The best streaming devices for 2025

If you buy a TV today, it’ll almost assuredly be a smart TV. But there are still a few reasons you may want a streaming device. Some cheaper and older smart TVs have pretty dismal built-in operating systems that are slow, laggy or otherwise tedious to use. In that case, a streaming device can help you navigate more quickly and give you an interface that’s more pleasant to deal with. Streaming devices come in handy when you travel, too. As long as the TV at your Vrbo or hotel has an HDMI port, you should be able to plug in the streamer and watch your shows (without having to type in a bunch of passwords).

Nearly every streaming device will support the major VOD apps (like Netflix, Prime Video and Max), free services (like Pluto and Plex), as well as live TV streaming subscriptions (like YouTube TV and Fubo). We tried out streamers from the major brands in the market and judged the interface, price, speed and image quality to help you pick the best streaming device for your cord-cutting needs.

What to look for in a TV streaming device

Operating system and interface

Google’s TV Streamer, the Apple TV 4K, Amazon’s Fire TV Sticks and Roku devices are the most popular players in the space. Three of those brands also come built into TVs, such as Fire, Google and Roku TVs, but the Apple TV 4K doesn’t come pre-loaded on any set. Each one has a unique operating system and interface. This may be the biggest deciding factor for many people, as it determines how the home entertainment you want to watch is arranged and presented. We go into detail for each platform below, but all of them come with home screens that, to varying degrees, gather your apps in one place, present the movies and TV shows you’re currently watching and give you suggestions of other media streaming options.

Nearly all streaming devices come with a remote that lets you search and do other operations using your voice, eliminating the need to hunt and peck at on-screen keyboards. They all offer “universal search,” in which searching for a title takes you to whichever app has it available. If you want to watch Wicked but don’t know where it’s playing, just push the voice button on the remote and say “Wicked.” (We found simply saying the title or the genre you want sometimes works better than saying “Show me…” or “Search for…”) From the search results, hit the play button and the correct app will open and start playing — assuming you’ve previously logged into that app and, in most cases, have an active subscription.

Connectivity

Most streaming sticks connect to the internet via Wi-Fi, with the majority of them supporting Wi-Fi 5 or 6 protocols. Set-top boxes can also have Ethernet ports, so you can hardwire your internet connection to the device, which is typically faster than wireless. Streaming media players connect to your TV through an HDMI port, and most sticks hide behind the screen, while set-top boxes sit on a surface nearby. Nearly all units also plug into an AC outlet for power. Some sticks used to work by pulling power from a USB port on the TV, but increasingly, these devices are designed to plug into the wall.

Video and audio features

If your home theater setup has a screen that can display 4K content with Dolby Vision and HDR10, you’ll want a streaming device that supports those high-end formats. Of course, even the most top-shelf streamer can’t make a 1080p TV stream 4K. The series or movie also has to be transmitted in 4K and, increasingly, companies restrict higher-quality streaming to more expensive subscription plans. In short, every element needs to support the video or audio feature, otherwise the highest quality you’ll get will be the lowest of any component in the chain.

Remotes

Most remotes that come with streaming devices will allow you to control the power and volume of your TV. Some of the less expensive devices, however, don’t have that feature, so you’ll need to use your TV’s remote to turn it on, then use the streaming remote to navigate the streamer’s interface. If your streamer’s remote does offer power and volume controls, the setup process will usually calibrate your remote to your TV. If you want to use a soundbar, such as from Sonos or other brands, for audio you may also have to take the additional step of pairing your remote to the speaker.

Voice control

In addition to helping you find stuff to watch, streaming devices from Apple, Google and Amazon can answer questions about the weather, sports scores and general facts using built-in voice assistants. They can also act as smart home controllers to turn off connected smart bulbs or plugs and show feeds from smart cameras. Just remember, as with all smart home devices, compatibility is key. Fire TV devices work with Alexa-enabled smart home equipment; the Google TV Streamer lets you control Google Home devices; and Apple TV 4Ks play nice with HomeKit and other Apple devices. Rokus grant power over Roku’s smart home products, but also work with the other ecosystems.

Below are some recommendations for the best streaming sticks and other budget-friendly options. We also included suggestions for set-top boxes and devices geared toward gamers.

Best streaming devices for 2025

Photo by Amy Skorheim / Engadget

Read our full Google TV streamer review

Google replaced the Chromecast product line with the release of the Google TV Streamer in September of 2024. There’s no HD model, only 4K this time around and the going price is $100, which is double the price of the most recent 4K Chromecast. Instead of a dongle that hides behind your TV, it’s now a set-top wedge.

Inside, there’s a faster processor, which kept up with my scattered testing methods — opening and closing apps then reloading them immediately — with no trouble. The Apple TV 4K is still the fastest of the streamers I’ve tried, but I don’t think the speed here will disappoint most people. The storage has jumped up to 32GB from a skimpy 8GB on the Chromecast and the memory is doubled at 4GB. It supports up to 4K/60fps video with HDR, HDR10, HDR10+ and Dolby Vision. Audio formats include Dolby Digital and Dolby Atmos along with spatial audio if you’re wearing the Pixel Buds Pro.

The remote is compact and streamlined; the D-pad handles navigation, play, pause and rewind. Of course there’s also a back button (as you’d find on any good Android device). And if you ever lose the pill-shaped remote, you can push a button on the back of the set-top wedge to make it ring.

Google has made its Home app an integral part of the streamer. Not only will you use it to set up your device, but you can also use the streamer to view a slideout home panel on your TV screen (that looks a lot like the Favorites tab in the app). The panel lets you control your compatible smart home devices so you can set temperatures, turn off lights, view feeds and so on. You can even do so while you’re watching something if you program the star button on the remote to pull up the Home panel.

What really makes the Google TV 4K Streamer the best for all-in-one steaming is the interface. It’s basically the same as what you’ll find on any TV set or screen that comes with Google TV built in. I find Google’s presentation to be the best at pulling together content from different streaming apps into one useful and intuitive menu. It’ll track what you’ve been watching across different platforms so you can easily dive back in, and the recommendations are pulled fairly equitably from across your subscribed services.

Of course, no big tech company can release a product today without some AI contrivance and it comes here in the form of computer-generated plot and audience review summaries for titles. It’ll also generate screensaver images based on your prompts. Those are fine and all, though probably not worth it. The real reason to go for the Google TV Streamer is the helpful interface combined with performance that’s faster than most of the sticks on the market. And if you’re someone who uses Google Home for your smart home control, you’ll get even more out of this device.

Pros

Excellent interface combines all streaming content equally
Useful smart home control with a slide-out paneluseful
Attractive device with a great remote

Cons

Required HDMI cable issold separately
Double the price of its predecessor

$100 at Walmart

Will Lipman Photography for Engadget

Believe it or not, the streaming world has enough free content to keep even the most voracious watchers entertained — and the Roku Streaming Stick 4K is probably the best way to access it. Roku’s interface is uncluttered, with a simple list at the left and an app grid on the right. Two of those list items, Live TV and Featured Free, are stuffed with free content, both on linear channels and video-on-demand (VOD) services. The Roku Channel app adds thousands more series, films, Roku Originals and live channels to watch without subscribing to a dang thing.

Roku makes seven different streaming devices, including sticks, set-top boxes and a few Streambars — all will get you that free content. The $50 Streaming Stick 4K is the best mix of price and features. It hides behind your TV, supports 4K, HDR10+ and Dolby Vision and has a longer range Wi-Fi. If you don’t need the longer range or Dolby Vision, and don’t mind a slightly bulkier device, you can save $10 and get the Roku Express 4K+. Both players support Apple AirPlay 2 and can control your set’s power and volume.

I found the universal search function to be accurate when looking for specific titles; pushing the Voice button and saying “Poker Face” brings up results for the Peacock show, the Russell Crowe movie and a poker documentary from a free channel. Saying “Succession” gets you the show from Max as well as listings for other series and films with “success” in the title. It was pretty good at finding suggestions for more general searches, like “police procedural shows” and “Idris Elba,” though it had issues with recommendations for kids movies (not enough Disney+ results, in my opinion).

Navigation is speedy with minimal load times between apps. The remote has a nice layout with a large back button and the volume rocker on the side. The handy Instant Replay button jumps back 10 to 20 seconds and can even show subtitles for the replayed portion, if the app supports it. The only thing I didn’t love was the What to Watch menu, which was overwhelmingly populated with free content and had a minimal amount of titles sprinkled in from my paid apps. But since free content is where Roku really shines, I can’t be too miffed. — A.S.

Pros

Built-in access to tons of free content
Accurate universal search
Supports 4K, HDR10+ and Dolby Vision content

Cons

What to Watch menu ignores content from other streamers

$38 at Amazon

Amazon

Towards the end of 2024, Amazon replaced the Fire TV Stick Lite and the standard Fire TV Stick with the Fire TV Stick HD. It has the same internal hardware and supports the same 1080p at 60 fps as the Lite but the remote can now control the power and volume on your TV — something the Lite couldn’t do.

The price went up by $5 as well, making the list price $35. Still, as it’s often on sale for $25 and lower, it’s one of the cheaper streaming sticks on the market. We tested the original Lite model for this guide, and our biggest complaint was the lack of control for our TV’s power and volume — using two remotes was a tad annoying, so it’s good to see that flaw remedied. If you don’t have a 4K TV, or don’t watch a ton of 4K content, this will save you a good chunk of change over the $50 Fire TV Stick 4K.

The HD’s remote not only controls the TV, it also lets you use Alexa to search for shows and ask general questions like the weather forecast or the latest scores for your favorite sports team. Amazon’s Fire TV interface supports all of the major streaming services, including Netflix, Hulu, Max, YouTube and Live TV providers like Sling, YouTube TV and Fubo.

Despite its low price, the Fire TV Stick HD is a decent streaming dongle. It comes with the updated Fire TV interface that has user profiles and and a navigation that’s better at integrating different content that it was before. Finding apps and shows is easy enough, though the layout isn’t as unified as Google TV’s and is more complicated than Roku’s. One thing to note is that Amazon’s interface prioritizes Prime Video content, and you’ll see a lot more ads here than on other streaming platforms.

Pros

Affordable
Supports all major streaming services
Updated remote can control your TV’s power and volume

Cons

No 4K content support
UI heavily favors Amazon Prime Video content

$20 at Amazon

Roku

The Roku Express has the same user interface as any Roku device but it’s housed in a compact set-top box instead. It doesn’t support 4K or HDR and the remote control lacks a voice command button. But if all you want is a capable HD streaming device, the Express fits the bill. If you insist on having 4K, however, consider the Roku Express 4K+, which retails for $40. It’s very similar to the Express, except it carries support for 4K, HDR and AirPlay, and it comes with a voice remote as well. That could well make it worth the extra money. —N.L.

Pros

Affordable
Lots of free and live content

Cons

No 4K streaming support
No voice remote

$20 at Amazon

Amy Skorheim for Engadget

Roku updated its most advanced streamer, the Roku Ultra, in 2024, giving it a faster processor, Wi-Fi 6 compatibility and a brand new remote. Like the previous generation, it supports 4K HDR10/10+ streaming, 100 Mbps Ethernet connection, Bluetooth streaming, AirPlay2 connectivity and voice commands with Alexa, Google Home and Roku Smart Home. The previous model had a microSD slot for external media, now there’s a USB port for local playback.

I used the Ultra for about a month and was impressed with the speed, image quality and the new remote — plus a couple of perks I hadn’t expected. The 4K TV I used for testing was new to me and whoever had watched it before had set it to 1080p. During setup, the Ultra prompted me to head to the TVs settings to adjust the video quality. It was a nice touch and not something all players do.

Flipping from app to app was nearly instantaneous. Changing my mind with the back button immediately returned to the home screen. I experienced no buffering issues or audio synching troubles and pairing up Bluetooth headphones was fast with glitch-free performance.

I really liked the new remote. Pick it up and the backlight kicks in, making it easy to control in a darkened room. Since it’s equipped with an always-on mic for hands-free voice control (you can turn it off right on the remote) you can say, “Hey Roku, where’s the remote?” and it’ll start ringing. Even with the Roku and TV off, you can just say “Hey Roku, open Netflix” to turn on your TV and start up the app. A backlight and always-on feature will obviously drain the battery quicker, but in a month of using the remote, I only had to recharge it once, which is easy to do via USB-C.

The voice control function didn’t perform more complicated functions as easily, though. With the TV off, I asked it to continue playing a show I’d been watching and it turned on my PS5. While on the Roku home screen, I asked it to continue playing Gravity Falls, and was told there was no content to continue playing, even though my kid had been watching the show the day before. I often had better luck just holding down the mic button and speaking a search request as I’m used to doing with other players. The search function was accurate most of the time, presenting the correct movie or show and taking me to the app when I clicked on what I wanted.

Of course, as we said about the other Roku device on our list, the OS here is best at finding and presenting free and live content, with a live TV channel guide, a Featured Free content tab, a What to Watch section packed with stuff from no-cost providers like Tubi, plus the brand’s own Roku Channel. If you’re a fan of the Roku experience and want to get the most out of a higher-end TV, the Ultra is the set-top box to get. — A.S.

Pros

Excellent remote
High-quality video and audio
Lots of access to free and live content
USB port for playing local media
HDMI cable is included

Cons

Voice control struggles with complex requests
Interface is better at free content than organizing your paid apps

$93 at Macy’s

Photo by Devindra Hardawar / Engadget

Operating system: Apple tvOS | Connectivity: HDMI, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth | Voice control: Yes | Resolution: up to 4K | Supported formats: Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos, HDR10+, Apple Lossless | Smart home compatibility: HomeKit | Ambient Mode: No | Headphone compatible: Yes, via Bluetooth, Spatial Audio avail. with AirPods | TV power/volume control: Yes

When my colleague Devindra Hardawar reviewed the latest gen of the Apple TV 4K upon its debut in 2022, he called it “the best streaming box by a long shot.” In terms of picture quality, speed, longevity and Apple-engineered extras, that remains accurate. The set-top box supports 4K Dolby Vision and HDR10+, which makes compatible content look, to borrow Devindra’s term, glorious.

The A15 Bionic chip inside enables near-instantaneous loading of and switching between apps. Zooming from the beginning of an episode to the end or anywhere in between is not only quick, but also quite easy to do once you get the hang of the touch-sensitive directional pad on the Siri remote. Apple improved the box hardware over the previous generation, too, with a smaller, fan-less design.

You don’t have to be an Apple devotee to appreciate the streaming box, but having an iPhone makes setup easier, letting you hold your iOS handset near the device to transfer credentials. If you use the Fitness+ app with an Apple Watch, not only can you watch workouts on a big screen, you’ll see live heart rate stats splashed in the corner as well. The app library is extensive, covering all of the most popular streaming services, plus countless Apple Arcade and other games. The remote’s Siri button lets you easily search for stuff to watch with voice commands, and typically gets you to the right app immediately. I found it nearly as good as other devices in suggesting content for more general queries like “sci-fi space movies.”

If you were waiting for the “but,” here it is: the Apple TV 4K is expensive. The base model is $129, which comes with 32GB of storage. The 128GB model goes for $149 and adds an Ethernet port and acts as a Thread-enabled home hub, a requirement for certain smart home devices. Also, if you’re looking for lots of free channels and live programming with an all-in-one home page to unify your disparate streaming subscriptions, this isn’t quite it.

The Apple TV app incorporates recently watched series into the Up Next section and your most-used apps appear in the Channels and Apps row. But the homepage is mostly a showcase for Apple TV+ series and movies. And don’t expect to see much in the way of Netflix content in the app either. Possibly due to a continuing grudge match between the two companies, Siri even has trouble finding Netflix shows at all — searching for Lupin only came back with results from the anime franchise and when I asked for All the Light We Cannot See, the AI turned off my smart lights. Finally, this premium streaming device doesn’t come with the HDMI cable required to hook it up to your TV. That’s a minor detail in the grand scheme of things, but it did cause me to fling grownup words in Cupertino’s general direction. — A.S.

Pros

Extremely fast operation
Apple Fitness+ and Arcade on a big screen
Support for 4K, HDR and Dolby Vision content

Cons

Expensive
Apple TV app heavily favors Apple TV+ content
Sub-par Netflix searches

$125 at B&H Photo

NVIDIA

For those who want an all-in-one device that lets you stream movies, run a PLEX media server and play games, consider NVIDIA’s Shield TV Pro. It currently runs Android TV, which is a little outdated at this point, but there’s a possibility that it could be upgraded to Google TV in the future.

Thanks to its capable Tegra X1+ processor, the NVIDIA Shield TV Pro can stream in native 4K and it can also upscale 720p and 1080p video to 4K with the company’s AI neural network. It also supports Dolby Vision and HDR10, has 3GB of RAM, 16GB of storage and two USB-C ports. Additionally, there’s a gigabit Ethernet port, an HDMI socket and a microSD card slot. Since it runs on Android, you can use it to play most games from the Google Play Store.

The main reason you’d choose the NVIDIA Shield TV Pro over other machines is that it gives you access to NVIDIA’s GeForce Now cloud gaming service. As long as you have a relatively speedy internet connection, you can play top-tier PC games that are streamed online to your Shield TV Pro. —N.L.

Pros

Supports 4K, HDR10 and Dolby Vision content
Provides access to NVIDIA’s GeForce Now cloud gaming service
Built-in Google Assistant support

$199 at Amazon

Microsoft

Even though both Sony’s PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series X can stream video, it’s the Xbox that we think is the best gaming console for the job. It can play 4K Blu-Rays and supports all of the usual streaming video apps including Apple TV+ and Disney+. However, the PS5 can’t stream Disney+ Dolby Atmos, which is disappointing if you ever want to watch The Mandalorian in all its cinematic glory.

Fortunately, that’s not the case with the Xbox Series X. On top of that, the Xbox Series X (and S) also support Dolby Vision for streaming video, which is especially great for people with newer TVs. Of course, the Xbox is also a pretty great gaming machine, and it offers access to Game Pass, Microsoft’s subscription service that has a large library of titles. —N.L.

Pros

Provides access to all major streaming services
Plays 4K Blu-Rays

$500 at Amazon

Amazon

Our budget pick from Amazon doesn’t support 4K image quality or Dolby Atmos. Amazon’s higher-end Fire TV Stick 4K Max not only handles Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos, 4K and HDR10+, but it also supports Wi-Fi 6E. That means if you have a router that also carries the protocol, you could see better and faster connectivity.

The 4K Max has the fastest processor of any Fire TV Stick (the Amazon Fire TV Cube is faster, but isn’t a stick), and we found it plenty zippy. The 4K Max even supports a fairly pleasant Ambient Experience, displaying art (and widgets) when the screen is idle, like on Samsung’s The Frame. It also lets Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers play games via the app without an Xbox Series X or S console.

I’ll also point out that Engadget’s Jeff Dunn has gotten a lot of use from the stick as a retro gaming emulator. That’s a decent amount of utility from a $60 device (that’s often on sale for around $45).

That said, Amazon’s Fire TV interface is less elegant (and less democratic) than other UIs, highly prioritizing Prime Video content. It’s also notably ad-stuffed — promoting not just Amazon’s content, but products as well. — A.S.

Pros

Affordable 4K streaming
Additional gaming access

Cons

Ad-stuffed interface
Prioritizes Prime Video content

$40 at Amazon

How we tested and picked the best streaming devices

Like every gadget we test, we start by researching what’s worthy of reviewing. Then we get a hold of the devices ourselves and see how well they work. We don’t have a central Engadget lab; we test things in our own living rooms, on our own TV sets. We also figure that’s a better approximation of how you’d use the gadgets anyway.

We began testing streaming devices as far back as 2007 with the first Apple TV device. Since then, we’ve tried out most of the major new releases to come along — from the Roku Stick back in 2014 to the 2024 Google TV Streamer 4K. A few years ago, we decided to compile the streaming devices we reviewed into this guide. Since then, we’ve updated our top picks using verdicts from our reviews, as well the testing we perform just for this guide. As new devices come out, we try them and, if something is worthy, we add it to our top picks on this list.

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Table of contents

What to look for in a TV streaming device

Operating system and interface

Connectivity

Video and audio features

Remotes

Voice control

Best streaming devices for 2025

How we tested and picked the best streaming devices

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