Just so there’s no ambiguity on this point, I’m definitely an Apple TV fan. The first-generation model was a (literally) hot mess, but Apple did a much better job with the streamlined second- and third-generation versions, which I use every day and have strongly recommended for years. If you have an iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch, the Apple TV is one of the top three accessories you can buy for under $100, and nearly a no-brainer at Apple’s recently announced $69 price point.
Even as a fan, though, I give Apple TV’s chief competitor Roku great credit for developing compelling alternatives. According to reports, Roku is the number one seller of media streamers, and has been outselling the Apple TV for some time now. While it’s true that sales don’t necessarily reflect quality, Roku has earned its numbers by frequently iterating on its products — ironically unlike Apple, which has spent years letting an old Apple TV design chug along as a “hobby.” The difference in Roku’s and Apple’s approaches became starker yesterday when Roku released the new Roku 3 with Voice Search ($100) and new Roku 2 ($70), updates to two of its already-successful devices. These media streamers include several of the key features Apple should be adding to the Apple TV, including voice search, downloadable apps, games, and more…
This is the new Roku 3’s box, which boasts over 2,000 channels — a mix of streaming video channels, streaming music services, traditional apps, and games. Regardless of which categories you want to compare, Roku has many more options than the Apple TV. Here’s a quick rundown of what Roku got right, and what’s not quite up to snuff with Apple’s design.
Greater Expandability. The new Roku 3 is physically smaller than the current-generation Apple TV, but has more expansion options. Apple limits you to an integrated 8GB of automatically-managed storage space, while Roku includes a microSD card slot on the back for additional app and game storage, plus a full-sized USB port on the right side to let you play back photos, music, and videos.
A Superior Remote Control. Roku 3 includes the company’s Enhanced Remote Control, which has a microphone built in for voice search, as well as a headphone port that enables you to listen to lag-free audio, automatically muting your TV in the process. You get a basic pair of earphones in the package, controlled by volume buttons on the remote’s right side. Additionally, the remote can be flipped into landscape orientation to use as a game controller.
Four buttons built into the Enhanced Remote take you directly to Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, or Rdio, four of the top apps Roku offers. Although the Apple Remote included with Apple TV is much smaller, and its dead simple button design is conceptually appealing, there’s undeniable convenience in having one-touch access to several of the media streamer’s most commonly used apps.
Voice Search. The killer feature found in the new Roku 3 is voice search. Simply press the search button on the remote and the box brings up this Siri-like interface, which notably can be used without holding the remote anywhere near your face. Roku 3 does a very good job of recognizing names of actors, directors, TV shows, and movies: in my brief testing, the only time it misidentified something was when I asked it to search for a name that wasn’t in its database. It successfully pulled up shows and people with at least as much accuracy as Siri on iOS, and quickly, at that.
Unified Search. One of the greatest conveniences Roku offers is unified search, a feature that’s currently compatible with its most popular apps. You can simply speak the name of a TV show, movie, or actor and watch as Roku offers a list of different viewing options, which can save you both time and money. If a movie’s available for free on one channel, you’ll find it here, and can click to go directly to the viewing page in that channel. As contrasted with the Apple TV, Roku radically reduces your need to page through multiple apps and use separate searches to see what’s available.
Games. You can download a version of Tetris for free when setting Roku 3 up, and other games are sold at App Store-like prices. Serious gamers will bemoan the Wii Remote-like joypad and button limitations of the Roku 3’s included controller, but by comparison with the Apple TV, at least there’s a way to play games directly on this box.
Apps. Although Roku 3 is hardly the first media player to include app support, the presence of familiar names such as Facebook is a huge plus over the Apple TV, which has focused almost exclusively on streaming video channels. Once you’ve set up the Roku box — a process that’s about as quick as getting your first Apple TV set up, all things considered — adding new apps to Roku is as easy as going to the Channel Store, selecting a category that interests you, and downloading an app from a nicely organized collection.
Unlike the initial Apple TV setup process, which forces you to accept a bunch of channels you don’t want and manually hide them later, Roku really lets you customize the “channel” lineup before you even start using the device. A short code and URL appear on your TV’s screen, with instructions to visit the URL from your phone, tablet, or computer. You pick the channels and games you want to start out with, confirm your selections, and within a few minutes arrive at a Roku main menu that’s customized to your needs.
Rather than forcing you to enter in your account information for every service you want to use, Roku uses similar short codes and URLs accessed from your device of choice to make sign-ins simple. I found that these codes typically made it easier to log into services on the Roku than on the Apple TV.
Roku also welcomes a wide variety of different services to its platform — virtually everyone except Apple is represented. Amazon Instant Video, Google Play, Sling, and other services from rival hardware manufacturers can all be accessed from the same device. While you can AirPlay many of these services to the Apple TV from an iPad or iPhone, Apple has made its competitors unnecessarily difficult to purchase from and access directly. Instead, Roku unifies them all under one umbrella and lets them compete on quality and pricing.
Unique Interfaces. Roku channels don’t just look like the same UI with different text and pictures swapped in. Individual channels have their own designs, some of which may be more appealing to you than the Apple TV variants. If a channel wants to use futuristic, hip, or casual fonts, it can. But this “almost everything goes” approach also brings up one of Roku’s arguable issues, and something Apple has (for better and worse) addressed with its products…
A Fragmented Media Collection. Good news: Roku organizes a ton of content within its search feature, and gives you access to many different stores. Bad news: unlike Apple TV, where you know that all of the content you purchase can be found in a single library (Apple’s), you have so many purchasing options on Roku that you’d better hope that the store you’re buying from will still be around five years from now — and accessible on whatever devices you’re using at that point. For instance, would you pay $90 for a set of high-definition Star Wars films sold by the Walmart-backed video service Vudu? Well, that’s an option on Roku, and not on the Apple TV.
Quality. The video quality of the streams I cross-tested on Hulu and Netflix looked a little better on the Apple TV than on Roku 3 — crisper and with less dithered color, though it varied from provider to provider. Roku’s UI also overlays more graphical elements on top of the video, a benefit of Apple’s minimalist design sensibilities that isn’t obvious until you compare it directly against competitors. These photos don’t do justice to the video quality differences I’ve seen, and they’re not hugely obvious at a several-foot distance, but I’d give the Apple TV an edge here.
No AirPlay Support or iTunes Integration. When Apple added AirPlay streaming and mirroring support to the Apple TV, it went from being a limited and self-contained platform to being wirelessly expandable using iOS devices. While AirPlay has been really buggy for some time now, it remains one of the biggest selling points of the Apple TV, particularly since wireless Mac mirroring and screen extension features were added. By comparison, Roku 3 doesn’t offer AirPlay or iTunes integration; it exists primarily to run its own apps. There is a “beta” screen mirroring feature for select Android, Windows Phone, and Windows 8.1 devices, which “may work for you,” Roku says. That would be funnier if AirPlay worked 100% reliably across all of Apple’s devices.
So Should You Jump Ship From Apple TV to Roku?
Answering this question depends on what you want to do with your TV. If you’ve been spending a lot of time recently paging through Apple TV channels instead of actually watching content, the new Roku 3 with Voice Search will make as much sense to you as it does to me. Being able to voice search your way to a favorite show is awesome, as is speaking the name of an actor or director to quickly locate their complete catalog of work… across multiple apps. If you don’t need voice search, the new Roku 2 is basically the same device minus the voice-assisted Enhanced Remote Control, and priced to compete directly against the $69 Apple TV. Roku offers many competing channels Apple lacks, as well as downloadable apps and games. Either of these devices strikes me as a good buy unless you’re a hard-core AirPlay user or iTunes customer, in which case you might want to keep waiting for the long-rumored next-generation Apple TV.
But Apple fans wouldn’t even have to consider Roku if Apple hadn’t been so sluggish in updating the Apple TV. Years have passed with only a single noteworthy hardware change — an upgrade from 720p to 1080p resolution in the third-generation model — and despite years of rumors, the only real changes have been software tweaks and new channels. Everyone seems to agree that a major refresh is overdue: the Apple TV now needs an app store, proper game support, and advanced search features just to catch up to where Roku is right now. I continue to hope that the refresh will happen soon. However, it’s fair to say that Roku’s already selling the device that many Apple TV users have been waiting for. It’s really just a question of how many people will spend $70 or $100 to give it a shot.
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Useful and informative article. I’m an Apple TV user from Version 2 and in Australia, which doesn’t have the same range of relevant options as the US and always has higher prices but the Apple TV has definitely been one of the best value buys I’ve ever made since my first Apple II+ around 40 years ago.
The Apple TV has worked flawlessly and the streamlined remote is not only elegant but its simplicity is a stark and refreshing contrast to the multiple buttoned and hieroglyphic remotes that, at 67, with poor eyesight, drive me to distraction. My only dis-satisfaction with the Apple TV has been the laborious text entry when searching – I’m not sure how this could be improved other than via voice control but it is certainly the *worst* and most irritating feature of Apple TV, in my opinion.
I don’t find the lack of expandability a problem as I can stream photos and music from my apple devices to the Apple TV and have never had a problem doing so. I don’t play online games so I can’t comment there. I do believe that an often overlooked feature of Apple products and one which you only cursorily touched on, by implication, is the quality control that Apple has over its products and the consistency of interface and reliability of its software and hardware compared to that of competitiors wares that are designed for “clones” manufactured from any number of varied quality and toleranced parts.
Having said all that, I am always interested in checking out alternatives and found this review interesting and balanced – unlike many which either rave about Apple or vehemently abuse them. I think that there is no doubt but that Steve Jobs death has been a major loss for Apple and though Tim Cook is certainly streets in front of the disastrous Soft Drink impressario, they do seem to be less focused than under Jobs and I fear for their future. I don’t see watches as a way to go but perhaps that’s my age talking and a lack of vision.
Thank you for a good article.
Use the Remote app on your iPhone or iPad.
Not only does it enable you to do voice search on your Apple TV, but it’s also a far superior experience to the stock Apple Remote.
Odd that this article doesn’t at least make mention of that alternative.
Thank you for that information. I don’t have an iPhone but I do have an iPad2. I take it that what you’re saying means that I can operate my Apple TV from that? I know, I sound like a dummy, particular after working with Apple and that other system for umpteen years but apart from using the iPad for iTv I hadn’t realsed that it would control the Apple TV. I guess I’m just thick. I’ll try to figure out how to do it. Thanks again.
No problem. Simply go to the App Store, search for an app called “Remote” then download for free. It’s made by Apple and, among other things, it allows you to control your Apple TV.
For more info, go to: apple(dot)com/apps/remote
Single-button, unified Voice Search on the Roku is in a completely different league (and delivers a completely different, much better experience) than manually navigating to multiple apps’ discrete search menus using the Remote app, then relying on dictation to figure out what you’re saying.
@Jeremy Horowitz
mikisdad stated that his only dissatisfaction with the Apple TV is “… the laborious text entry when searching …”, hence the mention of the Remote app and its voice search capabilities as a potential solution or alternate option.
No one is comparing the Remote app to the Roku remote, and whatever “league” the Roku remote may or may not be in is completely irrelevant.
The article didn’t mention ROKU’s remote app either, which works wonderfully. There are other 3rd party remote apps as well.
From a UK perspective neither of these devices is worth bothering with. UK Apple TVs offer virtually no local content, lacing even the ubiquitous BBC iPlayer, which is the very definition of an essential service.
UK Rokus fare better but still lack many UK services, including Amazon Instant Video. This is blocked from UK Roku owners by Sky/Fox, who invested in Roku UK and as such get to say which channels are blocked. Charming people.
Personally I’d recommend the PS3 for UK streamers, as it has most UK streaming services and it’s cheap, plus it plays blu-rays, USB media, and DLNA content. An Xbox One is an interesting option too but currently lacks some big services. (such as ITV, MUBI, Spotify, and Animax) Sadly neither of these has a universal search feature.
I’m interested to see what Apple can do with a new Apple TV, as the old one is frankly a piece of junk which belongs in the bin. Things can only get better.
I might be moving to the UK in 6-12 months and have been wondering about daily life changes including things like this. Thank you for the info.
I really want to like Apple TV when compared to Roku but Apple TV has a lot of things that don’t compare favorably, even when using a Roku 2 from a couple of years back.
First, Roku has offered “apps” as long as I can remember which allows me to get a lot of different types of content from different providers. I don’t know how Roku makes money but it seems as if everyone has a channel there which is no something I expect to happen when the rumored Apple TV with apps is released.
Second, despite appearances the Roku remote is easier to use because it uses a radio rather than IR which means I don’t need line of sight. Heck, they even have an iPhone app that operates via WiFi. This makes operating my home entertainment system faster, easier and more convenient than my Apple TV. (And this is coming from a guy who had to put a sticky note over the IR port on his Mac because the Apple TV remote kept controlling both simultaneously.)
My Roku lacks access to my Apple music (purchased and matched music), movies and TV shows but even then the speed at which changes to my library and playlists appear on my Apple TV still frustrate me greatly.
I’ll say it again: I want to like my Apple TV but I’m very skeptical that whatever they release next will be compelling enough for me to get one in the near future. I doubt they’ll have all the channels/apps I use most (Amazon Prime and Plex) or offer it at a very compelling price point (I’d still buy a Roku 2 today if I had it to do all over again).
Apple may have been early to this space originally but they’ve put little effort into this space for a very long time and I think it is unlikely they’ll do more with an update than catch up rather than innovate and offer something compelling.
Yes, the overall Remote experience on Roku is leagues better because of the non-IR approach. There are advantages to IR, particularly in power consumption, but you can get a much better user experience with any radio-based wireless solution. (That said, the best way to fix that IR issue is to bond the Apple TV’s remote to the Apple TV – a feature hidden in settings.)
It seems that these reviews need to differentiate between US and world markets, since channel availability can differ markedly based on geography.
That said, it’s clear that based on features and channels overall Roku is the #1 seller for a reason. Apple apparently does not think it needs to be #1 in books, music, movies, TV etc in order to be popular and profitable, but obviously it realizes it need to do more to be competitive. Just don’t expect any new products to have leapfrogging technologies that deal killing blows to the competition – it hasn’t happened with any iTunes/iBooks products yet.
Thanks for this analysis. I view the iOS/Android race, and the auxiliary devices like ATV and Roku, as a bit of a cat-and-mouse thing. Invariably, Apple jumps way ahead of the competition. What follows is a catch up and eventually exceed Apple for a while. With phones it is a shorter cycle due to volume (return on investment cycles are quicker).
Unless Apple was planning to exit this market (clearly not the case given regular updates), they will eventually come out with something that will revolutionize things and tilt the balance in their favor for a while.
Few of us spend enough time in front of our TV to justify having the absolute latest of everything at any cost. I am quite satisfied with ATV for what it is, but am eager to hear what the next big thing is from Apple in the living room. I hope it will be available on current models, but at the low price of these devices, I would have no problem dropping another Benjamin if the next gen is revolutionary.
Bottom line, cutting the cord is still not quite complete with Roku or ATV. They both do a good job of supplementing existing services, but fall short of replacement. Until they are able to replace the providers with lower cost, greater choice (not necessarily more channels, but more choice of which channels), and more convenience, they will be just be incrementally more useful than they are now.
@Inaba-kun – although British by birth I haven’t lived there since before computer became ubiquitous in general society. For that reason, I can’t comment on the offerings on each device save to say that, in terms of film and televison, much depends on the owners of the content rather than on the providers of the devices. The absence of content is not necessarily a fair indictment of the device. Fox, for instance, is a major profit before people, bottom line focused and unethical company which does its utmost to lock up content and make it unavailable to other potential providers.
As for your last paragrap – clearly you took in very little from either Jeremy Horwitz’s review or my own comments for the Apple TV is most certainly not, “a piece of junk which belongs in the bin… ” and I find such comment counter productive and unhelpful.
For the record, no – I am not trying to fight with you or put you down or anything of that sort. I simply feel that there was some unnecesary distortion and hubris in your comment.
Sorry, but from a UK perspective the ATV really is a piece of junk. Unless you’re wedded to Airplaying photos or some such then all that matters for any streaming box is content availability. The ATV has BY FAR the least amount of content for UK audiences.
Really, it’s a waste of space. The lack of BBC iPlayer alone makes it worthless, as it’s the most popular UK streaming service by far. It also lacks Amazon Instant Video, ITV, 4OD, Demand 5, Sky Go, MUBI, Curzon, Spotify, Animax, Viewster, BBC Sport, BBC News, and many others.
Essentially though it comes down to this – no iPlayer = no sale. It’s that essential.
That is all very nice but here is a small problem:
“Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.”
And that my friends is why Apple TV still has the edge – because Apple realise that the world doesn’t just revolve around the United States. Maybe someone at Roku should buy themselves a globe to realise that there is a mass load of people outside of the US that they can sell their product to.
Not sure where you get your information from but Roku is available the world over. I know, I have one. And it was bought from a retail store here in the UK about two years ago.
Also, AppleTV doesn’t have the edge because here in the UK, like in other countries around the world apart from the US, the channel choice is atrocious.
Go to Amazon.com – doesn’t ship outside of the US. Go to any retailer in NZ, not a single one sells it. Basically what Roku is telling international customers is this; unless you’re from a big country you might as well not even exist.
A good synopsis of both devices, services and UI but you glossed over another advantage iTunes has over any other streaming box/stick: DVD-like special features with iTunes Extras.
For me the whole reason I guy a Blu-ray is not just to see the movie but to also see how the sausage was made with behind-the-scenes features, gag reels and director commentary. This is something iTunes Extras offer and it shouldn’t be overlooked.
Plus, Roku doesn’t do anything else so it almost makes sense that they’d have a better media player since they don’t make phones, desktops, mobile and desktop operating systems, watches, tablets, mice, etc.
I also can’t help but think that we’ll see a huge update to Apple TV at this year’s WWDC. Not sure if they’ll update the current-gen box or go with a whole new box. Either way I’m sure Apple’s working on making a better mousetrap. Not sure if it’ll be better than Roku but the idea of controlling my TV with my Apple Watch is enough to keep me tied to the Apple ecosystem.
I’d agree that iTunes Extras are a nice feature, though the implementation on Apple TV has been pretty shoddy. The Extras that have been sold through iTunes for years don’t work at all on Apple TV, and the only ones that do work are very recently-released (and differently formatted) versions bundled solely with select HD movies. Those HD extras are so unpredictable relative to the content on DVDs and Blu-Rays that you never really know what you’ll find for a given movie, if you get them at all.
The point about Roku not doing anything else strikes me as the most interesting part of this whole situation. Apple famously claims that it focuses on doing very few things to make sure that it gets them all right. But Apple TV is a clear example of a product line that hasn’t benefitted from the company’s relentless hardware iterations to broaden its appeal, while at the same time Roku (and others) have kept “pulling the string” in that space. If there’s a team at Apple working on hardware updates, they clearly need some additional executive assistance to just ship something already and start moving forward.
I’m an Apple fan all the way. Have had the Apple TV 3 for a year and had no issues real issues with it. Used it primarily for Netflix and Hulu Plus. That is, until I started using Sling. Airplay-ing Sling from iOS or MacBook to my Apple TV was causing lag and glitches. Picked up a Roku 3 from Sling for $50 (prepay 3 months of service), and now I can access Sling on my Roku which is directly wired to my router and TV. No lag, no glitches. In the process, I discovered a much better UI and the added bonus of integrated Amazon Instant Video. I still have my ATV connected to my TV and wish I had more reasons to use it. But, I don’t. It’s only foreseeable use is to Airplay something on my devices or to access the few Disney movies I have in iTunes. Apple simply dropped the ball on this product. It’s the equivalent of if they’d stopped developing the iPhone when they hit the 3GS.
While Roku doesn’t give you iTunes access, it does give you access to Amazon music purchases. For me that is just as good. Even if you do have a lot a iTunes music, it can be converted to a file that can be played on Roku. The Plex server on Roku is great for organizing and playing your audio/video digital library and accessing it remotely through smart phones, etc.