Tired of paying your annoyingly high cable bills for hundreds of channels that you won’t ever watch. Well if so, you’re not alone, which is why we here at thehightechnerds.com are here to help with our full Roku review.
WHAT IS ROKU?
Roku is a software that allows you to watch free and paid video content on your TV through the Internet. With a simple HDMI hookup combined with a streaming box and remote, it gives you the full TV experience without you having to waste your time and money on cable.
Roku vs Cable
I think cable’s biggest flaw was its enormous prices. I remember having to pay $80 a month just to get a few of the channels I actually wanted, and then having to deal with random fees, plus yearly hardware costs that altogether, probably ran me up to over a thousand dollars a year.
Contrast that with Roku which is free to use and comes with no monthly or yearly subscription fees. The only cost that comes with purchasing it, is the actual hardware needed to run the program and even that is pretty cheap (view Roku on Amazon). This is because Roku is just a program that hosts channels and you mostly use it to go on programs like Netflix. However, there are many free channels available and even 5–6 monthly entertainment subscriptions plus a Roku hookup will still be cheaper than cable. Basically, Roku gives you the choice of which programs you actually want to watch and what you actually want to pay for instead of making you pay a thousand dollars for hundreds of unnecessary channels.
Roku is also easier and accessible to use, with the channels you’re subscribed to, appearing right in front of you once you turn on your TV. No more memorizing the numbers of your favourite channel or surfing through hundreds of programs just to find the one you actually want to watch. In addition, Roku is extremely simple to use with a compact and simple remote, an easy to navigate settings page and an application that lets you download thousands of free and paid apps seamlessly.
Lastly, it runs off the internet and is pretty quick even when you don’t have the best connection, so it’s pretty dependable. With quick speeds, it makes your streaming experience enjoyable and the fact that if runs off the internet makes sure that you don’t have to rely on cable companies to provide you service.
However, if you want to keep cable, Roku is great because it’s compatible with a lot of the cable channels. This is because with many of the channels are paid and some of them like news or sports programs actually require you to be subscribed to a cable service. However, with Roku you can watch these channels on its application for your easy accessibility.
ROKU AND ITS COMPETITORS
The online tv streaming industry has blown up recently and many companies have jumped at the opportunity for market share in this space. Brands like Android TV, Fire TV, Chromecast and Apple TV are all Roku’s fiercest competitors in this space and to be honest, there’s not much separating any of them. However, Roku has a few key differences that I think make it the best product in this space.
PRO: DOES NOT TRY TO SELL YOU ANYTHING:
One annoying thing that we all despise is when we’re using a service and the company uses that service’s platform to promote another product. This is especially true in the non-cable television space as many of the products are owned by companies like Apple who have hundreds of products/services in a hundred different industries. This creates an issue because some of these companies use the TV boxes to push you their new streaming service for example, which is extremely annoying, at least to me. In addition, there have been spats in the past like the one between Google and Amazon, where the two competitors prevented YouTube from featuring on Fire TV sticks, and Prime Video on Chromecast. However, Roku presents itself as an impartial source that displays everyone’s streaming channels and does not try to really sell you on anything.
PRO: CLEAR INTERFACE
As I mentioned before, Roku is extremely user friendly with a clear and simple layout for the channels. This definitely gives it the edge over others in this space because Roku’s interface puts your channels front and center, right as you turn on your TV. There’s no more dealing with channel navigation issues that force you to spend valuable time trying to find the program you want. There are a few other streaming boxes such Chromecast and Apple TV that let you customize your interface but that requires time to change everything to your liking, while both are also more expensive and have other annoying features in the interface such as Chromecast’s issue with suggested/promoted content.
PRO: PRICE
When it comes down to it, most of the differences between the streaming boxes are mostly pretty minor and there’s really not much separating the products. Therefore, price becomes very important because you want to pay less for products with approximately the same value. Roku and Fire Tv dominate the market on cost with the lowest priced product costing only $30–40 compared to Apple Tv’s $149 for its most basic device without 4K. Even Roku’s most expensive product, the Roku Ultra, doesn’t even cost $149 so the point is, Roku is an affordable option that gives you bang for your buck.
CON: DOLBY VISION
There’s really no major cons except that most of the cheaper Roku models aren’t compatible with Dolby Vision TV. This is definitely inconvenient if you have a Dolby Tv but you can still get the Roku Ultra with it at an affordable price and all the perks that come with the premium device.
PRODUCT COMPARISON
This chart showcases in my opinion, the most important features that I think you’ll value the most. My recommendation is the Roku Ultra because it has all the premium features, is the fastest device out of all of the Roku products and is compatible with Dolby TV. However, all the Roku devices are really great and you won’t go wrong with any of them.
CONCLUSION
Roku is a pretty solid product that should be on the top of your list if you are looking to switch from cable to something cheaper and more practical. When it comes down to it, all the different streaming companies’ products are pretty similar and choosing any of them is likely not gonna be a regrettable decision. Make sure that if you have a Dolby Vision TV that you purchase the Roku Ultra device that is compatible with it. Apart from that, Roku has a ton of great value for its price and is overall, a great product that you should consider.
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