What’s The Big Differences Between The Roku Ultra And The Roku Streambar?

By News Update On Nov 16, 2024

If you’ve already ditched cable for a modern streaming device, then chances are you’ve heard about Roku. It’s easily one of the fan-favorite streaming devices, and for good reasons. You can use it to access over 350 live TV channels for free, stream your preferred movies and shows from your app of choice, in the best possible quality, and even enjoy listening privately via the headphone jack on the remote. There are also other nifty hidden features of the Roku device that makes your watching experience more convenient — from the powerful search functionality to the entertaining free games.

If you’re convinced and want to make Roku a part of your entertainment setup, you’ve got several options to pick from. Two of the best are the Roku Ultra and the Roku Streambar. Both come with features like 4K streaming and Dolby support, but beyond that, how exactly do they differ and which one is the better fit for you? Here’s all you need to consider.

What is the Roku Ultra? What is the Roku Streambar?

The Roku Ultra is considered Roku’s top-tier streaming device as it comes loaded with premium features you usually won’t find in other Roku streaming players. These include Dolby Vision, Wi-Fi 6, an upgraded remote, and Bluetooth headphone mode, to name a few. First launched in 2016, the Ultra has gone through several model iterations over the years. The latest of the pack, as of writing this article, is the 4850, introduced in September 2024. You can use the Ultra with popular voice assistants and smart home systems, including Google Home, Alexa, Apple AirPlay and HomeKit, and of course, Roku Smart Home. It’s available for $99.99.

Released in 2020, the Roku Streambar is a fusion between a streaming device and a soundbar. At $129.99, it’s designed to be a more affordable solution to getting a 4K streaming device and a separate soundbar. There are two variants of the Streambar: the Streambar Pro and Streambar SE. The Pro variant came out in 2021 and has a bigger design, Virtual Surround, and a remote with customizable shortcut buttons. The SE variant launched in 2024 and is a smaller and more affordable version of the Streambar, but with extra support for HDR10+ (that isn’t available in the standard Streambar).

Streaming quality

As is standard with other Roku 4K streaming devices, the Ultra and Streambar are compatible with HD, 4K, and 4K HDR TVs. However, the Ultra also includes additional support for HDR10+ and Dolby Vision TVs. HDR already produces vivid pictures as it turns up the brightness and provides you with over a billion colors to make the pictures feel more lifelike. HDR10+ upgrades the image quality even more by using dynamic (rather than static) metadata, which ensures the images have a balanced brightness and improved color saturation. Dolby Vision also makes use of dynamic metadata so that instead of just one billion colors, it has a wider color spectrum of 68 billion.

It’s important to note, though, that for both the Ultra and the Streambar, you’ll need a compatible TV to watch content of such quality. If you’re not watching 4K, HDR10/HDR10+, or Dolby Vision videos — or if your TV doesn’t support those formats — you won’t experience the full effect of the enhanced picture quality.

Audio features

As far as audio features go, the Streambar clearly outdoes the Ultra, mainly because it doubles as a soundbar. It supports PCM and Dolby Audio formats and is built with four 1.9″ full-range speakers. To create a listening experience suited for your taste, the Streambar gives you various sound settings including four sound modes to fit the content you’re listening to, three speech clarity options to make dialogue easier to understand, and three volume modes for different types of entertainment. What’s also great about the Streambar is that it works with any external device like a games console, cable box, or Blu-ray player. If you want to get even more top-notch audio, you can readily expand your entertainment setup with other Roku audio devices, such as the Roku Wireless Speakers and Wireless Bass.

On the flip side, the Ultra is purely a streaming device with no built-in speakers, so all of its audio features — like digital stereo and DTS Digital Surround — work through HDMI only. If you want to upgrade the audio quality of your setup, you’d need to rely on third-party soundbars and speakers as the Roku Wireless Speakers and Subwoofers aren’t compatible with Roku streaming players like the Ultra. The Ultra does edge the Streambar in the fact that it supports Dolby Atmos for a more immersive listening experience than Dolby Audio. However, you still can’t enjoy Dolby Atmos content if you don’t have a compatible TV or speaker.

Remote

The two remote controls are distinct in a lot of aspects. To start, the batteries of both remotes are different. While the Ultra’s remote, a Roku Voice Remote Pro (second edition), is rechargeable, the Streambar’s remote, a Roku Voice Remote, includes replaceable AAA batteries. In terms of buttons, the Ultra’s remote has two additional buttons: a GUIDE button that shows you live TV and local news, and a Quick Launch button that you can customize to launch an app or enable a setting. Another nifty difference of the Ultra’s remote is its backlit buttons, making it easier to see while binge-watching late at night.

As you’d expect, both offer voice search and control at the push of a button. This means you can ask Roku for things like finding Anne Hathaway films, opening Netflix, and enabling the captions. Aside from the push-to-talk functionality, the Ultra’s remote also lets you issue voice commands hands-free for convenience. To control the device, you just need to say “Hey Roku.”

What is probably the biggest difference between the remotes for the Ultra and Streambar is that with the Ultra, you can easily find your Roku remote. It’s equipped with a so-called lost remote finder feature that, when triggered with either a voice command, a ping from the Roku mobile app, or a push on the dedicated button on the Ultra, will prompt the remote to play a sound.

TV and network connections

The way the Roku Ultra and Streambar are connected to your home network and TV is different. For the home network connection, both streaming devices do come with Wi-Fi and Ethernet capabilities. However, while the Streambar is equipped with 802.11ac dual-band MIMO Wi-Fi that’s standard for most of Roku’s streaming devices, the Ultra features 802.11ax dual-band MIMO Wi-Fi 6. This means your movies and shows will load faster and you’ll experience less lag, even if your home network serves multiple other devices at the same time. The Ultra also has a built-in 10/100 Base-T Ethernet port, so connecting directly to your router is as easy as plugging in the cable. On the other hand, the Streambar doesn’t have a standard Ethernet port and you’ll need a USB-to-Ethernet adapter.

For the TV connection, both streaming devices are compatible with any TV as long as it has a standard HDMI port. There are caveats, though. The Ultra needs a TV with Dolby Vision (at 60 fps), HDR10, HDR10+, or HLG support if you want to watch such content. Meanwhile, the Streambar requires an HDMI port that’s specifically labeled as ARC (Audio Return Channel). If your TV only comes with a regular HDMI port, it’ll work as any other Roku streaming device with the audio playing through your TV. To direct the audio to the Streambar, use the included optical cable and connect it to another port on your TV, usually named digital audio out or digital output.

Size and installation

The Roku Ultra and Streambar vary significantly in size and design, and you can easily tell them apart. The Ultra is square in shape, lightweight at just 5.9 oz (167.2 g), and measures 4.9 by 5 by 1 inches (124.4 by 127 by 25.4 mm). It can be placed pretty much anywhere near your TV. As long as you can easily connect the Roku device to the internet and your TV, you’re good to go.

The Streambar is a lot larger, measuring 4.2 by 14 by 2.4 inches (107 by 356 by 61 mm), and heavier, weighing 2.2 lbs (1089 g). Unlike the Ultra, there are several considerations when installing the Streambar. First off, you’ll achieve the best sound quality when it’s set in the middle of your TV and at the same height as your ears when you’re seated. This way, the audio will sync perfectly with the visuals and won’t sound disconnected. It’s also important to remove any obstacles in front of the Streambar to ensure that the sounds coming from the device won’t bounce off the objects and become muffled. The no-obstacle rule also means you should avoid putting your device in enclosed cabinets. When placing the Streambar on the TV stand or any other flat surface, make sure it sits right at the front edge, and not too far back. Otherwise, the sound from the speakers will bounce off the flat surface in front of it.

User experience

Being newer, the Ultra is expectedly the faster streaming device. It packs in a higher-performance chip that makes interface navigation and app launches more seamless and lag-free. In fact, it’s marketed as over 30% faster than its Roku siblings.

If you want to play personal videos and music on your streaming device, both the Ultra and Streambar allow you to do so. They each have a USB port at the back, where you can plug in a USB stick or hard drive. The Ultra, however, has support for more media formats than the Streambar, given that it supports Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision. For videos, it can play AV1 (.MP4, .MKV) files, while for audio, it can accommodate HEAAC (.MKV, .MP4, .MOV, .AAC), AC-4 with Atmos (.MKV, .MP4, .MOV, .AC4), DTS (.MKV, .MP4, .MOV), and DD+ (EAC3) with Atmos (.MKV, .MP4, .MOV) — formats the Streambar can’t handle.

Which should you buy?

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Finding the best Roku device for your TV comes down to understanding what you care more about. The Ultra is for you if you’re particular about the video quality you get from your streaming device and want to experience the best. With Dolby Vision and HDR10+ support, the Ultra lets you fully enjoy such high-quality content in their intended formats. This Roku streaming device also fits perfectly in homes with congested networks (thanks to its Wi-Fi 6 capability) and small spaces (since you can readily hide it behind your TV with no issues). You might also want to get an Ultra if you prefer controlling your TV hands-free and you’re sick of flipping your living room upside down just to locate your remote.

On the other hand, the Streambar is for you if you’re more of an audiophile. With its soundbar functionality, expanded sound settings, and compatibility with other Roku audio devices, you can build a theater-like entertainment system right in your living room. The Streambar is also great if you want to minimize the number of devices in your setup, perhaps to save space or to achieve a cleaner look. Since it functions as both a streaming device and a soundbar, it can reduce the overall clutter in your entertainment space.