I think one thing that you overlooked is that the remote in the Ultra includes TV volume and power control. Am I right about that? Reply
People are really more interested in the speed of these devices. Since Roku keeps it a secret a quad core of this or that is useless, you can not find what core. What would be nice is to get a five day trial say PlayStation Vue and show channel changing, DVR load speeds, etc. I can read on a box, remote finder, jack for ear plugs, MEH. Reply
I’m more interested in the differences in the services this connects to. There was no mention of that in this article. Is there a difference in the content I can access? like youtube, google play, netflix, etc.? Reply
Hi Jeff, thanks for reading! You’ll get access to all of the same services, because both of these run the Roku platform. Of course, you may eventually see older models become obsolete and unable to run certain Roku channels — but that’s a long way off for the Roku 4, I would guess. Reply
I recently upgraded to a Roku Ultra from a Roku 4, and I would actually like to point out there is a very important difference between the two devices (I read the article above before buying). The 4k support in the Ultra is a lot more mature than the support on the 4. My 4 would connect to my 4k project and send a signal just fine, but will occasionally drop frames – causing a purple flash anywhere from 1 per minute up to 6 or 7 per minute. When I brought the Ultra in and plugged it into the same cable, it immediately told me the 4k connection is not robust enough to establish 4k HDCP 2.2 – I had to switch out some devices and upgrade some cables (above the high speed “4k compatible” cables I already had), now it connects, and I have only seen 1 frame drop in about 4 hours of video. HDR also looks amazing and works perfectly. For me that is an important reason to upgrade and an important thing to know. Reply
I think another difference is the 4 could be set to turn OFF automatically but not the Ultra…have to pull the plug Reply
My Roku express has volume leveling. I cannot find it on the Roku 4. If the Ultra had it, it would be worth upgrading to me. Reply
From the specs, it appears that the Ultra supports Alexa and Google integrations. If you are interested in home automation this may be useful. WalMart has a “limited” version of the Ultra — the LT — without the remote finder and one or two other features. Priced at $20 less than they sold the full Ultra for. Reply