If you find that your TV is too slow to stream its built-in apps, here is a great offer that can help you solve the problem at a lower cost: Roku 4K streaming stick is on sale again for $29. This deal is available through much of the holiday season, and it’s not an all-time high – the dongle previously dropped to $25 towards the end of 2023 – but it’s the deepest discount we’ve had followed this year. For reference, Roku normally sells the device for $50, although in recent months it has been often sold at retail for $34 at third-party retailers like Amazon. Either way, you save a little more than usual.
The discount is available at several stores, including Amazon, Walmart, Best buy And Roku.com. If you’re hoping to buy the device as a Christmas gift, it’ll be more complicated: Most listings we could find say it won’t ship until after the holidays, so you’ll probably have to order in-store pickup at Walmart, Best Buy, or another retailer with physical locations.
Roku
This ties the best price we’ve seen all year for Roku’s 4K streaming dongle.
We recommend the Streaming Stick 4K in our guide to best streaming devices. It’s not as fast or smooth as a high-end set-top box like the Apple TV 4Kbut loading apps and menus remains fast, and its tiny design plugs directly into your TV’s HDMI port. It supports pretty much all major HDR formats and streaming services (Tic aside), and it works with Apple’s AirPlay 2 protocol, so you can stream content to it from an iPhone. Although it cannot decode Dolby Atmos audio on its own, it can transmit this audio to a compatible audio system from applications that support this technology.
Like other Roku devices, the Streaming Stick 4K is extremely easy to navigate, with a home screen consisting of a basic grid of apps. Google’s TV streamer (our guide’s top pick) is much more proactive when it comes to recommending content you might like and bringing you back to shows you’ve watched recently, but you may find Roku’s interface more easy to understand if you don’t mind surfing for things to do. watch yourself.
The user interface also makes a wealth of free content easily accessible, and we found that search worked well, although it wasn’t as robust as Google’s operating system. We also like Roku’s mobile app, which lets you control the device and listen privately with a pair of headphones. As with every other streaming player, there are ads scattered throughout the user interface, although Roku is at least a little less aggressive about them than Amazon with its FireTV devices.
A few other Roku devices are also still available at their Black Friday prices, including the Roku Express 4K+ (which lacks Dolby Vision HDR) for $24 and the Roku Ultra (which has a larger case design, full Atmos support, and a more advanced remote control) for $79. For most people looking to visit Roku townHowever, the Streaming Stick 4K should be the best value.
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