New Apple TV vs. Roku 4
New Apple TV vs. Roku 4
6:03

New Apple TV vs. Roku 4

Digital Media
[MUSIC] What's up prize fight fans? I'm Brian Tong and the battle for streaming box supremacy never stops. It's a prize fight punch out between the new Apple TV and the Roku 4. Our judges for this fight are section editor, David The gun show, Katzmaier, and you know who, ringalingading Tong. We'll take each round's 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 design. Apple tv brings the same Apple tv design but this time it's taller, it feels more solid and it dish optical audio. It's touch pad remote has a high end field to it with the rechargeable internal battery. And that touch pad navigate as smooth as butter. The Roku 4 brings an all new design with a thinner but much larger footprint, and its optical audio is still here. The remote is still the same with its d pad and its buttons that directly launch apps. You'll need to eventually replace its batteries, but it's nowhere as sleek as the Apple TV's. The Apple TV takes this round with a perfect five, and the Roku gets a 4.3. Next round is user interface and navigation. Apple has improved it's UI with a glassy transparent feel that's speedy. The touch pad remote feels excellent to navigate with and it's the smoothest UI on a streaming box you'll find. Scrolling through video to the very second with a touch pad makes all the difference when your watching. Siri's voice control can really drill down to be more specific but it only applies to tv shows and movies, action movies from the 90's. It's not integrated into apple music or really any other major app. And you'll have to learn what it can and can't do. The top row on your home screen is also now fully customizable, unlike the previous apple tv's. Now the you why and home screen for the Roku four hasn't really changed that much. It still has the same look and feel and is just as customizable as before. But it feels stale compared to what apple has done this time around. Video channels on the Roku 4 can look very different stylistically and it's visually jarring, and just not as elegant. Roku's My Feed lets you follow upcoming movies, TV shows, and actors, and notifies you when there's new content. Its voice search is linked to its universal search that shows you all the apps and prices to find that content. Apocalypse Now. But you can't drill down to something like funny Jim Carrey movies from the 90s with Cameron Diaz. Or you could just say The Mask. Apple stays to with a perfect 5 and Roku gets 4. So after doing two rounds the new Apple TV leads round 3 in features. [MUSIC] If there's one killer feature on the new Apple TV, it's the App Store. The touchpad remote is great. Siri is pretty good but needs support across all the apps. You can still airplay content from other Apple devices. And it supports bluetooth headphones and gaming controllers. It even supports 3D gaming with a 3D tv out of the box. And yes, there is still no 4K support, but it always comes down to the apps. This new Apple TV is like getting an iPhone connected to your TV, and although there aren't a ton of apps right now, the ones that are here are enough to show its huge potential, and really, it's just a matter of time for the developers. Now the Roku 4 brings features that you can use right now. It has 4K support with the video section that features content and movies that are viewable in 4K. But we're still not at the point where it's a standard in the household. Its universal search is still tops. The headphone jack directly on the remote for private listening is still brilliant. But they went another step further with the remote finder feature that lets you press a button on the Roku box And a sound emits from the remote so you'll never use it. [APPLAUSE] The Roku takes round 3 with a 4.8 and the Apple TV gets a 4.3. Next round is content. Content will always be king, and if you're locked in the Apple ecosystem, you can't go wrong here, but you'll also be missing a whole lot that's outside of Apple's walled garden. It has the core of Netflix, HBO Go, Hulu and YouTube like everyone else. And Air Play can help make up for some of the services it's missing. The app store will be huge in the future but it's just starting out and there's still no streaming TV subscription service in place. Now the Roku4 has been the king of streaming boxes because of its 1,000 plus channels of content. Amazon, Vudu, Sling TV, Crackle, Spotify, Pandora, Ardio, and more. You won't find any of those on the Apple TV, and there's also this app called CNET that I really like. Now Roku takes another round with a perfect five and the Apple TV gets a four. [UNKNOWN] four rounds, the Apple TV still leads by a hair. The final round that decides it all is value. The Apple TV starts at $149 and it's the most expensive streaming device on the market right now with Apple's premium price. If your an apple fanboy or fangirl, that's in the ecosystem. It's a better value for you. Now, the Roku 4 is $129, you're really paying for the 4k compatibility and it's the most expensive Roku today, but the judges still think it's a better value. In the final round, the Roku4 gets a 3.8 and the Apple TV gets a 3. So let's average out all five rounds and after Apple took the first two Roku came back strong taking the final three and barely takes this battle 4.4 to 4.3 and is your prize fight winner. Now CNet actually rated the Apple tv slightly higher but this always comes down to what your looking for. If you're in Apple's ecosystem, the touchpad navigation and the potential of the app store makes it a no brainer. But, if you want the device that brings the most content possible on planet earth, that's jam packed with features, then the Roku 4 is for you. I'm Brian [UNKNOWN], thanks for watching. And we'll catch you all next time for another prize fight. [SOUND] [MUSIC]

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