Roku Streambar Soundbar Review

This bar is a smaller and more compact alternative to other models like the Roku Smart Soundbar and the Roku Streambar Pro. It has a nondescript design, with fabric wrapping around the front and the sides.

You can purchase a Roku Wireless Subwoofer separately.

You can buy Roku Wireless Speakers separately.

Given its small size, the bar fits easily into most existing setups and fits between the legs of a 55-inch TV stand. It's not very tall, so it doesn't obscure your TV screen.

You can mount this soundbar to the wall, though you must purchase the brackets separately.

The bar has a good build quality. It's mostly made of hard plastic, which feels very sturdy and durable. The rubber underneath the bar helps to hold it in place. Fabric wraps around the front and sides of the bar, and its tight fit means it isn't likely to rip. Still, it can collect some dust over time.

• Remote
• Batteries (2x AAA)
• Quick Start guide
• Optical cable (5.9 ft / 1.8m)
• HDMI cable (4.9 ft / 1.5m)
• Power cable (5.9 ft / 1.8m)
• Power adapter (5.9 ft / 1.8m)

This 2.0 setup is ideal for listening to stereo content, which includes most music and vocal-heavy TV shows. Its frequency response is quite balanced, especially in the mids, where most voices and instruments reproduce, so you get a clear and accurate representation of these sounds. However, there's a slight dip in the treble range, so higher-pitched instruments like hi-hats are a bit veiled in the mix. Given its small size, it struggles to bring any thump or rumble in the low bass, even compared to other standalone budget models like the TCL Alto 6 or the paired-down Roku Streambar SE. However, you can always add a separate sub to improve its performance.

If you update the bar to firmware version 11.0.0 or later, you get access to bass and treble adjustments to help you customize its sound to your liking. With its bass set to '8', you get a more balanced sound, with a bit more thump in the bass range to bring bass-heavy genres like EDM and hip-hop to life. The mids remain quite balanced, so voices and lead instruments are still clear and detailed in the mix.

The Roku Streambar's stereo soundstage is fair. The soundstage extends past its edges, which is impressive for such a small bar, but it doesn't do any tricks to make it sound larger than that. Focus is okay, but sounds seem to accelerate toward the far sides of the bar. That said, the focus is much more consistent towards the center, so objects like instruments are perceived as coming from accurate, pinpoint locations.

This soundbar doesn't get as loud as many others we've tested and won't be loud enough for a large or crowded room, but that's normal with its small size. Fortunately, it's still suitable for listening in an average-sized living room. Also, there isn't a lot of compression when you push it to max volume, so sound quality doesn't degrade as you crank up the volume.

The Roku Streambar has a decent THD performance. There isn't a lot of distortion at normal listening levels, resulting in clean and pure audio reproduction. As with most bars, if you push the bar to its max volume, there's a jump in THD. However, this isn't very noticeable with real-life content unless you're a very astute audiophile.

This 2.0 setup lacks a discrete center channel to improve vocal reproduction. Instead, it uses its left and right stereo channels to simulate a phantom center, which isn't quite as accurate. That said, the frequency response on this phantom channel is very even, especially in the mids, where most voices are reproduced. As a result, dialogue is still clear and easy to follow in the mix.

This bar has poor surrounds performance. It has to downmix this content into stereo to play it, which doesn't sound as immersive as a setup with dedicated satellite speakers. When you watch movies like Ford v Ferrari (2019), you don't get the sense of cars driving past you during race scenes. Instead, sound effects are concentrated in the space in front of you. You can always add on separate satellites if you want to improve this bar's surround sound, though.

This soundbar has a few sound enhancement features. It offers four EQ presets: 'Standard', 'Dialogue', 'Movie', 'Music', and 'Night'. There's also a Volume Mode feature to quiet loud commercials. You can set it to 'Off', 'Leveling', or 'Night Mode' depending on how much you want to balance the sound between your programs. There's also an adjustable Speech Clarity feature to make voices crisper, and you can choose between 'Off', 'Low', and 'High'. If you update it to firmware version 11.0.0 or higher, you get bass and treble adjustments to customize its sound.

You can connect the bar to your TV via Optical. Also, if your TV has HDMI ARC, you can connect it over an HDMI cable. Most TVs have this technology built-in; however, older TVs may not. In that case, you can connect it over Optical and HDMI to get it to play.

The Roku Streambar supports Dolby Digital content, which is commonly found on Blu-ray discs as well as streaming platforms. However, since it's a 2.0 bar, it has to downmix it into stereo to play it. It doesn't support lossless or object-based formats like Atmos, though. For more extensive audio format support, consider the TCL S45H, which offers Dolby Atmos (though it's still downmixed) and DTS.

The Roku Streambar can only support Dolby Digital content via Optical, which is commonly found on Blu-ray discs or streaming platforms. That said, it lacks DTS support.

Latency is fairly low. You don't notice any delay between the audio you hear and the video you see on screen. Some apps and TVs compensate for latency differently, though.

It's easy to wirelessly stream audio from your mobile devices to the bar. It doesn't support Chromecast built-in, though, which is a bit disappointing if you have a lot of Google devices.

This soundbar doesn't have an HDMI In port, so it doesn't support high-quality passthrough.

The bar doesn't have a display. Just like the Roku Smart Soundbar, it has a light in the center of the bar. It turns solid red when you've plugged it in and turns green when it's ready. The light also slowly pulses when you're on mute, and it turns white for a moment to indicate that you've made a command. Unfortunately, there's no way of knowing its volume level if the TV is off.

You can control almost all of the bar's features with its remote. Unlike the Roku Streambar Pro, you can't connect headphones to the remote itself for private listening—you have to do that through the Roku Streambar app instead. The app also acts as a remote, so if you'd rather control the bar from your smartphone, you can do that there.

The bar has its own voice assistant built into the remote. You can press the microphone button on the remote or use the app to activate it. Also, you can use a third-party Google Home, Amazon Alexa, and/or compatible Apple Homekit for voice assistant support. You just need to set them up in the Google Home, Amazon Alexa, or Apple Home apps, respectively, to stream them on the bar.