We all thought the JBL Link Bar was a clever product when it was announced, but it took more than a year for the Android TV-equipped soundbar to come out. Now, Roku has a similar product, and it's set to launch in just a few weeks. The Roku Smart Soundbar brings big sound to your TV, plus it has a full-featured 4K Roku streaming player inside.
Roku has made its name selling inexpensive streaming media players, but the Smart Soundbar is a bit more spendy. It'll run you $180, but that does get you a 4K Roku and much better audio than what's inside your TV. The Smart Soundbar features four 2.5-inch full-range drivers for audio, and there's a wireless subwoofer add-on. However, that will run you another $180.
The soundbar has both optical and HDMI, so you can use the speaker for other devices connected to your TV. When watching with the integrated Roku player, you can view supported content in 4K with HDR10 (if your TV has that). The device also comes with Roku's latest voice remote with TV controls. Roku expects to ship the Smart Soundbar and optional subwoofer on October 13th, and you can pre-order today.
PRESS RELEASE
LOS GATOS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Roku, Inc. (NASDAQ: ROKU) today announced it is expanding its portfolio of premium audio products to include the new Roku Smart Soundbar and Roku Wireless Subwoofer. Specifically designed for how people watch television, the Roku Smart Soundbar is an incredibly easy way to add premium sound and powerful movie, TV and music streaming to any TV with an HDMI input. The optional Roku Wireless Subwoofer expands the Roku Smart Soundbar with even deeper, richer bass. Customers can pre-order both products from Roku.com starting today for $179.99 MSRP each.
“We’ve been very successful in delivering best-in-class streaming experiences to our customers and we’re constantly innovating in order to deliver on our promise of making TV better,” said Mark Ely, Vice President, Players and Whole Home Product Management at Roku. “The Roku Smart Soundbar is a great value and makes it easier than ever to add incredible sound and powerful streaming to any TV. In addition, if you want heart-pounding bass you can easily add that too.”
Meticulously engineered to deliver room-filling sound and powerful streaming in brilliant HD, 4K UHD and HDR, the Roku Smart Soundbar is powered by the Roku OS. The Roku Smart Soundbar reduces clutter while featuring simple set up, an easy-to-use home screen while providing access to 500,000+ movies and TV episodes and millions of songs. Four premium drivers offer distinctive clarity, immersive depth and dynamic bass response. Advanced volume modes enable consumers to reach for the remote less often. Automatic Volume Leveling offers uniform audio level across various types of content, including quieting loud commercials. Night mode lowers the volume for louder scenes and boosts it for quieter ones. Speech Clarity boosts voice frequencies to address intelligibility for crisp, clear dialogue. Automatic software updates will deliver new capabilities over time. Additional features include:
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Roku Connect: A wireless protocol that seamlessly connects the Roku ecosystem
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Dolby Audio™: Delivers rich, clear, powerful sound
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Bluetooth®: Listen to your favorite music, podcasts, and more from popular streaming channels or Bluetooth compatible devices
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HDMI ARC or Optical Support: Connect the Roku Smart Soundbar to a TV with a single cable via HDMI ARC or use HDMI and Optical
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Roku Search: Fast and easy cross-channel search offers results ranked by price
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Roku Voice: Makes it easy to launch streaming channels, search for entertainment, replay, turn closed captions on and off and more through the Roku Voice Remote
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Voice Assistant Compatibility:The Roku Smart Soundbar works with Google Assistant and is compatible with Amazon Alexa-enabled devices
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Roku Voice remote: The point-anywhere remote features channel shortcut buttons and TV on/off buttons
The optional Roku Wireless Subwoofer adds powerful bass and a thunderous response to a Roku Smart Soundbar without needing to run a separate audio cable. Featuring an easy wireless setup, and a sealed cabinet design with a powerful 10-inch driver, the Roku Wireless Subwoofer allows users to expand the premium audio of the Roku Smart Soundbar with for a theater-like experience in the home. Roku TV™ Wireless Speakers that are connected to Roku TV models will receive a software update in the coming months to add compatibility with the Roku Wireless Subwoofer.
The Roku Smart Soundbar and Roku Wireless Subwoofer are each priced at $179.99 MSRP. Both are available for pre-order at Roku.com starting today and are expected to ship in October. General availability at Best Buy and Roku.com is also expected in October.
For more information on the Roku Smart Soundbar or the Roku Wireless Subwoofer visit Roku.com.
Buy: Smart Soundbar, Wireless Subwoofer
