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I’ve used every Roku device — this is the one I’d buy on black Friday

By Phil Nickinson November 24, 2023

The Roku Ultra LT 4K streaming device on a media center with the included voice remote in the background. — Roku

Roku streaming players are fascinating little devices. For a relatively low price, you basically can stream anything and everything. But they’re also a little deceptive in that they tempt you into buying the least expensive one.

Resist that temptation. I’ve used every flavor of Roku streaming player over at least the past half-decade (probably longer, if I’m being honest with myself), and one thing has become abundantly clear: You should resist the urge to be cheap and just go for the best Roku device there is.

And that means you want to go for the Roku Ultra — which just so happens to be on sale for Black Friday.

It’s not that the Roku Ultra usually is all that expensive. It retails at $99, which isn’t bad at all for something you’re likely to use to watch TV every single day. Amortize that over time and it’s already very affordable. But Roku’s Black Friday deal lops another $30 off that regular price (that’s 30% off, for those of you who want some easy math), and now the Roku Ultra is a no-brainer if you’re looking to plug something into your TV to get all the streaming apps you could ever need.

Why Roku Ultra? To put it simply, it’s the best streaming player Roku has to offer. It’s the most powerful, which means channels (which is what Roku calls apps) should have minimal load times. It has the best Wi-Fi you can get in a Roku product, to help minimize any sort of network lag. It’s also the only one with an Ethernet port if you prefer to plug into your network instead. (Which is always better.) And if you have videos or pictures on external storage, the included USB port makes watching them a breeze.

Plus it has all the other specs you want in a high-end streaming device. That means 4K resolution with Dolby Vision and HDR10+ for the best colors and deepest blacks. (Provided that your television also supports HDR.) And comes with a rechargeable remote with private listening — it even comes with earbuds! — and can handle hands-free voice commands.

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Section Editor, Audio/Video

Phil spent the 2000s making newspapers with the Pensacola (Fla.) News Journal, the 2010s with Android Central and then the…

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I found 3 OLED TVs under $1,500 in the early Black Friday sales

The LG B3 Series OLED 4K TV in the living room.

Best Buy has truly thrown itself into the early Black Friday deals season with some great TV deals. In particular, this is the ideal time to buy a new OLED TV with some massive discounts going on. We've picked out three of the best with each being an ideal addition to your living room. Keep reading while we take you through our recommendations so you know what to buy this sales season.
LG 48-inch A2 Series OLED TV -- $550, was $1,300

As one of the best TV brands, you can trust in LG including with its A2 series of TVs. The LG 48-inch A2 Series OLED TV is a bargain at this price. Its OLED technology means that you can enjoy the benefits of self-lit pixels with each pixel independently lighting up as needed so you get perfect blacks and vibrant colors all on the same scene. Adding further depth is technology like AI Picture Pro 4K which automatically enhances contrast and resolution with AI 4K upscaling and AI Tone Mapping. There's also 100% Color Volume and 100% Color Fidelity, along with a dedicated Filmmaker Mode which has Dolby Vision IQ and Dolby Atmos support. Even the operating system is easy to navigate making this a must-own at this price.

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The 13 best early Black Friday deals you can shop this weekend

Digital Trends Best Black Friday Deals

Even though Black Friday is still a couple of weeks away, we're already starting to see a lot of great deals on several different types of products. So, if you can't wait for the upcoming Black Friday and need to grab a few things now, we've collected some of our favorite deals across products and budget ranges to make your life a little bit easier. Below, you'll find deals on cordless vacuums, laptops, TVs, headphones, and phones, so it's a great collection of stuff that we think you'll find useful and want to grab. That said, if you can't find what you want, be sure to check our main Black Friday deals page for even more great offers.
Wyze Cordless Stick Vacuum -- $98, was $150

While budget cordless vacuum cleaners can sometimes not be that great, we found the Wyze Cordless Stick Vacuum to be surprisingly good for its price point. At just 2.8 pounds of weight, it's light enough that you won't feel like you're doing a workout every time you use it, and it is great for those who might have issues with arm weakness. Just because it's light doesn't mean it's not powerful, though, with two motors providing 24,000 pascals of suction, which is quite a lot at this price. It also has a HEPA filter to keep the air you breathe clean while vacuuming, which is impressive, but sadly, it does have a big downside in that it only lasts for about 50 minutes of vacuuming. That's not necessarily a dealbreaker, and you can buy a backup battery, but it's an important thing to note.

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This Arlo 4-camera security kit is $150 off at Best Buy for Black Friday

The Arlo Essential Spotlight 4 outside in the elements.

While this year's Black Friday savings seem to have been going on for longer than ever before, the big day has finally arrived. And with that we've got fantastic Best Buy Black Friday deals to deliver to you. Right now we want to highlight a product from Arlo -- a brand consistently seen among our favorite home security cams -- that's just $300 today. That's right, the four-pack of Arlo Essential Spotlight cams -- plus a yard sign to warn potential criminals you're protected -- is $150 off the standard price of $450 during Best Buy's Black Friday event.

Why you should buy the Arlo Essential Spotlight 4-camera security kit
The Arlo Essential Spotlight is a 1080p security cam that can go anywhere: indoors or out. When you get a pack of four, you won't have to worry about stuffing them all in your home or about keeping four unsightly cams outsider your house. In other words, this has all of the aesthetics and charm of the best indoor security cams while also being able to weather the elements. As an outdoor security cam, it's able to handle both the extreme cold as well as sweltering heat, and it has a wide-angle field of view of 130 degrees, or just over a third of a full circle. You'll be able to catch troublemakers -- in full 1080p and in color -- in a broad range, probably more so than they expect. Add on the fact that the Arlo Essential Spotlight has night vision, and you'll be feeling super secure.