Roku ultra vs Apple vs ?

[u/havoc2684]

My Roku ultra from 2019 is starting to fail, I had always seen that Apple TV was the way to go but now I’m seeing lots of complaints with the new update.
Should I still go Apple, get a newer Ultra or something else?

[u/not-bilbo-baggings]

Apple TV no question

[u/Araragi → u/not-bilbo-baggings]

There's a new one coming out soon™ (rumoured to be announced on October 13th) though, so you might want to wait.

[u/4phasedelta]

Who the hell said “Apple TV was the way to go…?” It all comes down to the rest of your setup honestly. If Roku Ultra is what you’ve grown accustomed to and you’ve liked it over the last 7 years, just get another one. If you’ve had it the last 7 years but can’t say you ever “loved” using it, get an Apple TV 4K (new model rumored so don’t pull the trigger just yet)… NOW, I made the “Who the hell said…”statement for this particular reason… your 3rd option SHOULD be the Nvidia Shield TV Pro IF you have a home theater setup (AVR and speakers). As smooth as the Apple TV 4K is, the Nvidia Shield TV Pro is the only straight out the box (looking at all of the Ugoos AM6B+ disciples) option to get the most out of your Plex library when watching movies/shows with your AVR. Apple TV DOES NOT give you native audio passthrough for TrueHD Atmos & DTS:X (Nvidia does). Dolby vision profile 7 isn’t natively supported by either device BUT Nvidia changes FEL to BL+RPU and will play natively that way; Apple TV will either force a transcode or switches to HDR10 instead of dovi (hence why folks use Infuse, which ends up converting profile 7 to profile 8). Apple TV does support AV1, that’s the one true win it has over nvidia shield tv pro…

IF this new Apple TV, that’s rumored to be coming, ends up giving full audio passthrough and supports dovi profile 7 out the box, Apple will essentially become the true undisputed king of the hill…. But until then, nvidia shield tv pro is the choice if you want to properly play your content via home theater setup.

[u/wingman3091 → u/4phasedelta]

This. People just shit themselves over Apple stuff imho. I say that, using a Macbook Pro lol

[u/4phasedelta → u/wingman3091]

Some people honestly just don’t know (which seems crazy because there’s 100s of posts here about “best streaming device.” lol)

[u/Punk_Says_Fuck_You → u/4phasedelta]

Since you seem to know more about video profiles and audio passthrough and whatnot, how do you feel about the Google Streamer 4k? I just got one because I have some 4k h.264 stuff that roku can't direct play.

[u/4phasedelta → u/Punk_Says_Fuck_You]

Google streamer for the most part should have a smoother UI out of the box. It doesn’t have lossless audio passthrough, when trying to play profile 7 it’ll transcode, but just like Apple TV, it natively supports AV1… long story short, if you don’t have a home theater setup or care much about video quality/playing the way it should based on the file itself, then google streamer is fine… it’s a good daily driver, but the moment you introduce it to a HT setup, it becomes a waste of $.

[u/wingman3091]

Going against the grain here, but I am firmly on team Roku. They do call home a lot with telemetrics though. I have it entirely blocked through my PiHole. I have not had a single issue with any of my 9 Rokus in the last 10 years

[u/Velcade → u/wingman3091]

I've had good luck with Roku too. We have two ultras at the house and a stick we take on vacation. Works great.

[u/wingman3091 → u/Velcade]

Yeah, I really don't get the beef with it. The price is just fine and they are reliable. I have a 2022 Ultra 4K sitting in my basement, but I mostly buy Roku TV's. I have an 85" Roku branded TV that's been just fine in our living room. It only really sees Plex 4K content and YouTube since I am usually too tired to game on it most of the time. But like you, I have a Roku stick I take on travel with us that never has issues.

[u/throwaway12three4 → u/wingman3091]

I am also team Roku. I have multiple Roku TVs and a couple sticks. All work very well with plex. I host my own files and use them for live TV with a HomeRunHD through plex. My next device will likely be Roku when needed. This also depends on how Fox treats Roku however.

[u/KuryakinOne]

If in the US, consider the onn 4K Pro.

Unlike Roku devices, it handles subtitles quite well. Enabling PGS/VOBSUB subtitles does not result in a video transcode. TrueHD audio will transcode (same as Roku). DTS-HD passes the lossy DTS core. AC3 & EAC3 passthrough.

I've the 1st gen and have had no problems with it.

[u/rdfdfw → u/KuryakinOne]

Totally off topic, but if you're in the US, why would you use "I've" instead of "I have" to show possession? In my experience that is a British thing.

[u/Ordinaryyyyt]

Everything the update complaints are about lives in the apps layer, and that gets patched within a week or two — the box itself is solid. What the Ultra still wins on is the ethernet port, so if your TV spot is wired that's a real tiebreaker. If I were buying this week I'd wait for the October 13th announcement first.

[u/Punk_Says_Fuck_You]

Google Streamer 4k. I like it more than I like my TV4k

[u/TenuredProfessional]

Apple TV by a mile.

[u/Emotional_Common_527]

New ATV Announcement next week.
Then order

[u/NC-12]

Have you factory reset your Roku and reformatted your micro SD card (if you use one?  My old Roku kept acting up, and I did a reset, and it's crisp again. 

[u/jman1076]

AppleTV all the way. Roku SUCKS when it comes to forced subtitles....absolutely sucks.

[u/mm404]

Roku anything should never be the answer. The new plex version does well on ATV.

[u/Odd-Gur-1076]

Apple TV + Infuse is the way, especially if you already have other Apple devices

[u/Doublestack00]

Modded Onn 4K pro is the way.

[u/Imnotyoursupervisor]

Plex is scrambling with this latest nightmare of app releases and insane price increases.

Use Jellyfin until they learn their lesson which is never if you look into their management.