The middle dongle in Roku’s newest streamer lineup is good. At an inventory value of $40-and infrequently on sale for less-the Roku Streaming Stick Plus hits a candy spot. It’s not the most cost effective streaming dongle Roku sells, but it’s the least costly option with 4K HDR video, and it sports activities slightly better performance than the $30 Roku Streaming Stick. Roku previously bought at the same price. I nonetheless have some misgivings about Roku’s software, which is step by step getting more complicated and bloated. But in the event you benefit from the Roku experience as it is, the Roku Streaming Stick Plus is a strong option. The Roku Streaming Stick Plus has the identical finger-sized design because the cheaper Roku Streaming Flixy Stick official I reviewed in July, distinguished only by its embossed black "Roku" logo as an alternative of a painted-on purple one. Its constructed-in HDMI connector plugs straight into one of your TV’s HDMI ports, and if it doesn’t fit throughout the spacing of these ports, you may request a free extender cable.
Unlike earlier Roku models, the Streaming Stick Plus doesn't embody a energy adapter. Instead, you get a 5-foot USB-A-to USB-C cable to plug into the USB power port on most modern TVs. The dongle had no hassle drawing enough power this manner from the TVs I examined it with, but you would possibly have to go hunting for an outlet adapter for old TVs that don’t present USB power. Dolby Vision. You might want to step as much as the $50 Roku Streaming Stick 4K for that. On the audio aspect, Dolby Atmos is also missing, as that function is simply obtainable on the $a hundred Roku Ultra. Roku now ships the same basic Voice Remote with all of its decrease-finish players. Like every other Roku current model, it contains buttons to control your TV’s quantity and power, offering a single-remote solution except you may have an external sound system that doesn’t assist HDMI-CEC.
If that’s the case, you’ll need a separate distant for volume adjustments. One thing missing from this model is Bluetooth assist. You'll be able to still connect earbuds to your telephone and use Roku’s cell app for private listening, however the Roku Ultra remains the only participant that supports pairing headphones or earbuds directly to the streaming gadget. Roku does an admirable job optimizing its software program to run on lightweight hardware, so there isn’t an enormous performance difference between each of its players. Still, the Roku Streaming Stick Plus does have some noticeable enhancements over the cheaper Streaming Stick. In my aspect-by-side testing, the Streaming Stick Plus typically loaded apps a few seconds faster, and was quicker at filling program guide particulars as I scrolled by the Pluto Flixy TV Stick app. Netflix specifically seemed to benefit, as the Streaming Stick Plus would often would return to where I used to be in Netflix’s menu system after switching to a distinct app.
The Roku Streaming Stick Plus also helps Wi-Fi 5, slightly than Wi-Fi four as on the Streaming Stick, and i observed higher Wi-Fi performance at lengthy range consequently. Testing from the far finish of my again yard on a portable monitor, the Roku Streaming Stick Plus maintained speeds round 20Mbps, whereas the Streaming Stick averaged lower than 10Mbps and displayed a weak sign warning. Meanwhile, the $50 Roku Streaming Stick 4K achieved speeds of around 100Mbps in the identical test. The improved Wi-Fi won’t matter in areas with strong reception-both models maintained 100Mbps connections in the workplace the place my router is located-however it could make a difference on the fringes. If you want to use wired ethernet, Roku says the Streaming Stick Plus is suitable with USB-C-to-ethernet adapters that provide power, however I used to be unable to get it connected with several multiport USB-C hubs. The Roku Ultra is a greater wager if ethernet is a should.
While Roku has traditionally prided itself on simplicity, in recent years that mission has been at odds with the economics of Roku’s enterprise, which calls for ever-more advert revenue and-extra lately-a push for more subscriptions. The home part, which as soon as presented a simple checklist of your installed apps, now consists of promotional content tiles and hyperlinks to numerous content material submenus. The left sidebar menu now has a banner advert at the underside, which suggests the default menu options don’t all fit and you should scroll up and right down to see them all. The banner ads in both the home part and sidebar menu now have animations and video. More of Roku’s personal apps are actually pre-installed, together with the just lately acquired Frndly Flixy TV Stick and the not too long ago launched Howdy. The bottom-left banner covers up some menu options. Fundamentally, it’s superb for Roku to strive shifting previous the app grid paradigm and recommending more issues to look at from the house screen.