Gadgetory

what's up prized by fans I'm Brian Tong and this is a Throwdown showdown between two first-time contenders it's a prize five foot out between Roku streaming stick and Google's chromecast our judges for this fight are executive editor John bad-to-the-bone falcone senior associate editor Matthew the Big Show Muscovy AK and myself really big Tom 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 using the same system let's get this party started round one is designed Roku and Google bring the simplest and sweetest design for media streaming it's a stick now the chromecast is black Roku's is purple and they'll both probably hide behind your TV set powered by a USB port or a plug-in adapter I told you it was simple we're calling this a tie at a perfect five points next round is reader interface and navigation the biggest difference right out of the box is that the Roku includes a remote control but you won't find Roku's headphone jack on this one Roku interface is still the best in its class with a UI that's simple and easily organized and using its remote to navigate is easier compared to the chromecast that has no real interface but relies on apps on your smartphone tablet or your computer to throw content to the TV it's actually quicker if you're just using a single app like YouTube and jumping through videos but for other apps splitting time between two screens the play pause and fast-forward can be a hassle and takes you out of that living room experience so that's really a personal preference and let's not forget about Roku's universal search that allows you to type in a title actor or director and shows you where you can watch that content across all its apps Roku beats Google in search well in the living room now the Roku streaming stick gets another perfect 5 and the chromecast gets a 4 after averaging two rounds Roku has a perfect score and Google trails by half a point next round is features in content content will always be king and this comes down to the deep library of over 1200 apps that Roku seems to get before anyone else now Google's chromecast has added most of the must-have apps like Netflix HBO Go and Hulu for video and Pandora for music streaming but if you have all your media content through the Google Play Store it makes sense to stick with the chromecast but it can't compete when it comes to sports music services internet video like my favorite websites see net and the ocean of content that Roku has one way chromecast addresses this is with their mirroring feature that is nice but it doesn't work quite as well as advertised and it can be a clunky experience now Roku doesn't have any kind of mirroring whatsoever but it brings the ability to watch TV from the Slingbox app on your phone to your big screen on your TV and if you have a sling box this is a must-have chromecast has opened up its SDK so it's only really a matter of time for us to see more content from partners like Vudu and they've even done creative things like this photo wall app but our judges all agree Roku gets another perfect five and Google gets before next round is performing both of these streaming sticks pump out 1080p video and they look great and yes the marryin feature on chromecast still feels a little beta but the biggest issue we found was the extremely long boot up times for the Netflix and YouTube apps on the Roku now in our scene at tests it took Netflix 32 seconds to launch the app on the Roku stick in only 10 seconds with the chromecast the YouTube app took 30 seconds to launch on the Roku and only eight seconds on the chromecast and sure these are first world problems and the chromecast has the luxury of using your smartphone or tablet to load the app but these are also real-world results the chromecast can hold its head high with this round with a perfect 5 get school so after averaging four rounds Roku still has the lead the final round that decides it all is about the Roku streaming stick is 50 dollars and that's a perfect price with a remote control and every streaming service you can think of the chromecast brings an even sweeter price point at $35 if you're okay with using your smartphone or tablet as a remote which most of you are now all it really needs is more app support to make this the ultimate value both of these are great deals but we're giving the Roku the edge because of the entire experience you're getting at that price the stick gets another perfect five and the chromecast gets a 4.3 so let's average out all five rounds and this is a battle that really has plenty more fight left but Roku dominated throughout with four perfect rounds taking this street fight 4.8 to 4.3 and is your prize buy it winner I'm Brian Tong thanks for watching I'll catch you guys next time for another prize fight whatever