Forum Discussion

beesblue's avatar
beesblue
Channel Surfer
16 days ago

Are Roku TVs designed only for Roku Speakers?

I hope I'm wrong, as I love Roku  

I purchased a new Roku TV, and it only has HDMI ports (unlike my older models).  After hours of research and several attempts, the company informed me:

“Roku does not have outputs anymore, only input. That’s why the Bose speaker isn’t working. But if you use a Roku speaker, it can definitely work.”

In addition, Bluetooth connections only pair with Roku wireless speakers as they have their own version of Bluetooth.   Seriously??? 

Roku only states their smart TVs can connect to external speakers - they do not specify they must be “Roku” speakers. And they’re betting once the consumer unboxes and sets up the TV, we will just conform and purchase their speakers. 

Questions for the community and the Roku Team:

  • Is this disturbing to anyone else?  
  • Is there a hack I’m not privy to? 
  • Are there any new Roku TVs that allow you to easily connect to the speaker of your choice? 
  • What year did Roku remove outputs so I can shop for older models? 

4 Replies

  • renojim's avatar
    renojim
    Community Streaming Expert

    There are many "Roku" TVs from many different manufacturers.  As far as I know, only TVs made by Roku support Bluetooth devices (and I think they only support Bluetooth headphones).  TVs made by TCL, onn, Hisense, etc. only support Roku wireless speakers, but they should have wired options like HDMI ARC, optical, or a headphone jack.  Whatever features they may or may not provide are most likely out of Roku's control.  What's the manufacturer and model number of your TV?

  • Tivoburkee's avatar
    Tivoburkee
    Community Streaming Expert

    If that is the actual model of tv you posted, look again to input & output panel, between the HDMI3 eARC and Coax antenna input is optical output;