I prefer roku over smart TVs because the roku has far more apps. However there are 5 models, the roku 1, 2, 3, 4 and the roku streaming stick.
I’ve only used roku 1s. Here is a comparison.
Has anyone noticed any meaningful benefits to a higher end model that justifies the price? A roku 4 is almost 3x as expensive as a roku 1 or a roku stick, and the functionality is not much better.
Quality of picture? I don’t think so, although I have used only the 3 and the Stick. The differences are more in the features - for example, the boxes are “always on”, while the stick takes about 30 seconds to connect if the USB port it’s connected to isn’t always powered (and the stick isn’t connected to an AC outlet, which can be done with a supplied power cord).
I’m not sure what you’re asking since the chart you linked to pretty clearly shows the differences. The 4 supports 4k video and more modern wifi compared to every other version.
It also has various advantages depending which other Roku you compare it to. You mentioned the 1, and the 4’s advantages over the 1 include what I mentioned above plus quad core processor (should be much faster), Netflix profiles in the app, headphone jack in the remote, voice search, ethernet port, optical digital audio out, etc.
If you say functionality is not much better, that means maybe you don’t care about the particular functionality the 4 has, but it clearly has a lot more features than the 1. If you don’t have a 4k TV then you’re probably not the 4’s target audience unless some other feature really jumps out at you.
The question about computer hardware (which these things are) is always: what do you want to run on it?
I’m in the Amazon FireTV world and I found the Stick barely capable of doing what I wanted and the box a huge improvement.
For me, I like to do things that require speed: both from the processor and the connection. E.g., I like to zip ahead to get to some point in a show. An wired connection vs. a WiFi connection helps a lot. I also want Kodi to respond quickly to button presses. So, a faster processor, more memory.
Then there’s the question of what streaming services do you want to access?
If all you’re going to do is stream stuff from Hulu without any jumping around in a program, then the better stick should be fine. But you’ll get a better Netflix experience in most cases with one of the boxes.
(And if you can’t tell the difference in quality between poor and great streams, who cares?)
I’ve only ever owned a Roku 3 and it works perfectly well for the one thing I use it for (watching the WWE Network on my TV.)
Roku 1, if you can still find it (seems to have been replaced by the stick) is the only one of the current numbering system (there were older Rokus before this line) that supports anything other than HDMI, it has composite jacks on the back. If you want to watch a Roku on an older TV, it’s the only one that will do. (The older Rokus have models that support other inputs as well, but also might not support certain channels)
Roku 4 supports 4K, but even if you have a 4K TV and really good internet, it’s really overkill for now.
I’m not super sure on the difference between 2 and 3, I know 3 is a much better unit than 1, with a faster processor and such, and has a silly wifi remote (which actually can potentially clog up your in home wifi as it insists on using the same channel your router is using to connect to the roku) but not sure about 2 at all.
I will say netflix on a 3 is much better than on a 1. 1’s netflix channel doesn’t even support profiles… annoying.
And if you have Netflix, the lowest tier only supports SD, the second one HD, and the last 4K. If you have the Roku 4 but don’t have a 4K TV, and/or don’t pay for that Netflix, you won’t get any advantage as far as picture goes.
Other services may have similar tiers, and the difference isn’t just picture quality, but increasing the price also allows more simultaneous devices.
I went with the Roku 2 (awhile back). Not sure how good voice search is, and don’t care about the jack or games. The point-anywhere function is nice, but in the rare occasions where I want to change the channel from the toilet there is also a Roku app that lets you use your phone as a point-anywhere remote.
I’d like to know if there’s any possible performance difference between an older model 3 (without voice support) and a newer model 3 (with voice support).
One of my biggest frustrations with my R3 is that it freezes up fairly frequently.
They must have added that lowest tier since I first got the flix, as I got what was then the low tier (they only had two) which seems to match what is now the middle tier in features. Maybe they added it because people were complaining about the price increases, since this new lowest tier seems to be the price the middle one was before.
Sounds right. They almost certainly upped the price, and IIRC they’re going to do it again soon.
The middle tier is best for 90% of people.
I don’t know about your specific question, but in interest of helping, where do you have your Roku located? If it’s inside a closed cabinet or something, it’s possible that it’s overheating. I’d try locating it somewhere that it gets plenty of open space around it and maybe even take a small fan and point it at it to help cool it down.
It’s also possible that the “freezing” could instead be related to the service being used having issues, or even your own router or internet provider having issues (particularly if it’s at a time of day where lots of people are using internet in your area). Without seeing what’s happening it’s hard to tell if it’s just that or an actual hardware lockup, just thought it worth mentioning as a possibility.
Here’s a good place for my question - I was thinking about getting the stick, but now I’m not sure if the quality / speed will suffice after reading this thread.
I have a Blu-Ray player that I use to watch Netflix on my HDTV. It doesn’t have Amazon Prime as one of the options on the player, so I was thinking about getting a Roku so I can watch Amazon Prime shows. Could I just get the stick and get HD support for Netflix and Amazon Prime, or do I need something better?
If both Amazon Prime and Netflix is a priority, it’s much better to go with an Amazon FireTV product. As I noted above, the FireTV Stick is able to do both, but not much more. The WiFi only connection is barely able to do basic streaming. The full FireTV allows a wired connection which eliminates the headaches of WiFi streaming.
With Roku, there’s no guarantee that Amazon and Roku will update the software in the future. E.g., one of my DVRs can no longer watch Amazon videos due to upgrades at the other end not being compatible with the software at my end.
(When Amazon first introduced the Stick, it came with a free trial month of Netflix. Weird. But you can get a free trial month of Netflix just about anytime anyway.)
OK thanks - I’ll check it out.
Roku updates the firmware from time to time. It’s pretty painless. Unless either company goes out of business or it’s planned obsolescence, I don’t see them outright stopping. Although my remote does have a Rdio button, which no longer works except gives you a “sorry, it’s dead” message when you push it.
My DVR maker is still in business and does updates. The newer model got a patch for Amazon Video’s current system. The older one didn’t. It also can’t play YouTube videos anymore, or my mp3s, or …
OTOH, you can be pretty sure that Amazon will keep updating its FireTV products for quite a while to be compatible with Amazon Video. And not updating for Netflix changes is a must for any rational company.
So does the model 1. It’s source of internet outrage, but apparently Roku has no software fix for it. I’ve found that if I press the “Home” button before leaving Roku, it tends to operate better the next time up, but if I leave it tuned to Netflix, it freezes. Not 100% on that, but it works most of the time.
Reviews on newer Roku units is not great, with a major complaint being that the fan noise is so loud it interferes with the program you’re watching. They also tend to overheat. I’m assuming that once they get hundreds or thousands of returns for the same problem, they’ll eventually up the quality control. I’m good with the Model 1, as I have no need for voice option, earphones or 4K.
Any problem with freezing or other similar problems on my model 1 has been limited to some sort of outage on the internet or something that can be fixed with a power cycle. The latter being very rare, I think maybe twice in the two years I’ve had it. My dad’s got a model 3 and it’s happened slightly more on that one (about as much or slightly more in the year or so he’s had it as mine has had in two years), but not enough that I’d avoid the hardware. Most of the time it’s fine so long as your internet connection is working right.
One more thing I just remembered about the model 1 vs model 3 is that the model 3 has an ethernet port, so you can connect it directly to the router (if they’re close enough) whereas the model 1 is wifi only. Again, not sure where model 2 fits into this.
Yours may be, but there are many, many people having the freezing problem, and it isn’t the intertoobs connection. I even started a thread on this board about it, wondering if there is a solution. Turns out, lots of people here experience the same annoyance. There is a temporary fix for it other than unplugging/replugging your power cord, where you have to press ‘home’ five times, then ‘back’ five times and something else I don’t recall. A PITA.
No, quality is essentially the same unless it’s 4k content or something. I recently got a Roku TV. The 55" inch 4k model is only $600. I chose this route so I can have a simpler, more streamlined experience in regards to using the antenna and TV, otherwise you have to use a programmable remote and swap sources between antenna and roku box plus most of them have way more buttons than I care to have. I like the Roku remote and in this way, I can operate everything with it without swapping sources or remotes and I also just like having a remote control that’s labeled properly.
It’s like being back in the 80’s. Just a wall plug and a coax are the only 2 wires back there. As far as freezing, I haven’t had that issue but I have a pretty fast router.