Michael Crider
Roku is best known for its affordable set-top box streamers, but it’s also become a popular software platform for budget smart TVs. If you happen to own one, you can kit it out with Roku-branded stereo speakers starting tomorrow.
The $200 set, simply called the Roku TV Wireless Speakers, work exclusively with Roku TVs—they can’t be connected to anything else via a conventional wired input since there aren’t any. That includes standard Roku streaming boxes, by the way—it’s a Roku TV or nothing. They use your home’s Wi-Fi connection for both audio and automatic software updating, and can equalize noise levels for more comfy listening. That’s a major boon if you’re sick of obnoxiously loud commercials.
The design trades flexibility for simplicity, as is Roku’s wont, with a two-piece setup that goes for stereo separation without a dedicated subwoofer. The included stick remote can control both the speakers and a Roku TV with voice commands, but there’s a secondary “tabletop” remote included, too. This little gadget looks like a hockey puck with buttons, but it’s meant to be a more dedicated music controller, allowing for easy pausing and skipping on dedicated music apps like Pandora. It has voice controls, but it requires a dedicated button press in order to start listening, which seems a little awkward now that Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa are so ubiquitous.
In terms of specs, both speakers use a .75-inch tweeter and 3.5-inch woofer and need a dedicated power outlet, though Roku doesn’t mention a watt rating. Though the Roku TV Wireless Speakers can’t connect to anything via a cable, they’ll take a Bluetooth A2DP signal like most TV sound bars. They can be mounted on a standard .25-inch thread if you like.
If you’re sold, you might want to hold off on an order for a week or so: the $200 speaker set will drop to just $150 on Sunday, November 25th and the following “Cyber Monday.”
