![]() Watching “Ahsoka” on the Roku Express, I quickly found myself focusing on the Star Wars show and not the fact that I was watching in substandard quality. If you don’t see yourself needing 4K anytime soon, I can understand this not being a deal breaker. 3” and a kids title called “Pretty Freekin Scary” looked more like drawings than photos. Then, images in the Disney+ app interface for “Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. Issues with its lower resolution mostly popped up the closer I stood to my TV. But since Roku isn’t the only company that recently released a 1080p streaming device (hi, Chromecast with Google TV HD), we can’t write the Express off as irrelevant. ![]() ![]() ![]() Consider either the $40 Roku Express 4K+ (HDR) or the $50 Roku Streaming Stick 4K (Dolby Vision, HDR and Dolby Atmos). Sure, support is convenient if you plug into a newer TV, but then you should just level up. You may not care, as HDR and Dolby Atmos aren’t widely available on the 1080p TVs that the Roku Express is made for. All the Fire TV Sticks and the HD Chromecast offer Atmos. The Dolby Atmos audio standard for more immersive sound is also missing on the Roku Express. All those other streaming boxes offer some kind of HDR, though, while the Express does not. At this price, it’s understandable that none of these streaming devices have Dolby Vision, a premium video standard that delivers stronger color and contrast with high dynamic range (HDR). Oh, and while 1080p streaming devices don’t need all the bells and whistles, we still have to compare the Express against its similarly priced competitors. Instead, they’ll be using specific parental controls inside of apps. Roku has yet to add multiuser support to its devices, which could irk parents who wish they could keep their kids’ stuff in its own walled garden and password-lock content behind their own profiles. Roku’s included instructions suggest you could use that strip to affix the Roku Express to one of the sides of your TV. Roku has its own ads - I even saw an Acura dealership in the Roku City screensaver during testing - but this platform pushes the least “stuff.” Amazon Fire TV Sticks and the Google TV dongles feature home screens littered with ads and other suggested content. This may sound like faint praise, but I recommend the Roku Express simply because Roku doesn’t do what its competitors do. Don’t need one of the pre-installed apps? You can easily remove it by hitting the * button on your remote and selecting “remove.” Roku’s easy-to-use interface gives you a grid of apps and a menu, and the Express’ software is as great as it ever was. After I made that adjustment, everything just worked. If you find some clicks don’t register, make sure that the Roku Express is sitting flat with its glossy side facing forward. It even worked some of the times when I pointed the remote directly away from the device. Now, the remote just works at most angles, as long as you’re pointing it in the vague direction of the Roku Express. My biggest gripes with that box are its interface (see below), cheap-feeling design and inconsistent performance from both its remote app and Google Assistant. Walmart’s selling its recently released Onn 4K Google TV Streaming Box for $20, undercutting all its rivals (though it’s known to go in and out of stock). But for $30, I’m not cursing Roku or Disney for such lag. For example, I’ve noticed that rows of shows and movies can sometimes take an extra moment to load in Disney+ on the Express. You may notice slightly longer pauses if you’ve streamed on a pricier model in the past, though. As I started Netflix’s “One Piece” on the Express, I often thought to myself, “This is pretty good for the price.” I didn’t notice much speed, but I didn’t find myself waiting long for apps to start up either. In a world full of $50 streaming sticks, the Roku Express’ $30 price is its biggest perk, and one it shares with the Amazon Fire TV Stick Lite and Chromecast with Google TV HD. Your CNN account Log in to your CNN account
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