Roku’s new streaming sticks are small enough to go anywhere

Roku is going small with its latest streaming players, unveiling a new pair of streaming sticks that are up to 35 percent smaller than its competitors, the company says.

Revealed Wednesday during a press event in New York City, the Roku Streaming Stick and Streaming Stick Plus are designed for streamers on the move, with slimmed-down profiles that (hopefully) won’t block other HDMI ports. The players have also been optimized to run off a TV’s USB power port (a USB-C to USB-A cable is included).

With each player measuring 3.7 x 0.8 x 0.45 inches and weighing in at just 0.9 ounces, the HD-only Streaming Stick ($29.95) and 4K-enabled Streaming Stick Plus ($39.99) replace the Roku Express and Roku Express 4K respectively.

That leaves just five players in Roku’s streaming lineup, including the Streaming Stick 4K (which adds Dolby Vision HDR, as the newer Streaming Stick Plus supports only HDR10), the high-end Roku Ultra (which offers ethernet and a backlit remote), and the Streambar SE soundbar.

Both the Streaming Stick and Streaming Stick Plus will ship with Roku’s Voice Remote, allowing you to navigate the players’ streaming interfaces as well as control basic TV functions with your voice. That’s a step up from Roku’s now-legacy Express player, which included just a standard Roku remote.

Ben Patterson/Foundry

The new streaming players support dual-band Wi-Fi connectivity and Apple AirPlay casting, typical for Roku’s compact streaming sticks. Neither device offers native Dolby Atmos support, but they will pass through Dolby audio, including Atmos, to an Atmos-capable TV or A/V receiver.

Both the Streaming Stick and Streaming Stick Plus are available for pre-order now, and are slated to ship May 6.

Roku made some other home-entertainment announcements during its New York press event, including the introduction of mini-LED backlighting for its step-down Roku Plus Series TVs.

The Plus Series is also getting the scene-by-scene Smart Picture Max image enhancement mode that previously debuted with its high-end Roku Pro Series TVs, along with an integrated remote finder button and cable management channels. Expect the new sets to arrive in the “coming months.”

We can also expect Roku to land on even bigger screens, with the company announcing the release of a design specification that third-party manufacturers can use to build Roku-branded portable video projectors. More details on Roku’s projector plans will be coming soon, Roku said.

This news story is part of TechHive’s in-depth coverage of the best media streamers.

Meanwhile, the Roku OS is getting a “Coming Soon to Theaters” row featuring in-cinema releases that you can add to your “save” list, along with short-form content rows in the All Things Food and All Things Home hubs, plus “award-winning” badges for video titles.

Also coming to the Roku OS is a personalized highlights row for sports fans as well as notifications for favorite teams.

In the smart home arena, Roku unveiled a pair of new battery-powered security cameras. We’ll have a report on those shortly.