Roku Ultra review: the best streaming media player thanks to unparalleled 3,500 channel selection, 4K, HDR, Dolby Digital audio support, USB connectivity, more
Roku's current crop of media streamers … Pocket-lint : What is Roku and which player is best for you? Greg Tarr / HD Guru : Review: Roku Ultra Streams Brilliant HDR 4K Video
Context & Ripple Effects
Tom's Guide crowning the Ultra comes a year after CNET argued the Roku 4 delivered the most 4K video but wasn't worth the premium for most buyers — this review resolves that hesitation by naming the top-tier box outright the best player, on channel breadth, 4K HDR, Dolby Digital audio, and USB. Two weeks earlier the same outlet had panned the $30 Roku Express as sluggish, so Roku's lineup now has a credible bookend at each end.
The verdict matters beyond one holiday season: the Ultra name sticks at the $100 flagship slot across the decade that follows, from the 2020 redesign adding Dolby Vision to the 2024 model with Wi-Fi 6 and Dolby Atmos, making this review the founding judgment of Roku's premium tier.
First-order effects
- Holiday shoppers get a clear default answer for a premium streamer, while Roku's own Express review shows the budget tier can't carry the brand alone — the Ultra becomes the halo product reviewers point to.
Second-order effects
- Rivals like Google's Chromecast, which Tom's Guide called better value than the Express, are forced to compete against a 3,500-channel catalog rather than just hardware specs — content selection becomes the comparison axis.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, the box itself matters less than what it funnels users into: Roku's later results show advertising ($673M, up 25%) and subscription ($548M, up 26%) revenue outgrowing everything else, so the Ultra's real job is acquiring accounts for the platform business.
The trend: Streaming hardware is shifting from a margin business into a customer-acquisition funnel for advertising and subscription platforms, with each flagship Ultra refresh marking the frontier.