Gadgetory

hey I'm Matthew Muscovy act from CNET and we're gonna take a look at Roku's line of budget streaming video players this includes the $50 Roku LT the $60 Roku one and the $80 Roku two which are all currently available all of these boxes have a similar design there's small glossy and they sloped towards the front giving them a sleek look they're not super compact like the Google chromecast nor are they quite as sleek as the Apple TV but they're good-looking boxes especially for something that'll sit under your TV unlike the flagship Roku 3 all three also have analog video ports on the back so you can still use them with older TVs of course they also have HDMI as well as built-in Wi-Fi to connect to your home network the purple Roku LT is the cheapest model at 50 dollars and it's only available at online retailers it includes a standard remote and it's a good one with the simple layout and convenient buttons to jump directly to services like Netflix and Amazon Instant like all Roku boxes you get access to a huge library of services including Netflix Amazon Instant HBO Go Hulu Plus Pandora MLB TV Amazon Cloud Player Spotify and Rdio although note that there's still not a dedicated YouTube channel on the Roku the LT also has Roku's great cross-platform search feature so you can see what service is a specific movie or TV show is available on the big difference with the Roku LT is it's limited to 720p video output which makes it a good fit for smaller TVs where you won't notice the difference as much for 10 dollars more you get the $60 Roku one which comes in black and is nearly identical to the Roku LT except it adds full 1080p output for $80 you can get the Roku 2 which adds dual band Wi-Fi for more reliable streaming from compatible routers plus it comes with this great remote the remote works for your Wi-Fi direct so you don't need to point it at the Roku to control it plus it has a headphone jack on the side just plug in the included earbuds and your TV automatically mutes so you can listen to your streaming video without disturbing anyone else the Roku 2 is an especially great value if you love the nifty remote on the Roku 3 but you don't need all the bells and whistles that it offers but even though these cheaper Roku boxes are great values for most buyers I still think the $100 Roku 3 is worth the extra money it has a lot of geek friendly features like an Ethernet jack an SD card slot a USB port and a motion control remote but the real reason it's better is it has a faster processor it's not a huge difference from the Roku 2 but it is noticeable and we think for just $20 more it's worth it especially for a device you'll probably use all the time there's also the Apple TV in the Google chromecast to consider which are good options if you're heavily invested in the Apple or Android ecosystem but if you like what Roku offers these budget boxes are all good values especially for secondary locations where you may not need everything that the Roku 3 offers I'm Matthew moscovia and this was a quick look at Roku's budget streaming video players