Roku, maker of some of the best streaming devices, is perhaps one of the most recognizable brands in the TV industry, although the company has only introduced its own designs in recent years. Its 2023 Roku Plus Series QLED TVs remains one of the best Roku TVs on the market, but thanks to some new developments, it now has a more powerful successor in the form of the extremely exciting Roku Pro Series mini-LED TV coming out this year.
Note the differentiation in panel design here, with the Pro series featuring a mini-LED backlight for the first time under Roku’s own name. This ensures that the new display offers better contrast and higher peak brightness, while still being relatively affordable given more advanced display options.
This is the crux of the OLED vs. mini-LED debate, and Roku’s latest Pro Series TV is a shining example of how a simple LCD backlight can prove to be just as worthwhile and valuable an investment as its counterparts. Mini-LED TVs are here to stay, after all, and the Roku Pro Series could well be one of the best new entries in the category when compared to the big offerings from rivals like Hisense, TCL, and Sony.
But what exactly makes Roku’s latest display stand out and what makes it break? Are the upgrades and overall changes worth the entry price, or is the Roku Pro Series just another way for Roku to get its advertising into more homes worldwide? Let’s explore what makes the Roku Pro Series mini-LED TV so attractive and why it may also have a tough road ahead in the market, starting with the positives first.
The “advantages” of the Roku Pro series
Gaming knowledge
General entertainment via the best streaming services is of course a top pastime for most users when considering a new TV, but gaming is seeing a newfound surge in interest in the market – to the point that even TCL is enlisting Call of Duty as an official brand partner.
One of the biggest highlights of the Roku Pro series is its fundamental gaming performance. It all starts with the mini-LED backlight, which helps bring out gorgeous colors and brightness when you’re in the middle of the second Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree run. Plus, you can’t go wrong with a 120Hz refresh rate and 9.4ms input latency on a display that supports FreeSync Premium Pro.
While it’s not yet one of the best gaming TVs, lacking premium features like a dedicated gaming bar and a full range of HDMI 2.1 ports, it makes up for these limitations with excellent value for money and outstanding HDR coverage that runs the gamut, including HDR10, HDR10+, HLG and Dolby Vision.
Economy price
Roku stands out from the crowd largely because of its impeccable pricing. Last year’s Plus series launched at just $650 for its 65-inch model, and the 2024 Roku Pro series is no exception. At $1,199, the 65-inch configuration is a real bargain for a well-equipped display with plenty of potential.
However, you could probably save some money by getting one of the best TVs under $1,000, like the Hisense U8N 55-inch Mini LED TV. While our initial testing data is a bit skewed, with Roku quoting up to 1,200 nits in a 10% window for maximum SDR brightness for the Pro series, the U8N can reach several hundred nits more brightness, making it a more attractive option for the price.
While it may not always be the cheapest option, the Roku Pro series has other positive factors that make it stand out in its price range, namely a fairly intuitive new remote control, the Roku Voice Remote Pro, which unlike the competition features backlit buttons, longer battery life, and USB-C charging.
Finally, you have to consider the versatile speaker system, which is a first for budget displays. We praised the Plus series and its own sound quality, and that performance extends to its successor, which uses a Dolby Atmos sound system.
Brilliant interface
TCL and Hisense have plenty of affordable mini-LED options on the market this year, but most (if not all) will be based on the Google TV interface. Roku vs. Google TV is a heated debate, but given years of industry expertise in TV operating systems through products like the Roku Streaming Stick 4K, it’s safe to say Roku has one of the sleekest, most user-friendly interfaces yet.
Roku is simply too hard to beat, and while many would like to point out those annoying ads as problematic and detrimental to the experience, it’s not the only one with these issues. The system itself also has some basic features that many may not know about, so it’s best to learn how to access the secret Roku menus before dismissing it as a useless interface.
Disadvantages of the Roku Pro Series
Poor anti-reflex measures
Not every display can compete with the Samsung S95D OLED TV with its highly-pronounced anti-glare screen, and the Roku Pro series is one of those laggards. In my testing, it really struggled with glare, despite using an anti-reflective filter on the QLED panel. This is due to a number of factors, but the most obvious is its limited brightness potential in the face of higher-profile options like the aforementioned Hisense U8N.
That said, it’s not the worst experience out there, but it could definitely be improved upon. Reflections are often the bane of OLED TVs, which is why many new TV buyers are flocking to mini-LEDs, but as with the S95D and even tandem OLED as seen on the new Apple iPad Pro, OLEDs could be catching up to their cheaper mini-LED descendants.
However, the anti-glare feature of the Roku Pro series is simply not sufficient so far and I would like to see more attention paid to this limitation in Roku’s future TV product lineup.
Motion processing and off-axis view
While the picture quality is flawless, the off-axis viewing and motion processing suffer greatly on the Roku Pro series. The former is more than expected given that it uses QLED technology and it’s pretty much standard, but the limited motion processing is a real bummer. You can always enable Roku’s motion smoothing setting, but I tend to stay away from it as it gives the content that rather unpleasant “soap opera” effect that few want to experience.
As much as these shortcomings may be lacking, that’s to be expected for Roku’s second TV design. These drawbacks will surely slowly be addressed over time as Roku revises and refines its TV designs over the next few years. Additionally, the drawbacks of motion processing and off-axis viewing may not be relevant to every TV buyer, as price and overall picture quality prove to be far more important.
Should you buy the Roku Pro Series?
That’s a tough one in what is currently a pretty aggressive TV market. Recent models from Hisense and TCL offer great specs and affordable prices that the Roku Pro Series just can’t compete with. It has an incredible ecosystem built on top of Roku’s popular operating system, and aside from the advancements in the remote and sound system, there are still some drawbacks to consider before picking up this TV.
First off, Roku was the target of not one, but several damaging internal security breaches, attacking as many as 567,000 users with stolen credit card information, passwords, and more earlier this year. Given a particularly well-built TV, this is something to keep in mind, because despite its merits as a relatively notable mini-LED TV, the Pro series and its designers are not without their faults.
However, the Pro series shines at gaming and general entertainment, which is arguably the most important consideration behind the price. Roku has developed some handy automatic picture adjustments with its Smart Picture Max feature that could give the Pro series an edge in the market, but its higher price and lower brightness specs compared to rivals like TCL and Hisense make it pretty hard to recommend.
