


I do kind of miss the USB port (I don't miss the remote finder), but that port is hardly a make-or-break feature for most viewers. In that respect, the Ultra LT is a success. In creating the Ultra LT, it's pretty clear what Roku wanted to do: shave a few features off of the Ultra, while shaving a few dollars off the price at the same time. The Roku Ultra LT is still pretty fast in the grand scheme of things, but reports of its increased speed may have been exaggerated. YouTube, for example, stabilized in 4K resolution and HDR colors almost immediately, while it took about 30 seconds on Amazon Video. AmazonĤK resolution was more of a mixed bag and seemed to be dependent more on the app. Some apps, even high-profile ones like Netflix, sometimes took 10 or more seconds to launch. However, I didn't notice any significant speed increases from previous Roku models. It's just that Roku touted the Ultra's faster processor and ability to launch apps an average of 20% faster.

That's good if you use those apps, and useless if you don't. There are also four dedicated buttons for Netflix, Hulu, Vudu and Sling. The Ultra LT's remote has everything else, though: media-control buttons, directional buttons, a voice search button, and power and volume buttons that work on newer TVs after a painless pairing process. That's not damning it with faint praise it's just that the new Ultra's remote has two extra programmable buttons. The Ultra LT comes with the second best Roku remote you can get. The search doesn't bias results, so you'll often have to do a little legwork to find what you're looking for, especially if your search contains a common term (like "Star Wars" or "Marvel"). It's also annoying, since you'll likely come up with dozens and dozens of marginally related videos. Roku's search feature is mostly very good, since it's almost guaranteed to find what you're looking for, no matter how obscure. If you search for titles, actors, directors and so forth, Roku will trawl through hundreds of different streaming apps, helping you find the cheapest place for your desired content. If you want to find a particular app, you can browse for it in the store or search via voice or text entry. Apple TVĪs far as navigation goes, it mostly comes down to Roku Search, which is easily the broadest search feature available in a streaming OS. Some of Roku's competitors have adopted similar systems, but aside from Apple TV, no other OS lets you do this so seamlessly. You can also move the apps up and down and side to side, so you can put your favorite apps right up top and consign the ones you use infrequently to the bottom of the screen.
Roku ultra streaming media player kodi install#
You can install or eschew whatever apps you want you're not required to have, say, Amazon Video or YouTube. There's also the fact that you can customize the placement of your apps, which is welcome. But in the Settings menu, you can disable many of these options, leaving your home screen with just the features you actually use.
Roku ultra streaming media player kodi tv#
By default, the Ultra LT home screen has a variety of options, including My Feed (which lets you monitor prices on movies and TV shows you're interested in), the Fandango Movies and TV Stores, an app store to find new Streaming Channels, and so forth.
