Roku Streaming Stick+ 4K with Voice Remote

The Roku streaming stick+ delivers high quality video and sound (dependent on broadcast specification). It provides access to many apps including Netflix, Prime, Disney, Apple, etc., as well as free sites such as YouTube, Pluto
& Plex. It also provides access to UK based platforms such as BBC iPlayer, ITV Hub, All4, My5, UKTV Play & STV Player. All sites can be signed in directly except All4 where I needed to sign in to All4 / Roku on my PC first then All4 on the Roku stick.
The unit fits nicely at the back of the TV (HDMI port and USB port for power) and is very flexible (plug into to other devices, including a Projector, if required). The hand controller works well and is simple and easy to use (I have not used voice recognition or integrated into Alexa so these are not scored these in the feedback). A great quality, flexible product.

To watch Netflix, Disney Plus and YouTube

I’m a long-time Roku user, having purchased devices from every generation throughout Roku’s evolution. I’ve had the very original Roku N1100, Roku 2 XD, Roku 2 XS, Roku 3 (2013 version), Roku 4, a TCL Roku TV, Roku Ultra (2016 version)…and now this Stick +. While I’ve only had it for a couple of days now, this might be the best Roku I’ve seen from a value perspective.

My house is a Roku house. We have 5 televisions but don’t have a cable or satellite subscription.. One of the TV’s is a Roku TV and the other 4 all have a Roku attached to them. Literally everything we watch is delivered via the Roku. Our OTA material is delivered from a Tablo DVR to our Rokus. Our local media is served up via a Plex server to the Rokus. We also have PS Vue, Netflix, Amazon video, etc. etc. Bottom line, we use Roku a lot, and I’m very familiar with them. I wouldn’t consider myself to be a Roku “fan boy”, though. While most of the Roku’s I’ve had have been great…there have been some clunkers. The Roku 2XS was a turd that never got any better. The Roku 4 was a turd at the start, but gradually got better with each subsequent firmware update. Unfortunately, the cooling fan in one of my Roku 4s (The 4 was the only Roku model to ever have one) has begun to make the dreaded “grinding” noise in recent weeks, so I decided to try replace it with a stick+.

I’ve generally been leery about all of the “stick” form-factor devices. They’ve generally lagged behind the more traditional “box” form-factor devices as far as specs go. The Stick+, with its quad-core processor, HEVC support, and 4K capabilities convinced me that the gap may have finally been closed.

So, after a couple of days with the Stick+…here are my thoughts on this device

– It’s snappy and smooth. It’s maybe not quite as quick as my Roku Ultras…but it’s every bit as fast as the Roku 4.
– The new remote is great.The ability to control the TV’s power and volume without a second remote or a universal remote is loooong overdue.
– Excellent wireless reception. I had two walls between the Stick+ and my router, but was easily streaming 16mbps local media through Plex.
– Powering via the TV’s USB isn’t optimal. Assuming your TV stops providing power to the USB when turned-off, the Stick+ will have to go through the boot-up sequence and then connect to your wireless before you can do anything with it each time you turn on your TV. This can take ~30 seconds. I highly recommend plugging it directly into an outlet using the provided adapter.

So, this is a great Roku device. It doesn’t have the same bells-and-whistles that my Roku Ultra’s have…but then again, I also paid nearly twice as much for those. This Stick+ is much cheaper, provides basically the same UI/playback performance, and also has a remote that will make having to juggle your Roku and TV remotes a thing of the past. That’s why I say, absent some deal-breaker that I haven’t encountered yet, this is the best dollar-for-dollar Roku yet.

Update on 7/25/2020:
2 Remotes have quit working within 8 months of my purchase. I have replaced batteries, tried to resync and nothing solves the issue. We now have to use my cell phone and Roku app in 2 different rooms of our home just to use the streaming sticks which are our only source of TV news and movies. I purchased 2 replacement devices about one month thinking I was giving us backup devices and now I am past their return window and I know those remotes are going to crap out on me too…NOT HAPPY with dropping a total of $250+ when the remotes last less than 1 year.

Update on 01/07/2020:

We now have three if these because our Daughter’s “smart” TV that is just over a year old suddenly decided to have issues with all of the built in apps. This stick is perfect for those who have this happen, or have a TV without built in apps, or those like me who used their game system for streaming until too much use fried an expensive console and caused the loss of hundreds and hundreds of hours of save game data! I recommend these to everyone because they are perfect for our streaming only household.

Orig Review:
Okay…I absolutely fried my PS4 because as much as I would use it to game on I would also use it to fire up my Amazon Prime, Netflix, Hulu, etc. I never checked into these types of devices before because I guess I just thought my PS4 would be eternal (LOL). As all things tech related eventually do, my PS4 completely crashed and hundreds of hours on my games were lost to me, but in that awful sad moment I decided to replace my PS4 AND go ahead and buy 2 of these to use here at home so that our XBox One wouldn’t suffer the same fate in our living room. I know…I’m terrible, huh?

Anyways – ROKU. LOVE IT, LOVE IT, LOVE IT! So easy to setup, easy to add apps to your menu, easy to navigate, quick to load the apps and most important of all I no longer have to worry about using my gaming consoles as entertainment beyond the games they are meant to play! Win Win!!!!

I am seriously amazed at how quick the apps launch/load – it’s darn near immediate and the interface is clean and easy to use. I love that I can add apps/manage everything from anywhere even when I’m not at home – adding and removing channels is a breeze. It even recognized our TVs without any issues and even some of the universal TV remotes we’ve bought cannot do that as efficiently as the ROKU did. We are definitely going to be long-time ROKU fans and will buy new ones when needed because they are well worth the price. My husband loves the one in the living room and he has never watched as much TV as he has since I installed the ROKU out there. If we had more TVs we would have more ROKU’s.