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AZBruno's avatar
AZBruno
Channel Surfer
5 years ago
Solved

Streaming Stick 4K: pros and cons of powering by USB vs outlet

I've been running with the device plugged into an outlet, but since I only use it for maybe a couple hours at night I'm thinking about using the TV's powered USB port. There are two USB ports... 5V 0...
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  • RokuDanny-R's avatar
    RokuDanny-R
    5 years ago

    AZBruno 

    Thanks for the inquiry.

    In general, we always recommend powering a Roku device through a wall outlet as we've found that the TV USB port sometimes may not be able to provide adequate power to your Roku device.


    Thanks,
    Danny

RokuDanny-R's avatar
RokuDanny-R
Retired Moderator
5 years ago

AZBruno 

Thanks for the inquiry.

In general, we always recommend powering a Roku device through a wall outlet as we've found that the TV USB port sometimes may not be able to provide adequate power to your Roku device.


Thanks,
Danny

AZBruno's avatar
AZBruno
Channel Surfer
5 years ago

Thank you for your response, Danny. I already knew that you recommend using outlet power, but the Roku support site specifically says that it can be plugged into a TV's USB port.

The purpose of my post was to get a better understanding of the various pros and cons to doing so (obviously assuming the USB port can power the Roku).

Since originally posting, I did find an article about Amazon Fire Stick recommending not using the USB specifically because of updates which could be happening when power drops and this could brick the device. Is this a concern for Roku too? What would happen if outlet power dropped in the middle of an update?