Roku announces the Streambar

This morning, Roku announced that their new Streambar, a 2-in-1 soundbar and 4K streaming device that will be available soon.

We got an early peek at the Streambar and think it will be a very popular choice. One feature of the Streambar that stood out for me that a lot of people have issue with is loud commercials and inconsistent audio levels. The Streambar can ‘normalize’ the sound of whatever programming you’re watching so you avoid having to constantly adjust the volume. You’ll also have crystal clear dialogue thanks to the audio processing that happens in the Streambar.

The small form factor, easy setup & installation (as with all Roku devices) and an attractive price point make it something a lot of people will want to add to their existing TV setup if they don’t already have a soundbar. It also consolidates a few devices making it easier to declutter that space around your TV.

Out of the box, it’s compatible with Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa so you can use your voice to control the Streambar. Later this year, via a software update, support for Airplay 2 and Homekit will be added which will allow the Streambar to work with the Apple ecosystem as well.

Features

• Brilliant 4K picture: Stream movies and TV in HD, 4K, and 4K HDR picture quality.
• Big sound: Four 1.9” full range drivers fill the room with rich Dolby Audio.
• Smarter than the average soundbar: Advanced audio engineering within the Roku OS helps Roku Streambar produce sound well beyond its size while increasing speech clarity and adding intricate depth to music.
• Easily accessible sound settings: Simple volume modes make it easy to adjust sound. Automatically lower loud commercials, boost the volume of voices, and optimise the sound for night listening.
• Spotify Connect: Spotify is available on the Roku platform and with Spotify Connect, easily launch a favourite playlist from a smartphone and listen through the Roku Streambar’s high performance speakers.
• Bluetooth support: Easily stream music from mobile devices.

Pricing and Availability

The Streambar will be available in late October in Canada, US, Mexico and the UK. In Canada, it will be priced at $189 Cdn.

We’ll have our full review posted very soon.