Streaming device leader Roku has a whopping eight models in its 2019 lineup, including updated versions of the $30 Roku Express and the $100 Roku Ultra. Yet despite this influx of new blood, the company's best model is one of its oldest. The Roku Streaming Stick Plus streams the 4K and HDR video from Netflix, Amazon, Vudu, Apple TV and others, comes with worthwhile features like a voice remote with buttons that can control your TV and runs Roku's best-in-class streaming system. It has all of the stuff you need and none of the fluff, and permanent price drop to $50 makes it an even better value than when it debuted two years ago.

The Streaming Stick Plus' closest competition is the Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K, which also costs $50. Its advantages over the Roku include Dolby Vision HDR support and superior voice support thanks to Alexa. Fire TV's menus are more modern-looking than Roku, but they're also more cluttered and confusing, and steer you toward Amazon's own TV shows and movies.

To take full advantage of 4K apps you'll need a new 4K HDR TV, but even if you don't have one, it's worth considering the Plus over cheaper, non-4K streamers like Roku Express. The price difference between the two is so small it might be worth paying in case you do get a 4K TV soon, and want to be ready. Meanwhile the Roku Streaming Stick Plus is also a hands-down a better value than the $180 Apple TV 4K or $150 Nvidia Shield.

In the two years since its release, the Streaming Stick Plus debuted, nothing has matched its simplicity, affordability or performance. It's Roku's best streamer for the money and Roku makes our favorite streaming system. That's why the Streaming Stick Plus remains our favorite streamer overall and a worthy recipient of the 2019 CNET Editors' Choice Award.

Roku need-to-know-ku

The Streaming Stick Plus designed to hide behind your TV and plug directly into a free HDMI port. If space is tight you can use a male-to-female HDMI cable or "port saver," and Roku will even send you one for free.



The Advanced Wireless Receiver cable plugs into the stick with an old-school Mini -- not Micro -- USB connection. The Receiver in turn plugs into the supplied AC adapter, or a USB port on your TV, for power.



The Receiver in turn plugs into the supplied AC adapter, or a USB port on your TV, for power. If you elect to power the stick from your TV it takes longer to boot up so plugging directly into AC is usually the best route.



Sarah Tew/CNET

Sarah Tew/CNET

4K stick with the Roku you know (ku)

The iPhone has used a basic grid of apps since time immemorial, because it works and people are used to it. So does Roku, and every time we ask the company representatives about an update they essentially tell us it's working too well to mess with. And for the most part, we agree.

Roku's home page is fully customizable, allowing you to move app tiles to taste. All apps get equal footing, from Netflix to Toon Goggles, scrolling through them is smooth and fast, they launch quickly and responses within every app we tried were lightning fast. The interface doesn't surface individual shows and movies on the home page, like Fire TV, but it's visually simpler and less intrusive; there's just one big ad to the right of the app list.

Stronger on apps and search, weaker on voice

Roku continues to have more apps than the competition, as well as best-in-class cross-platform search. We love that results are sorted by price, especially since Movies Anywhere allows you to consolidate your Vudu, Amazon, Google Play and even iTunes libraries. Now if only Vudu would update its Roku app to something like the clean experience it uses on Apple TV.

Roku has a few extras not found elsewhere, including My Feed and headphone private listening via the Roku app (if you want it on the remote, you'll need to get an Ultra), but the most important is the Roku Channel. It's a hub for on-demand movies and TV shows and also includes live news feeds, a Kids section and even subscriptions to services like HBO. Most of the content there is free (with ads) and it's only available on Roku players, Samsung TVs and mobile apps.

Featured Free is another Roku-only extra. The idea is to surface TV shows from network apps that are available to watch immediately without having to sign in to those apps. Clicking a show title, like New Amsterdam, Family Guy or Grey's Anatomy, launches the app (NBC, Fox Now or ABC, respectively) and begins playing the episode (with ads). The section also mixes in movies from The Roku Channel and plenty of older shows available to watch for free, like Seinfeld (from Sony's Crackle), Duck Dynasty (from Tubi TV) or Hell's Kitchen (from the Roku Channel).