Roku Streaming Stick Plus - Hands On Review

SUBSCRIBE FOR THE LATEST VIDEOS

It may be hard to be believe, but a little plastic stick the size of a pack of gum could replace most of the bulky boxes in your home entertainment system. Put it in the living room, put it in the bedroom, put it in your pocket and take it to your hotel: Roku’s Streaming Stick+ is all the entertainment source you really need. And it costs just $70.

Sound a little “enthusiastic?” Fair. We’re unapologetic fans of Roku. But this is no ad; in our Roku Streaming Stick+ review we aim to explain why this device is all the streamer most folks need.

In the box with the sleek, slender Roku Streaming Stick+ is a USB wall plug, a USB extension cable, a Roku remote, batteries for the remote, and a USB to mini-USB power cable.

Setting up a Roku device is as simple as it gets, if a little time consuming at times. Roku will walk you through pairing its remote and connecting to your Wi-Fi router. From there, it will auto-detect your TV and verify that it is successfully controlling it – no silly remote codes to punch in. If for some reason Roku’s auto-detection scheme doesn’t work, tell it which brand of TV you’re using and you should then be off to the races.

The Roku Streaming Stick+ is the most sensible streaming TV device available this year. At $70, it delivers 4K HDR video with up to Dolby Atmos Audio, all through a user interface designed to appeal to a wide range of users, from tech novices to tech wizards. Thanks to an app-agnostic approach, Roku makes finding the best place to watch the content you want easier than its competitors, and its handy app is icing on an already delicious cake.

VISIT DIGITAL TRENDS

FOLLOW US!

[dirtyblond]

5 minute review, and didnt mention voice control once ?

Pretty big topic to completely skip...

[JesseNewberry]

Appreciate the video. I'm considering getting a Streaming Stick + so am doing a bit of research. Still exploring Fire also. Thank you for this.

[pmrp]

I have a tv with 2 hdmi ports (1 ARC) and a sound bar. Should this device or the sound bar be plugged into the ARC port?

[skyblue]

Can you use the USB with a 220v tv. Because this roku is a 110v. So obviously you cannot use it to plug directly. The only option is to use the USB cable to plug into a
220v TV. I'm referring to traveling outside USA. Thank you

[hitmanbuc]

Anybody experience flicker occasionally viewing hdr content? Other than that crazy picture

[borderlandsdude]

But you can't use free apps on it... like cyberflix... so its kinda pointless... its like a apple tv...

[hitmanbuc]

BTW you can control soundbar through tv bluetooth

[aderfigueroa]

I bought one roku streaming plus for my bedroom, it’s working great so far.

[MrVidification]

Working and idle temperatures? Roku sticks report 80C idle, over 100C (212F) after playing youtube for half an hour or less (on the home screen, press Home button five times, then ff, play, rw, play, ff). This should take you to the platform screen showing the temp, if they haven't disabled it

[FushaStrat]

Where is the "Mute" button for the loud commercials that usually come after a movie or show that requires you to have the volume up high? I have an older streaming stick without voice but I still need my remote to mute the sound. That's why I'm shopping around to replace it.

[mrsilent]

I currently have the Streaming Stick + enable refresh rate change automatically. In other words, it will go back and forth between 1080/24p and 1080/60p. This is a problem, however, when browsing through Netflix as the video changes its video format as the content changes. This can be very inconvient as sometimes it will change too much and results in stuttering video or nothing at all. My question is: Is there a way to only change the video format when I actually play the movie/tv show I am going to watch; VUDU also shares this same problem but only when rewinding and forwarding.. Also, YOUTUBE seems to have a problem adjusting to 24 frames per second video i.e Movie Trailers, etc.

[PJG]

I like..
Streaming Stick+ 4K Headphone Edition with Voice Remote with TV Power and Volume Streaming

[HipocratesR]

I've seen many unboxing's here in youtube without the HDMI extension or dongle and while getting my wallet ready to buy it but I'm afraid it doesn't come included in the box since my Tv have a bulge behind that won't allow to me to connect the ROku to it.

[JeffreyVillanueva]

It can use mirroring or cast from Android mobile?

[jaypalmerittas]

The Roku Express 4K+ remote comes with a volume and mute button on the side. It works better if you plug it into the USB port of the TV rather than the wall outlet. I paid $29.99 each at Walmart. I bought 4 of them. So now I can watch TV in the garage when I'm doing my workout.

[Kander]

I've recently buy this product.. and sadly I can't used it with windows 7 to do screen mirroring..
maybe I can used Plex... or other streaming apps to screen mirroring but it requires bandwith internet connection..
and it's not good for me because internet provider which I used now will cost more depend on quota bandwith which I used

[raywood]

The problem I have is my HDMI ports are full with my direct tv I have basic cable so how do I hook up my roku with no HDMI ports

[llengford]

Can not use a VPN with Roku and you will be spied on.

[quenzeranthony]

Are you able to ask certain things like pull up the weather or play a certain song like the Amazon Fire stick

[illimattic]

This was a mandatory purchase for me because my BRAND NEW fire tv is having hardware connectivity issues.