Range Camera

Best Professional Camera

Best Video Camera

Best Instant Camera

Best Action Camera

Best Dash Cam

Best Camera Lens

Best Compact Camera

Best Camera Accessory

Best Drone

Computing category winners

Best computing brand

Best value laptop

Best Chromebook

Best AI laptop

Best gaming laptop

Best gaming PC

Best computing innovation

Best processor

Gaming category winners

Gaming brand of the year

Best mobile gaming accessory

Best PC Gaming Handheld

Best console accessory

Best gaming service

Best gaming controller

Best Gaming Keyboard

Best Gaming Mouse

Best Gaming Headset

Best Gaming Monitor

Best Gaming Chair

TV category winners

Home Entertainment Brand of the Year

Best Gaming TV

Best TV for Sound

Best OLED TV

Best Mini-LED TV

Best Mid-range TV

Best Value TV

Best Projector

Best Portable Projector

Best Ultra Short Throw Projector

Best Gaming Projector

Best Soundbar

Streaming category winners

Best Streaming Service for Movies

Best Streaming Service for Documentaries

Best Streaming Service for TV Series

Best Streaming Service for Value

Best Free Streaming Service

Best Live TV Streaming Service

Audio category winners

Audio Brand of the Year

Best Wireless Headphones

Best wireless earbuds

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• Roku Voice can answer questions about movies, shows and actors
• Better discovery tools including search in the Live TV Zone and soon, the Live TV Channel Guide
• Bluetooth Headphone Mode rolling out globally to Streaming Stick / Stick Plus

Roku has announced a host of updates to its smart TV platform that'll arrive in the coming months, including an AI upgrade that sounds very similar to the Gemini feature on Google TV.

Roku Voice is getting a big upgrade, and in addition to the usual command-based navigation you'll be able to ask questions such as "what kind of fish is Nemo?" or "how scary is The Shining?" and get spoken responses.

Roku Voice will also be able to parse follow-up questions, and it'll offer quick launch options for shows and movies from its catalog where appropriate and relevant.

Roku's autumn update: what else is new?

Roku has also improved its discovery features. Trailer playbacks get a new Ways To Watch button, which enables you to see which channels or apps can stream the program, and to jump directly from the preview into the show or movie.

The search feature is getting more useful too. It's already been added to the What to Watch section, and Roku is going to roll it out to more parts of the platform. The Live TV Zone is the next destination to get the search tool, and after that it'll roll out to the Live TV Channel Guide.

When you browse, your Roku TV or streaming device will show you where you can stream each title by highlighting up to two streaming apps based on your active subscriptions.

Another welcome feature is the Bluetooth Headphone Mode, which is rolling out to more devices. It'll be coming to both the Roku Streaming Stick and the Roku Streaming Stick Plus.

Roku's mobile app is getting multiple most-wanted upgrades

In addition to the above improvements, Roku is also rolling out new Live Scores and Reminders for Roku Sports. The former will display live results on game tiles, allowing you to keep an eye on multiple events at once. Additionally, there's a no-spoilers setting if you're planning to watch events on catch-up. And Reminders will send you a mobile notification when it's time to tune in for a game.

Roku is also going to roll out improvements to its mobile app, starting in the next few weeks, including some most-wanted features such as closed captioning, Find My Remote, sleep timers and quick-access shortcuts. There's a new Rate button that enables you to mark shows and movies as liked, disliked and/or watched, mirroring the TV app, and your feedback will sync across all your devices. The For You page will also get a new navigation bar organizing everything into sensible categories such as TV Shows, Movies, and Sports.

The software updates will begin rolling out to Roku devices and to the mobile app stores in the next few weeks.

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Choosing the best TV in 2025 isn't just about whether to pick an OLED model or a mini-LED model – the smart TV platform could make or break the experience.

Most TVs use completely different smart platforms, each with its own quirks and plus points. Whether you’re scrolling through Netflix, switching HDMI inputs, or asking your TV to recommend a film, the smart platform determines how smooth, intuitive, and enjoyable that feels.

Samsung's Tizen, for example, has shed its reputation for being slow and unwieldy thanks to updates from the company, while LG's webOS emerged like a phoenix from the ashes to offer a fast, well-organized experience.

Sony and TCL both use Google TV, tapping into Google’s enormous app library and clever cross-service recommendations, while Panasonic embraced Fire TV and Amazon's ecosystem. And then there's Roku, which has branched out in recent years from the company's streaming sticks to its own lineup of smart TVs.

To help you make the right TV choice, we spent time with each smart platform to get a sense of its ease of use, app library, quirks, and everything else.

Tizen (Samsung)

In 2025, Samsung’s Tizen has quietly matured into one of the slicker TV platforms around, which might come as a surprise to Samsung TV users of even a few years ago.

The latest version, Tizen 9.0, streamlines the home screen into something cleaner, with a new Quick Menu that makes it faster to jump between apps, inputs, and settings.

The Gaming Hub in particular is a standout – a one-stop place to access cloud services like Xbox Game Pass and Nvidia GeForce Now without needing extra hardware like a PlayStation 5. And there's also the Samsung Art Store for displaying artworks in ambient mode, a feature that's now available on all new Samsung TVs.

Overall, app support is strong, with all the major streaming services on board and Samsung TV Plus for free live channels.

Universal search is adequate, but it doesn’t always surface results as comprehensively as Google TV or Roku, meaning you’ll sometimes need to dip into apps manually.

The biggest downside is Samsung putting promotions and sponsored content on the home screen. They don’t make Tizen unusable, but compared with the pared-back feel of Roku or webOS, the ads can feel distracting and low-budget.

Recent Samsung TVs we've tested and highly recommend include the Samsung S95F OLED and Samsung QN90F mini-LED TV.

webOS (LG)

LG’s webOS has long been one of the "friendliest" TV platforms, and recent updates make it feel more polished than ever.

The card-based layout, plus the Quick Menu and Quick Cards, keep navigation snappy whether you’re firing up Disney Plus, tweaking picture modes, or switching over to a console.

Setup is straightforward and more flexible now that Chromecast support is built in alongside AirPlay, while profiles also help tailor recommendations, so everyone in the household gets a personalised home screen. It's not a revolutionary feature, but it's a nice addition.

Day to day, webOS feels fast and consistent, with quick app launches and smooth menu navigation. Universal search is fine, though not as expansive as Google TV or Fire TV.

There are some drawbacks: certain LG models now show screensaver ads, which won’t suit everyone, and the Magic Remote still splits opinion – great for pointing and scrolling, less so if you prefer a traditional clicker.

Two recent LG OLED TVs we've reviewed and highly recommend are the LG G5 and LG C5.

Roku

Roku keeps things refreshingly simple.

On Roku TVs, the interface is a neat grid of apps and inputs, with minimal fuss or flashy animations. It’s easy to set up, quick to learn, and great for households where you don’t want to explain the remote every time.

In other words, the ideal TV for your parents.

Performance is solid: menus respond quickly, apps open without much delay, and nothing feels overcomplicated.

Roku’s universal search is also a strong point, pulling in results from major streaming services and showing you the cheapest way to watch. Voice search via the remote works well, even if it’s not as advanced as Google’s Assistant or Alexa.

App coverage is excellent, with all the big names plus a wide range of free and niche channels, and the addition of featured free content and a Live TV section makes it even easier to find something without logging in.

There are limitations. Roku has begun testing more prominent ads on the home screen, which dents its minimalist appeal. The OS also lacks the deeper integrations you’ll find on Fire TV or Google TV, perhaps unsurprisingly.

Two recent Roku TVs we've tested and rated highly are the Roku Pro Series and Roku Plus Series.

Google TV (Sony, TCL and Hisense)

Google TV has quickly become one of the most widespread smart TV platforms, thanks to its huge app library and slick presentation.

On recent Sony, TCL, and Hisense (US-only) sets, the interface feels faster and more responsive than the older Android TV it replaced, with menus that open quickly and scrolling that doesn’t stutter.

The biggest strength is aggregation. Universal search is excellent, pulling in results from Netflix, Disney Plus, Prime Video, and more, so you don’t waste time hunting through individual apps.

Recommendations also feel smarter, at least in my testing, especially if you lean on Google’s profile system, which learns what you like over time.

Casting is seamless, and integration with the wider Google ecosystem makes it easy to share from phones, tablets, or even Nest speakers. App support is unmatched, with just about every major service and plenty of niche options.

That said, ads are creeping in, like its rivals. Even in the stripped-back apps-only mode, some European users now see banners on the home screen.

And if you’d rather avoid signing in with a Google account, the experience is far more limited.

Google TV can be found in many TVs, but two we've recently reviewed and liked are the Sony Bravia 8 II OLED and Hisense U8QG mini-LED TV.

Fire TV (Amazon, Panasonic, Hisense)

Amazon unsurprisingly uses Fire TV for its family of smart TVs, and Panasonic’s recent move to the platform has transformed its flagship models, giving them a modern, app-rich interface with Alexa integration baked in.

The setup process is smooth enough, and once you’re in, there’s no shortage of apps. Fire TV also supports the UK’s new Freely service, which makes finding live channels over the internet simpler.

Fire TV’s universal search is excellent, pulling results from across services with clear pricing information, and Alexa voice control adds to the convenience.

In day-to-day use, though, Fire TV can feel cluttered. The home screen is dominated by Amazon content and ads, which can bury your own apps if you don’t reorganise. Performance varies, too, meaning some Panasonic sets feel snappy, others a touch sluggish.

Those quirks aside, Fire TV is feature-packed and flexible. If you’re already tied into Amazon’s ecosystem, it can make your TV the hub of your connected home.

Two examples of Fire TVs that we've positively reviewed are the Panasonic Z95B OLED and the Amazon Fire TV Omni mini-LED.

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• 1080p for visuals from 40-150 inches
• 330 ANSI lumens
• $199

If you're looking for a big-screen Roku TV experience without a big price tag, you're going to love the Aurzen Roku TV Smart Projector D1 Cube. Not only is it the first Roku TV smart projector, but it's also a very affordable $199.

This is a very big deal despite being a very small projector. Roku is the number one streaming platform in the US, Canada and Mexico, and that brand awareness means this could be a popular product. And in addition to the low price the spec is pretty impressive.

Aurzen Roku TV Smart Projector: key features

The Aurzen Roku TV Smart Projector is designed for both indoor and outdoor use (although there's no indication of a battery or IP water or dust resistance, which suggests mains-powered movie magic and not being left outside afterwards), and it delivers 1080p FHD with up to 330 ANSI lumens of brightness. It's designed to deliver visuals between 40 and 150 inches, and it includes dual 5W speakers.

There's dual-band Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.2 (with private listening for headphones), HDMI, USB and a 3.5mm audio output, and it has AirPlay compatibility as well as integration with Roku's mobile app, wireless speakers and smart home system. The OS is Roku's, so you should feel instantly at home.

It should be easy to use too, with a guided setup routine, automatic focus and automatic keystone correction.

I very much doubt this little projector will be up there kicking it with the very best projectors from industry leaders, but it's considerably cheaper than our current pick of the portable projector crop, the XGIMI MoGo 3 Pro. That makes this a very compelling projector proposition for big screens on a budget.

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• Roku is making it easier for small businesses to buy ads
• AI means very small businesses won't need to have or hire ad creators
• Expect many more ads from the Uncanny Valley

Whenever I check my Instagram feed and see far too many awful AI slop ads from businesses I've never heard of flogging things I'm not remotely interested in, I think "man, I wish my TV was like this." And if like me you've also recently been kicked in the head by a horse, you're going to love what Roku's predicting.

As The Verge reports, Roku finance and operating boss Dan Jedda told investors to prepare for a new era. He said "No longer is it going to be about the top 200 advertisers. It’s going to be about 100,000 advertisers."

The goal is to shift smaller businesses – think local car dealers and food places – away from social media ads and onto streaming ads instead.

What are Roku's ad plans for streaming services?

This is a really big deal because Roku is the US's market leader: Jedda said that over 20% of all US TV viewing happens on Roku devices, that the Roku Channel's 2.8% TV viewing share in July put it ahead of streamers including Peacock and HBO Max, and that the firm will soon "surpass 100 million streaming households".

That's a lot of people that advertisers want to reach, and Roku would really like to help those advertisers do that no matter how big or small they are – with AI as a big part of their ad creation toolkit.

According to Jedda, AI means that advertisers will be able to generate "very well-produced" ads within minutes. And that's going to open up ad sales to the previously overlooked small to medium-sized business market.

Roku isn't pretending it'll be the only game in town. But if its AI ad toolkit proves compelling to advertisers, then other providers are going to want to compete with that – and that means more AI ads on everything, everywhere.

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• Audacy has removed its app from the Roku platform
• There hasn't been an official announcement so far
• The best alternatives offer a lot of the same content

If you've been using the Audacy app to stream radio stations, podcasts or music through your Roku device or TV, I've got some bad news: Audacy have removed the app from the platform.

That's understandably upset many listeners. Audacy's a big fish in the streaming pond, delivering names including CNN, CBS Sports Radio and many more, as well as lots of podcasts and music.

We don't know why Audacy has decided to pull its app, but Cord Cutters News has some possible explanations: maybe they didn't like the terms of their Roku deal, or perhaps it's part of a shift of focus that'll mean concentrating on fewer platforms. But whatever the explanation, it means Audacy listeners will need an alternative – and here are some of the best options.

What apps are good replacements for Audacy?

There's no shortage of audio apps on the Roku Channel Store, and the first one to check out is iHeart. It's one of the biggest radio streamers, with the most popular AM and FM stations from cities across North America as well as a good selection of radio, podcasts and music stations from around the world.

The other big name here is TuneIn. Like iHeart it's got a huge selection, and includes channels from big names such as NPR, CNN, ESPN Radio and the BBC.

SiriusXM is another well-known name offering a mix of music, podcasts and chat, and there are plenty of themed music streamers covering every imaginable niche – Yacht Rock Miami, anyone?

If you browse the Music and Podcasts section of the Channel Store you'll also find the big guns of audio streaming such as Apple Music (but sadly not Apple Podcasts), Amazon Music, Spotify, YouTube (a lot of audio podcasts also upload video versions to the video streamer) and Pandora.

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• Don't worry if your Roku homepage suddenly changes – a smarter new layout is being tested for a lucky few
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• Roku has new home page layout to make key sections faster to find
• Very much a work in progress and likely to change again
• You can opt out if you're offered the update

If your Roku TV home screen appears to have been redesigned overnight, don't worry: it just means you're one of the chosen few who get to see what might be the next evolution of the Roku TV interface.

As The Verge reports, Roku is testing a rejigged version of the home page with a small number of Roku users in order to assess whether or not they like it. The firm is "trying some different approaches" to the functionality of the home page, Roku's Preston Smalley explained. "We’re definitely trying to see how much control people want, but that's something we want to hear from customers on."

What's changing in the Roku TV home screen

Although this is only a test, it does indicate the most likely changes coming to your home page in the not too distant future. The first thing you'll notice is that the home button on your remote takes you straight into the main grid rather than to the sidebar, which is where it takes you in the current version.

Live TV and Featured Free have been moved from the sidebar into the main grid to make them more obvious; Roku says that these "compelling and delightful destinations" weren't being used by many people, and they expect more prominent placement to mean more people being compelled and delighted.

The Quick Access section is designed to make it easier to see your favorite apps, but for now it's automated: The Verge says that you can't manually remove apps or add different ones.

Underneath Quick Access there's "The Best Across Your Streaming Services" which is the new home for the Live TV and Featured Free options as well as Subscriptions and For You, which as you'd expect is where you'll find personalized recommendations.

This is very much a work in progress so if you've got it on your Roku TV it may change again during the testing phase – and if you're one of the chosen few it's not compulsory, so you can opt out of the test if you'd rather wait for the final, finished version.

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Roku Streaming Stick: Two-minute review

The Roku Streaming Stick is cheap, compact, and easy to use. As the cheaper of Roku’s two newest streaming sticks, the other being the Roku Streaming Stick Plus, it has its limitations – specifically, no 4K or HDR support – but the value proposition here is very good. If you’re trying to save money, it might be among the best streaming devices out there.

As far as competition goes at this price point, there’s really only the Amazon Fire TV Stick HD, which is slightly more expensive. Of course, if you care about getting the best performance and features and are willing to pay for it, I suggest going for the Roku Ultra (2024) instead.

The Roku Streaming Stick is literally just a stick with an HDMI port on the end, and is small even by streaming stick standards. When I reviewed the Amazon Fire TV Sticks that came out in 2023 ( still current models), I had trouble fitting their bulky bodies into the HDMI slots behind my TV, so the svelte design of the Roku Streaming Stick is welcome.

The only visual difference between this and the Streaming Stick Plus version is that the Roku logo is purple as opposed to an etched design, making it look just a bit cheaper than its big brother. Otherwise, it’s identical, with the same somewhat convex case, with the HDMI male jack on one end, and the USB-C charging port on the other. There’s also a reset button, and that’s it.

It’s worth noting that Roku only provides a USB-C to USB-A cable for charging – there’s no power supply or adapter. When I first saw this on the Roku Streaming Stick Plus (again, they’re identical in this regard), I was a little upset that I was expected to pay extra for an adapter. But then I realized there was a good reason for the lack of an adapter, since you’re expected to use the USB port on your TV to power the streaming stick.

Because you’re powering the stick from the TV’s USB port, which is usually just a few slots over from the HDMI connections, there are no hanging cables from the device. This means you’ll end up with a cleaner-looking setup using the Roku Streaming Stick.

The included remote control is Roku’s voice remote. It has a slightly bulky body with a little bit of weight that makes it nice to handle while still being fairly compact. The buttons include dedicated play/pause buttons – a feature I appreciate over the navigation wheel layout that most remotes have. And there’s also a voice assistant button, which lets you make voice commands when holding it down. It’s not Roku’s best remote – that would be the one included with the Roku Ultra – but it’s good enough and about what one would expect at this price point.

The Roku Streaming Stick is intended to be an entry-level HD device, so there’s no 4K or HDR support. I tested it on a 65-inch TV, and the picture quality was still pretty good. If you’re getting this for a guestroom TV, it’s probably worth saving the few extra bucks.

The Roku Streaming Stick’s biggest sticking point is its performance. Given the stick’s low price, you shouldn’t expect the world, but it’s still worth noting. The actual streaming experience is fine and without interruption, but the Roku Streaming Stick has a slight delay when interacting with it, with the onscreen cursor moving just a fraction of a second after a button press, so you feel like it’s catching up.

It’s worth noting that the Roku Streaming Stick uses the old 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi standard, which is even slower than the 802.11ac (Wi-Fi 5) one used by the Roku Streaming Stick Plus. You probably don’t need the latest Wi-Fi standard for a streaming device, but the Streaming Stick’s slower and older WiFi standard is a potential reason why it runs a little slower.

The Streaming Stick’s interface is the usual intuitive one I expect from Roku. There are a few watch suggestions at the top, but the home screen is otherwise just a series of tiles for different apps. I appreciate its simplicity compared to the more congested interfaces used by Google TV, Fire TV, and other smart TV platforms. If you prefer that type of layout, Roku has a similar setup when you click on the “What To Watch” tab on the homescreen.

There’s a good amount of free content available to stream directly through the Roku interface. There’s also a Sports tab, but you still need a subscription to whichever service has the rights to your favorite sport. Otherwise, Roku’s interface here is its usual rock-solid self.

Roku Streaming Stick: Price and release date

• $29.99 / £29.99 (about AU$50)
• Released April 2025

Thirty bucks or quid for a streaming device is impossible to beat. The closest to that is probably the Amazon Fire TV Stick HD that I mentioned earlier at $34.99 / £39.99 / AU$69.

The question you need to ask yourself is whether it’s worth saving ten bucks for this version over the Roku Streaming Stick Plus, which goes for $39.99 / £39.99 (about AU$70). The design of both sticks is the same, and so are the limitations in performance. If you’re trying to just get the cheapest streaming stick with 4K and HDR support (but not Dolby Vision), the Plus version is the one you’ll want. But if you have an older TV that doesn’t support those features, the basic Roku Streaming Stick will be ideal.

The Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K (2023) is also a good streamer to look at as it’s regularly discounted to the same price as the Roku Streaming Stick Plus. And unlike Roku products, that model is available for purchase in Australia.

Should you buy the Roku Streaming Stick?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

Roku Streaming Stick review: Also consider

How I tested the Roku Streaming Stick

• Used regularly for a week
• Tested with various apps
• Tested the remote

I used the Roku Streaming Stick regularly for a few days to evaluate everything it can do. I used it to stream Roku content and movies and shows from apps like Max. I also spent time using the remote and testing its various functions.

I’ve tested a lot of tech gear over the years, from laptops to keyboards and speakers, and so have been able to use my expertise towards giving an honest and fair opinion, not to mention a critical eye, to any product I test.

Read more about how we test

First reviewed June 2025

• A new report is highlighting just how secure the Apple TV 4K is
• It says it's the best for streaming privacy as Apple isn't focused on selling ads

There is no shortage of streaming boxes or streaming sticks, but ever since the original Apple TV was unveiled, the Cupertino-based tech giant’s offering has always been decidedly premium. And beyond the easy integration with other Apple devices and the ability to live within the ecosystem, it’s also earned an accolade for being one of the best privacy-focused streaming boxes.

That is, according to a new report from the Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) who spoke with Ars Technica. It all comes back to the idea of many streaming boxes integrating advertisements directly into the experience. You’ll find that on Roku as well as on Amazon Fire TV devices, which in some cases have full banner ads. It’s also common for smart TVs, from the likes of LG and Samsung, as well.

The director of the Public Interest Research Group (PIRG), RJ Cross, told them, “Apple’s primary business model isn’t dependent on selling targeted ads, so it has somewhat less incentive to harvest and monetize incredible amounts of your data.” And it’s a good point, since this also limits the amount of tracking Apple might need to do on the device.

Yes, your recently watched list is available and can sync across devices, and content recommendations are also available. However, it’s not engaging ACR (or “automatic content recognition”) to track everything you’re doing on the device. This technology is primarily used to track viewing habits and what has been consumed on a TV, ultimately to build a profile. However, Apple has confirmed to Ars Technica that at this time or in the past, the streaming box has not used this technology.

That’s a big win for consumers and comes to the ultimate recommendation from PIRG that the Apple TV 4K is the best bet for privacy-conscious consumers who want a best-in-class streamer. You’ll still need to sign in with your Apple Account and agree to “Data & Privacy” terms during the setup process, but it’s less demanding than other streamers on the market.

The data that is collected, like what you or other profiles on the Apple TV 4K are watching or searching for, is done so anonymously, meaning it’s not traceable back to you or any other user on the streaming box. That data, once anonymized, can be shared with streaming services that use Apple’s APIs and offer apps. Here, additionally, you do have the ability to turn off some of the personalization and recommendation features.

When you use Siri, either through the Siri Remote that pairs with the Apple TV or another Apple device to control the Apple TV 4K, those conversations will fall under Apple’s general Siri privacy stipulations. For some requests and asks, the transcription is sent anonymized with no personal details to Apple’s servers, but it will only stick around for at most six months.

You can see the conversation between Ars Technica and the Public Interest Research Group here. If you’ve been considering the Apple TV 4K, you can read TechRadar’s full review here. It’s expected that at WWDC 2025 – Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference – a major update for tvOS will be announced, introducing a new look that we’ll likely call sleek, along with some other more advanced features.

With tvOS 18 last year, Apple gave subtitles a significant upgrade. When you hit mute, it automatically starts closed captioning. It was a small change that made a big difference.

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Roku Streaming Stick Plus: Two-minute review

The Roku Streaming Stick Plus has a lot to commend it. It’s very affordable, compact enough to take on the road, and power-efficient enough to run off a USB port on the back of a TV. Its only flaw, and it’s kind of a big one, is that there’s a little lag when navigating menus, possibly due to its older Wi-Fi standard. However, there are no performance issues once you get a show or movie streaming.

The Roku Streaming Stick Plus is ideal for someone on a budget or who wants a streamer that can tuck behind a mounted TV. If performance is a top priority, though, the more expensive Roku Ultra (2024), which I think is among the best streaming devices available right now, is worth the upgrade.

When first unboxing the Roku Streaming Stick Plus, it’s almost surprising how small it is. Measuring just 3.7 x 0.80 x 0.45 inches, it’s dwarfed by the Roku Voice Remote it comes with.

Since it’s so small, it has just an HDMI male port on one end for plugging directly into a TV and a USB-C female port situated on the other end for power. There’s also a very small reset button on the same end as the USB-C port.

Interestingly, the Roku Streaming Stick Plus doesn’t come with a power supply. Instead, it only comes with a cable with a USB-A port on the other end. The idea is that this streaming stick is so efficient that it draws all the power it needs from the powered USB port on the back of a TV – a pretty cool concept as you don’t see any of the device when looking at the TV.

The Roku’s Voice Remote is not the company’s best remote – that belongs to the Roku Voice Remote Pro (2nd edition) that comes with the Roku Ultra (2024) streaming box and the Roku Pro Series TVs – but it ticks all the usual boxes. It feels nice the way Roku remotes do with their rounded back, and there are separate Play / Pause buttons instead of the wheel of inputs a lot of remotes have these days. There are App buttons for various streaming services and, most importantly, there’s the voice command button, which lets you talk into the remote.

Now, performance is where the Roku Streaming Stick Plus can suffer a little bit. Before I discuss that, I do want to say that once I got something started and was streaming in 4K, there were no issues such as stuttering or other artifacts.

When first getting past setup, I started browsing the apps, and there was a small lag moving from tile to tile or from menu entry to entry. Though that was the worst, I still noticed a very short delay. This could be because the Roku Streaming Stick Plus uses the somewhat dated Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac) standard. Also, its processor could be underpowered.

As far as the Roku interface goes, it’s the same standard layout the company uses for all its streaming products. It’s a tile-first view, where you browse various apps instead of recommended content from those apps as you would with a Google or Alexa streaming device. (There is a small selection of suggestions at the top of the interface, however.)

The Roku ecosystem has plenty of free content, offering 500 different channels along with the Roku Channel. There’s even a general Sports tab in the menu.

If you want to use the Roku Streaming Stick Plus for streaming movies, be aware that it doesn’t support every feature. It can stream in 4K with HDR10+, HDR10, and HLG high dynamic range, but it does not support Dolby Vision. On the smart home front, it supports Roku Smart Home, Apple HomeKit, Alexa, and Google Home. Also worth mentioning is that it will pass through Dolby encoded audio and DTS digital surround.

Roku Streaming Stick Plus: Price and release date

• $39.99 / £39.99 (about AU$70)
• Released April 2025

The Roku Streaming Stick Plus is affordably priced for a 4K streaming stick, selling for just $39.99 / £39.99 (about AU$70). Compare that to the Roku Ultra (2024), which goes for $99.99 (about £80 / AU$150).

The Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max (2023) is similar in a lot of ways, but uses the Alexa ecosystem and supports Dolby Vision. It’s also bigger despite having the same form factor. (When reviewing The Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max, I remember having to use the included dongle as the Fire TV Stick was too bulky to fit directly into my TV’s HDMI port.) Amazon’s streaming stick is priced much higher at $59.99 / £69.99 / AU$119, but it’s regularly discounted to around for the same price as the Roku Streaming Stick Plus.

If you want to go as cheap as possible, Roku also has the Roku Streaming Stick that only goes up to 1080p (HD) resolution, skipping out on 4K and HDR support. It’s a bit cheaper at $29.99 / £29.99, so if you have an older TV, it might be worth it to save the ten bucks.

Should you buy the Roku Streaming Stick Plus?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

Roku Streaming Stick Plus review: Also consider

How I tested the Roku Streaming Stick Plus

• Used regularly for a week
• Tested with all sorts of apps
• Tested the remote

I used the Roku Streaming Stick Plus regularly for a weekend, just enough to see everything it can do. I used it with free Roku content and popular third-party apps like Max. I also spent time testing the remote and its various functions.

I’ve tested a lot of tech gear over the years from laptops to keyboards and speakers, and so have been able to use my expertise towards giving an honest and fair opinion, not to mention a critical eye, to any product I test.

Read more about how we test

First reviewed May 2025

• 4K HDR streaming appears "washed out" on some Roku TVs
• HD and SDR content seems to be fine
• The culprit may be the latest firmware update

If you're a Roku TV owner and you think your 4K HDR streaming doesn't look right, it could be a software fault. Since the latest software update there have been multiple reports of "washed-out" HDR across multiple streaming services.

The first reports, shared on the Roku issue tracking board and reported by The Verge, were about problems with the video while streaming from Disney Plus on TCL TVs. But more reports have since emerged of video issues with Prime Video, YouTube TV, Netflix, Apple TV Plus and others, and on Hisense Roku TVs, too.

The good news is that it's clearly a software issue: some users reporting problems also say that their Blu-Ray players are working just fine, and others say there are no issues with non-4K HDR. So the TVs themselves appear to be okay.

What's wrong with Roku's streaming?

The common denominator appears to be the Roku software version 14.5, with streaming services suffering from what The Verge describes as "desaturated, almost black-and-white images" with HDR enabled. Some other users are finding their streaming video is overly bright.

It does look like there is an issue that kicks in when the video starts to stream: this post on the Roku Community pages shows the dramatic difference between affected and unaffected TVs, and replies from other affected users say that everything's fine with the app's menus and static images. It's only once you start watching the actual movie or show that the problems occur.

Roku is aware of the reports, although at the time of writing it apparently hasn't responded to press requests for comment. We've asked Roku directly and will update this story when we hear back.

This seems to be yet another example of automatic updates apparently introducing problems to people's A/V kit: just a few weeks ago Samsung owners found their expensive soundbars were being bricked by a firmware update.

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• Roku has announced the new Streaming Stick and Streaming Stick Plus
• They replace the Express and Express 4K+
• You get a voice remote in the box, plus a compact design, but the Streaming Stick 4K is also sticking around

Roku has introduced two new streaming sticks that slim down the overall build even further, and aim to stretch the value by including one of the brand’s most popular accessories.

The Streaming Stick and Streaming Stick Plus are the smallest sticks from Roku yet, and represent the new entry points to the brand’s lineup, replacing the Express and Express 4K+.

Both aim to offer most of the features you’d want to see in any streaming device – stick or box – and are priced competitively at $29.99 / £29.99 for the Stick and $39.99 / £ 39.99 for the Plus(we're waiting on Australian pricing to be confirmed). Preorders are open now, and the official shipment start date is May 6.

These are the smallest and most compact devices from the brand so far – they're super-slim sticks that are only slightly thicker than an HDMI port.

That slim design should make it easy to plug the Stick into the HDMI slot on the back of your TV, and Roku says the design won’t block your other ports. That’s a pretty nice upgrade, and the brand says these sticks are over 35% smaller than other brands, though it stops short of naming the others.

The overall design of the Stick and Stick Plus is pretty simple: there's a physical power button and a USB-C port, although Roku doesn’t want you to plug either stick into a wall socket; rather, it says you can just plug the USB cable right into the back of your TV, as these don’t need a huge amount of power to run.

The other appeal is portability, something Roku thinks is becoming a bigger trend. If you’re heading on vacation to a hotel or an Airbnb, given how small the Stick or Stick Plus are you could grab the stick and cable to bring it with you to access your favorite streaming services away from home. That’s pretty nice.

As the names suggests, the Roku Streaming Stick and Roku Stick Plus give you full access to the Roku platform, so you’ll get easy access to all of the best streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, Apple TV+, and Max. That classic experience with the promise of future updates is all still here.

The biggest change is that Roku is including a voice remote in the box with the Stick or Stick Plus. This way, you can simply use your voice to ask for your favorite shows and pull up other content. This also levels the playing field with the Amazon Fire Stick lineup, as the entry-level Fire Stick HD (priced at $34.99 / £39.99 / AU$69) does ship with an Alexa voice remote as well.

Roku’s Streaming Stick supports up to an HD experience (up to 1080p resolution), while the Streaming Stick Plus delivers up to a 4K experience with support for HLG, HDR 10, and HDR 10+, depending on the TV you plug the stick into. If you’re looking for support for Dolby Vision you’ll need to opt for the Streaming Stick 4K, a pre-existing model that retails for $49.99 / £49.99.

If you’re already sold – maybe you’ve been after a more affordable streaming stick from Roku and don’t need support for Dolby Vision – the Streaming Stick and Streaming Stick Plus are up for preorder now directly from Roku priced at $29.99 / £29.99 and $39.99 / £39.99.

We’ll be going hands-on and testing both of Roku’s new sticks as soon as we can.

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• Some Roku owners have seen the YouTube TV app disappear from devices
• Resetting the device doesn't work, but some have found alternative fixes
• Google and Roku have yet to respond to the reports

YouTube TV has rapidly become one of the best streaming services for live TV, particularly if you're looking to replace cable with a service that's available on a multitude of streaming devices. Over the past day, however, Roku users have noticed that the YouTube TV app has strangely disappeared from their devices.

Not only has the YouTube TV app gone missing, but some users have spotted that it’s not available to reinstall either. This had led owners of Roku streaming devices to head to Reddit to share their experiences with the issue, with some swarming Roku forums and also Google’s support page.

One of the first outlets to bring the issue to light was 9to5Google, which stated that the cause of the issue is still unconfirmed. We've reached out to Google to find out if there's any update and will update this story if we hear back.

YouTube TV not loading on Hisense/Roku 55R7G5 from r/youtubetv

The most frustrating part of YouTube TV’s app disappearance is that it’s taken a lot of trial and error for users to fix – and as it stands, neither Roku nor Google has come forward to address the problem.

Searching for the app in the installed list on your Roku device doesn’t seem to help, and neither does resetting the device. But luckily, there seems to be alternative ways that users have found.

How to recover the YouTube TV app on Roku

According to a Roku community moderator, this issue can be resolved by checking for any Roku OS updates that may need installing. Updating the latest OS version has helped many users restore the YouTube TV app.

For those who have already downloaded the most recent version of Roku OS whose YouTube TV app is still missing, Android Police says that you can still use the standard YouTube app to access YouTube TV’s channels. When you open the left-hand menu, scroll down to the bottom and you’ll find an option for YouTube TV.

Over the past few months, YouTube has been teasing updates including two new features that allow users and creators to comment and interact with videos, and also a big Netflix update.

It’s unclear whether this recent issue is related to YouTube TV’s possible upgrades, but we’ve asked Google for any insights and will update this story if we get a response.

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• Roku is testing ads that appear on startup
• The ads are skippable, Roku says
• Roku is keen to add more advertising to its platform

Some Roku owners are promising that "my Roku devices will be in the trash" if it goes ahead with its latest ad-serving idea: showing you an ad before you get to the home screen.

Disgruntled users are turning to online forums to describe what's going on and to express their displeasure. As one poster to r/Roku explained, "I just turned on my Roku and got an unskippable ad for a movie before I got to the regular Roku homescreen." Other Redditors confirmed that they too were getting the ads (via Ars Technica), although the ads do appear to be skippable: there's a button on the ad you can click on to skip it.

The ad that's causing concern was for Moana 2 (which just launched on Disney+) which users say auto-played with sound on when the Roku device was started up.

Roku has confirmed that this is no accident, but it's not necessarily a permanent addition.

Attack of the unwanted ads

As Ars Technica reports, Roku has confirmed that the auto-playing adverts are supposed to be there as part of an experiment. Roku "has and will always require continuous testing and innovation across design, navigation, content, and our first-rate advertising products."

According to Roku, sticking an intrusive ad before the home screen is part of "providing a delightful and simple user experience." But from what I've seen online, users are far from delighted: for some this is a step too far on an already ad-heavy platform. And Roku could go further: as we've reported a few times, Roku's vision for the future of television is more sell-o-vision.

Roku isn't alone here, of course. The razor-thin profit margins when selling even the best TVs mean that many manufacturers see advertising and user data as absolutely vital ways of generating money in an increasingly competitive market.

But Roku does appear to be particularly aggressive about advertising, and it's at the stage of upsetting some customers who feel that the platform is degrading a product they've already paid for. As one Roku owner put it in r/Roku: "Why does everything have to start sucking so much?"

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When reviewing TVs, it’s easy to separate the good from the bad (and the ugly) based on subjective evaluation and measurements alone. What’s more difficult is determining if a specific TV is a good overall value.

Today’s best TVs provide fantastic picture quality for watching movies and TV shows and many are also great for gaming. But even though prices for top TVs aren’t as staggeringly high as they used to be – a flagship 65-inch OLED would run you $6,000 (around £4,650 / AU$9,550) back in 2015 – they can still be a big investment.

When I'm testing a good budget TV, I want it to strike a balance between picture quality, features, and price. It may not be the brightest TV you can buy, and it may be lacking some of the latest cutting-edge features such as 4K 120Hz support for gaming with next-gen consoles, or a far-field mic for hands-free voice control. But if the colors and more picture quality are right, I might be very happy with it depending on the price – there's always something to be said for bang-for-buck.

I’ve put together a list of three TVs that my team and I have recently reviewed that epitomize great value. The models listed are all based on their 65-inch screen size (due to the popularity of this size), though they are also available in a 55-inch size for even less.

1. Hisense U7N

We’re big fans of the Hisense U8N mini-LED TV at TechRadar, but the nod for best value Hisense mini-LED TV ultimately has to go to the Hisense U7N, which earned five stars for value in our Hisense U7N review. This step-down model offers many of the same features as the U8N, but at a considerably lower price.

A main difference in picture quality that we observed between the two in our testing is brightness: the U8N is an overachiever in that respect, whereas the U7N’s peak brightness is average for a mini-LED TV. It's price, however, is below average, making it a great deal overall.

The U8N also has better built-in sound than the U7N, which benefits from pairing with one of the best soundbars. But when it comes to other areas, we found that the U7N punches above its weight. It runs the Google TV smart TV platform in the US and Hisense’s own VIDAA in the UK and Australia. It features two HDMI 2.1 ports with 4K 144Hz support for gaming, and has comprehensive high dynamic range support, with both Dolby Vision and HDR10+ formats covered. The U7N is even IMAX Enhanced!

It's a future-proofed and impressive TV, and can be found for ridiculously low prices at times – a real bargain.

2. Roku Pro Series

Roku has been semi-quietly gathering momentum in the budget TV market, and its Pro Series models are the best Roku TVs yet. That’s mainly because the Pro is the only Roku series to use a mini-LED backlight, with local dimming to improve picture brightness and contrast, but as we found in our Roku Pro Series review, the company also put major effort into the TV’s design and sound.

With two HDMI 2.1 inputs with 4K 120Hz support, Pro Series models are great TVs for gaming, and they also offer comprehensive high dynamic range (Dolby Vision and HDR10+) and smart home support.

Like the Hisense U7N, the Roku Pro Series provides an average level of picture brightness for a mini-LED TV, though it’s notably brighter than the company’s step-down Select and Plus series models.

A big part of the TV’s appeal is the Roku smart interface, which has an elegant, streamlined look and is super-easy to navigate – if usability is a big concern for you, I think I'd recommend this most strongly. Also appealing is the affordable price, which makes the Pro Series one of the best value TVs you can buy.

3. Samsung Q60D

Those who want to buy a Samsung TV but find the company’s Neo QLED series models to be out of their price range may instead want look at its regular QLED series models, starting with the Samsung Q60D.

A main difference between the Neo QLED and QLED TVs is a mini-LED backlight on the former, which boosts picture brightness and contrast. That’s not to say the Q60D’s picture quality is horribly inferior to the company’s Neo QLED models, but, as we noted in our Samsung Q60D review, it does lack the brightness punch you get with mini-LED.

But you're trading that for affordability, while keeping crisp detail and realistic colors. The Samsung Q60D comes in a wide range of sizes, from 32 up to 85 inches. It features Samsung's Tizen smart TV interface and Solar Cell remote control, which can be charged via your room’s lighting or a USB-C connection – no batteries required.

Other great Q60D features that can also be found on the company’s higher-end TVs include Samsung Gaming Hub for cloud-based gaming from Xbox, Nvidia GeForce Now, and other apps, and Q Symphony, which lets you sync the TV’s speakers with a compatible Samsung soundbar for a bigger sound than either can offer on its own.

As the cheapest option here, it's the most lacking in features – there's no 4K 120Hz for gaming, for example – but it's still a very strong value and high-quality TV for a low price.

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Before the prequels, sequels, theme parks, video games and more, an independent sci-fi turned out to be the smash hit of summer 1977. Audiences today are almost grappling with Star Wars fatigue, but back in the late seventies, moviegoers couldn’t get enough of Luke, Han and Leia’s adventures in a galaxy far, far away.

For modern audiences, finding the original version that screened in theaters when the film was originally released has been as tough as trying to complete the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs, but now, thanks to little known streamer Cinema Box (available on Roku devices), the pure, un-tinkered with version of the seminal sci-fi is available to stream, and what’s more, it’s totally free (via Men’s Journal).

Under creator George Lucas, the Star Wars franchise has been re-edited and remastered a number of times over the years, dating all the way back to 1981, when the re-release of Star Wars (in the run up to the release of The Empire Strikes Back) saw the ‘Episode IV - A New Hope’ subtitle added.

The biggest changes came in 1997, when the entire original trilogy was given a CGI sheen, much to the dismay of long-time fans. Desolate locations became densely populated circuses, Jabba the Hutt was shoehorned where he didn’t belong and most egregiously, Han shot first. The films were altered again for the flagship 2004 DVD release, and again for their Blu Ray bow in 2011.

Since Disney’s acquisition of the franchise in 2012, no major alterations have been made bar changes to opening logos to reflect new ownership, and slight adjustments to the color, compositing and effects resolution for a 4K HDR release.

The theatrical versions of the original trilogy, particularly the pre-1981 version of Star Wars, have previously been available on VHS, LaserDisc and as bonus features on the 2006 DVD releases of the films, but to my knowledge, this is the first time the 1977 release of the OG movie has appeared on streaming.

Over on Reddit, one user pointed out that this particular edition of the film appears to be a version known as Harmy's Despecialized Edition, a fan-edit aiming to recreate the original as closely as possible – using footage from the Blu-ray release and the 1993 LaserDisc as a guide – as opposed to a genuine copy of the original master.

Comment from r/StarWars

While Cinema Box appears to be exclusive to Roku devices (so not available via a browser), it also seems to come and go – if you're interested in seeing this curio, you may need to take action at hyperspeed.

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• Roku's upping its ecosystem integration with new smart home features
• Select TVs and streaming players will now offer a picture-in-picture mode
• Smart home notifications will also appear on the big screen, thanks to this update

Roku has been on a streak of adding additional features. After updating its iconic “City” screensaver, it’s unveiling a slew of smart home features that will arrive on its streaming players and TVs.

Suffice it to say that the leading feature has been coming for a long time and will be a big win for anyone with single or multiple security cameras. Roku is bringing ‘picture-in-picture’ to its smart TV interface, meaning that if motion is detected, it won’t take over your whole screen but instead will appear in the corner of the TV.

Furthermore, if it’s an area you want to keep an eye on, you can pin that live feed to a corner of your TV. This allows you to take in whatever content you’re watching while keeping an eye on the security feed. Super handy, especially if you have a baby monitor or a dog camera. This matches the smart home picture-in-picture functionality we’ve seen on other smart TVs like Samsung’s Tizen or Google TV.

As you might expect, the picture-in-picture functionality will be rolling out to select Roku TVs and streaming players, and it works with the brand's indoor and outdoor wired cameras.

While this picture-in-picture feature is the leading new attraction, Roku's update also introduces several other features, including a “Camera Carousel,” an innovative fix for scrolling through cameras. This feature cycles through your Roku cameras and automatically switches to one if motion is detected.

We're also pleased to see smart home notifications for Roku devices finally appearing on Roku TVs. This way, you’ll get notified if motion is detected and you can easily jump into the live feed.

If you ever want to view your Roku cameras outside of the proprietary app or on the big screen, they’ve also created a website – cameras.roku.com – where you can authenticate and access a live feed.

These latest updates for Roku TVs and streaming players – like the new Ultra – strengthen the brand's ecosystem and give you deeper integration between all the devices. It’s a win if you already have a Roku TV and a camera, and it might make you invest further into Roku’s product lineup.

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• Roku City is a colorful screensaver featured on Roku devices
• It's had its resolution increased to HD
• Another free Roku upgrade

Roku City, the animated screensaver featured on Roku devices, is getting several graphical upgrades and advancements, with the free update set to roll out this week.

Roku City has first and foremost been upgraded to Full HD 1080p resolution, after spending 6 years since its release in 2018 at 720p resolution. Roku City will also show an expanded color palette for an even brighter display.

There are also new Easter Eggs and visuals featured within the scene itself, including a new train station and interactive billboards where users can learn about Roku's content and channels.

More free updates

Roku is one of the best streaming devices for offering free upgrades to its smart TV platform, with a 24/7 sports channel launched earlier this year, a free weekly trivia game and a visual upgrade in Backdrops which was introduced to the Roku Pro Series lineup, some of the best TVs on the market. Backdrops displays artwork and photos on the TV's screen in a similar style to Samsung's The Frame TVs.

Even though 2024 has been a year where Roku has introduced or hinted at the arrival of ads to its platform, whether that's Instagram-style ads or video ads, it's nice to see the company trying to make up for that with constant free updates, something other smart TV platforms and brands don't often provide.

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Roku Ultra (2024): Two-minute review

The Roku Ultra (2024) is as capable a streaming player as I’ve yet come across, though whether it’s one of the best streaming devices will depend entirely on how you feel about Roku’s onscreen interface. I am a fan. While I’ll dig into that a little more below, I find Roku’s software (and hardware) approach one that prioritizes convenience. It’s one of the reasons there’s still a need for external streaming players even though most contemporary TVs have their own built-in smart capabilities, which are usually not all that user-friendly.

The Roku Ultra (2024) is twice the price of Roku’s next most expensive streamer, the Roku Streaming Stick 4K, and in the upper range of price when it comes to these types of devices. It’s still worth it, not to mention it’s ultimately not that expensive either. Plus, if you go cheaper, you could lose out on support for Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos, HLG, and HDR10+, all of which are available here. The performance is speedy and the remote is about as good a remote as I’ve personally used. All it’s missing is a passthrough HDMI that might be a benefit in certain setups.

As far as the physical design, the Roku Ultra (2024) is about what one would expect from a Roku streaming player. It comes in the same matte black as all of the company’s products, with just a shiny “Roku” logo emblazoned on the top. There’s also a shiny patch on the front where its sensor resides and a little purple Roku tag on its right flank.

It’s fairly slim, only an inch in height (its full dimensions are 4.9 x 5 x 1 inches), and has just one physical button on the side that offers dual functionality, with one side used for power and the other triggering the “find my remote” feature. Pressing the find my remote portion will cause the remote to ping until you press a button to indicate you’ve found it.

The port selection is pretty streamlined, as is to be expected. There’s a single HDMI, an Ethernet port – Wi-Fi 6 is also available – and a USB-A port. The USB port is a nice addition as it will give you an on-unit port to charge the remote as it comes with a rechargeable battery.

Regarding the HDMI, I would have liked a pass-through HDMI port. Though this feature generally isn’t found on streaming devices, it would have made it easier to use the Roku Ultra as the main hub of a setup (for instance, if you have a gaming console).

On that note, if you have a relatively contemporary TV with HDMI eARC (I can’t speak to older ones), the Roku Ultra (2024) can be set up to automatically turn the TV on and off and also adjust volume levels. You don’t necessarily have to do any menu diving for this either, as it’s part of the streaming player’s setup to enable that feature.

Now, let’s discuss the remote. This is not my first rodeo with the Roku Voice Remote Pro (2nd edition) that comes stock with the Roku Ultra (2024). I was a fan of the remote when I reviewed the Roku Pro Series TV and I’m a fan now.

It’s only different than Roku’s other remotes on close inspection as it keeps the general shape and layout. It has a USB-C port on its butt for charging, which is an upgrade from previous rechargeable remotes that used micro-USB, a form factor I’ve had general reliability issues with. It has a toggle on one side for hands-free voice support (more on that later).

The Roku Voice Remote Pro also has a couple of extra buttons on it. There’s a reprogrammable launch button that can be used if you want a shortcut to launch an app that doesn’t already have a dedicated button on the remote, or to quickly turn on/off closed captions, just for a few examples. There’s also a guide button that launches Roku’s live TV guide channel and four app-specific launch buttons for Netflix, Disney+, Apple TV+, and Prime Video.

My only gripe is that these should all be reprogrammable (in a perfect world) since not everyone is going to be subscribed to those four apps. But my remote complaints start and end there, as the fact that its keypad is backlit – it will automatically light up when you pick it up – is fantastic.

And the Roku hands-free functionality is nice. No longer do I have to press the “listening” button, though it’s still there, to use my voice to navigate the interface. I can just say “Hey Roku, launch Netflix” to launch Netflix. It’s not perfect that you don’t have to be very clear and concise about your requests, but it generally works very well.

As far as voice assistant support goes, the Roku Ultra (2024) is compatible with Roku Smart Home, Alexa, Google Assistant, and Apple AirPlay and HomeKit. It also has Bluetooth support so you can pair headphones with it for late-night viewing.

As far as the Roku Ultra (2024)’s performance, Roku advertises its streaming device as “30% faster than any other Roku player.” While the company doesn’t advertise what the CPU is inside or even its speed, it definitely feels very speedy. The fact that it supports Wi-Fi 6, something other Roku streaming players don’t, will in and of itself contribute to the player’s faster response.

I was able to compare the Roku Ultra (2024) to the Roku Streambar for a baseline. Loading the Roku Channel on the Streambar took seven seconds and loading a movie took four. The Roku Ultra (2024) took four seconds to load the same app and one second to load the same movie. Even navigating through Roku’s interface is almost immediate.

There aren’t any holes in what the Roku Ultra (2024) supports as long as you don’t care about a 120Hz refresh rate – none of the external streaming players support that at the moment, however. What you do get is Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos, HLG and HDR10/10+. None of the other Roku streaming players support all those formats. The next most expensive one in Roku’s lineup is missing Dolby Atmos, for instance.

Lastly, we need to discuss the interface. To start, setup is easy like it always is with Roku. As long as you know your Wi-Fi password and Roku account password, all you have to do is follow the steps on the screen. Creating a new account or resetting a password (like I had to do) is easy as well. Just make sure to have access to your email for doing so.

If you’ve used previous Roku devices registered to your email and had apps installed also registered to your email, those apps will automatically be installed and logged in once you’re done with the setup.

As far as the interface itself, the main page with all the apps listed is easy to read and as intuitive as an interface could be. Deeper features, settings and such are all listed on the left side, including a few new ones like the dedicated “Sports” page. Getting through those is also intuitive. Everything makes sense in where they’re listed. For instance, when going to the section for remotes and devices, all external devices that you might connect would be listed here, or connected through settings here.

There’s also plenty of Roku-related and free content available for those of us hurting from the ever-increasing app prices. The only slightly annoying thing is the Roku content ads on the right side of the screen or during a screensaver.

I’ve always thought of Roku as a convenience-first company where making products that are easy to interact with is the priority. That’s the case with the Roku Ultra (2024), too, but in this case, performance is also a factor.

Roku Ultra (2024): Price and release date

• Price: $99.99 (about £80 / AU$150)
• Release date: September 2024

For whatever reason, Roku’s presence outside of the US is somewhat spotty. That means, at the time of writing, those in the UK or Australia will have to just look on in envy (or invest in a capable competitor).

The actual price is $99.99 (about £80 / AU$150) – at the upper price range for most streaming players outside of the Apple TV 4K – though it is already seeing discounts. That’s twice the price of the Roku Streaming Stick 4K, the next most expensive streaming-only player Roku makes (so excluding soundbars and TVs). You’ll have to decide if you care about Wi-Fi 6 support, Dolby Atmos, or the new backlit remote, which are all part of the Ultra package, but not the Streaming Stick 4K.

The new Google TV Streamer (4K) goes for the same price and has the same 4K, Dolby Atmos, Dolby Vision, and HDR10+ support, but not Wi-Fi 6 – a probable factor in how speedy these devices function. It does have a redesigned remote from the previous Chromecast players, so it’s to be seen how it compares to the new remote from Roku.

Of course, you can go a little cheaper and still keep most of the same support for HDR10+, Dolby Vision and Atmos with the Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max (2023), though Atmos is only available on select services. While it is cheaper at $59.99 / £69.99 / AU$119 (not including its many discounts), its OS is a bit heavy on Amazon Prime material, including a bunch of related ads, so keep that in mind with the price difference.

Should you buy the Roku Ultra (2024)?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

Roku Ultra (2024): Also consider

How I tested the Roku Ultra (2024)

• Used regularly for several weeks
• Tested with all sorts of apps
• Tested the remote

I used the Roku Ultra (2024) regularly for several weeks. I used it with Roku content, popular third-party content like Max, as well as free offerings from the company. I also spent time using the remote and its various functions.

I’ve tested a lot of tech gear over the years from laptops to keyboards and speakers, and so have been able to use my expertise towards giving an honest and fair opinion, not to mention a critical eye, to any product I test.

Read more about how we test

First reviewed November 2024

Roku wants to make its Ultra streaming set-top box even more Ultra; at least, that’s the aim of its next-generation device. The new Roku Ultra keeps a very familiar look, with a basically identical build and – more importantly – sticks to the same $99 (about £75 / AU$145) price. 

The Ultra is still a simple, rounded square streaming box that comes in one color, black – though it does sport a flash of color with a purple tag displaying the Roku logo. It’s all familiar on the outside, and speaks to the fact that unlike, say, the new Google TV Streamer, the Roku Ultra isn’t necessarily designed to be seen. It can sit alongside the TV on a home entertainment cabinet, or just be shoved behind it. 

All the changes lie under the hood – and they're all centered around speed.

The fastest Roku yet

The new Ultra is powered by a quad-core processor that Roku says was built from the ground up for "cinematic streaming," and which promises to be 30% faster than other players in the Roku lineup. 

It should make the Roku OS platform run smoothly and enable faster, more instantaneous application openings, but it also lets this player support more formats. With HDR10+ and Dolby Vision on board, this Ultra is the first to support all the major HDR formats – in addition to its 4K and Dolby Atmos support. This means that if you pair this with the right TV, streamed content will look especially nice.

Like the Roku Ultra (2020), the Ultra still features an HDMI 2.1 port. It also supports Quick Media Switching, which should reduce slowdowns if the refresh rate changes. Inside is Wi-Fi 6 for faster streaming, assuming you have the right Wi-Fi access points. Roku uses machine learning and AI to predict what you might want to watch next, and queue up the respective app or show for a faster start to streaming. It keeps an Ethernet port for a wired connection as well.

If you want to listen privately, you can now connect a pair of the best Bluetooth headphones to the Roku Ultra. This levels the playing field with the Apple TV 4K and the Google TV Streamer, and it’s a long-awaited and welcome addition.

Roku adds two buttons to the Voice Remote Pro and adopts USB-C

In the box, you get Roku’s second-edition Voice Remote Pro, which keeps an ergonomic design and buttons for easy TV control, including power and volume. All of the buttons are now backlit, and there are two new ones. The Quick Launch button is shaped like a rocket ship and gives you easy access to shortcuts, such as engaging closed captions or opening your favorite streaming service. The other addition is a Live TV button, which gives you access to all over 400 channels that are available for free.

Perhaps the biggest change is the Voice Remote Pro second-edition gaining a USB-C port for easy re-charging. It still has a speaker built in for easy locating it should get lost in between the couch cushions. The new Roku Ultra features a dedicated button to ping the remote, as on the Google TV streamer. Lastly, the remote again has a microphone, so that you can easily control your Roku Ultra with your voice.

Roku is taking orders now for the new Roku Ultra at $99 in the United States and Canada. It will be available from additional retailers in the coming weeks, and we’ve contacted Roku for comment on whether it will launch in additional territories. 

We’ll be back soon with our full review of the Roku Ultra, as soon as we’re done testing the streaming box to see how well it stands up against our current best streaming devices. 

Roku also teased some software enhancements and feature drops arriving in the coming weeks as part of Roku OS 14. Building off the voice control functionality enabled by the Voice Remote Pro, Roku will eventually let you access a laundry list of settings with your voice. Teased was the ability to adjust home screen tiles, check for software updates, and even switch to a guest mode. 

Additionally, Roku is focusing more on content for families and children, with a new spot on the home screen that should make finding family-friendly content easier, including adding familiar characters including the Cat in the Hat and Peppa Pig to the home screen tiles.

The Roku app for Android and iOS is also getting a bit more powerful. It lets you keep your TV controls while browsing for content on the same screen. You can also search for content here, then make the call and have it start playing on your Roku streaming player or Roku-connected TV. 

Roku isn't giving a specific timeframe for the rollout of these features, but says the software improvements will arrive in the coming months.

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Roku is launching a brand new 24/7 sports channel on August 12 in the United States, aptly dubbed the Roku Sports Channel. It is a FAST (free ad-supported TV) streaming service, meaning you won’t need to pay for a subscription or sign up for an account to gain access. All you'll need to watch is either the official app on your smartphone, own one of the company’s devices, or visit the Roku Channel website.

According to the announcement, the channel will air a wide array of sports and sports-adjacent content “that Roku owns and licenses.” This includes live Major League Baseball games via MLB Sunday Leadoff, Formula E races, talk shows like Good Morning Football: Overtime, and even some original programming.

Beyond traditional sports, Roku’s channel will also be hosting “exclusive partner content," including archival fights through Top Rank boxing, MMA matches via combat sports platform Swere Sport, and even poker games from PokerGO.

The company plans to expand its exclusive programming down the line, with Roku promising it'll eventually air NBA G-League games and minor basketball leagues in the US. What's more, an original documentary centered around former WNBA player Renee Montgomery is in the pipeline, too.

Live sports streaming

The rollout of the Roku Sports Channel comes at an interesting time as other platforms are attempting to expand into sports. Disney, Fox, and Warner Bros. Discovery announced back in May that they’re working together to create Venu, a streaming service completely devoted to delivering live sports. 

Not much is known about Venu beyond what kind of content it'll have, and we could see it roll out within the coming months as the three companies are aiming for a Fall 2024 launch. Then, on Christmas Day, Netflix is scheduled to air two pro football games, one after the other, as part of a new partnership with the NFL.

Roku’s channel will serve as a free alternative to sports fans admist rising subscription costs. Plus, its early release date gives it an edge over the competition that's still getting things ready. We are, however, concerned about the content it’ll host.

Remember: the Sports Channel will only show “programming that Roku owns and licenses,” leading us to believe that perhaps their library won’t be as robust as something like ESPN Plus. This wouldn’t surprise us, as subscription-based streaming services typically have better content offerings. We reached out to Roku for more information and we’ll update this story if we hear back.

While we have you, be sure to check out TechRadar's list of the best TVs for 2024.

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Several vulnerabilities have been identified by Bitdefender in the ThroughTek Kalay Platform, upon which huge numbers of devices rely upon for IoT integration.

The flaws have severe ramifications for vendors further down the supply chain, with a number of prominent security cameras for businesses and domestic use suffering from a chain of vulnerabilities that provide root access from the local networks, and in some cases fully compromise the device.

The impacted cameras have been identified as the Owlet Cam v1 and v2, Roku Indoor Camera SE, and Wyze Cam v3.

Vulnerabilities through the lens

Supply chain attacks are becoming an increasingly lucrative target for threat actors, and not just for IoT devices. By finding vulnerabilities in software at the top of the supply chain, it is possible to exploit a range of software, services and devices further down the chain.

In this case, the software at the top is the ThroughTek Kalay platform which powers over 100 million devices around the globe, many of which are security oriented devices such as surveillance cameras.

The vulnerabilities identified by Bitdefender for this platform are tracked as CVE-2023-6321, which allows an authenticated user to run system commands as the root user leading to full compromise of the device, and CVE-2023-6322, which enables attackers to gain root access through a stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability in the handler of an IOCTL message, typically employed in configuring motion detection zones in cameras.

Further vulnerabilities, tracked as CVE-2023-6323 and CVE-2023-6324, can be combined with the aforementioned in a number of stacked combinations to allow attackers to gain access to the devices. The first allows a local attacker to leak the AuthKey secret by impersonating the P2P cloud server used by the device, with the second vulnerability allowing a local attacker to infer the pre-shared key for a DTLS session by forcing an empty buffer.

These vulnerabilities were first spotted by Bitdefender on October 19 2023, and have since been patched by their individual vendors. Bitdefender urges owners of the affected devices to ensure that all device updates are installed as and when they become available to mitigate existing and future vulnerabilities.

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Roku is now making its users enable two-factor authentication (2FA), after it suffered two sizeable security breaches recently.

In the both incidents, customer data was leaked: first in March, when 15,000 accounts were found for sale on the dark web, which could have allowed those with access to them to purchase subscriptions with the stored payment details within.

Then, earlier in April 2024, Roku suffered another cyberattack which affected over half a million users. Accounts were attacked using the credential-stuffing method, where hackers try to brute force accounts using credentials obtained in other breaches, hoping users have reused the same username and passwords for their Roku accounts.   

Extra protection

Users affected by the latter incident were made to change their Roku account passwords. But now, the streaming service is making two-factor authentication mandatory for all users. The change is already taking place, with users being notified via email to set it up.

2FA typically involves having to input a time-sensitive code - also known as a Time-based One-time Password (TOTP) - after logging in with your username and password. It adds an extra layer of security, to ensure that it is really the user, and not a hacker, who is trying to access your account. 

The TOTP is usually sent to your mobile device, either via an SMS text or using a dedicated authenticator app. These generate a series of codes which constantly refresh for each account that has 2FA enabled. The code must be inputted on the login page in question before it changes to a new code.

For organizations that want to increase security even further, physical security keys can be used instead, which perform the same task, but minimize the risk of being hacked over using a smartphone to generate codes.

Despite the extra protection, 2FA (and also Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)) is not invulnerable. For instance, SMS is thought to be the least secure delivery method for 2FA codes, since phone numbers can be cloned by cybercriminals in SIM-swapping scams, allowing them to read all the messages you receive.

Cybercriminals can also bombard users with so-called MFA fatigue attacks, where users are prompted to authenticate an illegitimate login attempt, which they accept just to make the notifications stop. These attacks rely on authentication methods that simply ask the user to confirm or deny a login attempt, without needing to input a code.

There have also been reports of hackers stealing session cookies that have already been authenticated by users with MFA, meaning they don't even need to have access to the codes to break into an account.

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Top TV streaming service Roku has confirmed suffering a second major cyberattack, with this one affecting more than half a million users. 

Late last week, Roku said that unnamed threat actors engaged in a second wave of credential stuffing attack, during which they managed to compromise 576,000 accounts. 

In the first wave, roughly 15,000 accounts were breached.

Major breach

“After concluding our investigation of this first incident, we notified affected customers in early March and continued to monitor account activity closely to protect our customers and their personal information. Through this monitoring we identified a second incident, which impacted approximately 576,000 additional accounts,” the company said in a breach notification. 

"There is no indication that Roku was the source of the account credentials used in these attacks or that Roku’s systems were compromised in either incident.”

Accessing accounts this way is always dangerous, as threat actors can obtain a vast database of valuable, personally identifiable information. 

However, in this incident, they did more than that, apparently: "In less than 400 cases, malicious actors logged in and made unauthorized purchases of streaming service subscriptions and Roku hardware products using the payment method stored in these accounts, but they did not gain access to any sensitive information, including full credit card numbers or other full payment information."

Credential stuffing is a type of attack in which hackers first obtain login credentials elsewhere (for example, on a dark web forum), and then try them on different services to see if they work. They often do, since many people use the same username/password combination across multiple services.

Roku said its servers were not the source of the data leak, and to tackle the issue, it reset the passwords for everyone involved, and set up mandatory multi-factor authentication (MFA). Even those accounts that were not compromised in this attack are now forced to use MFA.

Via BleepingComputer

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Roku is planning a raft of Roku TV software updates that will make them smarter and prettier (even when not streaming your favorite content) and they're not just for new sets.

Ever since Roku announced its Pro line of TV sets, wall-mounted units that radically cut down bezels and have something of a shadow-box look, the company appears to be fixating more and more on aesthetic appeal.

This week, for instance, the company is launching Backdrops. The name is something of a misnomer since Backdrops doesn't put anything behind your best Roku Streaming TV image. Instead, the idea is more Samsung The Frame-like, replacing your traditional Roku City screen-saver image with a museum-quality work of art. On The Frame's non-reflective, high-resolution displays, this art is, from a distance, almost indistinguishable from paintings. Roku TV sets are more varied in quality, so the effect might not be the same.

While Roku told me that they expect this art gallery collection to look better on its new Pro series line, virtually all previous Roku TVs will also support the Backdrop update to display mesmerizing works of art. All sets will adjust brightness to make the artwork look more vibrant. Sets with built-in ambient light sensors will, on the other hand, adjust luminosity based on the level of external light. The company couldn't describe any specific pieces or where it's sourcing the museum piece images but it did tell me that you'll be able to curate your own collection or simply choose one piece of art as your go-to Backdrop.

Roku is also enhancing the intelligence of all Roku TVs with Roku Smart Picture. Essentially, any Roku TV will, with this software upgrade, be able to analyze what you're watching and improve the image based on the content. If for instance, it detects a sports game, the TV will automatically switch to sports mode. If there's content tuned to Dolby HDR10, then the set will adjust to support the image quality output.

As with backdrops, even the oldest Roku TVs will get the Smart Picture update. However, newer sets like the Pro series will get more out of it. Those sets feature a dedicated neural processing Unit (NPU). As a result, Roku Pro TVs will get Roku Smart Picture Max, which will analyze content on a scene-by-scene basis. If, for instance, Smart Picture Max detects a sky in the image, it'll boost the vividness to make it look more natural. A city skyline might get a sharpness boost to make it pop in just the right way.

Roku is also updating its overall platform, adding IMDB ratings to the browse and discover area, adding a top-searched Movies and TV row, and even enhancing its now iconic Roku City with new vehicles, including an ice cream truck and secret agent car.

While the software updates are not available today, Roku will roll them out in the coming months. Roku TVs and Roku-branded models sold this year will come with Smart Picture on by default. Older models that get the software update will need to enable Smart Picture in settings.

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15,363 Roku accounts were compromised last year as bad actors gained access to a lot of sensitive data on the platform. Evidence suggests they obtained credit card information and attempted to make purchases.

This news comes from a pair of filings Roku made on March 8 to the attorneys general's offices for Maine and California. They both come with a notice explaining exactly what happened. The document is publicly available if you want to get the full details. But the gist of it is that the hackers bought customer usernames and passwords from a third-party source and then proceeded to enter Roku accounts. This process is known as a credential stuffing attack, according to tech news site BleepingComputer who initially discovered the two notices.

After gaining access, the bad actors changed the account’s login information, locking out the original owner. Roku states the hackers also tried to buy streaming subscriptions using stored credit cards. Because the details were altered, account holders would not have received order confirmation emails if the hackers bought something.

Keeping safe

"The Maine filing states the attacks occurred on December 28, 2023 and February 21, 2024." In response, Roku quickly “secured the accounts from further unauthorized access”. They then required registered owners to reset their passwords while it investigated the fraudulent activity. Experts at the company successfully stopped "unauthorized subscriptions” and refunded all the charges made under a user’s name.

They confirmed other types of sensitive information like social security numbers were not a part of the attack. Currently, Roku's security team is watching for any further “signs of suspicious activity.”

A Roku representative didn't offer much new information when reached for comment. In an email, they explained the attacks again, how they took immediate steps and added the team is taking the "incident very seriously." 

Roku's rep did give us a list of what users should do moving forward. First, they suggest resetting your password by visiting the My Roku website. 

If you’re having trouble accessing your profile, they ask that you contact the company for help. An assistance phone number can be found on the notice document. Next, check if any extra subscriptions or unknown devices have been added. Those will most likely belong to a hacker. You can find them on your account’s dashboard.

We also recommend entering your credentials into HaveIBeenPwned to see if your data has been leaked online. Roku states the incident only affects a "very small percentage" of subscribers, but it couldn't hurt to check.

Diving deeper

Going back to the BleepingComputer report, the publication dove deeper into the situation, uncovering an online retailer selling stolen login credentials. And get this: you can buy access to a Roku account for as low as 50 cents. 

Each listing comes with a set of instructions detailing how to change account details “to make fraudulent purchases.” What’s worse is these bad actors seemingly gloat on Telegram, posting screenshots of things they’ve bought using stolen credentials.

It’s unknown how these logins made their way online. It's possible the credentials were taken from an earlier breach and then posted on the dark marketplace, but that's just our best guess. It's a pretty scary situation all around. If you want to know how to beef up your digital security, check out TechRadar's list of nine tips to protect your online life.

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• Your Roku TV and streaming stick will stop working unless you agree to controversial new terms

Roku has reportedly been rolling out a new update to its terms and conditions this week but not everyone's onboard with the controversial changes. The update concerns its dispute resolution terms, which became effective on February 20. 

It requires that not only must all legal complaints you may have about your Roku products be handled through arbitration with the company rather than using the courts (which was already part of Roku's terms), but now your complaints must first be handled in person or over a call with a Roku lawyer before you can even get arbitration.

According to comments posted on the Roku Community support page, owners of Roku devices – whether it be a Roku TV such as the Roku Plus Series or a Roku streaming box such as the Roku Streaming Stick 4K – started receiving a notifications (pictured below) about the updated legal clause as early as last Friday (March 1). 

That means that the first reported incident of someone being notified about the updated terms was 10 days after the change became effective. Unsurprisingly, many are annoyed about the delayed notification but to make matters even more frustrating, Roku has disabled the use of its devices until the new terms are accepted.

Is it time to ditch Roku? 

I'm probably not alone in haphazardly accepting lengthy terms and conditions from various softwares, devices and websites, but that isn't to say that it's not important to pay attention to them. The extreme end result of agreeing to a clause that could be harmful to you later on is best warned in the first episode from season six of Black Mirror, where a fictional streaming service takes the identity of a user that unassumingly agreed to it in the company's terms and conditions.   

While this may sound outlandish, it still serves as a good reminder to be cautious of what you agree to before joining a new service. There are, for example, useful tools now freely available online that can summarize texts like terms and conditions for you but it's still important to give them a once over yourself, too. If, on the other hand, you'd rather not agree to Roku's new conditions, you can contest them to a… Roku legal representative.

What especially wrankles here is that the deal has changed in the middle of your use of the product, and if you don't accept these terms that are just dropped on you, your product is no good. 

And from the looks of online forums, there are some considering ditching their Roku devices off the back of the changes. Several Roku owners have responded with resounding frustration online to the new enforced clause, posting comments that threaten to stop using their devices altogether. The backlash comes at a time when Roku is adding even more ads so it appears this may be the final straw. If you're considering switching to one of the other best streaming devices then check out our top picks. 

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A patent by Sonos, which was filed on December 14 last year, suggests the company’s plan to develop a streaming box to rival Roku and Apple TV might also feature multiple HDMI ports, presumably for connecting external devices such as soundbars, games consoles, Blu-ray players and so on.   

Recent analysis of the Sonos TV patent was released via Lowpass, which discussed how it would allow you to connect the all-in-one media box to one of the best TVs with just a single HDMI cable. 

Although it hasn’t been officially confirmed by Sonos, who make some of the best wireless speakers around, this new device could be released in late 2024/early 2025 and cost roughly $150-200 if an earlier report by Bloomberg is true. Sonos TV will reportedly feature apps from streaming services such as Netflix and Disney Plus, and also support Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos. 

If the patent’s multiple HDMI ports end up making their way into the device, the Sonos TV may be able to sync audio across a whole sound system, acting as an A/V receiver of sorts. Its single connection is also reminiscent of the One Connect Box that you’d find on some Samsung TVs – such as one of the best OLED TVs around, the Samsung S95C – which enables multiple  external devices to be connected to a box that is subsequently connected by a single cable to the TV, keeping things tidy.  

It’s also suggested that Sonos TV may have a new control app, much like the one that its speakers and soundbars use for setup and adjusting settings, rather than a remote control. It seems Sonos are championing a second screen control method rather than a remote as the patent reportedly says that “the use of a smartphone (...) is far simpler than navigating a conventional television menu”. 

Another large part of the patent explores a ‘Friends & Family’ feature that will allow users to follow each other and make movie and TV show recommendations, adding yet another layer to the Sonos TV device.

Interestingly, there is also mention of the Sonos TV not including an app store. The patent suggests that it would leave that to the app management and updates of streaming apps to control the device itself, replacing the built-in app stores found in other streaming devices from Amazon, Roku and Apple. 

It’s worth stressing at this point that this is all speculation, as nothing has been officially confirmed by Sonos. This information has been gathered from a patent application, which is still pending so that means there will likely be significant differences between it and the final product. But, if Sonos does manage to pull the Sonos TV off, what does this mean for the future of home theaters?  

Analysis: Sonos – the future media hub to beat? 

Sonos has always been about connectivity and smart streaming. The ability to control its speakers in different areas of a house by pairing them together in one app has been one of its strongest features. 

Reading deeper into the patent, it seems like it now wants to do this with the video side as well, further integrating  devices into one seamless control app. If Sonos really can pull off a more cable-tidied approach, similar to Samsung’s One Connect, whilst also serving as a streaming unit, this really could be an all-in-one solution. 

The more you read into the patent, the more it starts to sound like an A/V receiver of sorts. The Sonos TV seems to go beyond a simple streaming box and more into a home entertainment hub system that will allow users to connect all their devices together to one box, which will then pass the sound evenly around the TV, Blu-ray, soundbar and so on all from one cable, but also be a media center for all streaming apps such as an Amazon Fire Stick or Roku Stick. 

There isn’t a great deal about whether the sound from the Sonos TV box itself could then be passed wirelessly to surround speakers, but in theory this would create a solution to any sync issues. If this could be achieved, the Sonos TV really would be a jack-of-all-trades.

It’s fun to speculate on all this but just to reiterate, none of this is confirmed or official and the Sonos TV could be a completely different product altogether. If, however, it does achieve in doing all the above, it’s unlikely it’ll only be $150-200…

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Roku has announced that more ads will be coming to the home screens of its devices and TVs in the near future, according to a statement made to the publication Adexchanger (as reported by FlatpanelsHD) at CES.

In the statement to Adexchanger, Roku’s VP of global ad sales and partnerships, Kristian Shepard, said that it will “immerse advertisers in more parts of the screen and home” via interactive and 'shoppable' ad formats.

The ads won’t reportedly be limited to entertainment or media, but will include ads for restaurants and cars. This follows on from Roku's introduction of interactive ads in June 2023 that acted as ‘virtual showrooms’ and allowed users to click around a ‘virtual catalog’, Shepard told Adexchanger. She also mentioned how they had tried this with Subaru and would be looking to expand to other areas such as travel. 

Roku is one of the better smart TV platforms on the market, thanks to its simple layout and its constant innovations including a bigger, better menu introduced last year and a free update that makes it easier to find movies and TV shows. Although ads are a necessary revenue for a lot of companies, especially one that prides itself on budget devices, do we really need more ads on home screens? 

Yet more ads 

In a time where several companies, such as Prime Video, are inserting more ads unless you pay more money, it’s disappointing to see that Roku, whose operating system we have praised before, is now trying to turn its home screen into an ad platform. This could mean that anyone with a Roku device could soon be going from a cluttered, ad-ridden home page straight into an app, say Prime Video or YouTube, that has even more ads in it. 

Interestingly, on Roku devices, the home screen is already taken up by a large portion of ads, usually up to one third, so what does it mean if Roku is looking to add even more? Currently, Roku does explain how you can change your ad preferences on its website, from what types of ads you see and even how to hide them. Will you be able to do this with these new ads after they’re introduced? 

Hopefully, there will be some way to mitigate these ads still, such as using Roku’s method above. But from the sounds of it, it is trying to put its devices in more homes and as Shepard said (via Adexchanger) with “more reach comes more opportunity for advertising”, which ultimately means more money for Roku. 

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Roku has quietly revealed a new, affordable streaming bundle called the Roku Express 4K with Voice Remote Pro.

The devices themselves aren’t anything new as they’ve both been around for several years, albeit sold separately. The Express 4K box, as the name suggests, can output video up to 4K resolution (3,840 x 2,160 pixels) at 60 FPS and comes with image-enhancing tech like HDR10 as well as HDR10 Plus. It supports dual-band wireless networks across 2.4GHz and 5Ghz signals. With this, you can have good-performing streams across multiple TVs with the Express 4K at the center of this interconnecting web. All these software features can be easily accessed or configured through Roku’s easy-to-use operating system. 

The Voice Remote Pro is pretty impressive in its own right. It offers “hand-free voice control” which can be activated by a simple “Hey Roku” command. Just by uttering that one command, you’ll be able to power up your TV, control streaming platforms, play movies, or find the remote if you ever lose it in between the couch cushions. Additionally, it has a headphone port on the side for private listening.

Other than that, this is your garden variety remote control. The Voice Remote Pro has the typical buttons you’d expect like the volume adjuster and a directional pad for navigating menus. Plus, there are shortcuts at the bottom for key streaming services like Netflix, as well as two programmable buttons.

Normally, we would direct you to pre-order the Roku Express 4K with Voice Remote Pro combo. However, it is currently sold out at the time of this writing. News site ZDNET states in their report the bundle costs $50 “with orders shipping on October 3." No word on when it’ll come back – although we did ask.

Made for you

Interestingly, the timing of this unveiling comes about a week after Amazon announced its new Fire TV Stick 4K as well as the second generation Fire TV Stick 4K Max. Roku apparently wants to take the battle for your viewership directly to Amazon, as it’s also been reported by ZDNet that the Express 4K bundle will be sold exclusively on Amazon’s website. But the question is, will it be enough to draw customers to Roku? Maybe, but it’ll be tough.

You see, the upcoming Fire TV Stick 4K has features powered by the company’s own generative AI tech. The AI will be able to “learn” what you like and “how you browse” in order to recommend content that’s perfect for you. It even powers the device’s new art creation tool.

As impressive as this is, perhaps you’re just not interested in anything related to AI. Maybe you want a straightforward, easy-to-use product. Well, that’s the Roku’s Express 4K bundle. 

While we have you, be sure to check out TechRadar’s list of the best streaming deals for September 2023.

Update 9-28-2023: A company representative told us there was a glitch on Amazon's website stating it was sold out when it wasn't. If you're interested in picking one up, you can head over to official product listing on Amazon for $49.99.

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What do New York, LA, Miami and Chicago have in common? As of this week, they're among the cities whose local news channels are being added to the free Roku Channel, which has over 80,000 movies and shows, so you can stream them on your Roku TV or other Roku device.

The Roku Channel is available to anybody who has a Roku TV like the Roku Plus Series or one of the best Roku streaming devices, such as the Roku Express or Roku Streaming Stick, as well as via the Roku website. And the new additions are good news for news fans in particular, because it means you'll be able to get local news channels and other key content from some Fox and CBS affiliates.

Why is Roku adding these free channels?

It's all about trying to be top dog in the booming FAST (Free Ad-Supported Television) market, in which Roku is a key player alongside the likes of Amazon's Freevee and Tubi. By adding local content as well as shows from NBCUniversal, MrBeast, sports, family and Spanish-language programming, Roku wants to make its FAST offering even more attractive. 

Although, of course, the rival free channels aren't sitting still either. Amazon announced a whole bunch of new Freevee channels back in June and added a lot of Amazon Originals to the service the month before.

The full list of new channels is available on the Roku website here, and as you can see the news content covers quite a lot of cities as well as channels for Murder She Wrote, Saved By The Bell, Little House on the Prairie, crime drama, favorite sitcoms and kids' shows.

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The image at the top of this story may be the next generation of Roku's smart TV interface, which is currently being tested. The image, which was posted to the r/Roku subreddit, has been confirmed to be the new revamped look, as multiple Roku owners found it appearing on their TVs over the weekend.

Roku has since confirmed, via the Cord Cutters News site, that the images are indeed a new home screen design that Roku is testing. Although, it has not yet been made official about whether it will be rolled out to streaming devices like the Roku Streaming Stick 4K or TV models that use the OS.  

As you can see from the image above, the big change here is the number of tiles. Instead of a three-column grid with four rows, which is what the current Roku interface uses, it's a four-column grid with four rows. That means instead of twelve tiles you get sixteen.

Is this the next-generation of the Roku TV interface?

Maybe. But the fact that it's only appearing for some users rather than all users suggests that Roku is currently experimenting rather than committing to this new design. It may go with this design or something very much like it, or it might decide that actually it's quite happy with the way things are.

The last time Roku made a significant update to its TV interface was in April 2023, when it tweaked the home screen design. But Roku tends to announce new streaming devices in September – it introduced the 2022 Roku Express in September of that year – so it's possible that it's testing interface changes in anticipation of launching a new streaming device next month – we already Roku among the best streaming devices for your TV. 

Then again, maybe it's just changing for the sake of it. Apple's been moving things around in tvOS and Google TV rearranged the on-screen furniture earlier this year too, so perhaps Roku is just planning to freshen up its interface to stay current. The firm isn't currently saying much. It's confirmed the legitimacy of the screenshot, but beyond that it's a case of no comment for now.  

Google TV and Android TV owners in the US are getting a really nice free upgrade. The Roku Channel, which is made up of Roku TVs' free channels that don't require a paid subscription, gives you access to over 80,000 free movies and programs. 

It's already available to an estimated 100 million people in the US through the Roku streaming stick 4K, Roku TVs like the Roku Plus Series as well as Fire TVs and some Samsung TVs, but this move should make it an even more accessible. 

The Roku Channel is a mix of over 350 live, linear television channels covering news, sport and entertainment, and on-demand streaming of films, such as Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, Die Hart and The Great American Baking Show.

Roku wants to win the FAST race

In industry-speak, the Roku Channel is what's known as a FAST service: free, ad-supported television. It's a market sector that's expanding very rapidly, especially in the US, where Roku is facing off against the likes of Freevee (owned by Amazon), Vizio WatchFree Plus and Tubi. 

These services aren't the same as the ad-supported plans offered by Netflix or Hulu; those plans use ads to cut the price, but they still charge a subscription. FAST channels don't, and while that doesn't preclude them from offering paid-for content such as movies on demand the main offering is designed to be completely free.

Although every FAST service is different, the majority rely on showing you a fairly wide selection of content with regular ads of 15-30 seconds in length, much like traditional TV channels do. And behind the new names are some very familiar faces such as Viacom/CBS (Pluto), Fox (Tubi), NBCU (Peacock) as well as tech firms including Samsung and Amazon.

According to S&P Market Intelligence, these channels are going to be a big deal. It predicts they'll bring in $9 billion in ad revenues n 2026, and viewing time is currently going up 10% year on year. It seems that people aren't going for these channels to replace paid-for streaming but to complement it, and while streaming services are seeing their growth slow it's the opposite story for FAST. Chances are if you're not already watching them, you will be soon.

Roku continues growing its smart home security lineup as it'll soon launch its brand new $100 Home Monitoring System SE package.

“Developed in partnership with Wyze Labs,” the package consists of two door and window sensors, one motion sensor, a keypad, and a central hub with a built-in siren. Roku told TechCrunch the sensors can detect human “movement up to 25 feet away with a 120 degree [field of view]”. So your dog can walk right in front of a sensor and nothing will go off. When triggered, the alarms will notify authorities for help,or you can “request emergency assistance” via the Roku app. The latter, however, can only be chosen if you're a subscriber to the Roku Smart Home Professional Monitoring plan which is an extra $9.99 per month. 

Setup, according to the announcement post, is pretty easy to do as the system "offers guides videos [plus] clear illustrations" to help with installation. You don’t need any special tools or technical know-how to get everything working. This is a package for beginners, after all. 

Through either the Roku Smart Home app or the keypad, users can configure how the security system monitors. You can choose to be notified when the “sensors detect a door is opened or closed or an alarm goes off". You’ll also be able to arm or disarm the security system at any time via the app or keypad by selecting one of three modes: Home, Away, or Off.

Self-monitoring

If any of this sounds familiar, that’s because Wyze sells the exact same package as the Home Monitoring Core Starter Kit for the same exact price on its website. The main difference between the two is you will be able to self-monitor on Roku’s system either through a Roku TV or Roku player.

The catch of the self-monitoring feature is that it won't be available at launch. Instead, it'll roll out over the coming weeks. Once the update arrives, your Roku TV will begin displaying on-screen notifications as well as an alarm countdown whenever a “sensor is triggered.” For those who have Roku Cameras, a live feed can be transmitted directly to the display. Additionally, the company is expanding its Roku Voice control scheme to work with more hardware like smart lights and bulbs. 

Availability

Roku’s Home Monitoring System SE is currently available for pre-order on the company’s website in the US only. Shipping date is set for May 24. Since it’s only five devices, you may find the overall package a little lacking especially if you live in a medium-sized house. Roku does sell the sensors and keypads individually on its online store so you can buy those to further supplement your security system. Do note the sensors have the same shipping date of May 24 whereas the keypad doesn't. You can buy one today and you won't have to wait very long for delivery. If you don’t want to wait until the 24th, you can buy the Home Monitoring System at select Walmart locations beginning May 15.

An international launch is unknown at this time. We asked Roku if it has plans to expand the Home Monitoring System to other regions and will update this story if we get a response.

Roku’s latest offering is great for beginners, but if you want something more robust be sure to check out TechRadar’s list of the best home security systems for 2023. 

Some Google TV users are reporting that the operating system is showing them ads for cars and iPhones instead of the TV and film recommendations the service usually shares.

The smart TV OS that comes installed on devices like the Chromecast with Google TV 4K streaming stick – as well as a bunch of Sony and TCL of TVs like the Sony A95K QD-OLED TV – offers users a convenient way to access the best streaming services, and to curate a watchlist of content across their favorite platforms. What’s more, Google’s OS can make your TV feel especially smart by offering recommendations for shows you might enjoy based on your viewing habits, and it recently added specific pages for browsing movies and TV shows from services you subscribe to.

While these recommendations are effectively adverts – a point which feels especially clear if the recommended content is exclusive to a paid service you aren’t subscribed to – at least it felt relevant to what the OS is being used for. If you had literally no idea what to watch one evening, these suggestions offered a potential place for you to start and might help you discover a new favorite film or show.

However, Google is seemingly starting to trim back on its film and show advice for some users. The front page carousel that once exclusively featured a list of content you should watch is now replacing some slots with advertising for an assortment of products and services including Chrysler cars and iPhones (via Reddit).

Many users are saying they’re still only seeing their usual suite of recommendations, but we wouldn’t be surprised if these more typical ads became much more widespread in the coming months.

Showing me ads? Show me a discount

Ads are slowly taking over all across the TV and streaming space.

Rival streaming stick Roku has made it clear that it wants to turn its TV OS into a “next-generation ad platform,” a transformation we’re already seeing with efforts like its Walmart ads that let you shop through your TV. Then there are the streaming services themselves with Netflix and Disney Plus launching ad-supported tiers in 2022. And let's not forget that recent dystopian-sounding Sony patent that would ask TV watchers to shout a brand name to end an advert.

But TV OS adverts definitely seem like the worst of the bunch. Who wants to shell out a considerable amount on a top-of-the-line Sony QD-OLED only to have it feel like an at-home billboard every time you switch it on? What’s more, unlike ad-supported services and products that have come before, there’s not yet any indication that users will be able to get a discount on Google TV streaming sticks or TVs if they agree with being shown these ads.

Unfortunately with the way things are progressing, it looks like Google TV and other mainstream smart TV platforms will just serve us ads and expect us to pay full price for the privilege.

If you want to find a better smart TV platform than Google TV then check out our picks for the best smart TV platform of 2023.

Streaming stick-maker Roku has announced that it is getting into the TV game with two lineups of Roku-branded TVs. The new models will complement third-party sets that currently licence the Roku smart TV interface, and are a logical next-step in the company’s expansion into hardware manufacturing following the arrival of Roku-branded soundbars and wireless speakers in 2021 and 2022.

The two forthcoming Roku TV lineups are the Select and Plus Series, with the latter offering a local dimming LED backlight. There will be 11 models in total, with screen sizes ranging from 24 inches up to 75 inches. Details about screen resolution and HDR support weren’t made available in the press release the company timed to coincide with the start of CES 2023, though all models are said to be shipping in spring.

The main difference between the Select and Plus TVs appears to be the inclusion in the latter series of a Roku Voice Remote Pro feature that allows for hands-free voice commands. Select models, meanwhile, will come with a standard Roku Voice Remote with a built-in mic offering push-to-talk control.

Roku’s release also mentions a new Roku TV wireless soundbar which will integrate with the new sets and other Roku wireless speakers, and has a spring 2023 ship date.

OLED Roku TV reference design 

Along with the new TVs and soundbar, Roku has announced the availability of a premium OLED reference design that the company’s partners can use as a basis for future Roku-branded OLED TVs. While no Roku-branded OLED sets were announced for CES, this news indicates that less pricey OLED Roku TVs from third-party makers could be forthcoming later in 2023 or 2024.

Analysis: Roku TVs were inevitable, but a Roku OLED TV is a welcome surprise 

Roku’s products have consistently ranked among the best streaming devices, and models like the Streaming Stick 4K continue to be a popular option due to their combination of low cost and desirable features like Dolby Vision HDR support.

The streaming hardware market has become very competitive, however, with companies like Amazon with its Fire TV Stick 4K Max selling streaming sticks that compete well with Roku on features and price. Even Apple has lowered the price of its latest-gen Apple TV 4K to the point where someone buying a Roku streamer might consider Apple’s hardware instead.

At the same time, the Roku interface, with its Live TV portal, is used by TV brands like TCL and Hisense has also gained plenty of competition from the likes of Google TV, Amazon Fire TV, and now also TiVo. Clearly, Roku needs to diversify to remain competitive, and home entertainment hardware is the obvious answer. With Roku-branded soundbars, wireless speakers and subwoofers, and even smart home devices now on the market, Roku-branded TVs were inevitable.

The upside for viewers here is that Roku hardware has traditionally been sold at affordable prices, and the company’s forthcoming TVs, which top out at $999 for a 75-inch model, will follow that model — and also provide stiff competition to Amazon’s own Fire TVs. We look forward to hearing more details about the new Roku TVs, and especially a future OLED model, which based on value alone could end up on our list of the best OLED TVs. 

• Check out all of TechRadar's CES 2023 coverage. We're bringing you all the breaking tech news and launches, everything from 8K TVs and foldable displays to new phones, laptops and smart home gadgets.

Proud Samsung smart TV and Roku device owners have an extra reason to feel chuffed, with the news that Apple is offering device owners three months of free access to Apple TV Plus.  

A subscription to the iPhone maker’s streaming service normally costs $4.99 / £4.99 / AU$7.99 per month but from now through to November 28, Samsung Smart TV and Roku device owners can sign up for three months of free viewing.

The offer for Samsung TVs is limited to 2018-2022 models, while Roku owners will need a recent streaming box or stick from the company that is compatible with the service.

To make use of the trial, you'll need to be a new customer and sign up by opening the Apple TV app on your Samsung TV or Roku home screen.

The offer is the latest salvo in the streaming wars, with Apple fighting to compete against established rival services such as Netflix and Disney Plus.

As part of its promotional efforts, Apple last week announced that it would be airing the first season of one of its most popular shows, See, completely free until the end of August 29. 

Now available on most smart TVs and set-top boxes, Apple TV Plus has slowly but surely started to become a streaming service to be reckoned with, thanks to hit shows like feelgood comedy Ted Lasso, the Ben Stiller-directed psychological drama Severance, and live MLB baseball.

The service was also the first streaming platform to claim a Best Picture Academy Award at the Oscars, with the drama CODA winning the coveted statuette earlier this year.

If you still need a streaming box, check out our roundup of the best equipment on the market.

Price inflation isn’t just making gasoline and groceries more expensive, it’s also having an impact on the cost of TV streaming subscriptions.

Back in January, Netflix kicked off the new year by raising prices across all of its streaming plan tiers. That move was followed by Disney+ and Hulu, both of which have announced that price jumps are coming in December – a steep 40% in the case of Disney+. 

Such price hikes are bad news for cord cutters, many of whom turned to streaming as a more affordable, and a commercial-free, alternative to cable and satellite TV. To retain those subscribers, and to attract new customers as well, streamers are introducing ad-supported tiers: Hulu and HBO Max currently have them in place, while Disney+ and Netflix both have such tiers in the works that are scheduled for introduction later this year.

Free ad-supported TV 

Along with ad-free and ad-supported streaming plans, free ad-supported (FAST) services offer another option that is, as the name implies, completely free. 

Apps like Pluto TV, Tubi, and Xumo provide a grid-style interface for browsing TV shows and movies. The programming you’ll find within is typically a bewildering mix of old and new: Gunsmoke and Fear Factor on Pluto TV; The Johnny Carson Show on Tubi alongside live network news. On the movie front, you’ll find everything from mind-numbingly bad ‘90s comedies to movies like Inception and Office Space. What they all share in common is that they’re free to stream, as long as you don’t mind a regular minute or two block of commercial interruptions throughout.

Streaming hardware providers also have their own FAST offerings. Roku has the Roku TV Channel, which additionally provides some original programming created by the company, while Amazon has Freevee, a portal that benefits to a degree from the wide range of original content available on Amazon Prime Video.

TV makers, too, have been adding FAST portals to their sets, which are usually accessible via an easy button press on the remote control. Vizio and Samsung were early getting into FAST via their respective WatchFree+ and Samsung TV Plus portals, and they were recently joined by LG with its own LG Channels. Each of these offers hundreds of channels with a mix of scheduled and on-demand shows and movies.

Free ad-supported TV may be free, but… 

I recently checked out Amazon Freevee on a Vizio MQX series TV I’m testing (the Prime Video smart TV app also offers Freevee), and I was surprised by the range and quality of the offerings. Once I started streaming King of New York, a favorite cult movie released in 1990, I was further surprised by the image quality, which was not bad at all for something that was being offered up for free.

The opening of King of New York is beautifully shot and completely absorbing, with regular cuts to the ice-cold countenance of just-released drug kingpin Frank White (played by Christopher Walken) as he drifts slowly from prison back to the city in a decked-out limo.

All was going fine until – the commercials! Three minutes of them! Not only did it kill the vibe set by the movie’s opening sequence, but it made me want to stop watching altogether. This is why we buy 4K Blu-ray players and discs of movies we love, and why we subscribe to ad-free streaming services that let you watch movies straight through uninterrupted.

Also, while the image quality of the movies on Freevee and Vizio’s WatchFree+ portal was generally very good, with most offerings in widescreen high-definition, I can’t say that was the case with everything I checked out during my free TV streaming binge. Tubi, for example, may have Inception, but the high level of video compression that service uses to squeeze in as many “channels” as possible meant that the picture was riddled with noise and other digital artifacts.

Ultimately, FAST is fine because it’s free – you’re getting something for nothing. But it’s also true that, after spending a good amount on your TV, it’s now making money off of you. Set and streaming box makers get a cut of the ad revenue generated by FAST viewing, so the more you take advantage of it, the greater their benefit. TV manufacturing is a low-margin business – increasingly so – and FAST is one way they are able to maximize their profits.

Beyond that, there are the issues of a bad experience due to poor picture quality and of time wasted watching commercials – time that you’ll never get back. Maybe the best solution is to spend judiciously on the ad-free streaming services you’ll regularly use, and to supplement them with FAST. But only when absolutely necessary.

Remember TiVo? Back in the pre-cord-cutting days, the company’s DVRs were omnipresent – so much so that the phrase “TiVo it” was used interchangeably to mean recording a TV show. Now, the company is bouncing back as a third-party smart interface alternative to Google, Amazon, and Roku on the best 4K TVs, with the first TiVo-powered sets expected to arrive sometime in mid-2023 in both Europe and the US.

That information comes from streaming business publication Next TV, which, directly quoting TiVo parent Xperi CEO Jon Kirchner, also dropped news that the company’s TiVo Stream platform will appear in sets from a "leading tier 2 provider that makes multiple TV sets under multiple brands."

Making TiVo Stream a widely available smart TV interface option pits the company against Google, Amazon, and Roku, all of which have been regularly tapped by tier-2 TV brands to run their respective Google and Android TV, Fire TV, and Roku TV OS platforms. 

It also throws TiVo into a very crowded smart TV environment: beyond current Google, Amazon, and Roku options, sets from LG, Samsung, Hisense, Vizio, Panasonic, and Philips each come with their own proprietary smart interface. None of these are particularly distinguished, however, and some can be downright irritating. For example, Samsung TV owners are required to set up an online user account to do something as simple as add an app to its Tizen smart interface, or to adjust its layout.

Compared with the proprietary interfaces offered by major TV brands, Google TV and Roku, in particular, have a clean appearance and are easy to customize and search content with, including using voice control. Google, of course, requires the same account sign-in to make actions happen, but Chrome/Gmail accounts are common, and so most people already dwell in Google’s ecosystem.

Tivo doesn’t exactly arrive as a stranger to the TV streaming world. The company’s TiVo Stream 4K, a $40 Android TV streaming box, has been kicking around for a number of years, and it still sells TiVo Edge DVRs with cable TV and antenna-only connections that also provide built-in streaming from apps such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, Vudu, YouTube, and more. 

But the Stream 4K has been eclipsed by other cheap streaming sticks from Roku and Amazon, while the Edge is endangered by a 2020 FCC ruling that cable providers are no longer required to supply the CableCards used by Edge DVRs to tune and record TV programs. Given the tenuous nature of its hardware business, it makes sense that the company is seeking other options like smart TV integration to rake in revenue.

Does TiVo have what it takes to be a smart TV player? 

Between existing Roku and Google-based offerings, the third-party smart TV ecosystem was already crowded, and the more recent introduction of Amazon’s Fire TV to that mix makes it seem like there’s now more than enough options for set makers to turn to if they don’t want to create a proprietary platform.

Let’s now toss TiVo into that smart TV maelstrom. In its favor, the company already has a deal in the works, so TiVo-powered smart TVs are on their way in 2023 whether anyone wants them or not. Its hardware business may have taken a downturn with the advent of cord-cutting, but the TiVo brand still has strong consumer recognition, even if people are now much more likely to stream than “TiVo” shows using a DVR.

As a former TiVo user for many years before cutting the cord myself, I was a fan of the TiVo interface and the remote control used to control the company’s box. I also remember its search features as being infinitely better than what was available on the DVR supplied by my cable TV service. Given TiVo’s tradition of superior usability, there’s a good chance that the qualities which set it apart in the now-fading cable TV and DVR era will carry over into the current smart TV and streaming one.

It’s important to emphasize at this point that the new TiVo we’re talking about which will appear in smart TVs won’t have any DVR-like capability. In the words of Xperi CEO Kirchner  – once again quoted in Next TV – the forthcoming TiVo sets will be for "people looking for an OEM-branded experience powered by TiVo, and not looking for a TiVo-powered TV.”

Even so, apps such as YouTube TV, fubo TV, Sling TV, Hulu with Live TV, and others offer cloud-based DVR functions that allow subscribers to record and store live TV channels online for later streaming, in some cases at no additional cost. Such a TiVo-like feature could conceivably be incorporated into a “branded experience powered by TiVo” even if there are no current plans to make that happen.

If it did, we’d get our old TiVo back to TiVo stuff, but this time without the clunky external set-top box.

There’s no denying the immense appeal of the Apple TV 4K, the company’s top streaming box, and one that offers all the best things an A/V enthusiast could ask for. Just for starters, it can handle 4K high frame rate video, provides Dolby Vision HDR and Atmos support, and offers useful match video frame rate and match dynamic range options.

I’m just getting rolling. Apple’s streamer also features tight integration with iCloud, Apple Fitness+, Apple Watch, and AirPods. It supports Bluetooth controllers when playing Apple Arcade games, and has a Lightning-charged Siri remote for voice control and searches. Taking all that into consideration, the Apple TV 4K is a lot.

But at the same time, the Apple TV 4K is too much. And by that, I mainly mean price. Apple charges $179 / £169  for a 32GB version and $199 /  £189 for a 64GB version of its streaming box. Compare that to the Roku Ultra and Amazon Fire TV Cube, which sell in the US for $99 and $70, respectively. What does the Apple TV 4K have that those other players lack?

If we look at all three devices purely in terms of specs, each one hits the high points: 4K video with Dolby Vision HDR, Dolby Atmos audio, a library of all the most desirable apps and then some. The Fire TV Cube even tosses in HDR10+ support. Each also offers its own baked-in voice search and playback command capabilities, with Roku further offering compatibility with Alexa,  Hey Google, and Siri along with Apple’s own HomeKit smart home protocol.

What really separates Apple from its competition – aside from sky-high pricing – is that the latter also offers streaming hardware in compact stick form. Streaming sticks, which plug directly into a TV or projector’s HDMI port where they can do their thing unobtrusively, are an even less expensive option than standalone boxes. And while they may not have the same processing power – a factor that can affect both browsing responsiveness and picture quality – as their boxy brethren, what they do offer is enough to satisfy the needs of 99% of viewers.

Why doesn’t Apple sell a cheap streaming stick? 

The Apple TV box has traditionally been a side project for the company – Steve Jobs once referred to it as a “hobby” – and not something it updates on a regular basis. (Four years elapsed between the arrival of the first Apple TV 4K in 2017 and the latest-gen version in 2021.) So it’s not completely surprising to see Apple out of step with its Roku, Amazon, and Chromecast streaming hardware competition. At the same time, Apple appears to also be out of step with current social and economic trends.

Top Gun: Maverick aside, people aren’t going out to the movies these days in the same numbers as they did in the pre-pandemic times, and that’s a trend that looks to be permanent. Along with that, people have less expendable income for going out in general as a result of rising global inflation. And I’m not even going to mention the high price of gasoline, which, depending on where you live, could make a cruise to the mall to check out a movie all that much more expensive.

Given these factors, viewers are more inclined than ever to turn to the best 4K TVs for entertainment, whether it’s to stream movies, sports, or the latest shows. And while almost all newer TVs provide built-in apps for direct streaming – including Apple’s own Apple TV+ service in some instances – the smart TV interface on many sets can be overly crowded, confusing, and generally off-putting. 

That’s where the best streaming devices come in. I’ve long been a user of both Roku (my last upgrade was to the Streaming Stick Plus, which supports Dolby Atmos and HDR10, making it a good match for my projector-based home theater setup) and Apple TV streamers. Of the two, I gravitate to using the latest Apple TV 4K, which offers more powerful and reliable Wi-Fi and generally better image quality compared to the Roku. But I have to add I admire the clean on-screen interface and general usability of both streamers equally, and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend the Roku or any of its successors.

What I wouldn’t be so quick to recommend to a regular viewer asking me for buying advice is the Apple TV 4K. And that’s not because it’s not a fantastic streamer – it really is. But the only other people I know of who own one are TV reviewers, and we’re a limited lot.

With prices topping out at $199, the Apple TV 4K is the streaming box for the 1%. And while I’m encouraged by the prospect of the company releasing a less pricey version later this year, what I really want to see is a $50 streaming stick. You can do it, Apple. Get to work.

• Watch content from all around the world with an Apple TV VPN

A new report suggests that Roku may be in negotiations to be acquired by Netflix, following a tough year that has seen Roku's stock drop by about 80% since July last year.

The news comes via Business Insider which claims that sources familiar with the subject said that Roku has been discussing a Netflix acquisition in “recent weeks.” 

Adding further fuel to the fire are reports that Roku has closed its stock trading window for all employees. 

Normally employees would be able to freely sell any of their stock right now, but Roku has halted this ability. 

Such actions are normally reserved for when a company is about to release details that could have a big impact on its stock price and to avoid insider trading – a practice where employees with private information buy or sell their stock right before an announcement and profit unfairly.

Why would Netflix buy Roku?

The big question we are sure many of you are asking is: why? 

An easy first guess could be that Netflix wants to develop its own streaming stick. Roku has a history-making some of the best streaming sticks out there with the likes of the Roku Express (2019), as well as 4K offerings like the Roku Streaming Stick+ or Roku Streaming Stick 4K (2021). As such, it would make a great partner in this field.

Roku has also entered partnerships with brands like Hisense (with the Hisense Roku TV) and TCL (with the TCL 5-Series 2020 QLED TV) both of which have Roku's streaming platform built-in. Netflix could be looking to make its own Netflix TVs just like the telecommunications company Sky has done in the UK with Sky Glass.

But if Netflix has its own streaming stick it would be odd if it then didn’t offer this hardware some kind of exclusivity to its streaming content. Given that its subscriber numbers aren’t where it wants them to be this wouldn’t be a smart idea. Netflix needs to make it as easy as possible to access its content and maximize viewer numbers, not restricting them by forcing us to buy a specific device.

Instead, it seems far more likely that Netflix is after Roku’s ads.

It’s no secret that Netflix wants to bring ads to its service, offering a cheaper tier for those happy to sit through them – just like tiers for rival platforms Hulu and HBO Max.

Speaking during a recent earnings call interview, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings revealed that the streaming service is now “quite open” to shaking up its business model in an effort to both drive revenue and create the option of lower prices for new and existing subscribers.

Hastings told investors that while he’s “against the complexity of advertising” he’s a big fan of “consumer choice.” Adding “allowing consumers who would like to have a lower price and are advertising tolerant get what they want makes a lot of sense.”

But why get Roku involved? Well according to the same Business Insider report, Roku made seven times as much from advertisements in its first quarter this year as it did from selling hardware.

Roku knows how to deliver ads with video-on-demand content and its valuation is at an all-time low. It couldn’t be a better acquisition target for Netflix.

As with all speculation we have to take these reports with a pinch of salt until either company speaks publicly about them. We've yet to hear back from Roku but a Netflix representative declined to comment saying "[Netflix doesn't] comment on rumors or speculation."

Hopefully, we won't have to wait too much longer before we hear more as the signs strongly suggest we’ll hear some kind of Roku news in the near future. If the acquisition does get announced and go through, then Netflix’s cheaper ad-supported tier could be arriving soon.