Roku OS 10.5 announced alongside new 4K Streaming Stick

Today, Roku announced a new streamer in its lineup, the Streaming Stick 4K, as well as a “plus” version of the device with a better remote control. The company also confirmed that Roku OS 10.5 will begin rolling out “in the coming weeks”, bringing new audio features and improved search and voice capabilities to compatible Roku devices.

The Roku Mobile app also has a few new features, including a feature to correct audio delays on wireless headphones paired with Roku streamers. We also get a preview of a new wireless soundbar from TCL and a refresh of the Walmart-exclusive Roku Ultra LT.

Roku OS 10.5 and the Roku Mobile app

Sound is an important theme in the latest version of Roku. The mobile app’s new audio / video sync feature aims to correct delays for those who use wireless headphones with their Rokus. It works by first trying to resolve sync issues automatically, via a headset-specific troubleshooter. If the problem persists, users can activate their smartphone camera from the Roku app to visually assist with audio syncing. A preloaded video will play on the screen as it will ask you to point the phone’s camera at it to allow the app to try to properly sync audio and video.

The Roku app will also allow you to find and save content to your backup list, so you can add it wherever and whenever these valuable new recommendations arise. Users will also be able to access sound settings, like night mode and speech clarity, for their Roku devices from within the app, eliminating the need to display menus on the screen.

Diving deeper into the audio experience, Roku added support for Roku 3.1 and 5.1 speaker configurations. Streambar and Streambar Pro owners can use their device as a center channel for audio, supplemented with Roku wireless speakers on either side (3.1) or with another pair of rear speakers (5.1).

The Roku voice, the voice assistant summoned with a button (or a hot word on Roku devices with a Pro voice remote), has also received some modest improvements. When using the voice assistant, a new menu will appear offering a tutorial on voice commands. There is also broader support for voice typing, now including passwords, PINs, and other sign-in information.

Searching using voice and text input benefits from both new features that include music and podcasts in search results, as well as expanded capabilities to search for content in specific apps. For example, users can search for comedies only in Netflix or new podcasts from Spotify.

Roku’s Live TV option, home to over 200 live channels, can now be pinned to the home screen. As in previous versions of Roku OS, users can customize the Channel Guide to hide or prioritize certain channels.

New 4K Streaming Stick, Wireless Soundbar and Roku Ultra LT Refresh

The new Streaming Stick 4K and Streaming Stick 4K + replace the Streaming Stick + and Roku Express 4k + in Roku’s lineup, merging the two and improving both. The new streamers offer 30% faster boot time (thanks to a new quad-core processor), more powerful and faster Wi-Fi (twice as fast, according to Roku) with dynamic radio and power optimization, HDR 10+ and Dolby Visual support. The main difference between the two versions is the inclusion of a rechargeable, lost and found Voice Remote Pro that came with the plus version.

We recommended the Voice Remote Pro in our review a few months ago, especially for owners of Roku-enabled TVs, like those from TCL and Philips. Adding charging, a remote locator siren, headphone compatibility, hands-free voice control, and two customizable shortcut buttons to the TV experience, it’s hard not to see this $ 30 upgrade as interesting for a television set worth several hundred dollars. Adding that $ 20 onto a $ 50 device, as is the case with the Roku Streaming Stick 4K +, is a slightly different proposition to consider. The 4K Streaming Stick is available for pre-order now, priced at $ 49.99, while the Plus goes for $ 69.99. The Streaming Stick 4K is expected to start shipping on October 14, and the Streaming Stick 4K + three days later on October 17.

Roku also updated the Walmart exclusive Roku Ultra LT. The previous $ 70 set-top box (typically found for $ 50) came with an earlier version of Voice Remote Pro, Ethernet, and microSD storage. The refresh will expand storage (Roku hasn’t specified by how much yet), improve Wi-Fi distance and strength, and add Dolby Vision, essentially putting it on par with the current Roku Ultra. The new Roku Ultra LT will be available at Walmart “in the coming weeks” for $ 79.99.

Finally, Roku teased an upcoming wireless soundbar made by TCL. The $ 180 soundbar isn’t detailed at the moment, but Roku says it will support automatic A / V sync, though it isn’t compatible with 3.1 or 5.1 speaker setups. However, it will support 2.0 or 2.1 configurations.

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