Express | HD Roku Streaming Device with Standard Remote (no TV controls), Free & Live TV

In my ignorance I have purchased multiple Firesticks. Gen 1 gen 2 and gen whatever and they have all ended up the same way....in the garbage can. I have a small TV by my bed that I like to fall asleep watching - it's my nightly ritual, but my Firestick obviously did NOT get the memo because it has proceeded to block or delay me from watching something just about every night over the last 4 or 5 months. I have rebooted it time and time again. Unplugged it and even reset it to the factory settings once because it was, for some inexplicable reason, running out of memory. Even after deleting about every application I had installed, many of which, BTW, the device will NOT let you delete...which is another issue I have with the Firestick. Anyway, the reset worked for a while and I thought all was good but I was wrong. Slowly but surely is started to pause and I waited only to see the message that "something went wrong"....no kidding. Click okay to restart...which also takes forever. The lockups the pausing, the error codes, the nightly reboots and unplugging.....my gosh what a piece of junk. This is no exaggeration....I have sat down to go to bed and spent upwards of 30 minutes or more, messing with the Firestick to start a video so I could lay down and fall asleep. Seriously.....EVERY SINGLE NIGHT I had to deal with this piece of junk !!! I even swapped it out the other day with one in my home office that had not been used in a while, geez I wonder why, and it did not even start up. Just died while sitting doing nothing other than being plugged in. I was done, done, done. Why I did not try a Roku device long ago I will never know, but it is working flawlessly and only took me about 15 minutes to configure. That is less time than it took my Firestick to boot up every night. No it does not control the volume or turn off my TV, but neither did my Firestick, but what it does and does well, is it allows me to start Netflix or HBO in seconds. No delays, no losing the network connection, no spinning circles that usually result in errors.....just point and click and booya !! It is not perfect to be sure. I am not a huge fan of the select and arrow button setup. Would be nice if the buttons were spaced further apart and the select button was more pronounced so you can operate it more easily by feel...which I do a lot, but I suspect I will get used to it over time. It also allowed me to easily customize my screen and delete ANY preinstalled apps from view, no exceptions, and the process was very intuitive. I have not read the instructions and don't think I need to at this point. Outside of the need to have a Roku account and the initial push to purchase various packages and streaming platforms and enter a payment option, which I did not do, the Roku has gone silent. It just does it's job every night like a good remote should and for a third of the prices of a Firestick and I could not be happier. If you are wondering if a Roku will work better than a Firestick....the answer is YES !!! I have one of the half dozen Firesticks I have purchased over the years still in my garage/gym and so far it seems to be okay. I know it's just a matter of time until it bites the bullet though...it's not a matter of IF. I might be wise to just get a another Roku now and save myself the frustration of another "system update" which is another story all together....but I will spare the details !!

I canceled the cable TV last summer and one by one all of the apps that I watch on my computers have stopped working unless you have Windows 10 and all of mine were running on Windows 7 and could not be upgraded. And my barely ever used Kindle died all of a sudden one month out of the warranty period. My Samsung Smart TV I found out was a 2012 model and after spending hours on the phone with technicians from Hulu the cable company, the Samsung technician told me that they are no longer supporting the Wi-Fi in my TV and that I would need to attach an external internet source like Nintendo Prime cable or Roku to watch content ( nothing could be connected through the TV any longer without the Wi-Fi being supported). I guess my Amazon was listening because it popped up with Roku Express that was on sale for $17.99. I had no idea that there was not a monthly subscription charge for Roku or that a Roku box could be purchased so cheaply! But also I had no idea if it was really going to work because various sources on the internet said it may not work Samsung Smart TV because of its age and not having the most up-to-date software etc. also my Samsung was not on the extensive list of compatible TVs. Lo and behold, it arrives in less than 48 hours from the purchase date and hooks up just as easily as they said it would! The only snag was when it would not connect to the internet and even though I was afraid I would never get it working- I followed the recommended troubleshooting steps and I was connected in less than 5 minutes! I have logged into several of my streaming apps and am happily catching up on all the shows I missed! This is a quality product that is easy to use and at a very affordable price! I'm very happy with my Roku Express purchase!

The device is kind of fiddly, but once you get your Wi-Fi and your streaming service credentials input, it updates itself and is very user friendly. The device setup has a lot of nice features like content casting from your phone and automating your TV power and source functions, and custom themes. If you want a wired connection, you can buy a USB Ethernet Adapter for Roku Express. Make sure it has the right style mini USB male input to match your Roku's mini USB female input (A or C). The only thing that puzzled me is that it does not turn off. Where the power button normally is on the Remote, you have a "back arrow" that takes you back to the last menu in most of the apps and the Roku menus. According to the instructions, you can unplug it to turn it off. Or, you can plug the Roku USB cable into your TV's USB, then it will turn on/off with the TV. You can buy a USB splitter if you are already using the USB (for media in my case). I don't want the Roku drawing power, however little it uses, when I'm not watching it. Once you power on the TV, select the source button HDMI you set the Roku to, and your streaming services are a button push away. There are even 4 buttons on the remote for Netflix, Max, Paramount and AppleTV. The Roku OS and the Apps work smoothly. I have managed to upset one of the Apps. It froze while I was endlessly perusing titles. All of the buttons were inactive, but I kept pushing the Return Arrow on the upper left and it finally closed the app and went home. On another streaming device, I had to unplug it. There are YouTube guides for a stuck Roku. There is a reset button on the rear, BUT I Only Use It When You Want to Clear Settings. Unplug It First. The instructions state: "Certain Roku models come with a physical reset button on the back or bottom of the device. This button is either a tactile button or a pinhole button. You can reset these devices to factory settings by pressing and holding this button until you see a flashing light". There are of course FREE shows and movies. And there are links to Premium Streaming Services have many Free Trials and Free Episodes you can access. So, you get instant gratification with just your Roku Express and an internet connection. The device setup Seems to Require a Credit Card during your online (PC Browser) account population. But, it is not needed (scroll to the bottom) if you already have your Credit Card Payment info setup with your Bank to pay your streaming fees. Of course you can put your card in to buy screen savers and other stuff if you want. But, if it is there, it is easy for anyone watching your TV to spend your loot. The Roku comes with a 3 Foot HDMI cable. One of my two Roku Express had 2 USB cables,. It had a Mini USB and a Mini USB C. The other device just had the correct USB cable that fit it's device. There is a sticky strip to attach the small Roku to your TV. I put mine close the TV remote sensor (left side of my TV) so I am in the habit of pointing my remote at the right spot. Prior this purchase, I was using my BluRay player to stream 2 of my services and I used my HTPC Chrome browser to access the other 2 services. So this Roku device is a time saving, energy saving WIN!

I have had a couple of Fire Stick for a few years now. I hardly ever use them except for watching videos on YouTube sometimes. I built a media server and installed Plex. I installed the Plex app on my phone, computers, and Fire Sticks. Plex works great on my phone and computers but it really seemed to struggle on the Fire Sticks. Buffering and the spinning circle thing and then it was still buggy. I started looking for an alternative to the Fire Sticks. I went shopping on Amazon. Roku devices seem to get very good reviews so I bought one. Then I bought an Android TV box at the same time, for about the same price, 30 bucks. The Roku showed up first so I installed it and installed the apps that I use. YouTube, Plex, Paramount Plus, Peacock, and Amazon Prime. The Spectrum app was already installed. OMG! What a difference between the Fire Sticks and the Roku! It is a night and day difference. Compared to the Fire Sticks the Roku Express is very fast and snappy. It does have to buffer my Plex videos right at the very beginning for about 2 seconds, then it is off and running and no more buffering. I could never even install the Spectrum app into a Fire Stick. I had to side load it, then it wanted to update itself, then it became incompatible with the Fire Stick. A very frustrating experience. This Roku came with the Spectrum app pre-installed and it works great. Almost as good as a cable box. I will get rid of one of my cable boxes now and use the Roku instead. The Android box showed up a little while later and I was already sold on the Roku, but I gave it a shot anyway. I tried to be objective and honest. Well that was a waste of time. The Android box took forever just to boot! I had already made up my mind but it sure wasn’t helping itself. After a few minutes of watching it try to boot then try to download updates unsuccessfully, I packed it back up and put it back in the box. I didn’t get very far with it. It’s going back to Amazon. The bottom line is this tiny little Roku Express packs more features and it just works better, exceeding all of my expectations. FINALLY, a product that does what it says, no excuses, and it just works. I can’t say enough good things about it. 5 stars in my book. Right now anyway. Lol I’ve had it for a day so we’ll see how long it stays snappy but so far so good. Well worth the investment IMHO, a lot of bang for the buck, and it impressed me so much that I bought a second one. UPDATE: After a week I still think they are very fast and snappy. I am very happy with them. The Roku Express does seem to be the cheap version with minimal features, but they work great. They don't seem to turn off so I take it back to the home screen then shut off the tv. When I come back I turn on the tv then hit the home button on the Roku remote to wake it up. It wakes up fast! And it is so tiny! About half the size of the remote. Amazing! 10 stars!

I love it its easy to install and use but it loses one star because you have no way to control the volume other than that it is great I can now turn any tv into a smart tv

I like it because it seems to work better than the fire stick.

I have been completely satisfied with the performance of the Roku stick for streaming. The set up is really easy and takes just a few minutes. The menu screens are super easy to navigate once the stick is loaded. I have paid and unpaid services and this gives me so many options for television. At first I was not wanting to make the shift from cable to streaming but to my surprise I will never go back to cable television. I love streaming my favorite shows at any time of day, not having to wait for a live air show. I love that there are tons of free options to watch. I was so impressed with the ease of the Roku stick that I purchased one for my parents to test out to see if they wanted to drop cable as well!. My parents thought it was going to frustrating to navigate and get used to but the more they used it they also favored it over cable tv! I never have any issues with connectivity or loading. I would recommend for anyone wanting to convert from cable tv to streaming

This is the best thing I have ever bought. Inexpensive. Never have problems.