ROKU Streaming & Remote Issues
Today, I went out and bought a Roku Ultra (4800X) as our Roku Streaming Stick (3800X) for our bedroom has a number of issues. For example, while streaming on either Hulu or Discovery+, the quality will be all over the place from unwatchable to clear 1080p, and it would buffer two to three times every 30 minutes of playback, sometimes never recovering, And while using Amazon Prime Video, it would often pop up a message on screen about the Streaming Stick overheating, but no disruption to playback.
Initially, I thought the issue was with Discovery+, which I am currently testing out. But after trying Discovery+ on our TV in the living room, which has a Roku Premiere (4620X) connected, it worked flawlessly, clear 1080p after a second or two of playback, and no buffering at all, connected wirelessly like the bedroom Streaming Stick. This squarely puts the blame on the Roku Streaming Stick, it seems that putting all that tech in such a small form factor results in poorer performance than their larger cousins.
Moving onto the remote control supplied with the Roku Ultra, it worked fine with the device itself; but I could not get it to work with my 10-year-old RCA TV, following the Roku provided steps. Previously, the remote for the Roku Streaming Stick worked fine, turning the TV on and off, and controlling the volume.
I searched Google and found some suggestions for trying different brands of TV, but that option was not available to me. After some further reading, I found out that if connected to the TV via HDMI; the Roku will detect the TV brand; not allowing you to select a brand during setup, and I don’t see a way around this.
Then, I had a brainwave, I knew that Roku remotes were interchangeable; so I ‘forgot’ the Ultra remote, and paired the Streaming Stick remote to the Roku Ultra; then following the Roku instructions, it detected my RCA TV, and it worked perfectly. The remote supplied with the Ultra worked with my daughter’s Vizio TV with no issue, after pairing it with the Streaming Stick that was formerly in my bedroom.
However, it does seem weird that the older model remote works fine with my RCA TV, but not the newer model remote, both remotes are very similar, so I guess it makes little difference. I do lose the headphone functionality on the remote, which, if I am being honest, I would never have used, but thanks for the earbuds, they sound pretty good connected to my Pixel 4 XL via the USB-C to 3.5mm dongle.