Roku Select Series 4K TV Review

The introduction of Roku Select Series 4K TV can be considered as another achievement for Roku Inc. It means changes for the business environment of home entertainment technology. A new line of televisions markets itself as not complicating your leisure but providing better picture quality and ease of use. When doing the comprehensive review on the Roku Smart TV we will touch upon the design, the interface, the performance metrics, the available features, and the value for money. Moreover, we will explain the way this series is different from the rest in this niche where many brands already existed.

Design and Aesthetics

The design of this Smart Television is more or less consistent with other models of the same range, like the TCL 6 Series or the Amazon Fire TV Omni QLED. Thin bezels surround the edges with a bottom strip that is much thicker than the former. At the base of the screen, just under the Roku logo is a protrusion of plastic that extends for close to an inch which is rather more prominent than the rest of its competition. The general structure is streamlined with sharp angles contemporarily, but the projection at the underside of the logo is somehow more visible than in the other design models.

The Roku Select Series 4K TV, however, comes in a more straightforward shape which does not seem as high-end. The other three borders towards the display do have low rather thin bezels but the lower border does have the longest and thickest border still. It has a much more plain layout with very few decoration features considered.

Both the models have VESA 400x300 mounting holes which makes wall mounting these two models simple enough. Not that these inputs are well placed at the back close to the centre of the TV, they may present some problem when wall mounted as they are so positioned. In contrast with most designs, side facing ports are somewhat easy to get while bottom facing ports are tougher. For most parts, the backside of the television is flat with lines that are elevated as well as an elevated portion in the bottom for the input ports. There isn’t much in the way of cable organization that comes with the unit, other than a clip that can hold the tie wrap for the power cable.

Although the stand for the Roku Plus Series holds the TV quite well, it is quite plain. It has wide feet which keep the TV nice and stable although if the intention is not to mount it on the wall, one may have to get a wider TV table. The dimension of the stand of the 55-inch model is 51.6 inches by 13.2 inches, so provision of ample space is recommended. These feet also raise the screen by about 3.3 inches off the table which make it possible to fit most soundbars in front of the television without obstructing the view.

The borders which help in enhancing the beauty of the screen are 0.40 inches (1.0 cm) and this is more timely. The Most screen dimensions including the thickness have a maximum of 3.36 inches (8.5 cm) which are quite slender and sophisticated for such a large TV.

This TV Series Design helps to maintain a satisfactory degree of aesthetics without treating the design of the components too lavishly. Most would find the plain bezels and standard stand acceptable for use in most homes, however, there may be some concerns when the unit is wall mounted by some users who like to keep things tidy because of the positioning of the inputs and the limited amount of cable management features offered.

User Interface and Navigation

Roku has been praised for its friendly interface for many years, and the Select Series lives up to this standard. Users are welcomed by the default Roku home screen which can be altered on power up. It’s a simple and uncluttered smart TV screen for the tech and non-tech audience who would like to see the simplified interface with the shortcuts to the channels, video services and most used apps on their own choice.

One of the most admired attributes of the Roku OS is that it has an incorporation of a universal search option, thus you can locate your content on any of the available platforms easily. This function saves time since the viewers do not have to spend time switching between various applications looking for the content they want.

Also, the control features a convenient grip, in which the users will not be overwhelmed by the basic and quick access buttons such as those for Hulu, Disney+ and other services. The control device can also respond to voice commands that can be used to look up favorite programs and control the volume among other tasks. This is important especially for people who cannot operate the menus so well using a remote control.

Performance 

The Roku Select Series 4K TV comes with some speed and performance enhancements over previous models such as 2022. The screen load time, when compared to the 2022 Roku Ultra and the 2021 Apple TV 4K, was a standout feature in 2024. When testing Disney Plus's application using Marvel’s Avengers: Endgame as a benchmark, the 2024 Roku Ultra took 19 seconds at first but after some usage loading times reduced to 14 seconds. Loadings of this content were still slower than loadings of the Apple TV 4K of the year 2021 which seemed to load the film in 8 seconds and did not avoid some improvement though. While the 2022 model was barren with any caching systems each load took around 17 seconds which took the slowest member out of the three devices.

Still, its ability to stream via Bluetooth leaves much to be desired. Streaming wirelessly music from a Pixel Plus 9 XL displeased. Voice, and devices like guitars were quite muddy, much more so than they should have given that the sound had distortion, like it had been put through a guitar effect pedal. Thus, it renders this device less useful for the users who intend to listen to music streamed from a phone to the TV or AV receiver via Bluetooth. This, although Haran’s irritant is that some kind of Bluetooth placement has been hitherto considered discarding internal wireless operations, it needs to be worked on some more as a standalone solution for the music streaming.

The one thing that was however impressive despite this flaw was the integration of Bluetooth headphone support. Streaming through Bluetooth headphones such as the Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S2 was significantly preferred to listening to music through a stream. It is especially advantageous when one is watching television late at night because it allows for better sound perception without the need for disturbing other members of the home.

To sum up, it is certain that this Roku TV and the Roku Ultra 2024 provides a great experience to movie lovers, gamers as well as audiophiles. It has improved with 4K resolution, supports HDR and has fast loading times enabling great viewing experience. There are still hiccups with the Bluetooth streaming, there is good sound, good gaming performance and it is easy to operate the device.

Picture Quality

The importance of picture quality cannot be overlooked when a smart TV is being assessed and this one from Roku pulls its weight well, given the price. The Roku Select Series 4K TV also features sophisticated LED technology that enables the viewer to experience bright vivid colors, impressive blacks and decent brightness which is suitable for most environments. Images are also improved thanks to the High Dynamic Range (HDR) support, making this a great TV for either movie watching, gaming, and sports like VIZIO VFD40M-08.

The 4K resolution of the TV makes it easy for viewers to see images in detail, and this means viewers will not have to deal with any pixelated or visually artifacted high definition content. Whether watching that whole new series you have become addicted to or looking for the latest box office hit, this Roku powered TV is overwhelming. However, a more interesting use would be for gaming as its effortless movement handling aids in reducing motion blur on fast streams. Furthermore, the low input lag is also perfect for fast-paced video games since it will improve the gaming experience.

Judging by the dark contours, this picture is not so disappointing as it has a contrast ratio of 69:1. But without a functional local dimming option, the blacks could be occasionally washed out into shades of gray, depending on the intensity of bright objects on the screen like INSIGNIA Class F20 Series Fire TV. To the latter audience the Roku Pro Series QLED steps up to a higher level of improvement. The absence of local dimming brightness does mean no blooming of bright objects or umbrellas of subtitles in dark scenes, but also no irritating jarring flicker or sudden brightening jags at changes of enforced highlights.

Sadly, brightness at its peak level in this mode is very much at the average level and thus most HDR content looks flat and lifeless instead of standing out, the highlights clearly visible. This deficiency is glaring even when bumping the HDR Picture Mode to its optimum, Dark HDR, or increasing TV Brightness to Brighter and Backlight and Contrast to mga isa rason “on” at TV Game Mode On. Lastly, the absence of dynamic tone mapping means that color saturation and bright highlights do not get out of hand.

The color volume on the Roku Select Series 4K TV is also conspicuous due to the fact that it cannot handle dark saturated colors when there is no local dimming. Moreover, the low peak brightness does not help matters when it comes to rendering bright and vivid colours. There is underperformance in the area of image scaling. Even after customization, the sharpness slider has little effect which makes it quite cumbersome when it comes to upconverting lower quality content. This, therefore, makes it unsuitable for watching content that is either in a low resolution or of low bit-rate.

For processing of sharpness, 60 is used and which is the setting that was used to not over sharpen the content. These measures still do not avert the up scaling quality which is still to be desired. Furthermore, the TV has a BGR subpixel structure which is blue-green-red but it does not impair normal multimedia application. In other words when the PC display is used and this structure leads to a loss in text sharpness, it is possible to do so but there are simple tricks that are easy to perform to rectify it.

There are acceptable color values for the warm color temperature setting but the TV still lacks the impact which is offered by the higher end models. However, while it is a good choice for watching television generally, anyone who is after feeling more of the performance, specifically in HDR and color representation would want to check for higher class models such as the Roku Pro Series.

Streaming and Features

One big highlight of the Roku Select Series 4K TV is its effectiveness of working well with many streaming services. This smart TV is compatible with almost all the subscription platforms available today, thus allowing the users to read volumes of content without the use of any extra equipment. Support for these features also means that there is no need to hunt for remote controllers to operate websites or watch videos, and even play games are possible with the TV only.

Connectivity of this Roku TV is fairly generous. Equipped with several HDMI connectors, USB, and a digital optical audio output, it is configurable to a range of home theater configurations. Whether one decides to connect using wired ethernet or goes wireless Wi-Fi, the smart TV guarantees that streaming will be seamless without any interruptions due to networks.

Furthermore, Roku has added a few smart home features to the Select Series to improve the usability of the TV with the use of Amazon Alexa and Google assistant. This enables the TV and other smart devices connected to it to be operated only through voice commands thereby averting remote controls in a smart home environment.

The Roku device is running on Roku Smart OS version 12.5 which is very simple to use. It is simple in design and has no frills with few animations and is fast and responsive. The interaction remains within the app and no complex transitions are required even when switching between apps, changing parameters and content, e.g. choosing Youtube takes only 2 seconds while turning backlight control lasts for 4 seconds.

Nonetheless, advertisement banners sit on the main screen of the TV which in this case is a feature common with all Roku devices. There is also home screen suggested content but there is no choice of opting out of it for the audience. This notwithstanding, the app selection is quite good, offering most of the popular streaming services, and downloading and using the apps is so seamless that no lag can be reported.

In regards to multimedia options, this Roku 4k smart TV also allows play via USB drive of the recordings including HDRi content of Netflix and Youtube which is rather more flexible for the viewer. Images can also be sent to the media center from other devices that support such action for even more entertainment.

The Select Series television includes an easy-to-use remote control system with voice command technology features. It includes hotkeys for some leading streaming platforms and two programmable hotkeys for the apps you use most. One of the great features is private listening which permits users to plug their headsets into the remote and enjoy programming without disturbing others.

If you want to use the TV without the remote, a power button is placed in the bottom bezel, below the Roku branding on the right-hand side. If required, this button can be used for changing the inputs as well which is a small plus but a useful one.

As for the consumption of power, under normal working regimes, the television set consumes roughly 63 watts and about 237 watts while operating in peak mode which considering the category of the television set and also its performance is quite efficient.

As for the overall use of this model of Roku TV, there is a good balance between performance and features. For people looking for a smart TV which can be slotted into an entertainment and smart home chain the device is the right one since it offers simple operational functionality, detailed streaming choices and smart home control. Even with the main screen being inundated with advertising and some restrictions in the design and the extent to which the user can customize, the whole way of using the smart television is fluid and easy as any piece of equipment in a family can be.

Sound Quality

Although picture quality is usually emphasized more as compared to sound quality, sound is essential as well for a well-rounded viewing experience. This Roku Select Series 4K TV has built in speakers with capabilities that can support normal audio interactions which is okay for the general audience. But for true audio fans or persons actively looking for deeper experience, adding a sound system, soundbar or any other external sound devices is an option.

For watching movies and listening to music, the sound output from the television is clear and sufficient. However, like other similar-looking designs, the performance with respect to deep bass and range is an issue. The loudness should also not be a problem because the performance even at low volume is pretty good, with voice coming out nice and clear. Optimally adjusted, the frequency response is designed to suit most spoken and other normal programming contents but does not quite reproduce lower frequencies in the range that would be considered great for heavy music genres. The low frequency extension (LFE) is still way high, translating into the fact that the bass presence is also very limited, which could be rather obvious when watching action movies or listening to bass oriented music.

Above the average trajectory, the volume of the TV calls the limitations of the equipment. It is limited to compression without reaching very loud volume reproduction levels where loss of quality is reduced. In spite of, the distortion is at moderate levels and therefore, the watching experience is ideal for the casual viewer. Even at the very maximum of the volume control, distortion occurs but it is controlled. This occurs even though the volume is turned up to the high end making people notice the distortion more.

For the viewers where sound comes first – they will be happy to find it practical to purchase a soundbar or external speakers, as these will enhance the performance significantly. This will address the bass deficiency problems of the TV and also enable action movies and music to have different ranges.

In conclusion, this Roku smart TV is good enough for most use cases with decent audio output without overwhelming bass levels, rather quiet audio output, particularly when cranked up may disappoint some people. The inbuilt speakers are adequate for typical television shows’ viewing, but those who prefer good quality sound are likely to complement this television with a home sound system or sound bar for enjoyable viewing experiences.

Value Proposition 

When comparing the features of the Roku Select Series 4K TV, one should also understand the pricing regime. The series should satisfy the firm consumers in the sense that high performance does not have to be expensive. Competing manufacturers often include key brands such as Samsung, LG and Sony but these essentially target the more expensive models. That is, Roku’s approach enables users to enjoy quality video and audio streaming and picture quality without the pricey tag that most high-end competitors have.

Final Verdict

On a final note, Roku Select Series 4K TV is a very worthy player in the flat screen market as it arranges a net presentation with an old wreath intriguing interface, wonderful creativity as well as a great deal of available streaming content. This particularly appeals to the streaming enthusiasts who want to sit relaxed and watch the screen without any distractions. With a reasonable price tag, it is clearly a good bet for anyone who wishes to improve the home theater experience. Be it having your friends over to catch up on the latest thriller or spending your day off watching season after season of your most loved television series, the Roku Select Series TV is well equipped to handle your viewing needs as it gives you everything you can expect and more.

Given the current trends and the pace of contributory technologies, day in and day out Roku’s focus on enhancing the user experience and de-complexity of streaming upholds the Select Series as something that makes much sense to the consumer. As more and more features and user-oriented design possibilities appear it distinguishes itself as a worthy contender in the most heated contest of television craftsmanship.