Recently I was able to get my hands on the new 2018 Roku Wireless Speaker. These speakers are built specifically for Roku TVs costing $199.99 and should be shipping to customers later this month.
First Impressions
Right out of the box the speakers seem well built. There’s nothing flashy about them and they blend in well next to your Roku TV.
Setup
The setup is extremely simple. First, plug the speakers in and hold the home button for 5 seconds. That will bring up a menu allowing you to pair the speakers or a new remote. Once you click on pair speakers, your Roku TV does the rest of the work, and about a minute later (after a small update) they are connected. Next, your Roku TV will ask if the sound is coming from the left or right to set up the stereo sound.
From unboxing to use it took about 3 minutes.
The Sound Quality
Compared to the speakers that come with the TV the 2018 Roku Wireless Speakers are a huge step up. Although some users may wish for a subwoofer, these Roku speakers do a great job of offering a full and rich sound experience that is on par with most mid-range sound bars.
Update: I found the setting for volume leveling. If you launch a stream click on the * key and in the advanced sound settings you will find an option for volume leveling. It does a really great job for most streams during our quick test of the volume leveling. The real selling point for volume leveling is when you are streaming cable channels. Now the commercials and the TV show are all at the same volume level. This is a great option for live streams on services like Sling TV, Hulu, and YouTube TV.
Final Thoughts
The real selling point to the Roku Wireless Speakers is how easy they are to use with your Roku TV. There is no second remote or complicated setup. If your Roku TV does not have a point anywhere remote with voice support the Roku Wireless Speakers come with a new Roku TV remote that includes support for point anywhere controls and voice search.
The Roku TV speakers have very good sound quality for the price and are a huge step up from any built-in TV sound system. Yet it is just a standard stereo soundbar not a 5.1 audio system. (I wouldn’t be surprised to see that come at a later day.)
The new tabletop remote is nice but is mostly about using your Roku Speakers for music. With a voice control and basic features like volume, play, pause, and next its a great little remote if your TV is close to your kitchen for example. Yet if you plan to use your Roku Speakers mostly to watch TV, I don’t think the new tablet top remote will get a lot of use as it is missing any direction controls to navigate menus.
My final thoughts are this is a very nice sound bar/speakers for the price. The biggest reason to get it is how simple it is to control and use compared to buying a third party sound system that would need a second remote, for example.
If you want better sound but don’t want to break the bank this is a very good inexpensive mid-range 5.1 sound system.
Pricing and Availability
The Roku TV Wireless Speaker bundle has an MSRP of $199.99 and begins shipping to customers sometime in November 2018. The bundle includes the following:
- (2) Roku TV wireless speakers
- Roku TV voice remote
- Roku Touch tabletop remote
- (2) Power cables
- (4) AAA batteries
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