ZDNET’s key takeaways
- The Roku Streambar Pro is a component soundbar, half streaming stick. And it makes utilizing each simpler than ever.
- Non-public listening mode is a pleasant addition for late-night watching, and I’ve actually loved utilizing it.
- Even all the way down to the modern design, simplicity is the aim with the Roku all-in-one.
Roku is a reputation that is rapidly turn into synonymous with streaming, however the firm has branched out lately into TVs and TV equipment — together with audio system and soundbars.
For probably the most half, Roku’s merchandise are supposed to make issues simple, and that is the place the Streambar Pro comes into play.
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The Streambar Professional is a soundbar that doubles as a streaming stick, which takes the Roku Streambar and the Roku 4K streaming stick and combines them into one gadget. So, how does it carry out, and must you purchase one? Let’s dive in.
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Roku Streambar Pro
The Roku Streambar Pro is one of the best value products for adding both 4K streaming and fantastic audio quality to your TV.
First up, it is price noting that the Roku Streambar Professional will work with any TV, not just Roku’s. The truth is, that is one of many gadget’s largest benefits, which is {that a} non-Roku TV basically turns into one.
Together with the soundbar and cables to attach it, the field consists of a normal Roku voice-controlled distant with a headphone jack and a pair of earbuds for personal listening.
The entrance of the bar illustrates Roku’s purpose for simplicity. There’s solely a single energy mild and no buttons to be discovered. All quantity and settings controls are dealt with by way of the distant. And provided that I can not keep in mind the final time I used the bodily buttons on my on a regular basis soundbar, I just like the modern look.
On the again of the soundbar, it is simply as easy — USB, optical, and HDMI ports, relying on the way you need to join the gadget to your TV. The setup course of was brief and candy; I related the gadget to my TV’s HDMI ARC port and adopted the on-screen directions.
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One of many largest issues I’ve with my major TV is that the audio is poor, and sometimes not even loud sufficient to listen to over our two youngsters and canine. I do have a soundbar that works high-quality, however dialogue can nonetheless be powerful to grasp, so I at all times make the most of closed captioning.
Due to the constraints of my TV, the Voice Readability characteristic on the Roku soundbar was one of many first issues I examined out. The characteristic has off, low, and excessive modes, and there was a noticeable distinction when it was enabled. The utmost model of Voice Readability is nearly an excessive amount of, however I discovered the characteristic helpful if I used to be watching one thing late at evening and needed to verify I did not get up my youngsters.
Like lots of fashionable televisions and soundbars, this gadget makes use of digital {surround} to imitate a surround-sound system. I’ve tried this characteristic on many various units with various ranges of success, so I wasn’t anticipating a lot. I am not a fan of superhero motion pictures, however I figured that type of movie can be a great way to check out the surround-sound characteristic.
I fired up the primary superhero film I noticed — The Flash — and fast-forwarded straight to the primary explosion. Once I hit play, the room full of deep rumbles that did not fairly attain a real surround-sound system, however obtained fairly shut — and far more so than the default audio on my TV. There is no help for immersive codecs, equivalent to Dolby Atmos, however the digital {surround} right here works properly.
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This soundbar would not have a subwoofer, however the bass was ample and gave a pleasant rumble when it wanted to. There aren’t many settings to tinker with, aside from a couple of profiles to select from, however since simplicity and ease are the first focus right here, that is anticipated.
By way of 4K streaming, which is the opposite half of this product providing, the interface is just about similar to the one discovered on Roku’s televisions and its streaming stick. All of your main apps can be found, plus devoted ones for music streaming. I did not have any hassle getting logged in and putting in new apps. Plus, the voice navigation to drag up apps labored flawlessly. Perhaps it is simply because my tv is a number of years previous, however the interface on the soundbar appeared a tiny bit quicker and extra responsive than the one on my tv, which is a big-box retailer model.
ZDNET’s shopping for recommendation
In the end, the Streambar Pro is just like the Roku Streambar, however this model is far wider and provides a couple of helpful options, equivalent to personal listening. The gadget performs in keeping with different mid-range soundbars, however the worth of including Roku 4K streaming offers it an edge.
If you wish to improve your TV’s audio, there are many soundbar choices on the market. However, if you wish to give your TV a critical audio increase and add 4K Roku streaming for below $200, the Streambar Professional does the job completely.