I think they’ve been around the longest, too. It can be hard for some people to adapt to different devices if they’ve already become accustomed to one. Not to mention, a huge variety of apps, many not available elsewhere. I purchased my first one because my cable company’s app was only available on Roku.
Is it the best? As with most products, that’s relative. Rokus don’t suit my needs the way other android-based systems do, but I like that it’s something so simple my mother can handle it.
Most of the time I use the TV’s built-in OS if it works well and has the app I need – the exception being my LG with its worthless webOS! My #1 STB choice right now is my 2nd gen Firestick 4k Max (overall speed and function), but who’s to say what’s around the corner. Gotta keep testing, right?
It occurs to me that Rokus, at least the recent models IME, have an annoying problem with battery life in the remote control. I have a stick and an ultra both bought in 2023.
My old Roku 3 remote batteries lasted a long time. I’d say I was replacing the batts every 2 years or so, to avoid leakage. Maybe I replaced them once because they were flat. That’s over 8 or more years.
The stick remote loses about 10% of battery power every 7-14 days. I looked at the Roku community forums and googled, and found many posts on short batt life. I chatted with Roku CS and they sent me a new remote, which lost battery power just as fast.
Internet posters indicated that the rechargeable battery in the Ultra remote also loses power fast, and this has been my experience too with the Ultra. I am thinking it must have something to do with the voice control. Or maybe it’s just that I do a lo more button pushing since I got a Tablo. BTW in my reading I recall plenty of comments about Fire remotes also having batteries go flat quickly.
The Roku website store tells you which replacement remotes are compatible with which boxes. Seems the stick will work only with a voice control remote, but the ultra will work with a very basic $10 remote with no voice control. I bought one, but have not tried it out yet. I’d try my old Roku 3 remote, but have misplaced it.
So has anyone had these problems with Roku remotes, or know what the cause/solution is to the battery life issue?
I do really like the new Onn GoogleTv 4k Pro, though I have only had it for a day. I let a FAST channel run for an hour with no issues, but I could do the same on my Roku Ultra. Recordings and live tv worked well too.
I do like that you can program the top right button to launch any app you have installed, so you could have the Tablo as that app. Voice control is nice as well, though I don’t know if it works on the Tablo app.
The remote uses 2 AAA batteries, so I am curious how long they will last.
My only weird issue with it was getting wi-fi set up on it. It just wouldn’t connect to my primary network, so I used ethernet to set it up. I finally got it to work right on wi-fi by entering my network name manually rather than searching for it.
My guess would be that the newer remotes using the voice control are connected via bluetooth. The older models used only IR, so they weren’t always “connected”.
This seems to be hit or miss with any android device. Sometimes it will think you’re saying “tableau.” Repeating “Open Tablo TV” two or three times usually solves my problem, but this takes too long! You might be better off assigning that extra button since this seems to be hard for Google to understand (whereas Roku’s and Amazon’s work without question). IDK why this is the only app that doesn’t like voice control, but since it’s my second most-used it’s the first on the main page.
I think it shows how well-built the actual TVs are that they will all be getting the update. They must have some decent hardware in them. I was surprised to see that even my 3910 would be getting this sometime down the road!
I wish there was a way to record OTA TV and watch it without having to depend on another entity to facilitate that. I have a Tablo Quad and a Smart TV (2023 edition), yet I cannot access the programs I record without Roku or Firestick. Naturally, if there is a viewing problem, it is those devices that are at fault (never Tablo). I have built up a library of several seasons of my favorite programs. I just discovered that any that were recorded in 2021 or earlier are now “Not viewable through my Roku device” and tagged as such. I am very disappointed in the Tablo device and will wait until someone can develop one that works seamlessly before I abandon cable again.
I find this to be very interesting since I have recordings dating back to 2018 and I don’t have any problems viewing them on my Roku Ultra. I’ve never seen any recordings tagged as not being viewable unless the recording failed to record for some reason.
Have you contacted Tablo Support to check your Tablo’s log to see exactly what the problem is? Is it possible that you did a factory reset or switched harddrives in 2021 and those titles are still in the Tablo’s database, but the recordings are no longer on your harddrive?
