Roku Ultra | Streaming Media Player 4K/HD/HDR with Premium JBL Headphones

I've used an Amazon Fire TV and Fire Stick for two or three years. Here's my honest opinion after using the Roku Ultra for a few days. Setup: Setup was a breeze. Hardware-wise, it's basically the same as a Fire TV so I just swapped it out. It's annoying to have to sign into all of your accounts again, but it wasn't more difficult than any other device. Now that I think about it, maybe I could have plugged in a keyboard (there is a USB port) so I could type in my account info but I'm not sure if that would work. Apps: So one of the main reasons I got this device was because the Apple TV app isn't supported (yet) on the Fire TV. It IS supported on the Fire Stick, which honestly just pisses me off but I digress. The apps available on Roku are much, much better than those on the Fire TV. I always felt like Fire TV had a ton of silly apps that you would never actually download onto your device. Apple TV and Adult Swim are two apps that are available on Roku and not on the Fire TV. Remote: - Roku's remote controls your TV, meaning it can power on/off, volume up/down, and mute all on the Roku remote. No more having to keep up with two remotes all the time! The only time I've needed to use my TV remote is to change the input (like switching to a gaming console, etc.). - Additionally, the remote itself feels high quality. It's weighted nicely to where it doesn't feel cheap, and the buttons have a nice feel to them. - There is a headphone jack in the remote that you can use if, say, someone is sleeping in the next room, but I doubt I'll ever use it. - The voice control works well. No issues yet. - It's awesome having the Netflix, Hulu, ESPN, and Sling buttons on the remote. I use Netflix, Hulu, and ESPN a good bit. I wish I could reprogram the Sling button since I won't be using it, but that's not a big deal. If you watch as much Netflix and Hulu as me, you'll love having actual buttons to press. Use: Man, this thing is smoooooth. I know it's brand new, but there's absolutely zero delay. I have had issues with apps crashing (it's happened I think two times) but other than that it's been perfect. I may just need to restart it to fix that issue. It's also nice to have a "home screen". I hated having to scroll through every recently used app to find the one I wanted to open. The Roku has all of your apps on one screen, and you can set it up like your computer desktop. The other big reason I switched to Roku was the amount of slowdown I experienced with my Fire TV. Some days it would be pretty much unusable. The Roku is faster out of the box, and will hopefully hold up better over time. I'll try to remember to update in 6 months or a year. Overall: Why did I wait so long to get this thing? Why did I ever bother getting the Fire TV? I got this on sale for $50, but I would easily pay full retail now. It was worth every penny, and if you're in the middle of deciding between devices, I hope you pick this one!

After being frustrated for years with Fire Stick and Visio smart TV, I decided to give the a Roku a try. It has been a game changer. Setup was a breeze. Immediately. I noticed a drastic improvement in picture quality and sound. My 4K tv finally looked like a 4K tv. I could get surround sound on channels such as Disney+! (My Fire stick didn’t support surround sound on many apps such as Disney+.) The Roku is fast and responsive. The device responds well to the remote. When you make a selection, the Roku responds in a snap. It just feels better. No more repeatedly clicking a remote wondering if an app will respond. The Roku design and layout makes it easy to manage multiple streaming apps. It is clean and easy to customize. (Just learn how to move things around with the click of the * button). No more hunting for the app you want, the way Amazon’s interface often does. With the Roku, you lay out your apps the way you want, and that’s the way they’ll be every time. Adding and removing apps is easy too. Roku has a deep library of apps to choose from. If you already have a free Roku account, setup is even easier. If you watch Disney+ using a fire stick, this device is worth getting for the improved viewing experience alone. The same goes for YouTube. It a completely new experience. Videos load quickly, are sharp, and sound great. My recommendation is to get a high quality HDMI cable. If you have 4K, get a 4K cable. And have your passwords ready. You will have to log into your apps the first time. I also discovered a really nice bonus. The remote has a headphone jack. Plug into that and you can listen to high quality audio. This cancels the sound on your tv monitor and you can control headphone volume from your remote. Overall, I was up and running in a matter of minutes and didn’t even need the guide. Very happy with this device. It’s made viewing a much better experience!

The Roku is easy to setup, took only 3 minutes. There is no activation or setup fees that others have claimed. The screen tells you to go to Roku.com/link and walks you through the rest, no phone calls to be made. The Roku Ultra is a lot faster than my older model and I really like the programmable remote. All Roku remotes have shortcut buttons like Netflix and Hulu. This model has two extra programmable buttons I use these for LOCAST and Disney+. LOCAST is an amazing channel that provides all the local channels for free. So you can get local CBS, NBC, ABC, WGN, PBS and Fox for local news, sports and weather. The Roku Channel is a great free channel (app) that has hundreds of free shows and movies. Right now they are also offering a lot of free content from HBO, Showtime, Stars etc... Roku itself offers 10,000 channels, the vast majority of them are free. Of course I was able to add my Hulu, Netflix and Amazon Video accounts within minutes. I will be spending a lot of time exploring the other channels while staying home for the next few weeks. Finally I really like all of the connections this Roku players offers. The biggest selling point for me was the ethernet port to reduce the WiFi strain on my home network. The Roku Ultra also offers a USB Port to directly connect your phone or hard drive to easily share pictures and videos. There is also a MicroSD card slot that allows you to download more of those 10,000 channels. This Roku also offers a lost remote finder button, which is great since the remote is pretty small and I can imagine getting misplaced.

Well the setup is very easy. Just follow the steps mentioned. However- the system doesn’t come with any preinstalled apps. At least the apps mentioned on the quick-access options on the remote and on the box should have been installed. However- this is not the case - manually what all is required must be installed. For a low price getting Access for Apple TV(if subscribed) is a benefit. Some TV apps are missing like Amazon TV, Disney+ etc (in UAE) - I don’t know if it is available in any other country on the same product. Overall- I’m happy with the product n it’s price.

Ha cumplido con mis expectativas, mi TV funciona más rápido y mejor, sencillo de configurar y hasta el momento ninguna falla. Estoy muy satisfecho

I was so aggrieved with this product that I felt had to write a review. My experience was so bad I wanted to give it a negative star rating which unfortunately I can’t. Straight out of the box the unit had issues with audio drop out. The RoKu support seem to be at a complete loss to try to resolve the issue. Having spent the best part of 5 days following the steps asked of me the device still does not work with continued audio drop outs on all channels. It turns out that this is a know issue on the RoKu forums with no solution to date. The issue was made worse when the support seem to ignore my previous emails and repeat the same questions I had given answers to. I’m retiring the device after one week. My advice DO NOT BUY THIS

It is very nice and full of features but It does not work perfectly in KSA

Most of the important channels are not available in Singapore (like HBO, Amazon Prime, Hulu, etc). Have very limited sort of options for SG. Does not make sense to buy if you live in SG. Had to return the product.