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The Roku Streambar is perfect for dorm-dwelling students

Jaron Schneider
Nick Perry
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When you go off to college, you probably have a long checklist of things you’d like for your perfect dorm room. Right at the top: TV and sound system. Unfortunately, the average college dorm room isn’t exactly spacious. Most college students have to learn to be efficient with their space, often using their laptops or desktop computers as an all-in-one study/entertainment hub. This is where a multi-function device like the Roku Streambar can up your dorm game substantially.

Launched last year, the Roku Streambar is a capable, compact speaker that can provide the soundtrack for parties, but it’s also a 4K streamer, giving you access to all of your favorite streaming services. Cable was an ’80s baby thing; we’re in the cord-cutting revolution now, and if you’re a college student hitting the books this year, the Roku Streambar is a great investment.

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The <entity>Roku</entity> Streambar on a media console with a TV.
Roku

It’s small

The Streambar isn’t Roku’s first speaker/player 2-in-1 — the Roku Smart Soundbar came first. But while being a 2-in-1 is a big reason the Streambar is so compelling (we’ll get to that shortly), to appeal to the audience of compact-living minimalists, it first has to pass the litmus test of being small.

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If you’re living in a studio apartment or a tiny dorm room, a typical soundbar is not going to fit on your desk. The Streambar is not your typical soundbar, however. It’s only 14 inches long and 2.4 inches tall. That’s downright tiny, and will absolutely fit on even the smallest desks, nestled cleanly right below a computer monitor. Even if you upgrade to the Streambar Pro, that’s only 32.2 inches long and 2.8 inches tall.

A better viewing experience

If you’re using your PC to stream your favorite shows and movies, you know it’s only good if you’re sitting at your desk. If you decide to rotate your monitor to face the bed or sit down on a couch across the room, navigating the experience with a mouse becomes tedious.

There is no replacement for a good remote, and Roku’s remote and interface are among the best. Rather than settling for the subpar browser-based viewing experience that those who stream from their desktops often deal with, the Roku Streambar offers a compelling dual-function device option.

The Roku Streambar on a media console.
Roku

The Streambar isn’t going to give the highest level of viewing experience Roku has to offer, but for this application, that’s not necessary. The new Roku Streambar Pro added Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision support, but that is a feature someone living in a dorm room might not even want. Their monitor won’t likely support Dolby Vision and it’s unlikely they have a sound system that supports Atmos — 4K stream quality and Roku’s interface is all they need (and they’ll save $50).

We’re not sure we could convince someone who has been streaming from their desktop that the Roku Streaming Stick would be a good use of their HDMI port, but the Streambar is more than a player. It’s a speaker.

Better than stock speakers

While there are a lot of good speaker options out there, audiophile-level audio isn’t at the top of everyone’s list — especially if you’re a student on a budget. For most, headphones and a Bluetooth speaker are all you’ll ever need. Bookshelf speakers like the Harman Soundsticks 4 are too large or cumbersome to deal with in a small space or on a small desk.

All the Roku Streambar has to do is be better than what comes stock with a device, and it achieves this goal, handily. It’s certainly better than what you get with most monitors or laptops and will take up considerably less space than a bookshelf or traditional computer speakers. If you’re going for that minimalist look and also improved sound quality, the Streambar fits the bill.

Better yet, it’s not just a TV speaker. It can be your computer speaker and music player, too. For some, it can even be a gaming soundbar.

A woman holding a Roku Streambar.
Roku

Multifunctional

The Roku Streambar supports one HDMI out, one digital optical input, and Bluetooth (with Spotify Connect compatibility).

For most people going back to school, the HDMI input to their monitor and the connection to sound via Bluetooth to their computer would satisfy all needs. Most monitors come with at least two input options (either two HDMI or one HDMI and a DisplayPort), which is all you would need to connect to both your PC and the Streambar at the same time. For most college students, this is perfect.

While Bluetooth is plenty for music or YouTube videos, it will have far too much latency to be appealing for many videogames. If your computer happens to support a digital optical connection, though, you’re in business. The Streambar would work great for gaming.

It still remains to be seen how PC gamers respond to suddenly having the option to buy a soundbar specifically for gaming, but manufacturers seem to think the idea is going to take off. And while the Roku Streambar isn’t as suited for gaming as the Panasonic Soundslayer is (it comes with two HDMI ports so that you don’t have to worry about that Optical or Bluetooth connection choice), it still has its uses.

It’s cheap

I think the most compelling reason the Roku Streambar makes sense for small spaces like studio apartments or dorm rooms, other than its compact size, is that it’s cheap. You get both a four-driver speaker and a 4K Roku player for $99. The aforementioned Panasonic Soundslayer is only a soundbar and costs $300. Yamaha’s SR-C20A is a bit easier to swallow at $150 but is probably still too large for small spaces. From a value perspective, Roku has Panasonic and Yamaha beat even if the Soundslayer or the C20A produce better audio.

Roku has a real winner when it comes to a major value-add for folks who are living in small spaces.

Roku Streambar.
Roku

Roku is positioning the Streambar to be yet another choice for the many traditional living rooms that are out there, and that’s smart. But we believe it’s better positioned for those who live in an apartment or dorm room and never considered a streaming player before because they don’t own a TV. For them, the Streambar makes a lot more sense. If you’re a dorm-dwelling college student, it’s well worth a look.

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Jaron Schneider
Jaron Schneider
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Jaron Schneider is a former award-winning commercial filmmaker and long-time digital imaging expert across the field of both…
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