5 Streaming Devices Cheaper Than The Roku Ultra (After The Price Hike)

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The Roku Ultra, the top-ranked Roku streaming device, has a glut of features, lightning-fast Wi-Fi connection, and and excellent controller. However, Roku recently increased the prices of all its streaming products, forcing people to ask if Roku devices are still worth it after the price hike. If you already have one, the answer is yes, and not just because the Roku Channel is the most-watched free TV streaming service. But what if you don't? Thanks to the Roku Ultra's price hike, the device now retails for $150, which is quite frankly the biggest argument against purchasing it.

Most streaming devices are just so much cheaper. Even the Roku Ultra's main competition, the Amazon Fire TV Cube, is more affordable (if just barely) thanks to its $139.99 price tag. The only streaming devices that aren't cheaper are the Nvidia Shield TV (it also retails for $149.99) and the Apple TV 4K (it is more expensive and starts at $199). Some streaming devices that serve as worthwhile alternatives to the Roku Ultra but don't cost as much include TiVo Stream 4K Onn 4K Plus, Roku's own streaming stick 4K, and more. Entries are ranked by increasing price.

Before everyone could binge their favorite shows on their own schedules, everyone had to tune into shows at scheduled times. If you missed an episode, you either had to wait for a rerun or hoped you remembered to record it on a digital video recorder (DVR). Back in the day, TiVo was the undisputed king of the DVRs, and has since evolved with the times.

The TiVo Stream 4K is TiVo's answer to the oversaturated streaming stick market. As its name suggests, the device outputs video in 4K resolution, and since it runs on Android TV, the TiVo Stream 4K has all the features most audiences are accustomed to, including a voice-activated remote and almost every streaming app you will ever need built pre-installed. The TiVo Stream 4K doesn't have much, if anything, in the way of exclusive content, but that isn't why most people purchase one.

At only $29.99 through retailers such as Amazon, the TiVo Stream 4K is a budget device that provides a lot of content for a relatively low price. Even the most basic Amazon TV Fire Sticks are more expensive at $34.99 (also through Amazon), and if you want the 4K model, that will cost you $39.99 (again on Amazon). Although be careful when setting up the TiVo Stream 4K; the device slots into HDMI ports, but it is no dongle. Make sure the TiVo's bulky body has plenty of support.

While major supermarket chains carry items from a variety of brands, many sell their own proprietary products. Walmart, for example, sells a variety of electronics under the "Onn" label. You can buy Onn headphones, Onn video doorbells, Onn TVs, and, of course, Onn streaming devices. Like most streaming sticks — and unlike the TiVo Stream 4K – Onn streaming devices come in several models, the most powerful and expensive being the Onn 4K Plus.

Well, technically it used to be the Onn 4K Pro, but that was discontinued due to a bug that locked users out of the device. The Onn 4K Plus is a small black box that plugs into TVs via an HDMI, and since it uses the Google TV environment, anyone who used a Chromecast should feel right at home. While Onn devices don't have any exclusive content, they still have a sizable library of channels and streaming services that should keep most users happy.

As of this writing, the Onn 4K Plus retails for $49.98 through Walmart. That price gets you, allegedly, the fastest streaming device on the market. According to PC World's tests, only the Amazon Fire TV Cube and Nvidia Shield TV outmatch the Onn 4K Plus. However, the device isn't perfect, as it lacks an Ethernet port, so if you don't have reliable Wi-Fi, you might want to avoid this product.

Technically cheating a bit with this entry, but just because the Roku Ultra is no longer worth its price doesn't mean you should boycott the entire Roku line. Even though all Roku products are now more expensive across the board, you can still purchase quite a few of the brand's quality streaming devices for less than the cost of a Roku Ultra pre-price hike. While the Roku Ultra is the flagship product of the line, users claim the Roku Streaming Stick 4K is the best model. To be fair, the Roku Ultra is allegedly faster than any other Roku player and has additional features, including an Ethernet port, backlit remote buttons, and Dolby Atmos support.

However, these traits are hardly crucial to a streaming experience. The Roku Streaming Stick 4K still provides hundreds of live channels, 4K visuals, and native support for smart home systems such as Siri and Alexa, all with a voice-controlled remote. With the aforementioned price hike, the Streaming Stick 4K now sells for $79.99 on the Roku webstore, which is a hefty increase but still affordable when compared to the Roku Ultra.

In fact, that lower price helped edge the Roku Streaming Stick 4K ahead of the Roku Ultra in the customer satisfaction department, and even with this new price, it's still cheaper than the Roku Ultra ever was. Then again, if you buy a Roku Ultra through Amazon, you'll only pay the pre-hike price of $99.99. It's not every day a Roku Ultra is cheaper than a Roku Ultra, but you are living in weird times.

While Xiaomi isn't the biggest smartphone brand on the market, the company manufactures affordable smartphones that don't compromise features and quality for price. However, Xiaomi sells more than just Android devices. The manufacturer also carries its own lines of electric vehicles, smartwatches, and streaming devices. Its catalog of streaming gadgets is divided into three categories: the Xiaomi TV Box S, the Xiaomi TV Stick 4K, and the Mi TV Stick.

The TV Box S is Xiaomi's flagship streaming center and has all the features you need (or want) for a night of binge-watching. This compact box provides 4K visuals with Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos, and DTS:X Audio, Wi-Fi 6 connectivity, and Google TV services with Google Cast support. The Xiaomi TV Stick 4K isn't that far behind and sacrifices some speed for affordability. This dongle even includes Wi-Fi 6, which is absent from rival devices, including the Roku Streaming Stick 4K.

The Mi TV Stick, meanwhile, is the cheapest of the bunch, but it delivers a comparatively inferior audiovisual experience. Now we're getting into the territory of devices that initially rivaled the Roku Ultra in terms of price, but since that device is currently more expensive, these ones are better deals. The Xiaomi TV Stick 4K, for instance, is $86.99 through Amazon, while the flagship model, the TV Box S, is $96.99. What used to be an iota of an affordability lead has transformed into a massive one.

In 2013, Google launched the Google Chromecast. Eventually, the gadget was discontinued because rival streaming devices and smart TVs made it feel redundant and limited, but the company didn't give up the streaming device dream. The Google TV Streamer 4K is the Chromecast's spiritual successor (or the Chromecast 2.0, depending on how you look at it). The TV Streamer 4K is faster and holds more storage than the Chromecast, but it also natively connects to your smart home devices (so long as they are compatible, that is).

Moreover, the Google TV Streamer 4K was recently updated to utilize Gemini for TV, Google's AI assistant that helps you find your favorite shows and movies more easily. And, since this is a Google device we're talking about, the TV Streamer 4K can connect to accessories such as your Pixel Buds, just in case you want to do some late-night streaming without waking anyone in your house. Or the neighbors.

At $99.99 through the Google Store, the Google TV Streamer 4K currently costs as much as the Roku Ultra's old price. Like many Google devices, Google offers payment plans so people who can't justify a single $100 expense can ease some of the burden off their wallet. However, if you want a cheaper model, you're out of luck; you can only choose between a porcelain-colored TV Streamer 4K or a hazel-colored model. That's it.

For this article, we started by researching all the main streaming devices currently available and their prices. The majority of our findings made the list, but anything that was as expensive or more expensive than the Roku Ultra's new price (i.e., the Nvidia Shield TVs and the Apple TV 4K) was disqualified. For the sake of consistency, we only went with the prices of the latest models, all new and from their manufacturers' official stores when applicable (no sales prices or refurbished models allowed). The only exception was Xiaomi, which doesn't have an official store. Moreover, we focused on the most expensive devices in a brand's lineup that didn't cross the $150 threshold.

While we were able to populate the majority of the entries with streaming devices most people are familiar with, such as Roku and Onn, we had to fill out several entries with more obscure brands. This is why we included the TiVo Stream 4K. Did you know TiVo was still around? Quite frankly, we forgot all about its streaming device before researching for this article, but we had to include it once its name resurfaced while looking for entries, especially since the TiVo Stream 4K is one of the cheapest devices available. After we filled out all the entries, we ordered them from least to most expensive.