Tuning in











I want my set-top box to me as small and non-descript as possible — in my home theater stack, design flair is a problem. The Roku 3 is fortunately both: a glossy black rectangle, 3.5 inches squared and an inch tall, that blends nicely with the also-black, also-glossy stand on my TV. It's a little heavier than previous Roku models, but that's a good thing — it's now sturdy enough to not slide off the back of your TV stand when a cable's attached. There's a "3" emblazoned on the top, the words "Roku 3" on the front edge, and the company's telltale purple tag sticking off the side, but other than the branding there's no decoration to the device whatsoever. Power, ethernet, HDMI, and microSD ports carve up the puck's back, and there's a USB 3.0 port on the right side for plugging in a drive and playing local content. The layout is smart — you're going to use the USB port more, so it makes sense to have it more accessible — and helps the device slide unnoticed into your home theater setup.

While testing the Roku 3, I got the sense over and over that the company just gets what people want from a set-top box. That's especially true with the remote — it's simple, spartan, and impossibly easy to decipher. The glossy black rectangle feels a little cheap and chintzy, but there's a surprising amount of cool tech inside. It works via Wi-Fi Direct, which means you don't need to point it at the box to get it to work — feel free to stick the Roku 3 in a closet or hide it behind your TV. There's also an accelerometer built into the remote, which means you can fire your Angry Birds slingshot with just a flick of your wrist — there are a bunch of games on the Roku 3, and they're all fun, though gaming isn't really a reason to buy this device.

Roku just seems to get what I want in a set-top box





All that is great, but the headphone jack in the remote immediately became my favorite feature of the Roku 3. Plug in a pair of headphones, and audio automatically stops playing on the TV and comes through your headphones instead; unplug them, and it starts playing on your TV speakers again, all without the video ever skipping a beat. (A pair of purple headphones is even bundled, though they don't sound particularly good.) There's a volume control on the remote, but it only applies to the headphones, which means that you unfortunately can't control TV volume on the Roku remote but also means you won't accidentally blow out your speakers when you unplug your headphones. All in all, probably a smart choice.

I should mention here that there are other Roku models out there, all of them cheaper than the Roku 3. The $49.99 Roku LT comes with all the same content as the latest box, and will be getting the new interface soon as a software update, but only the most expensive model offers the more powerful internals, the headphone jack in the remote, 5GHz Wi-Fi the USB port, and 1080p playback. It's the most powerful box by far, and is easily worth the upgrade if you can afford it.

Getting set up couldn't be easier, but you will need a computer handy. You just plug the Roku in to an outlet and your TV, and follow a bunch of on-screen prompts. The first connects you to the internet, which you can do via Wi-Fi or ethernet (I mostly used Wi-Fi). Then you need to connect the box to your Roku account, which is where the PC comes in — Roku has a great web interface for creating an account and adding and managing channels, and it's worth spending ten minutes getting everything you want loaded on your box.

You should also install the Roku app, available for iOS and Android, because it makes setup a whole lot easier. Entering your Wi-Fi password on your TV is a down-right-right-right-down-down nightmare, and the apps let you type it in right from your phone; same goes for logging into all your various content services. The app isn't a great replacement for general navigation on the Roku — you're better off using the actual remote, which doesn't make you constantly look down to ensure you're hitting the right button — but it is great for jumping between channels, which you can see in a list on your phone rather than having to go back to the Roku's homescreen and interrupt whatever you were watching.