Roku TV 2015: The best smart TV meets the lowest price
Hi everybody.
What we have here is the 2015 version of Roku TV.
Represented by TV manufacturers TCL, Sharp, and Insignia.
I review TVs from From all three brands for the committee review.
A 40-inch TCL, a 43-inch SHARP, and a 55-inch Insignia.
They're also available in other sizes, from 32 to 55 inches.
And while SHARP and Insignia are available exclusively at Best Buy, the TCL can be found in lots of places, including Amazon.
Aside from a few design difference, and, of course, screen size, they're all really similar.
All the ones I reviewed have this sort of splayed leg design, although TCL does make a Roku TV series with a central pedestal stand too.
If you're getting one with legs, make sure your tabletop is wide enough.
Beyond the stands they look basically the same, with thin bezels, glossy black plastic, and a prominent Roku TV logo.
Roku makes my favorite streaming sticks and boxes, and now it's built directly into these TVs, no box required.
Roku's strengths include more than 2000 apps, the best search in the business, constant updates.
And a dead simple, easily customizable interface that doesn't prioritize one content provider, like Amazon, Apple, or Google over any other.
And most ways that blows other smart TVs out of the water.
Sure it's missing a web browser, fancy motion remotes, and voice control, and built in camera, but it has so many more apps and is much simpler to use.
[UNKNOWN] TV makes getting to the apps you want more painless than ever.
Even the remote is simple, with just a few buttons and an easy to hold size.
I also love this stuff you hook up to the tv, like a cable box or game console, appears in a tile on the homepage just like any other app.
Hiroku tv's have plenty of inputs too with three hdmi in addition to analog video, digital audio and a headphone jack.
Nobody's going to be blown away by these tv's picture quality but they're not terrible either.
Black level in contrast were decent.
Color was accurate and video processing about what I'd expect for this low priced.
On the other hand the similarly priced Visio e series offers a better picture overall That said, if you want the simplest, most powerful streaming experience and don't wanna buy another box stick or juggle another remote, these inexpensive Roku TVs are worth a hard look.
I'm David [INAUDIBLE] for CNet.
[MUSIC]
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