The best Roku TVs blend value pricing with a simple-but-powerful smart platform, granting you easy access to your favorite movies and shows. We love Roku, as it offers a slew of free channels and apps built around an easy-to-navigate interface. This makes the best Roku TVs perfect for people who don't want to deal with complicated user interfaces or dedicated streaming boxes.
A Roku TV isn't necessarily a TV engineered and distributed by Roku, but any TV that offers the Roku platform as its built-in operating system. Right now, however, the two best Roku TVs happen to be made by Roku.
Companies like TCL and Hisense still offer their own Roku TVs, but in recent years, these brands' mainline TVs have mostly favored Google TV. In other words, you can only find Roku on very low-end TCL and Hisense TVs, and we typically don't recommend those models due to their tendency to perform at a low level.
As of today, there are no OLED Roku TVs. Instead, you'll find both Mini-LED and basic QLED models below. While we always prefer to include as many options as possible in our buying guides, the Roku TV landscape is too barren to include more than two models on our list.
The quick list
The best Roku TVs: quick list
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Picture ★★★★☆
Features ★★★★☆
Value ★★★★☆
The Roku Pro Series, with its Mini-LED display, terrific picture quality, and solid selection of gaming features, is our pick for the best Roku TV you can buy right now. It costs more than our best budget pick, but it's a much better performer and worth the extra cost if you care deeply about picture and features selection.
Picture ★★★☆☆
Features ★★★★☆
Value ★★★★★
The Roku Plus Series debuted last year, but it's still available for shoppers looking for the best Roku TV on a budget. It doesn't offer as many gaming-related features as the higher-end Pro Series (nor does it offer the Pro Series' level of performance), but for folks who just want a fuss-free Roku TV that will look good in most living rooms, the Plus Series is the way to go.
The best Roku TV
As Mini-LED TVs go, the Roku Pro Series is a great option for folks seeking a more affordable, user-friendly TV with some strong performance benefits. Released this year, it's our pick for the best Roku TV you can buy.
In addition to the Roku operating system, it comes with plenty of A/V- and gaming-related features for the price: a 120Hz refresh rate, FreeSync Premium support, and more. It's no high-end OLED TV, but it offers just enough wiggle room in terms of specs on an unbeatable price. (Right now, you can land a 55-inch Roku Pro Series for about $700).
Mini-LED TVs are making waves as some of the best TVs you can buy due to their bright performance profile and local dimming capabilities. The Pro Series is no different. We clocked its peak brightness at 1,355 nits in Filmmaker mode, which means highlights (small, concentrated bits of brightness) look just as good no matter what kind of environment your home cinema is situated in.
The biggest marks against the Pro Series are its narrow viewing angles and the fact that it's limited to just two HDMI 2.1 ports. This would be a bigger problem if the Pro Series has a 144Hz refresh rate, but its 120Hz refresh rate makes it most appealing for console gamers who don't have additional cables for a PC or alternative gaming system.
All of the latest HDR formats are included: Dolby Vision, HDR10+, and HLG. As the tester and reviewer of the Pro Series, I can attest to the Pro Series' gorgeous HDR performance, as highlights really popped in newer shows like "Ripley" and "The Penguin."
A notable sacrifice is its rather poor audio system, something mirrored in several other options among even some of the best TVs. Adding to its drawbacks is its very reflective screen, which can present problems in sunny rooms.
Despite these issues, the Roku Pro Series is the newest and best Roku TV you can buy right now.
Read our full Roku Pro Series Mini-LED TV review.
The best budget Roku TV
The Roku Plus Series scored high marks for a basic, entry-level budget TV when we first evaluated it, but due to the fact that it's n lower-end model from last year, it has settled into the second slot on our list of best Roku TVs.
Unlike the Pro Series, the Roku Plus Series adopts a direct-LED display rather than a Mini-LED display.. That nets you a 60Hz panel with full-array local dimming and a range of HDR support, including Dolby Vision and HDR10+. The local dimming is especially nice to have at this price point, as it allows for better contrast control.
On the HDR front, we raved about its HDR color, which is quite good for this price point. And, while most TVs fall flat in the audio department (including the higher-end Pro Series model), the Plus Series does quite well. We were seriously impressed with this TV's built-in speakers, particularly for an entry-level model.
Its biggest drawback? The Plus Series doesn't have any HDMI 2.1 ports, which doesn't make it ideal for gaming. In fact, it has just two HDMI 2.0 ports (one rated for eARC compatibility), meaning you'll probably just have one input for external devices if you're going the soundbar route. If your living room is particularly sunny, I recommend springing for the Roku Pro Series, as it's far brighter than this model from last year.
Read our full Roku Plus Series 4K QLED TV review.
What is Roku?
The Roku name applies to both smart TVs using the Roku operating system, as well as a range of standalone streaming devices, such as the Roku Streaming Stick Plus. (Check out the best Roku devices for our favorites.) While smart TVs using Roku software are all manufactured by other companies, the streaming devices are made by Roku itself. But the thing they have in common across both TVs and streaming sticks is that they all use the same Roku interface and app store.
We've been big fans of Roku for years, as it emerged early on as a full-featured smart TV platform that wasn't tied to a specific manufacturer. We also appreciate the ease of use that Roku offers, with a simple interface that lays out all of your apps in a basic tiled layout. When so many smart TVs rely on crowded menus with multiple rows of scrolling apps and shows, Roku keeps things simple and offers easy customization.
We also like that Roku offers such a wide range of content and apps, which Roku calls "channels", just to make traditional TV users a little more comfortable. This includes major streaming services such as Netflix, Hulu, Apple TV, Disney Plus and HBO Max. (See our collection of the best Roku Channels to learn more.)
It also includes dozens, if not hundreds, of smaller independent streaming services. This includes everything from local channels offering a streaming app for news and weather to genre-specific channels that serve up a steady flow of public domain movie classics, ranging from westerns to horror films.
There are also plenty of free services, such as Pluto TV, Tubi and PBS Kids, not to mention The Roku Channel, Roku's own ad-supported streaming service. (Find out more in our roundup of the best free channels on Roku.)
How much do Roku TVs cost?
You can find Roku TV sets on our lists of the best TVs under $500 and the best TVs under $1,000, with models ranging from budget-friendly to premium home theater systems. When it comes to budget TVs, we find the sweet spot to be $600 and $1,000. In this price range you will find excellent performance with features like QLED displays, support for Dolby Vision HDR and Dolby Atmos sound, and all of the apps you want.
More expensive models will give you a few fine touches and features for the money (see: Roku Pro Series) but the overall experience will still be quite similar.
If you decide to go with a Roku TV from Westinghouse or Onn to save some money, you'll have to make some big sacrifices, such as stepping down to 1080p or 720p resolution, settling for smaller screen sizes, or giving up features like voice search.
How to choose the best Roku TV for you
When it comes to buying the best Roku TVs, our general advice for TV shopping holds true: Find the right screen size for your space, figure out what your budget is, and be smart with where you try to save a buck.
Always go 4K: Lower-resolution TVs may be tempting with super low prices, but you'll definitely see the difference on a 4K TV, and that quality is worth paying more for. And the latest 8K Roku TV from TCL may look tempting, but we still recommend holding off on 8K until you can actually get movies and shows that use the higher resolution. (Update: TCL has announced the first 8K streaming service, exclusive to TCL's 8K Roku TVs, but we still don't think it's enough to warrant you buying one.)
HDR support: For the best picture, we recommend getting a set that offers high dynamic range (HDR) support. HDR10 is the base standard, while Dolby Vision is a higher-caliber format, and we recommend opting for Dolby Vision support when you have the choice.
Port selection: Connectivity is another chief concern. More HDMI ports will let you connect more devices, like game consoles and satellite boxes. And if you have a soundbar, you'll want to connect it using an HDMI port with ARC.
From smart functions to port selection, we offer plenty of advice in our TV buying guide, which explains the ins and outs of features like HDR, different types of display, and even extended warranties. And if you still have questions about smart TV features and capabilities, check out Smart TVs: Everything you need to know.
And by shopping for a Roku set in particular, you guarantee that you are able to enjoy the best of streaming services and an easy-to-use smart TV interface.
How we test Roku TVs
Evaluating Roku TVs is about more than just kicking back to watch a movie. That's why every TV we review is put through a rigorous testing process that measures key standards of picture quality and performance.
Every TV we test in our lab has its color gamut, color accuracy and brightness measured to objectively see which sets are the best for these aspects. We also test its input latency – a key detail for gaming – measuring to the millisecond how long it takes an image to travel from an HDMI source to the screen. We use these results to make numbers-based comparisons about color and display quality.
On top of our lab testing, we also spend time with each set for real-world evaluation using the most popular movies and TV shows to see how our lab results translate for day-to-day use. We also compare sets side by side and view samples from the latest movies, specialized test patterns that highlight strengths and weaknesses of each display, and a range of content across several sources. With that information, we can tell you which Roku TVs look best, sound best and offer the best viewing experience.
Test results
Below you'll find a comparison of these two Roku TVs' performance across four important categories: HDR peak brightness (represented in nits), color error (in Delta-E), HDR color volume (using the BT2020 gamut), and input lag (in milliseconds).
| TV | Peak Brightness (tested) | Delta-E (tested) | BT2020 Color Volume (tested) | Input Lag (tested) |
| Roku Pro Series | 1,532 nits | 3.9 | 81.06% | 9.4ms |
| Roku Plus Series | 648 nits | 2.6 | 80.54% | 11.5ms |
As you can say, the Roku Pro Series gets significantly brighter than last year's Roku Plus Series. Both TVs offer fantastic color volume for their respective prices, however, and feature fantastic out-of-the-box color accuracy.
If you've narrowed down your TV shopping by brand, price range or screen size, check out our picks for the best TVs in each.
Best TVs | Best 4K TVs | Best smart TVs for streaming | Best TVs for gaming
The best TVs under $1000 | The best TVs under $500
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