Roku Express 4K+ is a cheap way to make the most of your first 4K TV

It’s 2021. If you don’t already have a 4K TV yet, you probably will soon enough. Good ones can now be had for less than $300 and they play nicely with the feature sets of both of the new video game consoles. It’s a no-brainer upgrade, really, and Roku knows this, which is why its new Express 4K+ streaming player is ready to be your cheap stepping stone into TV’s future.

As its name implies, the Express 4K+ is a 4K-ready version of Roku’s cheapest streaming hardware. For $39.99, you get ultra-HD quality, access to multiple HDR standards, and a more versatile remote than the one that came with the old Express. This is explicitly meant as an entry-level 4K device, and if that’s what you need, you’ve come to the right place.

Back to basics

Just from looking at it, you’d be hard-pressed to tell if the Roku Express 4K+ is a new device at all. It’s got the same general design as the 1080p model, with a flat base supporting a rounded, biscotti-esque shape. The shiny, glass front side features a little blue LED to let you know that the device is powered on, along with one HDMI port and a micro-USB port on the back side for power. 

One of the Express 4K+’s most substantial upgrades, outside of the enhanced video quality, is that it ships with a Roku Voice Remote. This not only gives users a dedicated mic button for voice search but frees them from needing to point the remote at the IR sensor to register commands. Hold the remote behind your back, point it at the ceiling, or do whatever else you want with it, and it’ll still work. By contrast, the older remote I have for my Roku TV needs to be pointed at the IR sensor to work at all.

Now, you may be wondering why there’s a plus sign in the product’s name. That’s because Roku is selling something called the Roku Express 4K exclusively at Walmart for $34.99. The only real difference here is that it comes with a simple, non-voice-enabled remote. I can’t personally think of any reason why you might opt for that, but I also understand that a difference of $5 can be substantial for plenty of folks out there. 

By the way, if you bought the recently released Voice Remote Pro, the Express 4K+ works pretty seamlessly with it. In fact, you’ve got a good number of remote choices to work with here. The only bummer is that you can only program Roku’s remotes to control TV volume, but not volume for external sound hardware like a soundbar. If you’ve got one of those in your home theatre, you’ll need to keep its dedicated remote around.

Device setup for the Express 4K+ is identical to every other Roku on the market, as it’s largely handled in a web browser. Simply log into your Roku account and choose which apps you want to install upfront instead of manually doing that after the fact. The user interface is also unchanged: Apps are arranged into large tiles on the right side of the home screen, with tabs like “My Feed” and “Movie Store” on the left. 

Moment-to-moment usability isn’t noticeably different from other Roku devices, though launching some apps (looking at you, HBO Max) can take just a couple of seconds longer here than it does on more powerful hardware like the Smart Soundbar. Roku says the processor and storage have been beefed up for the Express 4K+, and jumping around the system-level menus is indeed fairly snappy. There’s a new dual-band WiFi radio on the inside, too, though I can’t say I noticed much of a difference between this and other comparable streaming devices. It connected to my home network with no trouble and I didn’t experience any unusual signal problems.

One bit of good news on the network front is that you can connect third-party micro-USB Ethernet adapters to the Express 4K+. This probably won’t be necessary unless your WiFi is nightmarishly bad, but it’s a good feature to have. My feelings on the situation have been known for years.

But let’s be real. The only change that matters is the massive leap in resolution. Welcome to the world of 4K.

Lookin’ sharp, kid

What the Roku Express 4K+ promises on the box is true: This is a $40 streaming device that can play 4K content at up to 60 frames per second. And I’m happy to report it works completely as intended.

The unfortunate reality of the situation is that there still isn’t a great deal of streamable 4K content out there. A handful of new movies on HBO Max, such as the forgettably entertaining Mortal Kombat, make for a decent starting point if you’ve upgraded your TV and want to embrace the future. Otherwise, your best bet is literally to search for “4K 60FPS” on YouTube to see just how good things can look after cutting off the 1080p shackles.

I personally enjoyed this five-minute montage of weird bugs and frogs in Costa Rica, which looks astoundingly sharp and smooth at its intended resolution. On the frame rate side of things, Ang Lee’s Gemini Man and a few other selections on YouTube should give you a taste of what a big-budget Hollywood movie can look like at high frame rates. The end result is something that might give you motion sickness if you’re not attuned to high frame rates (gamers have an advantage here), but there is an undeniably high fidelity that’s at least different from what you normally get out of movies.

All of which is to say the Roku Express 4K+ is perfectly capable of displaying that type of content in the way it’s meant to be seen, which is reasonably impressive considering the price point. I didn’t encounter any performance issues to speak of when streaming at 4K, either. There’s enough horsepower in this little fella to keep things moving.

The last bit of good news here regarding display quality is that the Express 4K+ is compatible with multiple HDR standards, namely HDR10 and HDR10+. The differences between the two are a little too in-the-weeds for this review, though Panasonic has a decent explainer you can read. If you have a 4K TV, it very likely works with at least one of the standards, and so will the Express 4K+. My TCL 4-Series uses HDR10 and Roku’s $40 streamer detected that right away upon setup. 

As is the case with 4K content, the same is true for HDR: You’ll have to wait a while for most streaming apps to catch up with a compatible library. Mortal Kombat on HBO Max came through in this regard, again, offering a more expansive range between blacks and whites on the screen thanks to HDR. 

While we wait for our treasured content delivery mechanisms to fully latch onto the 4K and HDR revolutions, it can’t hurt to get a jump on acquiring the hardware needed for them. At $40, the Roku Express 4K+ does the job. High resolution and high frame rate videos come through beautifully, just as they would on more expensive streaming hardware. That said, there’s good reason to shop around a bit if you’re looking to upgrade.

High in the standings

In the realm of cheap 4K streaming hardware, I’d put the Express 4K+ near the top of the list, but not necessarily at the top. The reason I say that is Google’s Chromecast with Google TV exists and, in my mind, it’s still the apex predator for 4K streaming hardware in the $50-or-less price range. At $49.99, it’s slightly more expensive than the Roku Express 4K+, but its snappier UI, faster load times, and excellent remote more than make up for that. I’d still recommend that streaming hardware to just about anyone.

Amazon has a similarly priced solution in the $50 Fire TV Stick 4K. It’s my least favorite of the three devices listed here, thanks to an interface plastered with Amazon-centric advertising, though it’s perfectly effective as a 4K streamer. A UI revamp last year made Fire TV Sticks much more user-friendly, though, and Amazon does offer generous price drops on Prime Day or during the holidays. So if you can snag one at a steep discount, go for it.

Roku’s main advantages here are that its setup is as easy as can be; its device is $10 cheaper than the competition; and you likely already know how to use the Roku interface because of the brand’s popularity. If you decide to wade into the 4K pool with the Express 4K+, it’s a perfectly respectable decision.

Low barrier to entry

There isn’t anything particularly dazzling about the Roku Express 4K+. It does exactly what Roku set out to do, which is to look and function like the 1080p Roku Express but output video at 4K, 60FPS, and HDR. All of those enhancements come through without any hitches.

More interesting than the device itself is that decent 4K streaming hardware can now be had for such a low price. In a world where 4K TVs are the norm on the shelves at your local Best Buy, and both the new Xbox and PlayStation consoles were developed with 4K in mind, there’s no better time than now to equip yourself with a solid streaming player. 

For existing Roku owners, the Express 4K+ is a logical next step. I’d be more inclined to point 4K newcomers to the latest Chromecast with Google TV, but at the end of the day, it’s tough to argue with what Roku’s offering for $40.