Gadgetory

what's up prize fighters Brian song here for a big time battle between streaming sticks or dongles it's a prizefight punch-out between the new streaming Roku stick and Google's latest chromecast this prize fight will be decided by the committee of one can't go wrong tom so let's get it on round one is designed Roku and Google brings simple and sweet designs for streaming Roku's new stick is almost the size of a stick of gum the chromecast is a circular dongle and they'll both hide behind your TV set powered by a USB port or a plug-in adapter both fit in your pocket and we're calling this a tie next round is user interface and navigation the biggest difference out of the box is that the Roku includes a remote control but you won't find Roku signature headphone jack now there Universal search allows you to type in a title actor or director and shows you where you can watch that content across all its apps Roku is interface is still the best in its class and using its remote to navigate is easier compared to the chromecast that has no real interface but relies on apps on your phone tablet or your computer to throw content to your TV it's biggest advantage it's easy to throw content quickly to your TV but it's not enough as Roku takes this round round three is content content will always be king and no one can compete with Roku's deep deep library of over 3,000 channels Google's chromecast has all the key apps like YouTube Netflix Hulu and HBO and it has a better variety of games that you can take to the big screen chromecast mirroring from your laptop makes up for some of the lack of content but it's still laggy and just not good enough Roku brings the most content you can find and takes another round round 4 is performance content is important but so is the amount of time it takes to get to it the biggest issue we found were the longer boot times for the Netflix and YouTube apps on the Roku in our CNET test it took Netflix 18 seconds to launch on the Roku stick and only four seconds on the chromecast the YouTube app took 15 seconds on the Roku and 10 seconds on the chromecast now the chromecast has the luxury of using your phone or tablet to load the app first but results are results and it takes this round the final round is value the Roku streaming stick is $50 and that's a deal with the remote control in every streaming service you can think of the chromecast is even more wallet friendly at 35 bucks if you're ok with using your smartphone as a remote which a lot of you are but Roku is still the best streaming platform with an experience you're getting that's well worth the price so let's break it down we had a tie in round one but then Roku took three of the next four rounds and reign supreme as this price fight King I'm Brian Chong thanks for watching I will catch you guys all next time for another prize fight