An annual reminder to skip Roku’s cheap Black Friday streamers

Roku is once again rolling out a set of cheap streaming devices for Black Friday, which means it’s time for my grand holiday tradition of imploring you not to buy them.

As in years past, Walmart has the exclusive on these budget Black Friday streamers, which include the $15 Roku LE (on sale from November 25 through December 1) and the $18 Roku Premiere (available now through November 17). Both are among the worst streaming devices you can buy at any price, and neither are worth buying on Black Friday except in a few narrow use cases.

This story is part of TechHive’s in-depth coverage of the best media streamers.

It’s the remote, again

The issue with these Black Friday Roku streamers isn’t related to their performance. Roku does a fine job optimizing its platform to run well on cheap hardware, and the Premiere model even supports 4K HDR video (albeit without Dolby Vision support).

Instead, the problem is entirely in the remote control. As in years past, both the Roku LE and the Roku Premiere use Roku’s most basic remote, which does not support TV volume and power controls.

If you’re new to streaming, please, do not underestimate the benefit of having those controls built into your streaming remote. Having to juggle two separate remotes is obnoxious and tiresome, and you should pay a few extra dollars not to suffer that indignity.

Not convinced yet? The Roku LE and Roku Premiere remotes also don’t support voice control. If you want to look up a movie or TV show because you can’t remember which streaming service it’s on, you’ll need to navigate to Roku’s search menu and type in each letter one by one. Please don’t put yourself through this.

There are precisely three scenarios in which Roku’s cheap Black Friday specials make sense:

• If you’re planning to pick up a Roku Voice Remote Pro and don’t need the extra features of a Roku Ultra box, these streamers would save you money.
• If your soundbar or A/V receiver does not support HDMI-CEC, Roku’s volume controls won’t help you anyway. You could pair these cheaper streamers with a universal remote, but you should also consider other streaming devices whose remotes can control external audio gear over infrared. (More on that shortly.)
• If you’re just trying to add Apple AirPlay mirroring to your TV and have no intention of using Roku’s streaming features, these cheap players will do the job.

Outside of those scenarios, I cannot think of any reasons to buy the Black Friday Roku LE and Roku Premiere, especially when superior options are available at almost-comparable prices.

What to buy instead

Jared Newman / Foundry

Our current pick for the best budget streamer is Walmart’s own Onn Google TV 4K streaming box. It costs $20 year-round, supports 4K HDR video, and has a vastly superior remote with TV volume, power, and voice controls. (Unlike Roku players, the remote can also control soundbars and A/V receivers over infrared.) While the Google TV software has a slightly steeper learning curve, I personally prefer the way it surfaces recently watched shows and personalized recommendations on the home screen.

Amazon’s Black Friday Fire TV deals are live now as well, including the Fire TV Stick HD for $18 and the Fire TV Stick 4K for $22. The remotes for both offer TV volume and power controls, capable of controlling any external audio equipment. While I have my qualms with the Fire TV interface, the remote’s Alexa voice controls are top-notch, and I’d still recommend these devices over the worst Roku players.

If your heart’s set on Roku, the one Black Friday deal worth recommending is the Roku Ultra LT, which Walmart has for $34 from now through November 17. That’s a great deal on a powerful 4K Roku box with hardwired ethernet support, Dolby Vision HDR, and a remote with TV volume, power, and voice control. (It also includes a headphone jack for private listening.)

Roku

Roku’s Express 4K+ and Streaming Stick 4K are on sale as well, at $29 and $34 respectively, and both have better remotes than Roku’s Black Friday offerings, but those are common sale prices we’ve seen on-and-off throughout 2024.

Remember: Streaming devices are always pretty cheap, because their business models revolve around bombarding you with ads and selling you on streaming content, not making money from the initial hardware sale. Don’t panic-buy for the sake of saving a few dollars, especially on things that aren’t worth buying in the first place.

With that, I have fulfilled my annual duties, and look forward to being summoned again if and when these dubious device deals return.

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