almost perfect

I have owned 4 Roku 3's and now this Premiere +; the older 3's had a usb port, that has disappeared on all models but the top "Ultra"; I am assuming that time-of-purchase determines what extra buttons are on the remote, as they are different on three of them. Some have the enter button below the "+"-shaped navigation button, some have the enter in the center of that cross-shaped control; both work well. This particular model, Premiere+, has no A-B buttons, and i keep forgetting where the close-captioned control is on this remote (this grampa babysits and need the captions during nap times!) The surfaces of both parts are matte finish, a decided improvement over the smooth surfaces of the Roku 3s. It still has a lanyard attached, which is very helpful in finding and keeping hold of the remote - it does not have a find-me, only the Ultra has that. It seems to be more robust than the 3s in signal strength and transmission speed. The box itself is almost two times as big as the 3, but is lower, grips surfaces much better, heats up much less. We moved the two other Roku 3s we have around from tv to tv and sometimes it was hard or near impossible to get the remotes recognized by the 3's if used wireless; not so with the Premiere - it always found its paired remote instantly without prompting. This particular remote has only two of the streaming services we use, while an older, but recently purchased Roku3 has three of our services as buttons, so check to see what the current remotes offer; one special one came through a provider as part of a live tv deal, so there may be more versions of remotes than I know, so check. Whether you have a button for a service or not, it's only a click or two difference to use it, so not a big deal. As for the durability, I did no purposeful drop testing, but I did drop it once from waist height with no consequences. One note of caution: when we were trying to reset an older 3 to factory shipped condition, we broke the little clicky thing inside the tiny hole into which you place an unfolded paper clip for 30 seconds to reset it; we pushed too hard and broke it and ruined the remote; just be in a quiet plae so you can hear the tiny little click, and press easy! Overall the best Roku I've owned (also had one of the first Roku units, no longer in the lineup) - if it had a USB port it would be 5 stars. Finally, I would recommend this to ALL who to break free of $100+ cable bills who spend 30% (do you realize this?) 30% of your time spent watching commercials! The ROKU is a one-time purchase; then monthly subscriptions to the major streaming services run total about $20, and one is free with a membership in their website; so from $140 to $20/month with Zero Commercials is like viewing heaven on the cheap! Finally, if you are not a Roku user - there are literally thousands and thousands of "channels" or think of them as streaming apps for you to add, many, many of them are free. Some are really dorky and for very specific interests, but some are amazing! I have access to all the major "TV" channel news reports, and even an app that lets you access local news and weather for anywhere in the country; at least 4 weather apps for free, screensavers, cooking channels, travel channels, old movie/tv channels, on and on. It's just the best way to entertain oneself with programming, and saving a bundle of money. You won't even miss new movies or current tv shows, but for those you will pay, and it's easy on the Roku, you can go one-by-one or subscribe to a service, but I cannot see you ever paying out what cable wants to stream you duplicate, commercial-laden, irrelevant programming - it really does return control to the watchers! Best of luck!Read full review

Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: New