I'm A Movie Critic Who Watches Hundreds Of Movies A Year With A Roku, And These Black Friday Deals Are Totally Worth It

Roku Ultra with 'deal alert' overlay
(Image credit: Future/TechRadar)

As a professional film critic, I put great value on always expanding my knowledge of the medium. I make an effort to see at least 130 new movies every year, including watching older titles that I haven’t seen. After all, how can I offer a proper opinion without understanding cinematic context?

I go about this wonderful, entertaining research in many ways, including regular trips to theaters and collecting physical media releases. One of my main methods, though, is turning on the Roku device I have hooked into my home theater system, and it’s a product I highly recommend for any fellow cinephiles.

This time of year is always a goldmine for buying electronics without great expense – with plenty of Black Friday entertainment deals available on Fire Sticks, soundbars, and the aforementioned Roku streaming device.

I am personally very happy the my day-to-day use of my Roku Ultra – which is available for 20% off, down to $89.99 from $79.99 at Amazon this Black Friday.

The Roku Ultra Deal I Recommend And Other Roku Black Friday Deals

Roku Ultra 2024 - Ultimate Streaming Player: $99.99 $79.99 At AmazonSave 20%

Roku Ultra 2024 - Ultimate Streaming Player: $99.99 $79.99 At Amazon
Save 20%
- If you have a 4K home theater system and have a number of subscriptions to streaming services, the Roku Ultra is a perfect device – and the one I have plugged into my TV. It’s easy to use, multifunctional, and is made to help you get the most out of your other equipment. To quote TechRadar’s review of the Roku Ultra (2024), “It has just about everything one could ask for from an external streaming player. It supports all the necessary HDR formats, most notably Dolby Vision and HDR10+, and is quite speedy.”

If the Roku Ultra model is out of your budget, it's worth checking out other models in their range of streaming devices, including the marginally more stripped back "LT" version, which is down to $53.90 from $79.99!

It's also worth noting, the brand has a large variety of devices ranging from indoor cameras (which are nearly 40% off at Walmart) to 4K QLED televisions (which are 33% off), and there are some substantial Black Friday deals to be found via both Amazon and Walmart. The sales aren't going to last long, so it would be best to take advantage as soon as possible (whether for yourself, or as a great gift for the cinephiles/tech heads in your life)!

Envy lunges forward towards the console in excitement in Inside Out 2.

(Image credit: Disney/Pixar)

Why You Should Make The Most of These Black Friday Roku Deals

Watching as many new releases as I do requires access to all of the major digital subscription services, and my Roku device provides me the capacity to access all of them with ease – a great device for making the most of all the Black Friday streaming deals going live right now! Once you download the various apps you need, all of the streaming options are laid out in a very simple interface that is easy to navigate. Once you access the apps with personal login credentials, thousands of movies become available with just a few clicks on a remote.

One of the specs of the Roku Ultra allows me to stream and watch movies in 4K, and I have never experienced any issues with picture and sound directly related to the device. I’m satisfied that it helps me get the most out of my home theater system.

The Deadpool Corps in Deadpool and Wolverine.

(Image credit: Marvel Studios)

Different models of different Roku devices come with different remotes that have individual features, and the one that comes with the Roku Ultra includes multiple shortcut buttons and the ability to use voice command – which is extremely helpful when it comes to performing in-device searches and entering emails/passwords (in comparison to using the on-screen keyboard). And if remote clutter is a concern of yours, it should be known that Roku is compatible with other universal remote brands.

If you’re a dedicated movie-lover who is looking for the best way to digitally stream films at home, I highly recommend giving Roku a shot, and thanks to the on-going Black Friday deals, now is the best time to jump.

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Eric Eisenberg
Assistant Managing Editor

Eric Eisenberg is the Assistant Managing Editor at CinemaBlend. After graduating Boston University and earning a bachelor’s degree in journalism, he took a part-time job as a staff writer for CinemaBlend, and after six months was offered the opportunity to move to Los Angeles and take on a newly created West Coast Editor position. Over a decade later, he's continuing to advance his interests and expertise. In addition to conducting filmmaker interviews and contributing to the news and feature content of the site, Eric also oversees the Movie Reviews section, writes the the weekend box office report (published Sundays), and is the site's resident Stephen King expert. He has two King-related columns.