Community discussions

[Michelle3]

In your very own opinion, what are the best Roku players and accessories on the market?

My answer:   
For players, I like any Roku model that is a set-top box, including my Express+ 3910. (which is currently the only Roku I own)  As for the accessories, I like the WiFi-direct Voice Remotes, including my RC-AL7 Regular Voice Remote.

~ Jordan

[atc98092]

You have to remember that not every model Roku is available in every supported market. So it's tough to make a recommendation without knowing the location where it's used. 

[fluke]

I might be nostalgic but the most interesting Roku products are ones no longer on the market.

BrightSign and the Roku N1000 provided a foundation for being a trendsetter in the industry and were ahead of their time in several respects.  Most modern BluRay players continue to not be as polished a streaming player as the early Roku products.

In terms of accessories, the Roku gaming remote had the most potential.  It came close to providing a Wii controller like experience.

The RC-AL7 remains a disappointment for me.  They still haven't learned from what Tivo accomplished a long time ago.  With a Tivo remote, you have power, change input, volume up, volume down and mute buttons to control third party products.  The audio buttons could be set to control either the TV or an audio receiver/amplifier.  RC-AL7 is missing a change input button and no audio receiver/amplifier support.

To be clear, I am not endorsing getting a Tivo just because they had a better remote.  The company has since been taken over by Xperi and is far from what they used to be.  For a DVR I would now recommend getting a Tablo which has worked great with Roku.  In fact, if you can consider Tablo to be a third-party Roku accessory, then I would say it is the best accessory currently on the market.

[atc98092]

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@fluke wrote:

The audio buttons could be set to control either the TV or an audio receiver/amplifier.  RC-AL7 is missing a change input button and no audio receiver/amplifier support.

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The change input button is missing from almost any brand specific remote that can control other devices, so that's not something specific to Roku. Every Roku remote I have with volume buttons can control the audio level on my TV and/or my AVR. I have two Roku players connected through Yamaha AVRs, and they both control the audio via CEC. They will also change the AVR and TV input to the Roku when a remote button is pressed, but of course it can't be used to change the input to another. But I can press a button on my Shield remote and it will switch the AVR to that input. When CEC works, it's terrific. Unfortunately, CEC often isn't implemented fully or correctly when controlling devices from different manufacturers. And all the newer Roku remotes can also be configured to control the TV audio via IR. Now that might be an area that's lacking for AVR control. 

[Benedlr]

I picked up the remote speakers for my TCL/Roku. Just plug them in an outlet. I went from 65 on volume to 20. Great sound reproduction. I never knew there were so many irritating background sounds.

[JCGoodwin]

The Hisense R8 Roku TV is the best Roku experience I've come across. I briefly used a TCL 6 Series (left), compared the two, and was surprised to discover that the Hisense looked much nicer, on identical settings.

[McDude]

Love my 4K Express! Will eventually be looking into a Roku smart TV. 

[demsd]

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@JCGoodwin wrote:

The Hisense R8 Roku TV is the best Roku experience I've come across. I briefly used a TCL 6 Series (left), compared the two, and was surprised to discover that the Hisense looked much nicer, on identical settings.

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IDK. The picture on the left looks better than the one on the right, IMO.

[JCGoodwin]

^ That might come down to what one wants to see. 🙂 I actually WANTED to believe that the 6 Series would look better at first, because, like almost everyone else, I was drawn in by the hype. But when I really looked at them, it was clear to me that the Hisense R8 had the superior picture. Just my opinion.

[wiley1827]

Best ones are those where you don't depend on ROKU to automatically update the installed software. My recent experience is: they don't. The system check said they did - but they did NOT. I forced upgrade this a.m. and nothing they claim might interrupt an update applied. ROKU is the most annoying outfit I deal with - which is saying a lot because my phone service is CenturyLink who are marginally fit to operate in the 20th century, let alone these times.