Streaming · Review
Roku Streaming Stick 4K
The simplest, most no-nonsense streamer there is - if you can live inside its walls.
No BS summary
Roku's whole pitch is simplicity, and it nails it: a clean, stable interface with far fewer adverts than a Fire stick, a genuinely good Plex app, and 4K with Dolby Vision - all for very little money. It just works, and for a lot of people that's exactly the point. The limit is the closed store: no sideloading, so off-store players and IPTV apps aren't happening. For the big apps with zero faff it's lovely; for a tinkerer it's a dead end.
Score: 7/10
Kudos for
- Dead-simple, rock-stable interface
- Far fewer ads than Fire TV
- A genuinely good Plex app
- 4K with Dolby Vision, and cheap
Dropped the ball
- Closed store - no sideloading
- No niche players or IPTV apps
- The remote's hardwired app buttons
Simple, but walled
Roku's strength and its ceiling are the same thing: a tightly controlled, closed app store. That's why it's so stable and so unintimidating - and why you can't sideload a thing. The mainstream apps are all there and the Plex app is good, but anything off the beaten track is simply unavailable. If you want a box that a technophobe relative can use without a single phone call, that closedness is a feature. If you like to tinker, it's a wall.
What you're actually buying
Calm. The interface is a plain grid of your apps and nothing else - no home screen trying to sell you films, far less of the advertising clutter Fire TV piles on. It's quick enough, it's reliable, and it gets out of the way. For the money, that restraint is worth a lot.
The remote
The 11pm test - find it in the dark, hit the right button? The Roku remote isn't backlit, so you'll fumble a bit, though the point-and-simple layout helps. Some models add a headphone jack for private listening, which is a genuinely nice touch. And the usual bugbear: the hardwired app-shortcut buttons (Netflix, Disney and the like) are far too easy to knock by accident and bump you clean out of whatever is playing - some people love the one-press access, I would happily bin them.
Performance in normal use
Perfectly good for what it is. The mainstream apps and 4K Dolby Vision run cleanly, and on our TalkTalk gigabit line it held a high-bitrate stream without fuss. It won't win a speed contest with a Shield or a Google box, but for flipping between the big apps it never feels slow. Plugged into the 65-inch LG NanoCell, it did exactly the job.
What's missing
Sideloading, plainly. What I'd carry over from elsewhere is the openness of a Fire TV Stick 4K Plus or the Google TV Streamer - both let you install what you like. Roku's simplicity is the charm; a little more freedom would make it near-perfect for the price, instead of a lovely-but-limited pick.
Who should buy this
Anyone who wants the big apps with zero faff and zero clutter - especially a second telly, a guest room, or a less techy household member. It's the calmest, cheapest way to get clean 4K on a screen.
Who should skip it
Tinkerers. If you want to sideload anything, Roku can't do it - a Fire TV Stick 4K Plus is the cheap way onto the open side of the fence, and the Google TV Streamer the better one if your Wi-Fi is shaky.
Specs at a glance
| Resolution | 4K Ultra HD, Dolby Vision, HDR10+ |
|---|---|
| Operating system | Roku OS (no sideloading) |
| Apps | Roku channel store only |
| Remote | Roku Voice Remote (some models add a headphone jack) |
Where to buy
Pick your country. We may earn a small commission on some links once our affiliate programmes are approved - you pay the same.
| UK | Amazon UK · Currys |
|---|---|
| US | Amazon US · Best Buy |
| CA | Amazon CA · Best Buy CA |
Links go live as each affiliate programme is approved.
Final word
The streamer to buy when you want it to just work and never think about it again - stable, cheap, refreshingly ad-light. Only its closed store holds it back, and only if you're the sort who'd want to sideload. If you're not, it's one of the easiest recommendations on the site.