![]() ![]() Roku's remotes can only control televisions, but with Fire TV you can also control soundbars and even These remotes have buttons for TV power and TV volume up/down and mute. The Fire TV Stick has a TV control remote for $40. The cheapest Roku streamers that come with TV control remotes are the $40 Express 4K Plus and the $50 Roku Streaming Stick 4K. In both cases setup is dead-simple - the streamer automatically recognizes your TV and programs the remote wirelessly, without you having to do anything besides confirming it works - but Fire TV is cheaper and more capable. It's a great feature because it allows you to ditch your TV's own remote and use the streamer's clicker for everything. ![]() ![]() Sarah Tew/CNET Best for TV and device control: Fire TV (especially Fire TV Cube)īoth Roku and Fire TV offer devices with buttons on the remote designed to control your TV. With a mute key and the ability to command sound bars and receivers in addition to your TV, Fire TV's remote is better for device control. Amazon lacks a way to handle the audio lag (lip sync error) and you'll need to have a volume control built into the headphones. Roku claims that up to four people can listen privately at the same time with audio that is automatically adjusted to work with each individual's headphones.įire TV's only option for private listening is to pair Bluetooth headphones, but it's not nearly as effective. Roku rolled out its OS 10.5 system upgrade last year which attempts to fix the audio lags that can occur when listening through Bluetooth headphones. In addition, every Roku device offers private listening via the free Roku app on your phone - just fire up the app and attach headphones to your phone. You just plug your headphones into the clicker and the audio on the TV or soundbar mutes automatically, and sound comes through the headphones instead, complete with volume control on the 'phones. Roku has long had a really cool feature on its higher-end players: A headphone jack built into the remote control itself. You can use the Roku app on your phone for private headphone listening with any Roku player Sarah Tew/CNET Best for private listening via headphones: Roku Still, if you own a Google speaker already and want to use it for TV control, Fire TV isn't an option. Roku players work in the same way with Alexa and Google Home/ Google Nest speakers but not as well - you have to remember to say "Roku" at the end of every command ("OK, Google, launch Hulu on Roku"). Say "Alexa, watch Roma" and Fire TV launches Netflix and starts playing the movie, for example. , you can do pretty much everything hands-free on Fire TV (no remote required) with standard Alexa commands. Alexa's voice also talks back through the TV's speakers. Most Roku players also offer voice remotes using Roku's own voice system, but the cheapest models lack that feature.īoth voice systems let you easily search, launch apps and control playback (fast-forward, pause, etc.) via voice, but Fire TV also lets you do everything Alexa does, including control smart-home devices, get a weather report and answer questions, complete with on-screen results. If you care about using voice control to find TV shows and movies, Fire TV wins.Įvery Fire TV device from the Lite on up has Alexa voice capability built into the remote. Sarah Tew/CNET Best for voice: Fire TV with Alexa Want to watch TV hands-free, commanding the TV with just your voice? Fire TV + Alexa speaker, like this Echo Dot, works better than Roku + Google Assistant/Alexa. Meanwhile, the Fire TV Stick 4K Max, is one of the fastest streaming devices on the market. The Roku Streaming Stick 4K offers Dolby Vision and is sometimes on sale for less than the older and Vision-less Roku Express 4K Plus. Most of the Roku and Fire TV devices we've reviewed received an 8.0 (excellent) rating or higher, so it's tough to go wrong. But which one should you pick?Īt CNET we've spent countless hours testing both over the years, and in general, both work really well. Lots of people want a cheap, easy way to get streaming video from Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney Plus, HBO Max, Hulu, YouTube and Apple TV Plus on their TV, and both companies offer numerous devices with similar prices and features that allow you to do just that. In the other corner sits Amazon Fire TV, the streamer made by one of the most powerful companies in the world. In one corner is Roku, the most popular name in streaming devices. In the epic fight for your living room, two major companies are vying for the title of Best Streaming Device For You.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |