I got the Roku Ultra last Black Friday for $70 at Walmart! Great little box! We use it regularly. I'm not sure if this is an all new model, or if it's the same one with a software update. It looks the same, visually, so I'll treat it the same. (Mine doesn't have Dolby Vision, but it does have Dolby Atmos) We cut the cord a while back, and wife wanted to move TV apps away from Xbox and PS. I also saw that there was an option for native framerate... which is great for everything but YouTube, and Hulu adds! That stuff just makes my projector hate life, switching back and forth every couple of minutes with the syncing. I wish I could turn that feature on and off more easily, but it's kinda buried in the menu. I just ride with it off, and occasionally go to native for more serious movie time.
I hardly ever use video apps on Xbox or PS anymore cause they're all are on Roku. Here's a list of the benefits of each method, though.
What's better about the Roku:
- Quick start (probably won't be as much of an advantage next console gen)
- Everything easier to get to. It runs very light.
- More native framerate (for supported apps, big FU from Netflix, who dropped this feature) Disney+ and Amazon run great!
- Atmos (and now DV) supported (although I believe that Xbox does both, too)
- YouTube allows easy profile switching (console has you log in and out of users or something much more convoluted)
- Quieter, and keeps the miles off of your console
What's better about console streaming:
- Ability to run video apps and Spotify at the same time. (I actually like to use this feature often when company is over)
.... honestly, that's about it. It's a shame that I can't run 2 apps at the same time, but that's because this thing runs so light that it probably can't, and doesn't have the memory or the juice to do that.
If you're itching to get this thing for $99, go for it. The model I got last year was also $99, but was a steal on BF. If you can wait that long, I say over %50 chance they will do a similar sale.
