Cutting the cord—you know, ditching cable or satellite TV—is a relief because it frees you not just from contracts but it also frees you from having to find a space for a big, honkin’, ugly set top box that lives underneath or nearby your TV.Streaming boxes free you from the contracts and open up your viewing not just to the many streaming channels (Netflix, HBO Max, Criterion, Hulu, and Curiosity Stream, to name a few), but live TV, too. You don’t have to run a long cable through your room to your cable internet hookup or satellite dish, but you still have a box taking up room, albeit a small one.A streaming stick solves that problem by plugging directly into your TV’s HDMI port. You don’t even have to find a way to hide it. It’s hidden behind the TV by design. Of all the streaming sticks out there, the Roku Streaming Stick 4K is the best I’ve used. It’s not the fastest, and it’s certainly not the cheapest, but it packages up the best elements of streaming television into one svelte device not much larger than a Snickers bar.TL;DR – My Quick VerdictThe Roku Streaming Stick 4K may indeed be the best streaming stick on the market, but I’d only recommend it to somebody who can’t make use of a streaming box; those devices that sit separately and away from TV, connected by a cable rather than plugging directly into the back of the TV. The Roku Ultra 4K streaming box includes everything I like about the Streaming Stick 4K with faster performance, a wired internet option, a nicer remote, and support for better audio through Dolby Atmos.(opens in a new window)RokuStreaming Stick 4K(opens in a new window)$44.99 at AmazonBuy Now(opens in a new window)$49 at WalmartBuy Now(opens in a new window)how i testedWhen I tested the Roku Streaming Stick 4K, I was also testing several competing streaming devices at the same time. I ran them all through a TCL QM7, a 55-inch 4K TV with support for Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision; it’s the immediate predecessor of the TCL QM7K. I paired it with a Sonos Arc Ultra soundbar (via the TCL’s HDMI eARC port) and Sonos Sub 4 subwoofer. The same high-speed Verizon FIOS fiber-optic internet was used for the internet connection on all devices. After setup, I did what I frequently do in my spare time anyway: I watched a bunch of movies (and a few TV shows) in the highest quality possible.the roku streaming stick 4k at a glanceThere’s no Ethernet port—WiFi streaming only—and although it supports Dolby Vision, HDR10, and HDR10+ premium video quality formats, it doesn’t support the Dolby Atmos premium audio format. It’s also not as fast as the Roku Ultra 4K, a bulkier but more-feature rich streaming box.not much bigger than my index finger — credit: matt jancerthe best part about rokuThe Roku Streaming Stick 4K is Roku’s best streaming stick. That means you plug it directly into the back or side of the TV, wherever it has an HDMI port. You still have a power cord dangling from it to the wall outlet, but there’s no need for an HDMI cable, and it stays hidden out of sight. That also makes it an ideal traveling companion for when you want to take all your TV streaming subscriptions with you to your hotel or Airbnb.Roku’s user interface (UI) is the best feature about any Roku device, and you get access to the same wonderfully simple (and whimsically amusing) layout with vertical tabs on the left of the home screen and large tiles for channel selection on the right center. Navigating is a breeze, and even though Roku does pepper in advertisements on the home screen, they’re not all that intrusive or numerous.You also get access to The Roku Channel, a free, ad-supported channel for Roku devices (that you can also access online without one) that’s provided me with plenty of free movies over the past nine years. Movies I actually want to watch, not just crap that I settle for because it’s free. This is a separate channel from Roku’s new $3-per-month, ad-free channel, howdy.Roku hasn’t made any wild changes to its UI design since I was first introduced to Roku in 2017. It hasn’t had to. I’m glad that Roku has the good sense to leave well enough alone and not just change things out of an antsy desire to parade new overhauls just for the sake of being new. The big news lately was the mere addition of a new tab on the left side of the home screen. The subscriptions tab was a clever addition early this year that made it easier to quickly pick up on TV series and paused movies right where you left off, without having to navigate into a particular streaming channel.speed and controlLike with its UI, Roku has left its fantastic remote control design mostly alone over the last decade, even as it’s upgraded it with new features, such as voice commands, over the years. It’s another good call on Roku’s part. The Roku remote is the most comfortable of all streaming devices and the easiest to use by feel alone, which came in handy repeatedly not just in dark rooms but also when my eyes were glued to the screen as I scrolled and scrolled, feeling the remainder of my night wasting away as I searched for something to watch.The Streaming Stick 4K’s performance was good, not great. For the most part it played movies and shows in 4K on Netflix, HBO Max, Hulu, and Prime Video without much stuttering or downgrading the picture to 720p or 1080p resolution, but “without much” doesn’t mean none. Scrolling through menus was fine, neither snappy-fast like the Apple TV 4K, nor as irritatingly slow as Roku’s cheaper, non-4K streaming devices. It was simply fine when it came to speed in both regards, but I wouldn’t put speed down as the Roku Streaming Stick 4K’s primary draw.the remote — credit: matt jancerthe competitionThe Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max navigates its menu screens slightly faster than the Roku, and it supports the Dolby Atmos premium audio format, which the latter doesn’t. But given the choice between them, I’d pick the Roku. I just didn’t like the Fire TV Stick’s too-small buttons on the remote, and I don’t particularly find Fire TV’s navigation as slick to navigate or aesthetically pleasing.Amazon shoves ads in the user’s face more intrusively through the “Sponsored: Apps & Games” row of suggested channels. It tries to take the reins too much when I just want the UI to get out of my way, the way in which the Roku does.Google retired the Chromecast in 2024 and replaced it with the Google TV Streamer 4K. I haven’t had a chance to check it out in person yet, but like the Apple TV 4K the Google TV Streamer 4K only comes as a streaming box, not a stick. It’s small for a streaming box, yeah, but you still have to run a second cable and find a way to hide it out of sight, and so I don’t think it’s a viable option when you’re shopping for a streaming stick that just plugs into the back of the TV and hangs there out of site, no dangling HDMI cable needed.Contest Alert: VICE Playlist ProjectIf you’re making music, VICE just launched the Playlist Project, a global song contest built around real life moments. Instead of genres, you’ll submit songs to a specific category that fits your track. Entries are open now, with cash prizes and VICE social & editorial features on the line. TAP HERE TO LEARN MORE AND ENTERRoku stick or Roku box?The Roku Streaming Stick 4K’s prime competition isn’t just the Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K Max. Folks seem to cross-shop its stablemate, the Roku Ultra 4K, even though that’s a bulkier streaming box that needs to be placed near the TV and possibly hidden, if you don’t want to see it.On the surface the two devices share a lot of similarities. Both support 4K resolution streaming, Dolby Vision, HDR10, and HDR10+, and both come with the same fantastic Roku UI. The Roku Ultra 4K is noticeably faster when scrolling through screens, and whereas it never hiccuped while streaming movies and TVs, the Streaming Stick 4K choked occasionally.The Streaming Stick 4K lacks support for Dolby Atmos, a premium audio format, though, while the Ultra 4K has it. You won’t notice the difference if you’re just listening to audio through your TV’s tinny, crappy-sounding speakers, but if you’ve upgraded your audio to a half-decent sound system, you’ll want the Dolby Atmos support. The Ultra 4K also has a nicer remote. It’s basically the same form, but with a programmable quick-launch button and hands-free voice activation that you can turn on or off via a switch on the side. It’s also rechargeable via USB-C, rather than the Streaming Stick 4K’s remote that requires two AA batteries.Buy the Roku Ultra 4K if you don’t mind the HDMI cable dangling from the back of the TV and have somewhere nearby on which to place the box. Prices for Roku devices vary from time to time, but even though the Ultra 4K is twice the price at $80 it offers a better experience. The only cases in which I’d nudge somebody toward the Streaming Stick 4K were if the extra $40 were tough to cough up, if you wanted a device to take with you traveling, or if you had your TV wall mounted in a way that made placing a streaming box nearby impossible, such as if it’s mounted over a fireplace.the bottom lineIt feels like I’m insulting the Roku Streaming Stick 4K when I compare it unfavorably to its brother, the Roku Ultra 4K. I’m not. Not really, anyway. The Streaming Stick 4K gets high marks because it’s a good device when it’s playing to its strengths, which are primarily in its sleek form, Roku UI, and excellent remote control.You buy the Roku Ultra 4K when you don’t mind a box either visible near your TV or have a way to easily hide it, like I do behind the row of stacked wine crates that live under my wall-mounted TV. And you buy it when the fastest performance, the most features, and Dolby Atmos are important to you.But when that’s just not possible—say, there’s nowhere near your TV that’ll fit the Ultra 4K, or if you want a streaming device to take with you traveling—then the Streaming Stick 4K is the best choice on the market. With it you can stay within the excellent Roku ecosystem, which I prefer hands-down to Apple TV, Fire TV, Google TV, and any of the proprietary streaming UIs used by some TV brands, such as LG and Samsung.No more watching movies all vacation on your laptop screen when you can plug the Streaming Stick 4K into the hotel TV. Or no extra, ugly cable to hide when your TV is mounted high up on the wall at home and a dangling streaming box would be an eyesore. There are faster 4K streaming devices, even faster 4K streaming sticks, out there. But are there better ones? I don’t think so.(opens in a new window)RokuStreaming Stick 4K(opens in a new window)$44.99 at AmazonBuy Now(opens in a new window)$49 at WalmartBuy Now(opens in a new window)The post This Tiny Roku Stick Hides Behind Your TV and Does Everything appeared first on VICE.