Best Roku streamer 2020: Express vs Premiere vs Stick vs Ultra - all the options explained

There are plenty of media streamers around but few offer as extensive range of apps and channels as Roku. The company has been manufacturing online streaming boxes for several years but which should you choose?

The product offerings in the UK and the US are slightly different, with the US often getting Roku devices that never launch in the UK - as well as Roku TVs that don't always travel internationally.

Here we're focusing on Roku's streaming devices to help you choose which is the best for you - and it's worth considering that there are great deals running for a couple of weeks on a couple of these devices (in the UK), so it's a great time to buy.

Roku OS

All Roku players run Roku OS, a user interface that is designed to make finding content as easy as possible.

Roku calls its apps "channels" and offers perhaps the widest selection out there, including Amazon Video, Netflix, Apple TV, Disney+ and all the UK's terrestrial catch-up services (in the UK).

Features of Roku OS include Roku Search, which lets you search by movie title, actor or director, and it will return results based on your terms. The results will show you what you can watch for free, what you need a subscription for and what you can rent or buy.

Roku Feed shows you what films are out in the cinema, you can then set reminders so the player will let you know when those films are available to watch on Roku's channels.

You don't just have to find content through the players though, as you can open videos on several different channels, including Netflix and YouTube, on your smartphone and cast them across to the Roku player, in a similar fashion to Chromecast.

Roku Mobile App

Roku also has a mobile application for iOS and Android devices to accompany whichever streaming device you have. With it, you can access channels you already have installed, search the channel store for new ones to add and use it as a remote control.

Along the bottom of the screen there is a navigation bar that provides quick access to some of the most popular functions, including channels, what's on, where you'll find recommended content that other Roku users have been watching, quick launch for the remote control and access to photos which you can send to your streaming device to view on your TV.

The remote app can also be used to enable a private listening feature whereby you can connect your headphones to your phone and listen to audio from whatever you're watching in private, instead of having the sound come out of your TV.

Which is the best Roku streamer to buy today?

from Pocket-lint https://ift.tt/2zFFWhL
via IFTTT