Roku Announces New Wireless Speakers That Only Work With Roku TVs

Roku has announced its own wireless speakers that can only work with Roku TVs. The speakers are Roku’s first entry in the home audio market and it’s scheduled to arrive this October.

The new Roku TV Wireless Speakers come with a matte black finish and they resemble typical bookshelf speakers. The devices ship with a Roku Voice Remote and a Touch controller. The wireless speakers are using the Roku Connect platform, which was announced by the company in January during CES 2018. This allows users to easily connect the audio devices to their Roku TV through Wi-Fi. The wireless speakers also support Bluetooth, which should allow users to play music from their computer or their smartphones, according to The Verge.

“Picture quality, a tremendous selection of content, value, and ease of use make Roku TVs some of the most popular smart TVs on the market today,” ROku CEO Anthony Wood said. “Adding great audio dramatically enhances the way people experience their favorite entertainment. With Roku TV Wireless Speakers, we’re able to offer our customers a simple and affordable way to further immerse themselves into the TV, movies and music they love, while providing them with a better whole home entertainment experience.”

The Roku TV Wireless Speakers also offer Automatic Volume Leveling, so volume is lowered automatically during loud scenes. There is also the Dialog Enhancement feature that boosts the volume up during quieter scenes, making dialogues more audible.

With the Roku TV Voice Remote, users will be able to control the speakers and their Roku TV. The Roku Touch controller will also provide users with another way to control their content through voice commands. The Roku Touch is designed to sit on top of a table and users will just have to press and hold on the button to initiate a voice command. The Roku Touch also features programmable buttons that will allow users to control their Roku TV.

The Roku TV Wireless Speakers sound like a pair of bookshelf speakers, according to Engadget. They are well balanced and are able to add a bit of bass to action movies. These speakers might not impress a lot of audiophiles, but they should still be a significant upgrade to the built-in speakers in Roku TVs. The new Roku TV Wireless Speakers will only work with Roku TVs made by TCL, Hisense, Insignia, Sharp and Philips. The speakers are not compatible with TVs that aren’t running Roku OS, even if they are connected to a Roku set-top box, according to Wired.

The Roku TV Wireless Speakers are available to pre-order now for an introductory price of $149.99 until July 23. The product will then be sold for $179.99 from July 24 through Oct. 15. Finally, starting on Oct. 16, the speakers will be sold for $199.99.