When it comes to streaming devices, Roku is one of the first names that a lot of people think of. Roku pioneered the quality streaming media stick. The Roku Premiere is more than a stick though. It is a small box that rests next to your television. Let’s take a look at this amazing beast of a streaming device.
Power Filled Specs
Like you would expect with any box-style streaming media device, the Roku Premiere+ is chuck full of power. It is capable of streaming media at 4K UHD quality. For any media that can’t be upconverted it is streamed at 1080P HD. Both of these are the two highest standards in streaming media quality.
Unlike Amazon, Roku appears to be pretty secretive with what they put in their device. I was unable to find out how many cores the processor has or what amount of ram the device has. Not even the amount of storage the Premiere+ has is listed on the “specs” page from Roku. Although, worrying about storage space isn’t something that should happen as you can expand the device’s storage with a microSD card.
What Is Available
The main design of Roku is to be able to watch your favorite shows and movies on your television without having to have cable. They have put a good effort into securing a wide variety of “channels” for you to watch. Channels are what Roku refers to streaming networks as. All of the most popular channels are available on Roku.
One network that surprises a lot of users is Amazon Video. For a while Amazon was very exclusive about who they let use their service. Amazon Video now comes ready to play on Roku devices as long as you have an Amazon account with Prime or want to pay for movies/tv shows.
You can get these other streaming services and more:
- Netflix
- Hulu
- PBS
- HBO Now
- Crackle
- Showtime
If there is something you want to watch, chances are that there is at least one channel available on the Roku that has it. The Roku search utilizes all channels installed to find you the content you want to watch.
While mainly designed for watching television. You can also stream music and there are a few games available too. The games available are your traditional computer games like Snake, Darts, and Solitaire for example. Without a full controller it makes other games harder to play.
The Remote
While Amazon might have the market cornered on smart remotes, the Roku Premiere+ remote is one of the nice things about the device. It is a simple remote that can be backed up by your phone as a control device. But the coolest part about it, is that the remote has a private listening feature where you can plug headphones directly into the remote so no one else can hear. That means you can watch your favorite shows and movies without disturbing the whole house. Honestly, this is one of the most interesting features for me. I think that it is cool to be able to listen privately with high quality headphones.
The Roku App is another key feature on the Roku devices. It allows users to search, view, read, type, and more all from their phone. This simplifies use for those who don’t like typing with a remote or have trouble reading what is on the television screen. The app is available for iOS and Android devices and will work on your phone or tablet.
Overall the Roku has some wonderful features despite being pretty secretive about their device’s inner workings. Overall, Roku has been known to stand the test of time unless you want the new features. For example, my dad had the same Roku for several years or more. He uses it to watch shows that have been out for a while and loves it. If the Roku box isn’t right for you, Roku has several other options available.
