Roku Streaming Stick review

With the success of the Google Chromecast, it’s no wonder that Roku’s decided to have a go at the same market with the Streaming Stick. As with the Chromecast, this media streamer looks like a USB memory stick, only it has an HDMI port and the end so that you can plug it directly into your TV.

It’s a little slimmer and lighter than the bulbous Chromecast, so it shouldn’t obscure any of your TV’s other HDMI ports. Sadly, the Streaming Stick doesn’t come with an HDMI extension cable if it does get in the way; the Google Chromecast comes with an extension cable for this very reason.

The Roku Streaming Stick is powered by USB, so you should be able to plug the supplied Micro USB cable into a spare port on your TV. If you don’t have one, or you find that your TV’s ports don’t provide enough power, there’s a 1A mains USB power adaptor in the box.

That’s as far as the comparisons go with the Chromecast, as the Streaming Stick doesn’t require you to send content to it from a smartphone or tablet, but runs its own self-contained apps and operating system. One advantage of this system is that the Streaming Stick is exceptionally easier to set up and configure, as you do everything on-screen using the bundled remote control.

It’s a rather basic remote, with a cursor pad, home, back, OK and playback controls, but that suits the simple interface of the Streaming Stick. It’s a shame that this remote doesn’t have the headphone port of the Roku 3’s remote, which was great for watching late-night TV.

Your first job is to set up the Streaming Stick. You’ll have to wait a while for it to start up, which took over a minute. If you turn your TV off at the mains or use its physical power button when you’re not using it, it means you’ll have a bit of a wait every time you want to use the Streaming Stick, which is a little annoying.

The first time it powers up you have to log in to your Roku account (you can create one for free if you don’t have one) and join the device to your home network. It has an 802.11n Wi-Fi adaptor inside and supports both 2.4GHz and 5GHz networks.

Once you’ve got the Streaming Stick on your home network you can then use the Remote for Roku app for Android or iPhone. These have the advantage that you can use your phone’s software keyboard to enter text, which is faster than using the Streaming Stick’s on-screen keyboard via the remote control.

Anyone familiar with Roku’s other media streamers will be immediately at home here, as the Streaming Stick has exactly the same interface. A large tiled home screen shows you the apps (called Channels) that you’ve got installed. New Channels can be added through the Channel Store. It’s split into categories, but there’s no way to search for a specific app, which can make finding a Channel rather laborious, especially when there are over 450 to search for. Not all Channels are free, which is why you have to provide your credit card details when you create your Roku account.

Unfortunately, we found the Streaming Stick a little sluggish when navigating between screens, with occasional slow transitions and animations. Some channels were also slow to start. This is a real shame, as one of the best things about regular Roku streamers is their speed and responsiveness. Fortunately, the breadth of content available mostly makes up for any slight shortcomings with the interface.

Catch-up TV

While both the Apple TV and Chromecast only have BBC iPlayer, Roku supports all of the major services, also adding ITV Player, 4oD and Demand Five. On top of that you also get a free Sky News app, while Now TV gives you subscription options to watch the best from Sky, including Sky Atlantic, Movies and Sports. This is a long way ahead of the streamer’s rivals, with Apple TV only offering Sky Sports on subscription.

Movies and Netflix

If you want to watch movies and TV shows from online, the best option is via the official Netflix app. It supports HD streaming, automatically streaming the best-quality video that your internet connection will allow.

If you want to watch US Netflix and its larger collection of content then the Streaming Stick is a bit of a pain to set up. For a device like this to use American Netflix you need a smart VPN service, such as the excellent Unblock Us. Unfortunately, this requires you to change DNS settings on the Streaming Stick, which you can’t do. On top of that, Roku has hardwired the device to use Google’s DNS servers, in a similar way to the Chromecast. The solution requires you make some advanced changes to your router and then some network-wide DNS changes. Unfortunately, not all routers have the necessary options. Check out our guide on how to get US Netflix on the Roku Streaming Stick for more information.

There’s also a range of other film Channels available, including the aforementioned Sky Now TV, as well as some smaller ones providing access to free films, such as Flixter, which lets you buy and rent a decent range of films. There are some smaller, slightly wackier choices, too, such as Kung-Fu Theatre.  Content and quality is quite variable, but you can try out the options to see if there’s something to match what you like.

Surround Sound

It’s good to see that that Streaming Stick supports surround sound from those services that provide it, such as Netflix. To get this option working you have to first enable it in the Settings menu. You’ll also need to plug the Streaming Stick directly into a spare HDMI port on your AV amp.

DLNA Media Servers

Through the Roku Media Player you can access DLNA media servers on your home network, which you’ll probably have built-into a NAS device. It’s a simple, but quick app. One issue is that, like the Chromecast and Apple TV, the Streaming Stick doesn’t support many video formats. H.264 is the main video codec, with MKV, MP4 and MOV files all supported. If you don’t have content in any of these formats, you’ll need to convert your videos to play. Photo and music support is better with all of the major formats supported.

Unfortunately, the Streaming Stick is not a DLNA renderer, which means that you can’t beam content to it from a smartphone, tablet or PC. Alternatively, there’s a Plex app available, which will connect to a Plex server on your home network. The beauty of this system is that the Plex server can transcode video on the fly, converting it into a format that the Streaming Stick can play. See our guide on how to set up and use a Plex server for more information.

Other apps and music

There’s also web-based content from services such as YouTube, Dailymotion and Livestream, and a good selection of music available through Vevo, Spotify and TuneIn Radio, among others. Other more obscure channels are also available, so whatever your interests are, from video games to cookery, the selection from Roku is certainly impressive.

Conclusion

While both the Apple TV and Chromecast currently lack content, the Roku Streaming Stick has loads of it available, and a lot of it is from high-quality providers, such as the BBC, ITV and Sky. As all of the content is available through dedicated apps, you don’t need a smartphone or tablet to use any of the content.

That’s not to say that everything is perfect. In some ways, Apple’s AirPlay and Chromecast’s Cast technology are better. Using your smartphone or tablet app to select content and then beaming it to the relevant device is often quicker and easier. Plus, in the long-run it’s easier for developers to add the technologies into their existing apps, without having to write specific ones for Roku. This method also removes any problems with having a slightly sluggish user interface, as the Streaming Stick does.

Still, on balance, there’s no denying that this is a great media streamer. It’s brilliant value and significantly cheaper than the Apple TV. It’s £20 more than the Google Chromecast, but that money can be justified if you want Sky Now and most of the UK’s catch-up TV services.

If you’re looking for something more feature-packed then try the Roku 3. While those who just want iPlayer for cheap should check out the £10 Now TV box.