Roku wants to make its Ultra streaming set-top box even more Ultra; at least, that’s the aim of its next-generation device. The new Roku Ultra keeps a very familiar, with basically identical build and , more importantly, keeps the $99 (about £75 / AU$145) price.
The Ultra is still a simple, rounded square streaming box that comes in one color, black, though it does sport a flash of color with a purple tag displaying the Roku logo. It’s all familiar on the outside, and speaks to the fact that unlike, say, the new Google TV Streamer, the Roku Ultra isn’t necessarily designed to be seen. It can sit alongside the TV on a home entertainment cabinet, or just be shoved behind it.
All the changes lie under the hood – and they’re all centered around speed.
The fastest Roku yet
The new Ultra is powered by a quad-core processor that Roku says was built from the ground up for “cinematic streaming,” and which promises to be 30% faster than other players in the Roku lineup.
It should make the Roku OS platform run smoothly and enable faster, more instantaneous application openings, but it also lets this player support more formats. With HDR10+ and Dolby Vision on board, this Ultra is the first to support all the major HDR formats – in addition to its 4K and Dolby Atmos support. This means that if you pair this with the right TV, streamed content will look especially nice.
Like the Roku Ultra (2020), the Ultra still features an HDMI 2.1 port. It also supports Quick Media Switching, which should reduce slowdowns if the refresh rate changes. Inside is Wi-Fi 6 for faster streaming, assuming you have the right Wi-Fi access points. Roku uses machine learning and AI to predict what you might want to watch next, and queue up the respective app or show for a faster start to streaming. It keeps an Ethernet port for a wired connection as well.
If you want to listen privately, you can now connect a pair of the best Bluetooth headphones to the Roku Ultra. This levels the playing field with the Apple TV 4K and the Google TV Streamer, and it’s a long-awaited and welcome addition.
Roku adds two buttons to the Voice Remote Pro and adopts USB-C
In the box, you get Roku’s second-edition Voice Remote Pro, which keeps an ergonomic design and buttons for easy TV control, including power and volume. All of the buttons are now backlit, and there are two new ones. The Quick Launch button is shaped like a rocket ship and gives you easy access to shortcuts, such as engaging closed captions or opening your favorite streaming service. The other addition is a Live TV button, which gives you access to all over 400 channels that are available for free.
Perhaps the biggest change is the Voice Remote Pro second-edition gaining a USB-C port for easy re-charging. It still has a speaker built in for easy locating it should get lost in between the couch cushions. The new Roku Ultra features a dedicated button to ping the remote, as on the Google TV streamer. Lastly, the remote again has a microphone, so that you can easily control your Roku Ultra with your voice.
Roku is taking orders now for the new Roku Ultra at $99 in the United States and Canada. It will be available from additional retailers in the coming weeks, and we’ve contacted Roku for comment on whether it will launch in additional territories.
We’ll be back soon with our full review of the Roku Ultra, as soon as we’re done testing the streaming box to see how well it stands up against our current best streaming devices.
Roku also teased some software enhancements and feature drops arriving in the coming weeks as part of Roku OS 14. Building off the voice control functionality enabled by the Voice Remote Pro, Roku will eventually let you access a laundry list of settings with your voice. Teased was the ability to adjust home screen tiles, check for software updates, and even switch to a guest mode.
Additionally, Roku is focusing more on content for families and children, with a new spot on the home screen that should make finding family-friendly content easier, including adding familiar characters including the Cat in the Hat and Peppa Pig to the home screen tiles.
The Roku app for Android and iOS is also getting a bit more powerful. It lets you keep your TV controls while browsing for content on the same screen. You can also search for content here, then make the call and have it start playing on your Roku streaming player or Roku-connected TV.
Roku isn’t giving a specific timeframe for the rollout of these features, but says the software improvements will arrive in the coming months.