Black Friday is fast approaching and with it are new deals on streaming sticks, boxes and dongles. Hefty discounts on Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast have already been announced by Amazon, Best Buy and Walmart. We know what the prices will be now, and we also know approximately when they’ll be available.
Amazon’s Black Friday sale runs from Friday, Nov. 20 through Friday, Nov. 27, which is when we should see a bevy of deals on Fire TV sticks, cubes and devices. Walmart’s online sale starts Nov. 25. And the bulk of the Roku line will be getting some of its best prices ever for Black Friday: The Roku Streaming Stick Plus will be dropping to $30, the Roku Premiere 4K will drop to $25 and the new 2020 Roku Ultra will drop to $70.
We would hold out for those deals, but if you can’t wait, Google has a deal that bundles six months of Netflix’s Standard plan with its new Chromecast with Google TV for $90. Truth be told, we’d always choose a Roku, or the Chromecast with Google TV, over the Fire Stick, but Amazon’s streamer deals have been really good as well recently and HBO Max is now finally coming to the platform.
Note that prices and availability were accurate at the time of publication, but they may fluctuate.
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Google’s new Chromecast with Google TV has a lot to like, including a revamped interface, 4K HDR with Dolby Vision support, a real remote and excellent integration with Google Assistant. In a Google Store exclusive deal, the search giant is bundling its normally $50 streamer with six months of Netflix’s Standard plan for $90. The deal is available to both new and existing Netflix subscribers.
Deals coming soon
Roku
The 2019 Roku SE is a barebones Roku that can handle all your streaming needs. It isn’t as fast as the Streaming Stick Plus and doesn’t include Roku’s more useful enhanced remote (which has a microphone for voice control and doesn’t require you to point directly at the TV). It also lacks 4K support and new features like AirPlay. It is, however, just $17 and should be fine for basic streaming.
The SE is pretty much identical to the $25 Roku Express aside from the white color. It will go on sale at Walmart at 9 p.m. PT/12 a.m. ET on Nov 27.
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Want a Chromecast but don’t care for the new Google TV software or remote? Google’s prior Chromecast will drop to $19 at Walmart for Black Friday. This appears to be the regular Chromecast — not the 4K capable Chromecast Ultra — but if you don’t mind running apps from your phone, tablet or computer this is a good, cheap pick. Oh, and $5 in Vudu credit is included, too.
The big thing missing from the Fire TV Stick Lite is a remote that controls your TV’s power and volume. The 2020 Fire TV Stick has that remote, and for Amazon’s Black Friday sale it will be marked down from $40 to $28. But unless you really want to save $2, you should get the Fire TV Stick 4K (below) instead, which adds support for 4K TV resolution to the mix.
Sarah Tew/CNET
The Roku Streaming Stick Plus 4K is our favorite streamer, and at only 30 bucks it will be pretty untouchable in terms of value for money. The Stick offers hundreds of apps, the excellent Roku interface and a robust, voice-controlling remote.
N.B. The deal is part of Best Buy’s pre-Black Friday promotion and is not yet live.
Sarah Tew/CNET
It’s not a 2020 model like the two above but this is still the best deal. It’s the only Firestick with the ability to play back 4K HDR video, and at just $2 more than the standard, non-4K stick, it’s worth the investment even if you don’t have a 4K TV already.
Sarah Tew/CNET
Last month we saw a lot of deals on the end-of-life Roku Ultra, but the 2020 model has barely been out and it’s getting discounted already. From what we’ve seen it’s a significant upgrade — with Dolby Vision and better wireless performance — and at $70 it’ll be a pretty great deal.
N.B. The deal is part of Best Buy’s pre-Black Friday promotion and is not yet live.
Expired (for now)
Roku
Roku’s exclusive version of the Ultra for Walmart has dropped to $48. While it’s the 2019 version, it normally retails for $79 and is a capable Roku box that packs in 4K HDR support, an Ethernet jack and includes a remote with a headphone jack for private listening. While largely similar to the main Ultra, unfortunately, the Ultra LT drops the remote finder feature and programmable keys on the remote. Read our full comparison of the Ultra LT and other Rokus.
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The Fire TV Cube combines an Alexa voice-controlled speaker, a Fire TV 4K video streamer and a universal remote control into one device. If you like using your voice to control the TV — not to mention other devices in your Alexa-friendly household — it may well be worth taking the plunge on this interesting all-in-one product, marked down from $120 to $80. Note that this is the newest (2019) version, which has added some nice improvements since we first evaluated it in 2018.
