Now that Amazon has unveiled a new 4K HDR streaming dongle mini-device and Apple has unveiled its new 4K HDR set-top box, we have Roku keeping up with the competitive momentum by unveiling a new streaming 4K HDR stick of its own, along with several new set-top box and smart platform hardware/software updates that we cover in our next post.
The company, which has just gained one huge capital infusion thanks to a very successful IPO, has essentially revamped its entire line of streaming hardware and the compact new 4K HDR media stick is sort of a cherry on top of these almost traditional fall updates to Roku’s product roster.
The new 4K HDR media stick, called the “Roku Streaming Stick+” is definitely the most exciting of the company’s fall improvements. It boasts full 4K ultra HD resolution support at 60fps and comes with the by now practically mandatory bonus feature of high dynamic range support as well. The HDR is a feature that the new device shares with all of Roku’s other 4K set-top boxes but this is the first time it has ever appeared in anything so small from the company. Previous versions of a streaming stick from Roku have all been strictly-1080p, with 2160P reserved for the full set-top boxes.
The HDR support in the Streaming Stick+ is the same widely used HDR10 format as that found in all the rest of the company’s 4K products and as far as we know, Roku has no immediate plans for updating any products to include Dolby Vision support, a feature which is at this point uniquely found in Apple’s 4K TV set-top box. This of course could be because HDR10 itself is also getting a quality update for some point in 2018, when a consortium of companies behind the standard plan on updating it into HDR10+ and making it more on par with Dolby Vision’s level of high dynamic range quality.
Moving back to the Streaming Stick+ though, Roku is selling it for a fairly competitive price tag of $70. This is essentially the same as the price of Amazon’s new Fire TV 4K dongle and Google’s Chromecast Ultra 4K HDR dongle. In other words, the Roku stick is competitively priced while offering access to Roku’s genuinely excellent Roku TV smart platform and its famously awesome selection of streaming entertainment options (more than 500,000 different content offerings across some 5000 “channels”, as Roku calls its platforms apps). The Streaming Stick+ also offers four times the wireless range of its HD predecessor.
Roku’s older 1080p Streaming media stick with Roku TV gets an updated remote
Roku’s older 1080p streaming stick is still being sold however and though it doesn’t include 4K support, the remote for the older device will now feature voice control in new units sold, just like the new 4K version’s remote control and the remotes of other Roku devices.
The Roku Streaming Stick+ is now available for pre-order from the Roku website and other major retailers. Shipping for the new 4K HDR mini-device starts as of October 8th.
Story by 4k.com