Roku Enters the Wireless Speaker Market

Boldly going where no TV stick has gone before.

In the war for our attention in the living room, Rokus become a household name. Well known for their sleek set-top boxes, sticks, remotes & TVs, Rokus been a driving force behind much of our steady stream of Hulu & Netflix binging. But unlike Apple, Google, and Amazon, they hadnt yet ventured into the audio spectrum of our entertainment systems until this week, anyway.

With the Roku TV Wireless Speakers, Rokus aiming to simplify the home theater experience. Simply plug them in, follow some on-screen prompts on your Roku TV, and youre all set. Its a dream setup for anyone thats looking to improve the audio quality of their smart TV, but without going through the hassle of a higher-end sound system.

And for $149 (or $199 once the presale offer ends on 7/23) its comfortably within the territory of an affordable upgrade to your living room.

A notable feature for these speakers is their ability to stream audio, wirelessly, in real-time from your TV. Anyone who owns a Chromecast + Google Home, Apple TV + HomePod, or Amazon Fire Stick + Alexa will tell you: Its a real drag that theyre unable to replicate this seemingly table-stakes feature. Roku skirts around these hurdles by leveraging their own Roku Connect platform to keep the software and hardware working smoothly together. And yes, it also supports Bluetooth.

Speaking of hardware, Ill be honest theyre ... fine. Theyre black speakers with some plastic. Cheers. Sure, Ill admit, I appreciate the lack of overt branding or chrome, but I dont think Rokus going for any design awards with these. This set of speakers is really looking to scratch a pretty specific itch: Folks who just want better sound than their TV, that works wirelessly, and doesn't break the bank.

If that sounds like you, (and youre already running some Roku hardware,) then I think you may have found yourself a winner.

Check out all the info over at Roku.com