Original URL: https://www.theregister.com/2014/06/26/review_roku_streaming_stick_hdmi_dongle/

WORLD CUP TRAUMA? Just Streaming Stick a Roku in it

Change the channel with a dongle doohickey

By Bob Dormon

Posted in Legal, 26th June 2014 09:58 GMT

Review If you share telly viewing with a masochistic soccer fan, you might well be tempted to consider alternative goggle box entertainment... er, Wimbledon perhaps?

At least Blighty's entrant into the southwest London tennis competition stands a chance of winning – having prevailed last year. There’s more to telly than sport, though, in much the same way that there’s more to streaming telly than the BBC iPlayer and YouTube.

Roku Streaming Stick

Roku's Streaming Stick – smarten up your old TV with a dongle doobry

Google’s Chromecast stole a march on Roku’s latest Streaming Stick in marketing a simple dongle to plug into any HDMI telly, PVR or projector. Roku had done this before but in its earlier model, the interfacing relied on the functional but less common MHL connector to draw power and deliver video.

The new Streaming Stick isn't too different to its predecessor and compared to the Chromecast, these two devices are much the same from the outside, each with an external power supply.

Roku Streaming Stick

Just in case your telly or projector has no USB, you get a PSU too

Where they vary is that Roku provides a remote control and supports dual-band wireless (2.4GHz and 5GHz), whereas the Chromecast lingers in the 2.4GHz domain and provides an HDMI extender out of the box. If you want one from Roku, you have to fill in an online form to receive your complimentary cable. I gave it a try and, as my Roku serial number was rejected, I’m wondering if this offer is US-only.

To get the Streaming Stick up and running, you need to create your own login on the Roku website and then go through the motions of configuring the dongle for remote pairing and Wi-Fi access from the TV screen. After that, the Roku generates an activation code on-screen that you need to enter into your web browser to link the device to your account.

Roku Streaming Stick

If all goes a bit Pete Tong, there's a reset button

As some of the 450 streaming channels available require subscriptions, credit card details have to be entered to enable registration. Naturally, there’s the BBC iPlayer, YouTube and Netflix as well as 4OD, Demand5 and Now TV, which provides access to Sky Movies and Sky Sports.

While appearing easy enough, set-up wasn’t entirely glitch-free. At first it didn’t get beyond the Wi-Fi authentication, but after pulling the power from the micro USB port and trying again, all was well. The remote is certainly worth having and easy to get used to, apart from the lack of volume control, something which graces the Roku 3.

Roku Streaming Stick

The remote app does more than just navigation

At twice the price of the Streaming Stick, the Roku 3 remote has a headphone jack socket tucked away in the device which receives soundtrack audio wirelessly so you can listen privately. It’s a nice touch but eats the batteries.

Discovery channels

The Streaming Stick features nothing more than an HDMI connector, a micro USB port for power and a reset button. You won’t find any media card slots on this device – that’s another nicety reserved for the Roku 3, but if you've a NAS box you might find you don't need these additions.

Roku Streaming Stick My Channels

My Channels populates with your choices of free and paid for content providers as well as utility apps

Roku’s app will also perform all the usual navigation functions as well as accessing content such as video, photos and music from your phone. Whether you’re using the handheld remote or the app version, there’s an initial delay while either of these devices wakes up and makes contact during a viewing session.

That momentary delay is nothing compared to the time it takes the Roku to boot up – which would put a 1950s black-and-white telly to shame: typically, about 75 seconds tick by. Truth be told, the Chromecast was just as bad and then you have to go through it all again when you fire up Netflix.

Roku Streaming Stick remote

Plenty of channels, some good, some... well, it takes all sorts

That said, Netflix has updated its mobile apps recently to improve login speed and followed that up this with a Roku app announcement stating, "This enhancement will be rolled out to all Roku 3 players and the Roku Streaming Stick (HDMI version) starting June 24 and is expected to be completed by mid-July.”

I checked for an update, but nothing yet.

Start-up defaults to the My Channels page, which is already populated with a few streaming stalwarts. You can reposition the channel tiles and of course remove them. The Channels Store provides additional content arranged by Popularity, Top Paid and various themed categories, including apps for Facebook and games, which you just tick off to add to your My Channels section. You'll find more here than on rival streamers, but for UK users, Amazon Instant Video is absent.

Roku Streaming Stick media player

The media player appears alongside the channels and will show album art if available

If you’re not satisfied with what’s on offer and think you can do better, Roku’s developer programme is free and so is including your channel on the roster available for the platform. As live streaming is supported, this might appeal for certain events, however, if you’re planning on setting up your own VOD service, you’ll have to host the content yourself.

I did most of my testing at home and would have welcomed having an HDMI extender as the dongle was at a slight angle slotting into a slightly bulbous Samsung TV back panel, but it did work, taking power from a free USB port.

Roku Streaming Stick

Choosing channels and searching from the app can be quicker than using the Roku remote

I also used it extensively plumbed in to a Pure Avalon 300R PVR which has iPlayer and the Pure Connect streaming service, but sod-all else. I have the Avalon hooked up to a Philips PicoPix – a tiny projector that works a treat in the bedroom. With this set-up I entered the world of Netflix for the first time and wondered what all the fuss was about.

Pick and choose

Feeling much like I’d been thrown back in time to browse the shelves of Blockbuster Video and rather uninspired by the choice, I decided to catch up with the rest of the planet and settled on Breaking Bad, and it didn’t take long to see what all the fuss was about here. Needless to say, once I began viewing that particular odyssey, I put in quite a few hours with the Roku.

Roku Streaming Stick casting to TV

Preparing to cast to TV from an iPhone

The only issue that kept cropping up was that starting up afresh, Netflix would default to 5.1 surround audio and make an awful clicking noise until stereo had been selected which was needed for the sound set-up I was using. The Roku itself has selections for sound output format and TV resolution, but Netflix has a mind of its own.

You can, of course, continue your viewing on a phone or tablet or cast it from such a device over to the Roku Streaming Stick. It knows where to pick up from, but it can take a while if an app like Netflix has to start up. Currently, there’s no casting from a computer available yet, but even Google’s attempts have been in beta for Chromecast, and are a bit flaky in places.

Roku Streaming Stick Media Selection

Got a NAS box or PC configured for sharing? The Media app can tap into it all... except for AVIs

I'd been using the Roku 3 for a while, so viewing with the Streaming Stick was an easy transition to make. The lack of USB and microSD card functionality wasn’t too much of an issue either as it was perfectly capable of browsing content on a NAS box for playback although, unfortunately, it doesn’t support AVI files – a full list of supported formats here.

In this respect, it's much less bother than Chromecast, which wants you to store everything in Google's cloud and although local playback is possible from a computer, it is part of the beta functionality and unreliable at best. On the Roku, accessing networked volumes is a breeze, and if you fancy a slideshow of stills, then that’s an option too, but you’ll find it can take a while building up thumbnails if your NAS photo folders contain a lot of images.

Roku Streaming Stick and Roku 3

If you don't need a card slot or Ethernet, the Streaming Stick is half the price of the Roku 3.

The Reg Verdict

I’m beginning to wonder if Roku hasn’t shot itself in the foot by not including an HDMI extender in the box, as my Chromecast experience proved this can help with less than perfect signal issues and HDMI port access. Yet overall, the Roku Streaming Stick performed very well in different set-ups. Its interface is easy to navigate and the handheld remote is laid out intuitively, with the added bonus of having an app remote as well, giving you access to your mobile content. All in all, it's a fitting enhancement to any household with decent Wi-Fi and a not-so-smart TV. ®