Senior staff writer Lee Neikirk has been reviewing video displays and home theater devices for over a decade. He has ISF Level III Certification and is up to date on all of the current and future HDR standards and what to look for when evaluating that content on media players.

Portions of this guide were written by Chris Heinonen, who has reviewed TVs and home theater equipment since 2008.

If you use only one or two streaming services—say, Disney+ and Netflix—you probably don’t need a separate media streaming box. Almost all current TVs have built-in support for the most popular streaming services, as do many cable and satellite boxes, gaming consoles, and Blu-ray players.

The main reason to get a dedicated streaming device is to gain access to streaming services and apps that you wouldn’t otherwise be able to access—and to have all that content presented to you in the way you find most intuitive. Typically, streaming media players include more channels, a more responsive user interface, and better search and organization features. Also, support for newer streaming services often comes to streaming boxes before it comes to TVs. With such a wide selection of streaming services, as well as access to live TV through services like Sling, a media streamer can allow you to cut out cable or satellite TV completely. Some cable companies let you replace a monthly cable-box rental with a streaming device. With cable-box rentals costing $10 a month or more, a streaming device can pay for itself pretty quickly.

A streaming box can also give you easy access to the video and music content you already own and let you play it on any TV in your house. You can access and play media stored on your home network (either on a computer or on a NAS device) without needing to hook a computer up to your display.

Some streaming boxes also offer the ability to play games, though advanced gamers are likely to prefer a gaming console.

The single most important thing any media streamer must do is play back the content you want to watch. If you get most of your content from a service that a particular streaming device doesn’t support, that device will not work for you. A streaming box with a wide selection of content sources is a better choice than one with a limited selection. These days most services are available on every device, but some popular services are missing on certain devices.

Another essential thing to consider is how the streaming device integrates all the different services together into a user-friendly interface. If you use only a couple of streaming services, it’s easy enough to launch a specific app and find what you want to watch. But if you subscribe to a variety of services, you may prefer to have all that content integrated on the home screen so that you can see a list of everything you’ve recently watched without needing to launch the specific app to find where you left off.

A good search feature also makes it easier for you to find the content you want. Many media streamers search across a limited number of services or prioritize content from a source where they earn income. For instance, Amazon’s Fire TV prioritizes search results from Amazon’s own streaming service, even if that isn’t your preferred service. A streaming platform that looks across more services and provides both free and pay options helps you find your desired content at the lowest price.

Your streaming box should also allow you to customize the interface and prioritize the services—or, ideally, the content—you watch the most. An arrangement that places your favorite services or shows up front lets you more easily get to what you want to watch. An ideal streaming device is ecosystem-agnostic and allows you—rather than the device manufacturer—to make decisions.

Most every new TV has a 4K resolution and supports high dynamic range (HDR) video playback, so your streaming box should, too. The more HDR formats a streaming device supports (Dolby Vision, HDR10+, HLG), the more compatible and future-proof it is with newer HDR TVs.

A growing number of streaming services also support Dolby Atmos audio (which adds overhead and height effects to create an even more immersive surround-sound experience), so we prefer media streamers that can output Dolby Atmos audio to your Atmos-capable AV receiver or soundbar.

We test every media streamer in a basic system with only a TV, as well as in a complete home theater system with a Dolby Atmos soundbar. We test all of them over Wi-Fi, though some support Ethernet as well. All of the TVs we use in our tests support 4K HDR to take full advantage of the streaming boxes, and many of them are compatible with Dolby Vision.

During our tests, we access a wide variety of content from services including Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, Movies Anywhere, Sling TV, and YouTube, and we compare the systems’ integrated search and organization features.

The Google Chromecast with Google TV is the best media streaming device because it supports a lot of streaming services and presents your choices in a more modern, unified interface that lets you find what you want quickly. It supports 4K HDR video (including the HDR10, HDR10+, and Dolby Vision formats) and Dolby Atmos audio, for the highest-quality picture and sound you can get from streaming services. Its compact size allows it to hide behind your TV, though you do need to connect it to an external power supply (as opposed to your TV’s powered USB port). Unlike with previous Chromecast models, which relied on your phone for control, Google now includes a handheld remote with voice control via Google Assistant; the remote also allows you to control power, volume, and input selection on your TV.

Google recently introduced a lower-priced HD version of the Chromecast that omits the 4K support but is otherwise identical in form and function. So, if you’re looking for a more affordable media streamer to mate with a 1080p or 720p TV (like our picks for best 32-inch TV), the new version makes sense. In our tests, we did not notice any major differences in speed and other performance factors between the two versions.

The Chromecast supports every major streaming service. If there is a service you want to watch that Google doesn’t support natively on the Chromecast, you can often stream it directly to the player from your computer or mobile device using the Cast option built into the app.

For this player, Google updated its Android TV platform and renamed it Google TV. The best feature of this updated platform is how it gathers together, in a modern interface, all the content you watch. Instead of forcing you to switch between different apps to find something to watch, the home screen presents everything you’ve recently watched or added to your watchlist, organized in a single location. You can select a recently watched show and go straight to the next episode, for example, or pick up where you left off in a movie more quickly than you can with other streaming devices. The menu also offers recommendations pulled from across all the different services, instead of limiting the recommendations to a single service.

When you select a show or movie, the Google TV menu also gives you a lot of information about the title, including the Rotten Tomatoes rating, cast info, different sources you can stream it from, and related content. You can rate a show to improve your recommendations or add it to your watchlist so you can come back to it later. Since this functionality works across all the different streaming services, it delivers a more consistent experience.

Searching for content with the Chromecast works great. It consistently found what we were looking for across various services and sources, including titles from our digital movie library (which some other competitors don’t search). Contextual searches such as “Oscar-winning comedies,” “movies with Brad Pitt,” or “movies with the woman from Amelie” pull up the relevant results quickly, though sometimes you might need to rephrase your query to get improved results.

Like a streaming stick, the Chromecast dongle plugs directly into a TV’s HDMI port (no additional HDMI cable needed). With this new Chromecast, Google finally decided to include a remote control—and a nice one, at that. It’s simple to use and easy to hold, and it includes direct buttons for Netflix and YouTube. A microphone allows for voice search, and the remote can control your TV, as well, offering the power and volume controls that most competing remotes have but also an input control so you can switch to the correct input for the Chromecast without needing the TV remote. It supports TV control via both HDMI-CEC and IR. Regrettably, it isn’t backlit, so you can’t easily see the buttons in the dark.

If you happen to get your live TV service from YouTube TV, the Google TV interface adds a Live tab that integrates this service so you don’t need to launch the app to see what’s on. This feature isn’t proprietary to Google and its services; Sling TV and Philo recently updated their apps to support this feature, and others can in the future, as well.

As useful as the Google TV interface is, you can’t fully customize it as you can some others. A banner at the top contains four suggested movies or shows, which might come from a service you don’t subscribe to and can’t be deleted. You also have no way to completely ignore a certain service. In our case, the content recommendations were almost always from services we use, so this wasn’t a big issue—but it likely will annoy some people.

Although the Chromecast uses a USB-C–to–USB-A power cable, the device can’t draw power from a TV’s USB port because the connection doesn’t provide enough juice, so you need to connect the Chromecast to an AC outlet. Streaming sticks from Amazon and Roku typically can run on the USB outlets on a TV, saving you from needing to connect them to a nearby power outlet and making them more convenient travel companions.

The search recommendations that work so well on Google TV do so only because you’re sharing your browsing information with Google. You can disable this function in the device’s privacy settings, but doing so means losing out on a lot of what makes the Google TV platform so effective. The other streaming platforms use this same information to make recommendations to you—their recommendations just aren’t as good as those that Google TV offers right now—so this is an issue affecting every device.

The Chromecast doesn’t support the Hybrid Log Gamma (HLG) HDR standard, though currently very little content uses that standard compared with HDR10 and Dolby Vision.

At this writing, Google TV doesn’t have apps to replace your cable TV box from companies like Xfinity, so you need to cast such content from your smartphone or computer instead.

Some owners have complained that the amount of storage in the Chromecast is rather limited compared with the capacity of some other players; eventually you might have to redownload less-used apps. We didn’t run into this problem, but once Stadia and other gaming platforms that demand more space migrate onto the Chromecast, this limitation might become an issue for some people. We don’t think most people will have a problem in this regard, but we will keep an eye on it.

The Roku Streaming Stick 4K is a great choice if you want the widest selection of services presented in a simple, albeit somewhat dated, user interface. This media streamer supports 4K HDR video (in the HDR10, Dolby Vision, HDR10+, and HLG formats) and passes through Dolby Atmos audio, and it has an external antenna to potentially provide better Wi-Fi reception. The inclusion of AirPlay 2 makes it a good choice for streaming music and movies from Mac and iOS devices. This is an HDMI stick that plugs directly into an HDMI input and can draw power from a compatible USB port, so you can easily add it to a variety of TVs and other home entertainment systems.

Roku still has a larger selection of content than anyone else—including most of the major video and music services—and it continues to grow. But recently we’ve seen Roku get into more disputes with content providers than the other platforms. The company had an extended dispute with Google that resulted in the removal of the YouTube TV app for a long time (the dispute was finally settled in December 2021). DirecTV’s app was missing for the first half of 2020, NBC’s Peacock service was not available for a long time, and HBO Max only became available on the Roku platform five months after it launched. The fact that such conflicts seem to be occurring more often than they used to makes us less confident in Roku going forward.

For cable and satellite customers, Roku has apps from Xfinity and other providers that Google TV currently lacks. The apps can take the place of a cable or satellite box. Since rental fees for those boxes can easily be $5 to $10 a month, replacing them can save you money every month. In contrast, most of these apps are available for older Android TV systems but haven’t moved over to Google TV yet.

The Streaming Stick 4K has support for more advanced HDR formats with dynamic metadata like Dolby Vision and HDR10+. Dolby Vision and HDR10+ provide extra information for every scene, so highlights and shadows can have more preserved details, and I typically notice that colors are more saturated and accurate. The addition of HLG support also will be useful as more TV content, like live sports, becomes available in HDR.

Roku’s home screen consists of a grid of individual streaming apps. You can customize the menu to place your favorite apps first. If you use Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Sling TV the most, for example, you can put those three apps at the top. If you don’t use Netflix or Amazon Prime Video at all, you can remove those apps entirely. But Roku’s interface is not as helpful at finding and organizing titles as Google TV is. You can’t easily see all your recently watched movies and shows across platforms, so you have to launch individual apps to reach them. The search function on Roku does a good job of finding shows across the different platforms, but it lacks the rich context and related-content information that Google TV offers, so it feels far more limited.

The voice remote uses RF to communicate with the Roku Streaming Stick 4K (so it works through walls and furniture), but it adds an IR output for controlling power and volume on your TV or projector, and it also has a mute button, something that many competing remotes lack.

Roku’s private-listening feature allows you to listen to shows and movies using headphones. However, the remote lacks a headphone jack, so you have to use the Roku app for iOS or Android to play your content. (If you spend $20 more for the Roku Streaming Stick 4K+, it includes a remote with the headphone jack built-in.) If you’re using Bluetooth headphones with your smartphone and the private-listening feature, you may notice lag between the video and audio, but we didn’t with wired headphones.

The addition of AirPlay 2 and Apple’s TV app gives the Streaming Stick 4K a lot of the perks of an Apple TV at a much lower price. If a certain channel that’s important to you is missing from the Roku platform, as a Mac owner or iOS user you can stream content from the app to the Streaming Stick 4K. However, this arrangement requires you to keep the Mac or iOS device streaming the whole time and can sometimes be a heavy drain on the battery.

The Streaming Stick 4K can deliver Dolby Atmos audio, but only pass it through from services that send Dolby Atmos. It cannot do any processing of Dolby Atmos audio itself, so there is no Dolby Atmos logo on the box, but from services with Atmos support like Netflix and Disney+ it will pass that Atmos audio to your TV.

For $20 more than the standard Streaming Stick 4K, the Streaming Stick 4K+ includes the Roku Voice Remote Pro. The Voice Remote Pro has a built-in rechargeable battery (though it uses Micro-USB and not USB-C), a microphone that can be always-on or push-to-talk, two buttons you can program to be custom shortcuts, a remote finder, and a private listening mode with a headphone jack. If any of these appeal to you, then it might be worth getting this instead of the standard Streaming Stick 4K, but this model doesn’t improve upon the performance of the Streaming Stick 4K in any way.

Overall we still like the Roku platform, but it simply isn’t as intuitive as the Google TV interface, and Roku’s issues with content providers cause us some worry.

Wirecutter takes security and privacy issues seriously and investigates, as much as possible, how the companies whose products we recommend deal with customer data. We reached out to the companies that produce our top picks and asked them to provide information that we think is of primary concern for any potential buyer. Here’s what we learned:

How our picks compare

What specific user data do you collect (location, voice requests, user data, etc.)?

Google: We collect information about activity in our services, which can be used to tailor and recommend content on the home screen. This can be viewed in the privacy policy. The user is able to visit their Google Account at any time to manage activity information used for content recommendations.

Roku: Roku did not respond with specific answers to our questions but simply pointed us to the company’s privacy policy.

Where is that data stored and what measures are taken to secure it?

Google: Google stores the data, and it is encrypted using 256-bit keys by default; Google uses standard NIST-recommended crypto algorithms (like AES CTR + SHA1 HMAC, AES GCM).

Roku: Roku did not respond with specific answers to our questions but simply pointed us to the company’s privacy policy.

What, if any, data is shared, sold, or accessible to third parties or affiliated parts of your organization, including via API and other integrations?

Google: None of this data is sold outside of Google.In select instances, we share limited user data with third-party apps to optimize the user experience—for example, to enable seamless login across devices. In these instances, a user must consent to sharing their information as part of the onboarding process, and they have the option to change their preferences and opt out at any time. Only the data required to enable the product experience is shared.

A user can also choose to link their Google Account to Movies Anywhere for access to purchased and rented content from other platforms. By doing so, the user is sharing their content library with Movies Anywhere.

Users can unlink their accounts at any time.

Roku: Roku did not respond with specific answers to our questions but simply pointed us to the company’s privacy policy.

If customer data is shared or sold, are customers notified, and are there provisions to secure that data after it has been transferred to a third party?

Google: n/a

Roku: Roku did not respond with specific answers to our questions but simply pointed us to the company’s privacy policy.

Are your customers able to opt out of sharing some or all of their data—and if so, how?

Google: Yes, this is built into the setup process. At any time, the user is able to visit Privacy in the Google TV Settings to manage permissions or visit My Google Activity to view and delete captured watch history. There is also an apps-only mode on the device that people can use to turn off personalized recommendations entirely.

Roku: Roku did not respond with specific answers to our questions but simply pointed us to the company’s privacy policy.

Does your device contain inactive or active but unadvertised hardware integration such as sensors, triggering always-on microphones, or location services?

Google: There are no unadvertised hardware integrations. You can find more information via Google Support.

Roku: Roku did not respond with specific answers to our questions but simply pointed us to the company’s privacy policy.

Amazon has announced two new additions to its lineup of Fire TV streaming media devices: the Fire TV Stick 4K Max and Fire TV Stick 4K. Beyond several minor updates, both devices are being upgraded to utilize generative AI, allowing for “conversational” voice search across streaming services.

The Fire TV Stick 4K Max ($60) gains Amazon’s Fire TV Ambient Experience (an idle mode that shows videos or images and can create AI artwork), an upgraded 2 GHz quad-core processor, Wi-Fi 6E functionality, and 16 GB of storage. The device supports 4K playback in all the major HDR formats, as well as Dolby Atmos audio playback. We are testing it now.

The Fire TV Stick 4K ($50) is a small downgrade from the Max: There’s no Fire TV Ambient Experience, it supports Wi-Fi 6 (not 6E), and has a less powerful 1.7 GHz processor. However, it still supports the major HDR formats and Dolby Atmos. Additionally, it can now be paired with Echo speakers to create surround-style audio performance.

Roku

In 2022, Roku released a new Roku Ultra—sort of. Our testing revealed that the device itself is just a refresh of the 2020 version, delivering essentially the same hardware and processing as the older model. However, the new Roku Ultra (which is a box, not an HDMI stick) comes bundled with Roku’s Voice Remote Pro for $100. The Voice Remote Pro complements the Roku Ultra handsomely: It has a built-in rechargeable battery (though it uses Micro-USB and not USB-C), a microphone that can be always-on or push-to-talk, two buttons you can program to be custom shortcuts, a remote finder, and a private listening mode with a headphone jack. Beyond that, the new Ultra doesn’t significantly upgrade or change the user experience, and we still think this box is overkill for most people—unless you really need features like an Ethernet (LAN) port and expandable storage. Without improvements to the Ultra’s processing components, the more affordable Streaming Stick 4K and 4K+ are still more practical, and holistically we prefer the latest Chromecast experience to what Roku offers.

The 2021 Roku Express 4K+ is very compact, which makes it easy to mount behind a TV, and now includes a remote that doesn’t require line of sight. The Express 4K+ supports HDR10+ but has lower-quality Wi-Fi. Right now, very few services support HDR10+ (only Amazon and Paramount+ currently), and many brands of TVs still don’t support it, so we think the lower-quality Wi-Fi is a bigger issue.

Apple TV

Apple released two third-generation Apple TV 4K boxes in 2022: A $130 WiFi-only version with 64 GB storage and a $150 version with 128 GB storage and an ethernet (LAN) port. Both boxes support 4K resolution, can handle Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos content, and include the newer Siri-based remote control with a standard directional keypad. And both are powered by the same A15 bionic chip found in some of Apple’s phones and earbuds. As usual, the latest Apple TV 4K impressed us with its zippy processing and intuitive user interface, but it still puts Apple’s ecosystem of content at the forefront—which is a boon for hardcore Apple users, but less desirable for folks who aren’t subscribed to services like Apple TV+, Apple Arcade, and Apple Music. Even the more affordable $130 version is still significantly more expensive than our picks, and despite the slick appeal of the Apple TV interface and its interrelated services, the box is not abundantly more powerful (where streaming is concerned) than something like the Roku Ultra. This is the best Apple TV device yet, but its flag is still firmly planted in Camp Apple, and our picks will serve the average buyer better at less expense.

Amazon Fire TV

In 2022, Amazon revamped its hands-free Fire TV Cube, and it continues to occupy an odd spot amongst the panoply of media streaming devices. The Cube was always a bit more complex than the average streaming stick, and the third-generation model stretches the definition a bit further, adding HDMI pass-through (to allow Alexa integration with a separate source device) and Wi-Fi 6E compatibility to its already touted hands-free operation. While its ability to integrate set-top-box functions into the realm of voice control may appeal to Alexa diehards, many modern cable/satellite remotes already include voice search functionality. And much like Amazon’s other media devices, the new Cube still puts Prime Video content at the forefront. While the Fire TV Cube isn’t overpriced at $140, we ultimately find it to be a bit too specialized compared to the meat-and-potatoes value boasted by our picks, especially considering that every major streaming device includes a voice remote that’s only marginally less convenient than the hands-free functionality offered here.

Amazon’s Fire TV Stick 4K looks almost identical to the Roku Streaming Stick 4K, with a compact size that allows it to hide behind the TV and a remote that can control the TV volume and power, too. It supports 4K HDR video, including Dolby Vision and HDR10+. Amazon completely redid the Fire TV interface, but it still prioritizes Amazon content while relegating Netflix and others to also-ran status. The search results are less accurate than those on the other platforms and show fewer results. The Fire TV interface also has ads on every page, including a new head banner with full video and audio. Integrated Alexa support is nice, but we’d rather pair an Echo or Dot speaker with one of our picks.

Gaming systems and built-in TV apps

The gaming console, Blu-ray player, or smart TV you already own probably streams Netflix and plays some local files, too. These devices are just as capable and typically offer a lot of the same content as most streaming devices do. However, most of them lack the extensive selection of content that dedicated streaming boxes provide and omit cross-app searching—they’re fine, but a streaming device offers more.

Android TV

The Nvidia Shield TV has always been our favorite Android TV device, thanks to powerful hardware that is way ahead of the competition. It supports Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos and has upscaling technology that makes non-4K content look much better on 4K TVs than the competition can muster. It has been a good choice for people who like to use the GeForce Now platform for gaming, or for people who want the Pro model to use with a Plex server or emulator. But right now it doesn’t have the updated Google TV interface, so it doesn’t integrate services like the Chromecast does, and the search feature isn’t as powerful. At some point the Shield TV should get upgraded to the newer platform, and then it might be a better choice since it’s more powerful, and equipped with more storage, than the Chromecast.

The TiVo Stream 4K is an Android TV–based HDMI dongle that incorporates software from TiVo, making it easier to find content from the services you subscribe to, but it only supports certain services for this. As a result, if you’re looking for content that TiVo’s app supports, you can stay inside its app, but you need to go back to the standard Android TV interface for other apps. The search feature shows the different platforms that a title is available on, but it can’t show the prices, so you don’t know which option is best for you. When I found a title I was interested in, instead of offering a page with information about that show (for example, Bojack Horseman), it would just launch Netflix to show that information. This means a lot of going into and out of apps as you try to find something to watch, which is jarring.

The Xiaomi Mi Box S is an Android TV box that offers Ultra HD support but isn’t as capable as the Shield TV. The Mi Box S isn’t as powerful for local content as the Shield TV is. The interface isn’t nearly as responsive as those of other devices, and in our tests, when we set it to select a TV mode automatically, it indicated that all of our 4K HDR TVs were capable of only 720p resolution. You can manually fix such an error, but it will leave people disappointed if they don’t realize it’s happening. On top of all that, the remote lacks the TV controls for power and volume that have become standard features over the past year.

Sling’s AirTV Mini is designed to integrate Sling TV with Android TV, as well as to integrate with a networked TV tuner so that you get Sling TV channels and your local over-the-air channels in a unified TV guide. For people who want this Sling TV integration, the AirTV might be a reasonable option, but for people looking for a general-purpose media streamer, there are cheaper, more full-featured options that don’t automatically boot into Sling TV every time you power them on.

Android (but not Android TV)

A number of companies are making boxes that run Android, not Android TV. The advantage to these boxes is that they can run a wider variety of apps, including Kodi (formerly XBMC). The downside is that traditional Android is designed around a touchscreen, so these boxes are difficult to use without one, or at least without a mouse and keyboard. A TV remote doesn’t cut it, and these boxes are harder to use from the couch, anyway. You’re also using apps designed for a different screen format than your TV’s. And because such a box costs more than a dedicated streamer, this category doesn’t make much sense for most people.

This article was edited by Adrienne Maxwell and Grant Clauser.