Recently Roku CEO and founder Anthony Wood spoke out against the Apple TV at the inaugural Code/Media event held by technology website Re/code. Wood called the Apple TV "a money loser" for the company, and also said the product is more like an accessory for the iPad and even questioned why Apple would want to sell more units of the device. Check out his words below:
“Apple TV is essentially an accessory for the iPad. They lose money, which is unusual for Apple," he said Thursday, speaking at the Recode conference here. "If you're losing money, why would you want to sell more?”
Wood went on to comment on Amazon's upcoming set-top box which is slated to debut next month. It got us thinking how does Apple TV compare to The Roku 3? So we decided to pit the two devices against one another to find out who comes out on top!
Price
Both the Apple TV and Roku 3 are very similar in pricing. They both come in at $99 and both require an HDMI cable which will cost an additional $10, unless you have one lying around. Pricing for the streaming services vary but Roku offers more services than the competition.
Winner: Roku! The device offers more extensive free services (over 1,000 channels) and better pricing on rentals, owners of this device are likely to spend less overall.
Content
First up is Apple TV, which is designed to deliver movies, music and TV programs from iTunes. By doing this it does limit the number of choices for users, unless you want to purchase everything from iTunes. However the device does offer YouTube, Netflix, MLB.com, HBO Go and Hulu, but not too many music services like Pandora or Spotify. Users do get iTunes Radio though which is not a bad option.
On the other hand Roku's Channel Store is cornucopia of hundreds of subscription, on-demand and free Internet video and music channels. The options are all over the board. Because Roku doesn't have its own movie or music service, it doesn't care where its customers rent or buy their programming from. So there are plenty of competing services like Redbox, Amazon, Netflix and more! Roku also offers many services Apple TV lacks such as Pandora, Spotify, Stitcher and Facebook.
Winner: Roku! With hundreds of different options to choose from, customers have more options on this device than Apple TV.
Interface & Performance
This is one of those aspects that is all about a customers preference. Apple TV’s interface sticks to the companies design aesthetic of simple and clean. The interface appears as rectangular icons of identical size and a blue highlight that indicates what app you are currently on. Within each app Apple implements its own design, so Netflix looks differently on Apple TV than it does on the PS3 or Xbox consoles. In terms of performance the Apple Tv is responsive and quick.
Roku has done an amazing job of combining hundreds of online services into a unified product. Roku's interface uses big, crisp artwork of the program or app you are selecting. As with Apple Roku’s service is quick to respond and also doesn’t feel laggy or buggy.
Winner: Undetermined
Video Quality
This is ultimately up to the customers preference. Both Apple TV and Roku 3 offer video streaming in 1080p but again this depends entirely on the customers internet connection. Tom’s Guide does offer some insight into the Roku 3’s device capabilities and says that the device is able to capture and hold Wi-Fi connection in a room with other devices connected to the same Wi-Fi.
Winner: Undetermined
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