The Roku 4 actually came out at the heels of the release of Apple TV last month, which only made it tougher for consumers to choose what new streaming box that they will be buying in the market these days.
In terms of the amount of space to be taken up by the streaming device on one’s entertainment center, Roku 4 is significantly bigger than Apple TV because it is three times larger than the latter.
Roku 4 takes the advantage over the Apple TV when it comes to resolution because it can stream 4K content at a resolution of 3,840 x 2,160 as well as upscale standard HD to 4K. Apple TV has a resolution of ‘only’ 1080 pixel.
The toss-up between Roku 4 and Apple TV will be in their remote controls although it seems that one has the advantage over the other in some aspects. The controller of Roku 4 includes a headphone port for private viewing. It has an option for wireless headphone connection by simply pinging it from a button on top of the box.
The remote controls of both streaming boxes have voice interface, but Apple TV runs a version of iOS’s personal assistant, Siri. It also has cool features that allow users to make specific requests to Siri including rewinding a show and turning on caption with a single voice command.