Roku

The Roku Premiere is almost identical in function to the Streaming Stick+, but it exchanges the HDMI-stick design for a freestanding box design. The box is much smaller than that of previous standalone Roku boxes, but it’s still less convenient than a stick, and this model has only 802.11n Wi-Fi instead of the more recent and superior 802.11ac. Also, the Premiere remote lacks voice search and TV power/mute buttons, so it’s not as convenient to use as the remote that comes with the Streaming Stick+. But if those features don’t matter to you, and you want to save a little money, the Premiere is a fine choice.

The 2019 Roku Ultra has a new remote with shortcut buttons and a faster processor for quicker app loading. It also has a Private Listening mode on the remote, along with Ethernet, MicroSD, and USB connections to make it the most flexible Roku streamer out there, but it’s overkill for most users. The shortcut buttons let you learn voice commands, so “Open Amazon” or “Listen to Radiohead” cause the appropriate apps and radio stations to start, but that’s only going to be useful for one user. Since they are only labeled 1 and 2 on the remote, most people won’t know what the buttons do until they try it, and they can’t do complex tasks, but they are easy to reprogram. Apps do load noticeably quicker on the Ultra, but you’re still only saving a second or two in almost every case compared to the Streaming Stick+. Since the Ultra is almost twice the price and lacks a feature like Dolby Vision to set it apart for performance, we think the smaller form factor and lower price of the Streaming Stick+ make it a better option.

The 2019 Roku Express has a very compact form factor, which makes it easy to mount behind a TV, but the remote control only uses IR so you actually need line-of-sight to be able to control it. Compared to the Streaming Stick+, the Express is slower, only supports 1080p, has older single-band 802.11n Wi-Fi instead of the newer MIMO 802.11ac Wi-Fi, and lacks volume controls on the remote. To us, this isn’t worth saving $20 on when the Streaming Stick+ is so much better.

Amazon Fire TV

Amazon’s Fire TV Stick 4K looks almost identical to the Roku Streaming Stick+, with a compact size that hides behind the TV and a remote that can control the TV volume and power. It supports 4K with HDR and WCG, and it supports Dolby Vision and HDR10+. The Fire TV interface prioritizes Amazon content first while relegating Netflix and others to also-ran status. The search results are less accurate than the other platforms’ and show fewer results. The Fire TV interface also has ads on every page. Roku has a single ad on the main page, but it is easier to ignore; the Apple TV and Shield TV remain ad-free. Integrated Alexa is nice, but we’d rather pair an Echo or Dot with one of our picks.

The updated Fire TV Cube combines a Fire TV Stick, an Echo Dot, and an IR emitter in a single box. It is almost identical in streaming performance to the Fire TV Stick 4K, though it can do Netflix in Dolby Atmos. If you also want an Alexa speaker and the ability to control your cable box and Blu-ray player with your voice, then it might be worth looking at, but it costs far more than a normal media streamer. And you can add on an Echo Dot and the new Amazon Fire TV Blaster to get the same functionality in multiple boxes.

Google Chromecast

The Google Chromecast relies on your smartphone or tablet to access and control content (which people love or hate), its resolution is 1080p, and it’s currently the most affordable option. The selection of supported content keeps expanding; in that one regard, it can truly rival Roku. Plus, you can usually display content that’s not directly supported by “casting” a Google Chrome tab from your computer directly to the Chromecast.

The Chromecast app offers universal search across different apps. Prior to this, you had to open each streaming service and search to determine if a particular movie or TV show was available. That was cumbersome and annoying. The app lets you search across multiple streaming services to find your content on whatever apps you have on the device where the Chromecast app is installed. This feature makes Google more competitive with Roku and Apple, which have improved cross-platform search on their respective devices.

Unfortunately, the search feature currently doesn’t work as well as Roku’s. In our tests, searching for Pulp Fiction, for example, brought up sources to stream the movie, but not from as many services as the Roku found. More interesting was our search for Amélie: Roku listed five sources to stream it from, but the Chromecast didn’t find it at all. When we searched instead for Audrey Tautou, the star of the film, the Chromecast app found the movie and listed two services that had it. The Chromecast search also doesn’t list prices inside your search; you have to launch apps to find out which services stream an item for free and which services require a purchase. The new search function is an improvement, but Google still needs to do some work to help it catch up to what Roku, Amazon, and Apple offer.

The Chromecast has a guest mode, so other people can use their Android device (not iOS at this time) to send content to your Chromecast without jumping on your Wi-Fi network. This feature could be useful at parties and family gatherings.

Despite its quirks, the Chromecast makes for a great travel companion due to its tiny size. You can easily take it on trips, hook it up to the hotel TV, and use your phone to stream content to the TV. If the TV has a free USB port, you can power the Chromecast from that and not need a USB adapter. Regrettably, getting it to connect to hotel Wi-Fi networks can be hard, and that makes the device almost unusable in such situations. The Roku Streaming Stick is just as easy to pack now and easily supports captive Wi-Fi ports in hotels.

Without its own remote, the Chromecast falls short of the Roku family—unless, as CNET says, “you’re heavily invested in the Google media ecosystem.” Google Home integration might start to help here, as you can start programs on the Chromecast using your voice, but that feature isn’t enough to push it past the Roku or Fire TV for us.

The Chromecast Ultra adds support for an Ultra HD resolution, including HDR10 and Dolby Vision. Unlike prior Chromecast models, it can’t run off a USB port and requires a power outlet, but the included adapter has an Ethernet port on it, as well. Everything else we just said about the regular Chromecast applies here, too.

With no remote and not being as portable as its non-Ultra sibling, it isn’t that appealing yet. The Roku Streaming Stick+ is the same price, offers a remote, and has more app support. Google Home integration might be a reason to pick the Ultra, but for most people, the Roku is a better choice.

Gaming systems and built-in TV apps

The Xbox 360, Xbox One/One S, or Xbox One X; the PlayStation 3 or PlayStation 4 or 4 Pro; a connected Blu-ray player; or a smart TV you already own probably streams Netflix and plays some local files, too. These devices are just as capable and offer a lot of the same content as most streaming devices. However, most of these also lack the extensive selection of content that dedicated streaming boxes offer and lack cross-app searching. So they’re fine, but for most people, a streaming device offers more.

Android TV

The TiVo Stream 4K is an Android TV-based HDMI dongle that incorporates software from TiVo that makes it easier to find content from the services you subscribe to. But those services are currently limited to only the most popular ones like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Hulu, while missing options like Apple TV+, PBS, and Showtime. So if you’re looking for content that TiVo’s app supports you can stay inside of their app, but you need to go back to the standard Android TV interface for other apps.

There are also a few other flaws with the Stream 4K at this point. If you want to watch things in HDR, then even SDR video has to be converted to HDR all the time, and switching between HDR10 and Dolby Vision requires rebooting the entire device. The search feature shows the different platforms that a title is available on, but it can’t show the prices so you don’t know which option is best for you. In my home the TiVo’s Wi-Fi would also continually refuse to connect, or disconnect once it had connected, which no other device has done in the past. There’s no option to use Ethernet if you have Wi-Fi issues, either.

Overall, the TiVo software for Android TV is interesting, but it’s still a work in progress, and the Wi-Fi and HDR issues are close to dealbreakers for now.

The Xiaomi Mi Box S is an Android TV box that offers Ultra HD support but isn’t as powerful as the Shield TV. The Mi Box isn’t as powerful for local content as the Shield TV is. The interface isn’t nearly as responsive as other devices, and when selecting a TV mode automatically, it thought all of our 4K HDR TVs were capable of only 720p resolution. You can manually fix this, but it will leave people disappointed if they don’t realize it, and the remote lacks the TV controls for power and volume that have become standard features over the past year.

The Air TV Mini is designed to integrate Sling TV with Android TV, and integrate with a networked TV tuner so that you get Sling TV channels and your local over-the-air channels in a unified TV guide. For people who want this Sling TV integration, the Air TV might be a reasonable option, but for people looking for a general-purpose media streamer, there are cheaper, more full-featured options that don’t automatically boot into Sling TV every time you power them on.

Android (but not Android TV)

A number of companies are making boxes that run Android, but not Android TV. The advantage to these boxes is that they can run a wider variety of apps, including Kodi (formerly XBMC). The downside is that traditional Android is designed around a touchscreen, so these boxes are hard to use without one, or at least without a mouse and keyboard. A TV remote doesn’t cut it, and they are harder to use from the couch. You’re also using apps designed for a different screen format than your TV’s. And because such a box costs more than a dedicated streamer, this category doesn’t make much sense for most people.