Rokus For All: New Models Coming Soon

By Michael Gowan Twitter @zebgowan
Published Sep. 26, 2016, 10:45 a.m. ET

What kind of streamer are you: Cheap and easy? Upscale and particular? We’re not here to judge, and neither is Roku. Whatever you like, they’ve got a unit for you.
Today Roku announced a revamped lineup of streaming boxes, offering plenty of features at attractive prices. While Apple TV, Google Chromecast and Amazon Fire TV offer only a couple of options, Roku’s new lineup comes in five varieties, including the $30 Roku Express—the least expensive streaming device on the market.

MAKE A MATCH

With that many choices, sorting out which Roku is right for you may require more effort than you’d like. Here’s a quick guide:

Roku

Pick Roku Express if you:

  • Are on a budget
  • Don’t have a 4K TV

Priced $5 less than the Chromecast, the $30 Roku Express promises a lot for a little cash. You’ll get 1080p HD video, and it includes a remote so you don’t have to rely on your mobile device to control it. You even get an HDMI cable bundled in.
If you’re a luddite—in this case meaning someone without an HDMI-equipped monitor/TV—Roku’s still got you covered: the $40 Roku Express+ comes with analog red-white-yellow cables to connect to older TVs.

Roku

Pick Roku Premiere if you:

  • Like crisp video and deep color
  • Have really fast internet

For the more discerning among us, the $80 Roku Premiere offers 4K video quality and 802.11ac wireless speed—the fastest wireless standard out now, and a big improvement over 802.11n. This model essential replaces the Roku 4, its former flagship model, and costs $50 less than it did.
If you’re really into video quality, the $100 Roku Premiere+ supports HDR (high dynamic range) video. HDR increases the contrast and colors that are possible, so you get a more realistic image on screen (but you need a TV that also supports HDR to see the magic). That’s the same price as the Fire TV, and the Fire TV can’t do HDR.

Roku

Pick Roku Ultra if you:

  • Want it all
  • Have it all

    • If the Premiere just doesn’t have enough going for it, the $130 Roku Ultra is for you. In addition to 4K, HDR and 802.11ac, the Ultra has a USB port so you can connect external storage and an optical audio output if you have a soundbar that doesn’t support HDMI. What’s crazy is that the high-end Roku still costs less than an Apple TV—and the Apple TV doesn’t even support 4K video.

    Coming soon

    The new models come with all you expect from a Roku: Access to 3,500 channels, universal search, voice search and more. Overall, these look like promising upgrades, and we’ll post a review as soon as we get our hands on them. You can bet Amazon and Google will respond with new models this holiday season.
    The new lineup should be available to buy on October 9, but you can pre-order them now on Roku.com.
    Michael Gowan impatiently waits for somebody—anybody!—to stream the complete Moonlighting series. You can follow him on Twitter @zebgowan.