ZDNET’s key takeaways
- The Roku Voice Remote Pro (2nd edition) is on the market for $30 as a standalone gadget suitable with most Roku TVs and gadgets available on the market. It is also included with Roku Pro Series 4K TVs.
- This new Roku distant is light-weight and options backlit buttons, a long-lasting rechargeable battery, a quick-launch shortcut, and a voice-activated misplaced distant finder.
- Whereas it has many new options, it does not have a headphone jack, which can be a dealbreaker for some customers.
Streaming gadgets have grow to be so frequent that many TV viewers are extra acquainted with their streaming gadget remotes than their tv remotes, although typically these are one and the identical. As an early cord-cutter, I embraced streaming with open arms. Over the previous 12 years, I’ve used Google Chromecast, Roku, Fire TV, and Apple TV 4K gadgets. To date, one of the best streaming gadget distant I’ve examined is the Roku Voice Remote Pro (2nd edition).
Distant controls for streaming gadgets may be downright irritating. Roku promised that the Roku Voice Distant Professional (2nd version) would quell these frustrations, and I need to admit the corporate has delivered.
Though it is light-weight, as you’ll be able to anticipate for a streaming gadget distant, it packs quite a lot of options that cord-cutters need and different distant producers do not provide.
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The Roku Voice Distant Professional (2nd version) is much like the Alexa Voice Distant Professional, which is on the market for $35 and is suitable with most Hearth TV gadgets. The Alexa Voice Distant Professional additionally has a backlight and a voice-activated misplaced distant finder, but it surely requires AAA batteries, whereas the newer Roku distant incorporates a rechargeable battery.
The Roku Voice Distant Professional (2nd version) has a USB-C port on one finish, which can be utilized to plug it in with the included charging cable. The battery can last as long as three months on a single cost.
The distant management expertise drastically impacts the general streaming expertise. As somebody with Hearth TVs, Roku TVs, and an Apple TV 4K in my residence, I can guarantee you that, whereas the distant management is not the principle cause I would purchase a streaming gadget, it may be the deciding issue between totally different choices.
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I examined the brand new Roku Voice Distant Professional (2nd version) with my residence workplace TV, a 32-inch TCL Roku TV that I take advantage of to observe the information, stream dwell occasions, and infrequently for leisure. The newer Voice Distant Professional (2nd version) is thicker, textured, and barely heavier than the TCL’s Roku distant.
It additionally options hands-free and button-activated voice management, full with a swap on the facet to disable it. When enabled, simply saying “Hey Roku” wakes the distant. You possibly can say, “Hey Roku, play Bluey” or “Hey Roku, open Netflix” to manage your TV with out lifting a finger.
For those who misplace the distant management, you’ll be able to say, “Hey Roku, discover my distant,” to set off a beeping sound for one minute from the distant, which you’ll be able to disable by urgent any button on the distant as soon as you discover it. Roku Pro Series 4K TVs, which embody the Roku Voice Distant Professional (2nd version), even have a button to seek out your misplaced distant.
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One in every of my favourite Roku Voice Distant Professional (2nd version) options is the motion-activated backlight. Simply lifting the distant management illuminates the button panel to press the right button at nighttime. This can be a easy however essential characteristic that’s missing in lots of streaming gadget distant controls.
The Roku Voice Distant Professional (2nd version) (center) with a Siri Distant (left) and Hearth TV distant (proper).
Maria Diaz/ZDNET
Whereas the most recent Alexa Voice Distant Professional additionally has a movement backlight, the Siri Distant, included with the Apple TV 4K, does not.
I’ve all the time most well-liked the Roku distant’s thicker housing to the Hearth TV’s distant and Apple’s Siri Distant. The thicker Roku distant is much less prone to get misplaced between the sofa cushions and is extra comfy to carry.
ZDNET’s shopping for recommendation
The Roku Voice Remote Pro (2nd edition) is essentially the most full streaming gadget distant management I’ve examined. What different rivals, just like the Alexa Voice Distant Professional and Siri Distant, lack, the RRoku Voice Distant Professional (2nd version) has.
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Contemplating you already get a distant management with every Roku streaming gadget you buy, why would you purchase a Roku Voice Distant Professional (2nd version)? This distant management is ideal for anybody with an older Roku TV, particularly if they have a tendency to lose their distant. It is broadly suitable, supporting most Roku TV gamers and any Roku TV mannequin.
It is such an efficient gadget at $30 that I would buy one for every Roku TV in my residence — it’s simple to make use of, the backlight, voice management, and discover my distant options are handy, and never having to alter the batteries is an enormous win.
