Roku Express / Express Plus / Express+ (3900, 2017)

Superb app selection ; Neutral approach ; Easy to use ; Cheap

Some apps look dated ; Still some lag

For an even-handed approach, and the cheapest of its kind on the market, the Roku Express is hard to beat.

Easy to set up and use ; Excellent companion/smartphone app ; Roku OS rocks ; Comprehensive search function ; Huge channel library

No Ethernet port; restricted to Wi-Fi ; Some input lag ; No 4K/HDR support

Pound for pound, dollar for dollar, there’s no better streamer than the Roku Express. Despite a few minor technical deficiencies, the Express holds significant value by virtue of the excellent Roku ecosystem.

It's only $30! ; 1080p content looks great ; Small and easy to set up

A bit slow ; IR remote can be inconvenient ; Interface is dated

If there's one thing we can take away from Roku's lineup this year, it's that you don't have to spend much to get a good streaming player. The $30 Express completely redefines what a set-top box can be, and it's hard to imagine how Roku can drive down...

Unbelievably inexpensive ; Roku’s egalitarian platform ; Comes with a remote

Weak Wi-Fi antenna ; Remote requires line-of-sight ; Sluggish loading times

As a replacement for the original Roku 1, the Roku Express works as advertised: it’s a supremely small streaming device that acts as a portal to Netflix, Amazon, HBO and more for less than the cost of a few DVDs. Unfortunately, however, the Express...

Composite video output. Affordable. Lots of streaming media services and apps.

Sluggish navigation. Unnecessary if you have a television with an HDMI port.

Performance and Conclusions I connected the Roku Express+ to a test television using the included composite video cable, and it sent a 480p widescreen picture to the screen without issue (outside of the artifacts, interference, and general fuzziness I...