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Roku products are frequently discounted, too. ★ Another Streaming Stick: The Streaming Stick 4K ($50) is a little cheaper, and its remote doesn't have hands-free voice control, if you aren't interested in that. You'll have to charge the remote, which I don't particularly love, but you do save money on replacing batteries. Remote lost in the couch cushions? Just ask Roku where it is to activate a beep. Say “Hey Roku, play Succession on HBO Max” without lifting a finger (yep, Roku now supports HBO Max!). There's a slider on the side of the remote that, if pushed to the on position, allows you to talk to your remote from anywhere in the room. We think most people will like the stick-it's one of Roku's cheapest devices, and the 4K Plus is faster and comes with a longer-range wireless receiver it also plugs right into your TV's HDMI port, so you won't see it dangling. The Streaming Sticks have held our top spot for years, and the most recent version is the 4K Plus. ![]() Roku's interface is the easiest to navigate, and all the major streaming services are there. But if you have a house full of Apple stuff and enjoy AirPlay, you may as well complete your collection. Lately, it seems to care more about its Apple TV+ subscription service and app than its physical hardware. ![]() It doesn't update its models or its interface all that often. It also has most apps, but TV boxes remain a side project for Apple. Apple TV has a slick interface and Apple's usual gloss.If you buy or rent a lot of movies from Amazon, and subscribe to Prime, the Fire TV is appealing. Unfortunately, it sometimes feels like an ad for Amazon stuff more than a diverse ecosystem of apps and content. Amazon Fire TV is geared toward those who really enjoy Amazon's ecosystem, and it will quickly point you to its content.The only problem is that these don't manage storage quite as well. With its newest Chromecast, we stopped seeing the bugs and problems that used to plague the platform, and it includes basically every streaming app out there, as well as YouTube and Spotify. It's been around for years, but it just recently (in 2020) nailed the experience. Google TV, formerly called Android TV, is Google's latest streaming OS.You can also do this with Apple TV's Airplay 2 functionality, but you need an iOS or macOS device. Though that's no longer its main draw, it has the added benefit of letting you send web pages or other content directly from your smartphone (it's easiest on an Android Phone), which is sometimes quite handy. Chromecast used to eschew an interface altogether (and older models still hold true to this), but the newest version has Google TV built-in.The company survives solely on how well its streaming device platform performs. Roku also isn't made by one of the major tech companies. Plus, if you decide to switch TVs, you can just move your Roku to another TV in your house at any time. Roku is our favorite streaming OS because it has just about every streaming app there is, and setup is hassle-free.Wi-Fi with Wi-Fi 6 support, Bluetooth 5.0 and BLE If you see inaccuracies in our content, please report the mistake via this form. If we have made an error or published misleading information, we will correct or clarify the article. Our editors thoroughly review and fact-check every article to ensure that our content meets the highest standards. Our goal is to deliver the most accurate information and the most knowledgeable advice possible in order to help you make smarter buying decisions on tech gear and a wide array of products and services. ![]() ZDNET's editorial team writes on behalf of you, our reader. Indeed, we follow strict guidelines that ensure our editorial content is never influenced by advertisers. Neither ZDNET nor the author are compensated for these independent reviews. This helps support our work, but does not affect what we cover or how, and it does not affect the price you pay. When you click through from our site to a retailer and buy a product or service, we may earn affiliate commissions. And we pore over customer reviews to find out what matters to real people who already own and use the products and services we’re assessing. We gather data from the best available sources, including vendor and retailer listings as well as other relevant and independent reviews sites. ZDNET's recommendations are based on many hours of testing, research, and comparison shopping.
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