Gadgetory

what's up prize 5 fans i'm brian Tong and we have a battle between the best of the best with two cnet editors choice streaming media boxes it's a prize five-foot out between the Roku 3 and the Apple TV 3rd generation our judges for this fight our executive editor John Stone Cold falcone senior associate editor Matthew the big show vez cove yak and myself real ding a ding dong we'll take each round score and average them out to the nearest tenth of a point the final prize fight score will be an average of all rounds in the same system let's get this party started round 1 is designed to Roku 3 brings a new and improved design with its black glossy finish and thicker curves that I approve of their classic fabric tag is there and a heavier weight that makes it feel more solid now the third generation Apple TV is still the little mad bucks that holds up better against dust for fingerprints with rounded corners and a heavier weight neither of these guys get in the way but the judges prefer the apple TV 4.72 for next round is user interface and navigation the Roku 3 completely revamped its main interface and it's great to navigate while allowing you to see more channels and content one slight drawback is the inside of a roku channel still retains the old horizontal look and feel now customization is king here and you can personalize the entire layout of your channels and let's not forget its killer search functionality that pulls from Roku's multiple content sources roku seriously stepped up their game now the Apple TVs interface is an elegant experience but it could be simplified and needs a facelift animations are smooth and its interface feels polished but there's no real customization here and no search across it's different so the roku 3 gets a 4.7 and Apple TV gets a 4 so after averaging two rounds we're tied round three is features the roku 3 makes a point of not being a stripped down box anymore with a snappier processor that you can feel bringing hdmi 1080p video support with 802 11 n dual-band Wi-Fi and an ethernet connection you'll have a micro SD card slot for additional storage and a USB port to connect external drives and it even supports MKV files but that's not all the killer feature is it to enhance remote with an audio jack for private listening that lets you listen to what's playing through your headphones so you won't disturb anyone else and it even comes with purple earbuds the remote also acts as a motion controller for games like Angry Birds and it may not have airplay but the Roku app for Android and iOS lets you stream your photos or music to the box now the Apple TV also brings HDMI with 1080p support 802 11 and Wi-Fi and ethernet with an option for optical audio out the USB port is primarily used for service so you can't connect just any type of drive to it it's feature set up really opens up though if you live in the Apple ecosystem airplay support allows you to play and display content directly from your iOS devices and airplay mirroring allows your apple laptop or computer screen to be mirrored onto your TV with just one click if it's supported now that's all pretty sweet if you're an Apple user now if you pay 2499 a year for the iTunes Match service you can access your entire music collection and if you use the iCloud you'll also be able to view your photo stream again if you love them apples now the apple TV is feature packed if you're part of the ecosystem but the roku 3 just dominates with useful features that for everyone the row 23 gets a perfect five and Apple TV gets of four next round is content I can only tell you that content is king so many times and it still holds true here both streaming boxes have access to netflix and hulu plus but roku shines with over 100 channels of content like amazon video on demand which has now become a must-have an HBO Go which covers your movies and TV shows now there's on-demand sports for the NBA MLB and NHL and specific content like our own cnet channel hey that's one of my favorites or stuff for the kids with the Disney Channel now there's Spotify and Pandora for music discovery and social services like Facebook and Flickr have apps as well the only drawback is there still no YouTube but Roku's channels are endless on the other side Apple's box has access to content from itunes to purchase TV shows music and movies and they have support for on-demand sports as well but when you're talking about Apple TVs additional online services it's a handful like YouTube Flickr and Vimeo and yeah pretty slim pickings now the catch is that you can actually play more content through airplay mirroring from your computer if you have the right Apple hardware the Roku swings hard again with the perfect vibe and the Apple TV gets a 4dr averaging four rounds who needs by half a point the final round that decides it all is valued both of these streaming boxes are ninety nine dollars and there's no denying that Roku 3 has packed as much value as you can in a box this small now the apple TV is worth it if you're an apple lover but it's hard to say it's really an overall better value than the roku 3 at this point in the game in the final round road crew gets a 4.3 and Apple gets a 4 so let's average out all five rounds and the roku 3 finally gets to prevent from its last battle of the Apple TV and reclaim its title taking this fight 4.6 the 4.1 and is your prize fight winner you can't go wrong with to cnet editors choice streaming boxes and the roku 3 made sure to bring its a game to the ring the next move is yours Apple i'm brian Tong thanks for watching we'll catch you guys next time for another prize fight you