Roku has just announced a bunch of new products, and we’re delighted with the new mini-LED Roku Plus Series TVs , which bring that screen tech down to an unbelievably new low price – considering how much we liked the previous Roku Plus Series and the Roku Pro Series TV with mini-LED , we’re excited for the value of these new models.
Roku also announced some new streaming sticks , and this is where things get, uh, sticky. There’s nothing wrong with the sticks themselves, which replace the old Roku Express models in Roku’s range – one delivers budget streaming with HD only, and one delivers 4K HDR for a little more money.
But it means that Roku’s streaming stick lineup is now stupidly confusing if you’re looking for a 4K option.
There are three products in Roku’s stick range: the Roku Streaming Stick Plus, the Roku Streaming Stick 4K, and the Roku Streaming Stick. Let me ask you a couple of questions about them…
You have a 4K TV, and you want a 4K streaming stick, obviously; which should you buy? The 4K model, of course. Well, except, the Plus also does 4K.
Okay, now you know this, here’s a follow-up: Which is the best model in the range, with the most advanced features for 4K HDR viewing? Probably the Plus, right, since it does 4K, but it’s Plus . It’s more .
Wrong, the Streaming Stick 4K is the only one with Dolby Vision HDR, and is the higher-end model in the range.
This naming convention is so obviously confusing that the official Roku site actually refers to the Plus model as the Roku Streaming Stick Plus (4K) whenever it’s mentioned in written text.
Here are the details on the new stick range (plus the Roku Ultra box, for context):
Swipe to scroll horizontally
Model
Features
Price
Roku Streaming Stick
HD, Voice Remote
$29.99 / £29.99
Roku Streaming Stick Plus
4K, HDR10, HDR10+, Voice Remote
$39.99 / £39.99
Roku Streaming Stick 4K
4K, HDR10, HDR10+, Dolby Vision, Voice Remote
$49.99 / £49.99
Roku Ultra
4K, HDR10, HDR10+, Dolby Vision, Backlit Voice Remote, Lost Remote Finder
$99.99
I don’t blame Roku for having a more expensive model for Dolby Vision, because Dolby charges hardware makers a fee to include its products, which isn’t the case for basic HDR10 or HDR10+.
But I don’t really understand why you’d bother with the Streaming Stick Plus at all in this case. The Streaming Stick 4K has been out for a while now – could Roku not bring its price down by $5, so that we wouldn’t really need the Plus at all, to keep it simple?
I have to assume that we’re in a strange transitional stage of Roku’s lineup. The Streaming Stick 4K has been around for a while, so I’m guessing it may be removed soon and there might be a new product coming – maybe something a little pricier than 4K model that splits the difference between the Plus and the $99 Roku Ultra.
Or maybe Roku will just remove the 4K model from the lineup eventually and say ‘If you want Dolby, pay $99’ – though if it does that, hopefully it’ll actually release the Ultra in countries such as the UK…
(Image credit: Lance Ulanoff/Future)
Roku is far from the first tech company to release a confusing range of devices – and this isn’t even the first streaming stick range to have too many similar products in.
Amazon used to offer the Fire TV Stick Lite, Fire TV Stick HD, Fire TV Stick 4K, and Fire TV Stick 4K Max all at once (though it has since removed the Lite).
That always felt like more products than were really needed, and likely to cause confusion – except that Amazon’s lineup has clarity in the product names. It’s perfectly clear which sticks do 4K, and which is the best of the bunch.
Roku’s range needs a little realignment – and I expect it might be coming later this year. In the meantime, just make sure you read the specs carefully before buying if you want to add one of its sticks to one of the best TVs …
