Best Deal Today
The Roku Smart TV 2025 builds on the streaming giant’s expansion into televisions, following the launch of its first TV in March 2023. This follows decades of dominance in software and set-top and plug-in devices – most of us know Roku for its streaming boxes and sticks, like the Roku Streaming Stick 4K, and the smart interface found in TVs from brands like TCL, Hisense, and others.
For two years now, the company has been selling its own-branded TVs, and like its streamers, they are priced well below mainstream brands and are targeted at people looking for good picture quality at very affordable prices.
Roku TVs are available in two lines: the Plus Series and the Select Series. Both are affordable TVs compared to, let’s say, TVs from Samsung, LG, and Sony, but the Plus Series is more feature-packed and is priced a bit higher than the Select Series. For this review, we have the 65-inch Roku Smart TV Plus Series (65R6C7), and as a longtime Roku user, I’m curious to see how this flagship set compares against other 4K TVs I’ve reviewed recently.
In addition to the company’s own smart TV interface, the Plus Series TVs feature AirPlay for wireless streaming from devices and are compatible with Alexa and Google Assistant. It also supports hands-free voice search via the remote control’s built-in mic with a “Hey Roku” prompt or by pressing a button on the remote and speaking your search directly.
Roku Smart TV 2025 Specs
- Screen size: 65-inch
- Model: 65R6C7
- Resolution: 3,840×2,160
- HDR: HDR10, HDR10+, Dolby Vision, HLG
- Refresh Rate: 60Hz
- Ports: 4 HDMI 2.0, 1 USB
- Smart TV Software: Roku TV
- Size (without stand): 33 x 57 x 3.1 inches
- Weight (with stand): 41 lbs.
Design & Features
The Roku Smart TV sports a fairly basic design, with a thin bezel surrounding the screen’s edges with a thicker bezel at the bottom and a protruding compartment for the IR receiver and multipurpose button just below the Roku logo. The screen is supported by side-mounted feet that provide sturdy support, but unlike the Hisense U8H, the feet’s horizontal spread isn’t adjustable.
The Roku 65R6C7 features the company’s popular smart TV interface, which is very easy to navigate compared to other options like Fire TV or Google TV platforms. It offers a wide collection of streaming apps to choose from, including The Roku Channel and Live TV ports that let you stream free ad-supported TV shows and movies.
Plus Series TVs support AirPlay for wireless streaming from iPhones and iPads, and they also work with Alexa and Google Assistant. The included Roku remote supports voice search and other pro features, a rechargeable battery, and the built-in mic can be disabled via a switch located on the remote.
The 65-inch QLED display uses mini-LED technology with local dimming, 4K (3840 x 2160) resolution for enhanced contrast, and a native 60Hz refresh rate. High dynamic range support includes Dolby Vision, HDR10+, and HLG, alongside a Game mode that reduces input lag when gaming with a connected console.
The Roku Smart TV 2025 features four HDMI inputs, one supports HDMI eARC for soundbar connection, and it also gets an optical digital audio output and an RF input to connect an antenna. It also includes a single USB port through which you can watch content from a hard drive or TV shows to an external storage device. As with all other Roku TVs, Plus Series TVs support wireless audio connections to the company’s Roku Smart soundbar.
Overall, Roku’s specs package for its Plus Series is pretty basic as a whole compared to other TVs, especially TCL and Hisense, but it offers a solid array of video performance basics, including a QLED display panel and full array local dimming backlight.
Picture & Audio Quality
The Roku Smart TV Plus Series uses Mini-LED technology to produce a decent brightness level for a QLED TV, with peak brightness topping out at 557 nits, in Standard HDR picture and 532 nits in Dark HDR mode. Compared, the TCL 6-Series TV uses mini-LED backlight and tops out at 1,331 nits peak brightness, while the LG C3 OLED TV maxes out at 830 nits.
A full-array local dimming on the Roku Plus Series enables it to produce deep blacks, but it doesn’t quite hit the 0 IRE full black you’d get with OLED TVs and the best mini-LED models in the market. Still, the screen’s blacks look particularly deep in movie clips, and backlight blooming artifacts are greatly reduced, which is surprising given the set’s low price. And in everything watched, the TV lives up to Roku’s claim of delivering the best picture without being too expensive. Granted, the picture doesn’t compete with OLEDs, but for the price, there’s nothing to complain about.
The Batman is usually a good measure to highlight a TV’s resilience, especially how it handles shadows and highlights, since many scenes depend on the relationship of either bright-on-black or black-on-black for their tension. The Roku Plus Series has no problem in either case, making it possible for the former to look pretty dazzling and the latter to appear vivid as the Caped Crusader emerges and fights off against the inky backdrop of gloomy Gotham City streets.
The flagship Roku-branded TV is exceptional for the price, with mini-LED technology and local dimming.
Similarly, the intense action scenes of Top Gun: Maverick pop against backgrounds of the blue skies or the enemy territory with equal ferocity and excitement. In Disney’s Encanto, where color is important for highlighting the story’s magical fantasy world, the Plus Series still does a good job of rendering the greens, pinks, and purple that make up much of the design palette.
It’s also worth noting that, unlike most other TVs, Roku models offer five different levels of brightness for every picture mode to better help users match the screen to the room’s unique lighting conditions. That said, the Plus Series isn’t a great choice for gaming, since the screen has a maximum refresh rate of 60Hz and it lacks gaming features like ALLM, VRR compatibility, and an HDMI 2.1 port for connecting to next-gen consoles.
Finally, most TVs don’t sound that great, and that holds when the TV is lower-end. But the Roku Smart TV straddles that expectation, too, not just sounding fair but coming amazingly close to sounding good. The set uses a two-way speaker system and supports 4.1 surround and Dolby Atmos, which delivers better audio than most budget TVs. Even so, you can still bolster your audio with one of the best budget soundbars out there, such as the Mzeibo TV Sound Bar, especially if sound is important to you.
Roku Smart TV Platform
As you’d expect from a company that made its reputation from streaming, Roku still delivers one of the most intuitive interfaces on the market. Its platform and interface offer a wide variety of tip-level options, including Live TV, Featured Free, What to Watch, Sports, The Buzz, and a lot of other worthwhile features that you don’t get on competing platforms. The TV works with Apple AirPlay and Apple Home, Amazon’s Alexa, and Google Home, for easily slotting into your pre-existing smart home setup.
The Roku 65R6C7 provides access to a variety of apps and services, much like a regular Roku media player does. It serves as a central location for nearly all media streaming services, including Amazon, Crunchyroll, Google Play Movies & TV, Hulu, Netflix, Sling TV, and YouTube.
Roku is home to the majority of channels (chosen apps) found in the smart TV ecosystem, so you’ll be familiar with the services (except Apple). Additionally, you may access the Roku TV app from your smartphone, and Roku TV supports video streaming from your smartphone.
Rather than the company’s standard remote, the Roku Plus Series with the newer Voice Remote Pro – which, while not that much different from the older style, has a few newer features. It has a central navigation dial in purple, along with Back, Home, Last, Microphone, Settings, Rewind, Play/Pause, Fast Forward, Volume, and Mute buttons on the right edge, and shortcut buttons for Netflix, Disney+, Apple TV+, and HBO Max. It’s simple, but a few features distinguish it.
The remote is rechargeable via a port on the bottom edge, and it has hands-free and push-to-talk voice controls as well as a headphone jack so you can listen to what you’re watching without disturbing anyone else. And if you lose the remote, saying “Hey Roku, where’s my remote?” will cause it to emit a high-pitched (but not very loud) sound you can use to track it down.
Roku Smart TV 2025 Review: Bottom line
The Roku Smart TV is a great way for tech-shy streamers to upgrade their living room on a budget. If you’ve ever wished you could set aside technological jargon and buy a simple, decent TV for a reasonable price, the Plus Series is a good place to start your search. It’s not the first TV to emphasize simplicity above all else, but thanks to its excellent software and even-keeled performance, it’s one of the better such options on the market today.
If you’re looking to squeeze as much performance-related upside as possible out of a TV in this price range, the Hisense U6 Series might be more your speed. It’s got some picture processing quirks of its own, but it makes up for them with sensational contrast, brighter HDR highlights, and a bevy of gaming-related features typically reserved for pricier TVs. We prefer the Roku smart platform over the U6 Series’ Fire TV-based software, but Fire TV is nevertheless a great option for daily streaming.
Roku’s latest TV succeeds in its primary endeavor: to be an easy, fuss-free option for anyone in need of an affordable living room upgrade. It’s a bit rough around the edges, but then again, most TVs in this price range are similarly shaggy. You can get more bang for your buck, but if you just need to buy a decent TV so you can finally stop thinking about it, the Roku Plus Series will get you streaming in no time.
Price Comparison
Affiliate Link Disclosure
In some of our articles and especially in our reviews, you will find affiliate links.For more information, you can read our full disclaimer.
