Community Discussions

[CanMan14]

Was going to buy a couple of Roku Ultra's as Christmas presents but literally couldn't.  Sure, there's plenty of new TVs being sold in Canada with the Roku OS baked in but when it comes to set top streaming boxes, Roku seems to be virtually non-existent these days.

The website doesn't seem to have been updated for the 2018 product line refresh.  Most retailers are out of stock online and only have the odd basic streamer in store.  Couldn't find an Ultra (2017 or 2018 versions) anywhere.

Hence the question: TV integration aside, has Roku given up on streaming boxes in retail in Canada?  Or what's the strategy?

[CWG]

I am wondering the same thing. I screwed up and didn't grab one from Costco last month, now they are sold out as is everyone else.

We can buy the American version on Amazon.ca but I am not sure if those work in Canada as I am new to media streamers. We can also buy the sticks from various places, but I want to hard wire mine so need a Premiere Plus or an Ultra.

I would far prefer to snag a Roku Ultra than an Shield or AppleTV, but might have no choice but to grab one of those because of the lack of availability here in Canada.

[CanMan14]

Yes the new 4K sticks seem to be available but not much else these days.  My requirements for home include the non-IR remote, hardwired ethernet, and earphone - so really the Ultra.

I could buy an American version and it will work but sometimes the service/soft buttons are different on the Canadian models - I'd prefer to buy Canadian for my usage in Canada.

But it seems like Roku hasn't yet added the 2018 refresh to the Canadian line up and similarly isn't requinlishing the inventory of the old lineup.  So what gives @Roku?

[DBDukes]

"CanMan14" wrote:
...
But it seems like Roku hasn't yet added the 2018 refresh to the Canadian line up and similarly isn't requinlishing the inventory of the old lineup.  So what gives @Roku?

What is this 2018 refresh to which you refer? The only devices introduced are the Roku Premiere model 3920 and Premiere+ model 3921, which are available in Canada. The only other refresh was the "update" to the Roku Ultra from model 4660 and 4661, and that was not any change to the actual box but the inclusion of new earbuds. What other refresh are you thinking happened that Canada didn't get?

[CWG]

I managed to find Roku 4640CA units on Amazon, which I assume are the Canadian ones but I am not sure how recent/up to date they are because I am so new to Roku. If they are up to date versions they can be found by searching using the model number rather than 'Roku Ultra', which was how I had been searching.

[atc98092]

"CWG" wrote:
I managed to find Roku 4640CA units on Amazon, which I assume are the Canadian ones but I am not sure how recent/up to date they are because I am so new to Roku. If they are up to date versions they can be found by searching using the model number rather than 'Roku Ultra', which was how I had been searching.

The 4640 is the previous (original 2016) version of the Ultra. In some ways it's better than the current 4660/61 version, as it includes a Dolby Digital encoder, optical out port, and more internal memory for channel storage. 

[CWG]

"atc98092" wrote:

"CWG" wrote:
I managed to find Roku 4640CA units on Amazon, which I assume are the Canadian ones but I am not sure how recent/up to date they are because I am so new to Roku. If they are up to date versions they can be found by searching using the model number rather than 'Roku Ultra', which was how I had been searching.

The 4640 is the previous (original 2016) version of the Ultra. In some ways it's better than the current 4660/61 version, as it includes a Dolby Digital encoder, optical out port, and more internal memory for channel storage. 

Thanks. They are available for $125 and free shipping from some vendor in Quebec, and for $128 from some other vendor but fulfilled by Amazon (so two day shipping if you have Prime). Am I right in guessing that it will simply update to the newest software once connected?
I picked up an Nvidia Shield yesterday but will return it as I expect the Roku will be easier to use, and it definitely costs less.

[CanMan14]

"DBDukes" wrote:

"CanMan14" wrote:
...
But it seems like Roku hasn't yet added the 2018 refresh to the Canadian line up and similarly isn't requinlishing the inventory of the old lineup.  So what gives @Roku?

What is this 2018 refresh to which you refer? The only devices introduced are the Roku Premiere model 3920 and Premiere+ model 3921, which are available in Canada. The only other refresh was the "update" to the Roku Ultra from model 4660 and 4661, and that was not any change to the actual box but the inclusion of new earbuds. What other refresh are you thinking happened that Canada didn't get?

Exactly that.  The updated Premiere and Premiere+ are not shown on https://www.roku.com/en-ca/products and are not available in stores on Canada (neither is the Ultra 4661) so where are you getting your information that all of these are available in Canada @DBDukes?

[DBDukes]

"CanMan14" wrote:
...
Exactly that.  The updated Premiere and Premiere+ are not shown on https://www.roku.com/en-ca/products and are not available in stores on Canada (neither is the Ultra 4661) so where are you getting your information that all of these are available in Canada @DBDukes?

I went to that page. And scrolled down. Did you scroll down?

When I scrolled down, I saw the Premiere and Premiere+ listed. When I clicked the "Where to buy" buttons, Canadian Tire (which I've heard of) and something called !ndigo (which I've never heard of) were shown. For example, this page: https://www.roku.com/en-ca/products/roku-premiere See? That's a Canadian page. And it has the device you say you can't find.

Does your page not allow you to scroll down, maybe? If that's the case, perhaps a different browser would be helpful. 

[CWG]

"DBDukes" wrote:

"CanMan14" wrote:
...
Exactly that.  The updated Premiere and Premiere+ are not shown on https://www.roku.com/en-ca/products and are not available in stores on Canada (neither is the Ultra 4661) so where are you getting your information that all of these are available in Canada @DBDukes?

I went to that page. And scrolled down. Did you scroll down?

When I scrolled down, I saw the Premiere and Premiere+ listed. When I clicked the "Where to buy" buttons, Canadian Tire (which I've heard of) and something called !ndigo (which I've never heard of) were shown. For example, this page: https://www.roku.com/en-ca/products/roku-premiere See? That's a Canadian page. And it has the device you say you can't find.

Does your page not allow you to scroll down, maybe? If that's the case, perhaps a different browser would be helpful. 


When I try to find places to buy it only shows London Drugs and Walmart, neither of whom have it (and Canadian Tire no longer sells Roku). The Roku website is bad, and its purchasing info is terrible. They are really, really hard to find up here right now (Costco was selling them off last month and I should have grabbed one then). As mentioned above, I eventually found a Canadian version on Amazon.ca by searching via model number. It is a 2016 model according to info provided by another member, but I am assuming I won't even notice the difference once the software updates. For anyone else in Canada I recommend checking Amazon using the model number.