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The big positive: Roku is still good at iterating on its clean, user-friendly interface and app software.
Of course, there are still plenty of questions when it comes to these new gadgets.
The remotes are different?
One of them beeps at you?
And doesnt Roku itself have more affordable alternatives confusingly also called 4K+ models?
This calls for an investigation.
We have attempted to answer the most pressing questions below.
One of them has a +?
The new Roku models are identical apart from their remotes.
The 4K+ ships with a Voice Remote Pro with a headphone jack for private listening thats charged by USB.
The 4K remotes a clicker, plain and simple.
It should work on the vast majority of screens big enough to support 4K and below.
For your 8K TV, you may want to wait until 8K streaming actually becomes a thing.
Does it have all the apps?
Can I watch my obscure 80s anime on it?
Roku has been called platform agnostic before.
Is it bulky?
My gaming consoles take up lots of space on the shelf right now.
Space behind most TVs wont be a problem.
Its about five feet long, so youll want to think about where you want the cord to go.
They can probably handle it.
Give em some credit.
Rokus interface and setup instructions are super-easy.
Fifteen minutes after opening the boxes, we were good to go.
The trickiest bit is setting up a (free) Roku account to link to the unit.
Then just sign into Netflix and fire upLongmirefor Wyoming prairies and crotchety cowboys.
How bigs the remote?
Will the couch eat it?
My parents would love that.
I lost all their remotes growing up.
Know what you mean.
I love talking to my remote.
Is this one a good listener?
Empathy is not its strong suit, but it is attentive.
Hey, Roku, Hitchcock movie from 1960.Answer:No results found.
Hey, Roku, Alfred Hitchcock movie from 1960.Opens search page.
First film:Psycho.
Hey, Roku, Disney Channel Original starring Kyla Pratt.First result:The Proud Family.
Hey, Roku,Gargoyles.First result:Gargoyles.
Hey, Roku, theGargoylesepisode Awakening.Answer:No results found.
Hey, Roku: handsome man.First two results:Handsome Devil, streaming on Netflix.
Third:1917, directed by Sam Mendes.
Hey, Roku, Paul Walter Hauser.First film on search page:Cruella.
Is it dumber than my Alexa?
Yes, but its nicer on the playground and knows movies.
What about this phone app?
What else can it do?
So I dont actually need the remote to talk to my Roku?
That things $70.
Base models $50.
Didnt Roku just release a lite-beer version of this thing?
Indeed, it did.
Wait, what tech standards?
What are you not telling me!?
Is there anything else I should know?
If you dont know what they are, they probably wont affect you all that much.
On certain films and movies, the format will shoot information through your gadget to help display things differently.
(Better is subjective here; HDR does very little for me personally.)
One thing most folks might care more about is Wi-Fi 6 a new, faster standard for Internet speed.
This all sounds good-not-great.
What do you think I should do?
Rokus got the best interface and layout mix in the game, for my money.
That said, while $50 bucks isnt alot, it feels like too much for incremental updates.
And $70 is definitely too high just to get a Voice Remote Pro.
It even comes with its own voice remote.
But it wont beep when you call it, no matter how much you love it.
