I have been using the simple remote (now called the Roku Players Remote) with my Roku 3 which you can purchase for $10 at the Roku store, which is what I may have to do since I lost my remote and can't find it anywhere, 😞 or you can save $5 and purchase a basic one on Amazon which I've done, but you never know what you're getting; although, I've been lucky with prior remotes. I think from now on, I'm just going to pay Roku the extra $5.
Now, you could get a voice remote for your Roku 3, and all three listed are compatible with this device, but I wouldn't recommend it. That is unless you also have an older Roku Streaming Stick since the 3821, 3820, 3811, 3810, 3800, and 3600 models aren't compatible with this basic remote and you don't want to end up with a remote you can't use if or when Roku stops supporting the Roku 3 device. The reason for not purchasing a more expensive remote control is that when you need to upgrade to a newer 4K Roku device, these come with a voice remote.
And when it's time to upgrade if or when the Roku 3 is no longer supported, you may be thinking like I did that you don't need a 4K device and would be happy with the Roku Express which is the only model that doesn't have 4K or a voice remote, but I've since learned that the Roku Express 4K is faster than the non-4K version, so even though I don't have a 4K TV much like you, I'll probably pay the extra $10 for the speed when I'm ready to upgrade my Roku device. As of 4/25/25, the Express models have been discontinued (yet are still supported) and are no longer available for purchase through Roku, so instead I'll probably get the 4K streaming stick, which I'll take with me when traveling. It doesn't have an Ethernet connection, so if you want that, the Ultra is the way to go which comes with the 2nd edition Voice Remote Pro. I had purchased an Ultra ages ago and kept my Roku 3 as a backup device, and I immediately noticed the colors were better, and it was faster.
I'm not implying that you go out and buy a new Roku now, but just to be ready if Roku stops supporting your aging device as they had with the Roku 1 and 2. The non-supported device won't stop working all at once as after the announcement was made with my Roku 1 SE with it no longer being supported, it updated to a newer OS one more time before that stopped while channel apps continued being updated, and then I eventually noticed that a channel stopped being supported, and then another, and another, before a Roku update caused the channel apps to freeze which bricked it. I'm still hoping that some fix will be made, but eventually I'll need to perform a factory reset and recycle that Roku 1 device.
The Roku 3 may continue to be supported for years, or perhaps Roku could stop supporting it one day soon -- there's no way to know.
However, if you liked using the voice remote with the Roku 3, then you probably should purchase what you're used to using. I hope this post has been helpful.
