I’m no Apple fanboy, but I’m not afraid to admit that when it comes to streaming devices, Apple TV has been my go-to for years. One sits under the TV in my main home theater; my family uses iPhones and iPads, and it’s the hub of our entertainment at home. But when I needed streaming devices for the older TV at our family cottage and for a second TV at home, the math got ugly — Apple’s box currently costs over $200 new, and multiplying that across rooms that will mostly run rainy-day movies and the occasional Netflix binge felt like overkill.
So I bought a $50 Roku Streaming Stick 4K, and then another one. Sorted. But what was supposed to be a budget compromise surprised me — the brand’s free streaming service I’d been scrolling past became the thing I use most.
Come for the hardware
Affordable, simple, and capable
Roku’s current lineup runs from the $40 Streaming Stick Plus to the $100 Roku Ultra, which means I could put streamers on two extra TVs for less than the price of a single Apple TV. Sure, I could go secondhand, but even older Apple TV HDs on Facebook Marketplace can hit the $70 mark.
My pick, the $50 Streaming Stick 4K, was all I needed, though. It has 4K with HDR10+ and Dolby Vision, long-range Wi-Fi (the cottage TV is off the back, in our guest cabin, where my wife prefers I watch my stories), and a pocketable design that plugs straight into an HDMI port and draws power from the TV itself. No wall outlet, no mess of cables, and I’ve even taken it with me when traveling.
Mostly, though, it just gets out of the way. Setup takes minutes; all my streaming apps are there, even Plex for accessing my library at home. The home screen is a simple grid of apps rather than a billboard, and AirPlay 2 support means I can connect my iPhone to it, too, for some Apple TV-like functionality like casting to it and playing music and podcasts. Bueno.
- Brand
-
Roku
- Resolution
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2160p (4K)
- Connectivity
-
Wi-Fi
- Integrations
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Apple Home, Amazon Alexa, Google Home
The Roku Streaming Stick 4K is a cheap and painless way to stream all your favorite movies and shows in ultra-crisp 4K resolution.
Stay for The Roku Channel
The free app I ignored surprised me
Every Roku device puts The Roku Channel front and center, and for months I found it annoying. I shuffled the icon to the bottom of the menu and treated it like the game that comes with a new console — free and skippable.
A slow cottage weekend fixed that. The Roku Channel is Roku’s free, ad-supported streaming service, and the scale is bigger than I’d assumed. It has a sizable library of more than 80,000 movies and shows, over 500 live TV channels, and no subscription required. It competes with Tubi and Pluto TV in the free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) area (it’s actually No. 1 among them, according to Nielsen) and offers an ever-rotating library of new and classic movies and shows (I’m old, so I appreciate the old stuff), news, and live sports.
To be clear about why it exists, though — Roku is an advertising company, and this library is the lure. But since I’ve gotten used to the ad-supported, “cheaper” tiers of my pay services like Disney+ and Paramount+, the commercials on The Roku Channel seem less annoying at $0.
What I’ve actually been watching
Rainy-day viewing, sorted
Fair warning, this is a FAST service, complete with loads of filler. But the hit rate surprised me. I’ve gone from Sicario to Moonlight to Platoon, then cleansed the palate with Stargate and Meatballs. It’s perfect rainy-day cottage fodder that we tap into a lot.
The series shelf runs even deeper — a bottomless well of cooking and reality TV (Hell’s Kitchen), British comedies like The IT Crowd and The Inbetweeners, dramas like The Fall and Wentworth, and classic sitcoms that streaming forgot. I lost a weekend to Three’s Company and Who’s the Boss reruns (Eh oh! Oh, eh!).
Quiz
Name that classic ’80s sitcom
Trivia challenge
From Cheers to Diff’rent Strokes — can you match the clues to the right
classic 80s sitcom?
CharactersCastSettingsCatchphrasesPlotlines
Which classic 80s sitcom was set in a bar in Boston where, according to the theme
song, “everybody knows your name”?
Correct! Cheers ran from 1982 to 1993 and was set in a fictional bar
called Cheers in Boston, Massachusetts. The show won a record 111 Emmy nominations and remains one of
the most beloved sitcoms in TV history.
Not quite — the answer is Cheers! The show was set in a cozy Boston bar
and ran for 11 seasons starting in 1982. Its theme song ‘Where Everybody Knows Your Name’ became one of
the most recognizable TV tunes ever written.
On Who’s the Boss, what was the name of Tony Micelli’s daughter who moved with him
to Connecticut?
Correct! Samantha Micelli, played by Alyssa Milano, was Tony’s spirited
daughter on Who’s the Boss. Milano became a massive teen idol through the role and went on to have a
long career in Hollywood.
Not quite — the answer is Samantha! Tony Micelli’s daughter Samantha was
played by a young Alyssa Milano, who became one of the biggest teen stars of the 1980s thanks to her
role on Who’s the Boss.
Which actor played the lovable Arnold Jackson on Diff’rent Strokes and became famous
for the catchphrase ‘Whatchu talkin’ ’bout, Willis?’
Correct! Gary Coleman played Arnold Jackson on Diff’rent Strokes from
1978 to 1986. His delivery of ‘Whatchu talkin’ ’bout, Willis?’ became one of the most iconic
catchphrases in sitcom history.
Not quite — the answer is Gary Coleman! Todd Bridges played his brother
Willis, which is actually the name mentioned in the famous catchphrase. Coleman’s comic timing made
Arnold one of the most memorable child characters of the era.
On Three’s Company, Jack Tripper had to pretend to be what in order to be allowed to
live with two women by their landlord?
Correct! Jack Tripper, played by John Ritter, had to pretend to be gay
so that the conservative landlord Mr. Roper would allow him to share an apartment with Janet and
Chrissy. The show ran from 1977 to 1984 and was a huge ratings hit.
Not quite — the answer is that Jack had to pretend to be gay! The
landlord Mr. Roper wouldn’t allow a man to live with two women otherwise. This central comedic premise
was considered quite bold for its time and drove much of the show’s humor.
On The Facts of Life, the girls lived and studied at which fictional all-girls
boarding school?
Correct! The girls on The Facts of Life attended the Eastland School, a
fictional boarding school in Peekskill, New York. The show was a spinoff of Diff’rent Strokes and ran
from 1979 to 1988, making it one of the longest-running sitcoms of its era.
Not quite — the answer is Eastland School! The fictional boarding school
in Peekskill, New York was home to Blair, Jo, Tootie, and Natalie. The Facts of Life actually began as a
spinoff of Diff’rent Strokes and ran for an impressive nine seasons.
Which future Oscar-winning actress played Maggie Seaver, the working mom on Growing
Pains?
Correct! Joanna Kerns played Maggie Seaver on Growing Pains from 1985 to
1992. While she hasn’t won an Oscar herself, the show famously featured a young Leonardo DiCaprio
joining the cast in later seasons before his film career took off.
Not quite — the answer is Joanna Kerns! She played the career-driven mom
Maggie Seaver opposite Alan Thicke’s psychiatrist Jason Seaver. Growing Pains is also notable for
launching the career of a very young Leonardo DiCaprio in its later seasons.
On Cheers, which pompous, intellectual character was known for his lengthy,
self-important monologues and rivalry with Sam Malone?
Correct! Dr. Frasier Crane, played by Kelsey Grammer, was the pompous
psychiatrist who joined Cheers in season three. The character was so popular he was eventually given his
own spinoff, Frasier, which ran for another 11 seasons starting in 1993.
Not quite — the answer is Frasier Crane! Played brilliantly by Kelsey
Grammer, Frasier became so beloved that he earned his own spinoff show after Cheers ended. Cliff Clavin,
another great character, was the know-it-all mailman always full of dubious trivia.
On Who’s the Boss, what was the name of the sharp-tongued, wisecracking grandmother
who lived in the household?
Correct! Mona Robinson, played by Katherine Helmond, was Angela’s
fun-loving and flirtatious mother who lived with the family. Her witty one-liners and carefree attitude
made her one of the most entertaining supporting characters of the entire series.
Not quite — the answer is Mona Robinson! Played by Katherine Helmond,
Mona was Angela’s spirited and outrageously flirtatious mother. Angela Bower was actually the
advertising executive played by Judith Light who hired Tony as her housekeeper.
Your Score
/ 8
Thanks for playing!
The original slate is short but sweet. Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (Daniel Radcliffe) is just brilliant, which is why it won the Emmy for Outstanding Television Movie, and the new Kevin Hart action comedy, Die Hart, has some genuinely funny moments. One of the service’s acquired titles, Toast of Tinseltown (Matt Berry), is branded in the U.S. as a Roku Original, but either way, it’s just a chef’s kiss.
One honest gripe, though: titles rotate monthly, and browsing can feel like a yard sale. But it does have clever organizational categories like New This Month, Not on Netflix, and Hidden Gems that you don’t often see on other streamers.
You don’t even need a Roku
How to watch it even without the hardware
Here’s a twist that’s more for you than me — The Roku Channel doesn’t actually require a Roku device. You can access it in a web browser at TheRokuChannel.com, in Roku’s mobile app, and through apps on Amazon Fire TV devices and TVs, Samsung smart TVs, and Google TV devices. The holdouts? There’s no app for LG TVs — or, ironically, for Apple TV. But that’s OK; I do most of my Roku Channel viewing at the cottage anyway.
You learn something new every day
My Apple TV isn’t going anywhere — it still runs my main home setup, and I’ll probably still overpay for another one when the latest model drops this fall (supposedly). But I’ve stopped thinking of the Rokus as a compromise. The hardware got me in the door, but the free library made me stay.
Stephan is the sports journalist for the Maple Grove Report.
