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Roku Pro Series 4K QLED review: A colorful display with our favorite smart TV interface
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Roku released its first QLED TV, the Plus Series, in 2023. That model was a solid debut from the brand, delivering respectable performance at an accessible price. But with its new Pro Series for 2024, Roku is upping the ante and making a real play to compete with top displays. The Pro Series’ image quality can’t quite match the best TVs in its class, but its vibrant quantum-dot colors, speedy 120Hz screen, and powerful Mini LED backlight prove that Roku can hold its own against TCL and Hisense.
Roku’s ace in the hole remains its smooth and simple TV interface, which makes everything from finding your favorite streaming apps to connecting Bluetooth headphones a cinch. This year, Roku has also introduced a few new features, including an AI-powered picture mode that auto-adjusts the screen and (coming later this year) art-gallery screensavers designed to complement the TV’s flush-wall mounting system (sold separately).
The Pro Series also includes handy accessories like a rechargeable remote that can be summoned when you lose it and built-in Velcro cable straps to keep things clean on both ends of the screen. While not without its flaws, the Pro Series is a well-balanced package with great usability and colorful picture quality that will wow your guests, all at a reasonable cost.
Roku 65-inch Pro Series 4K QLED TV
Roku’s flagship Pro Series TV is a great all-around 4K QLED. Though similarly priced TCL and Hisense models have an edge in image quality, Roku’s intuitive smart TV interface, handy backlit voice remote, and easy assembly make the Pro Series a worthy competitor.
The Pro Series is easy to assemble with no screws or batteries required
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The hardest part about setting up the Pro Series is unboxing it. There’s foam on foam and cardboard on cardboard, packed up tighter than a Rembrandt heading overseas. The packaging is a bit more thorough than we’ve seen on other displays in this class, and while that makes the unboxing process take a bit longer, we appreciate the added care taken to avoid mishaps during shipping. Once you’ve freed the TV from its cardboard bonds, the rest is a breeze.
The Pro Series offers a nice but basic design with relatively slim bezels around the sides and a flat back panel. The display can even be hung flush on a wall with Roku’s slim mount (not included), which is a nice perk for buyers who want their TV to blend in seamlessly in their room.
You may notice seemingly glaring omissions in the TV’s accessories bag, with no screws or batteries, but don’t worry, it’s all part of the plan. Custom knobs on the TV’s left and right feet allow for attaching by hand in seconds, and you can choose between a high or low position to accommodate a soundbar. The feet are about 43 inches apart (on the 65-inch model), and this gap makes it easy to fit on most consoles. As for batteries, the Roku Voice Remote Pro’s USB-C charging port makes them unnecessary. Roku says the remote’s built-in battery can last three months per charge, and we never needed to plug it in during our evaluation.
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Connecting external devices is similarly smooth, thanks partly to the included straps across the TV’s backside that provide neat cable control. And once you boot the TV up, Roku’s familiar interface walks you through network setup, naming your components, and adding your primary streaming apps.
Those with an existing Roku account will get even faster service, with some apps logging you in automatically. You may also notice ads as Roku tries to sell you on trials of streaming service partners, though, to be fair, there are some tempting discounts on offer.
The Mini LED backlight provides much-improved contrast and brightness
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During our Roku Pro Series evaluation, the word “balanced” kept coming to mind, and it’s the perfect term to describe the TV’s picture performance. Compared to some competitors, the Pro Series doesn’t excel at any one thing, but it does a lot of things quite well. And that all starts with its Mini LED backlight system.
Last year’s Roku Plus Series QLED TVs used regular-sized LEDs with local dimming. But for the Pro Series, Roku has upgraded to Mini LEDs. As the name implies, Mini LEDs are much smaller, which allows the manufacturer to pack in more dimming zones. This results in more precise contrast control with deeper black levels and higher brightness. And the TV can achieve this while avoiding the kind of distracting blooming (haloing around light objects on dark backgrounds) that has long plagued typical backlit TVs. The Pro Series isn’t quite as tight around ultra-bright objects as pricier QLED models, but it offers much-improved contrast over the Roku Plus series, with only minor light bleed in dark environments.
Likewise, the Pro Series is notably brighter than last year’s Plus Series. That said, it can’t match the blistering brightness levels offered by TCL’s latest QM8 or Hisense’s new U8N. Instead, it’s more on par with the cheaper Hisense U7 series. Still, there’s plenty of punch here for both SDR and HDR content, dazzling in scenes like the lava monster fight in “Moana,” even when viewed in a fully lit room. Teca’s fiery eyes and molten lava balls pop brilliantly against the obsidian backdrop. Combined with the TV’s quantum dots, this brightness results in bursting colors that bring realism and sparkle to everything, from nature scenes to big-budget Hollywood spectacles.
The Pro Series’ anti-reflective filter isn’t the best we’ve seen in this class, so you will notice glare during bright daytime viewing. But even with full daylight pouring in, the TV serves up impressive shadow detail in darker content without raised black levels. We had no trouble seeing everything with brightness set on the TV’s tamer Normal mode, but if you want some more pop, you can always ramp things up with the Bright or Brighter settings.
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The TV shows some flaws when it comes to video processing, which Roku is likely to keep refining in newer iterations. It has noticeable color banding on blockier streaming content in darker scenes, as well as some jerky motion with hard panning. However, unlike the Plus Series, there is a motion smoothing option to account for the latter, but it’s quite strong and emits the dreaded “soap opera” effect even on low.
Upscaling is generally solid for 1080p content, though 720p can sometimes look a bit fuzzy. You’ll also see some Moire or flicker in upscaled images with tightly packed details, like a checkered shirt or an overhead shot of a flock of birds. Hisense’s U8N has similar troubles, and to its credit, the Pro Series actually does better in some scenes.
Like most QLED and LED TVs in its class, the Pro Series has trouble with off-axis viewing, revealing more blooming and notable color loss when you move off to the side. Again, this is common for TVs of this type, but it’s not ideal. For substantially better viewing angles, you’ll have to pay more for a high-end Samsung QLED, like the QN90 series, or opt for one of the best OLED TVs instead. Check out our QLED vs. OLED comparison for more details about each display type’s pros and cons.
Though noteworthy factors for enthusiasts to keep in mind, most of the issues raised above are subtle. Unless you’re a big videophile, you may not notice most of them in daily viewing. We showed the TV to some friends and family and the consensus was something to the effect of “I need to get me one of these!”
Roku’s OS remains our favorite smart TV interface
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Roku has plenty of competitors when it comes to intuitive TV interfaces these days, but the Roku OS (operating system) is still among the best and most accessible on the market. Its familiar layout of large tiles for all your inputs and streaming apps (aka “channels”) makes navigation simple even for smart TV novices.
The Roku Streaming Store has all of the best streaming services, and it’s easy to rearrange them for convenient access. The only notable omission compared to other platforms like Google TV is a Continue Watching section that lets you pop back into content across apps from the home screen.
The system mostly makes up for this with easy access to Settings via the sidebar and features like a quick key on the remote to connect Bluetooth headphones. Even as Roku continues to pile on the ads (like most rivals), the interface steers clear of jerky and sluggish lag, leading to remarkably smooth navigation.
Like most TVs we test, the Pro Series has sensors to adjust the screen brightness to your environment, but Roku’s new Smart Picture Max feature goes further, auto-adjusting the picture for different content types via a dedicated Neural Processing Unit. Roku says it’s more advanced than the company’s standard “Smart Picture” feature rolling out to older Roku TVs, able to adjust the picture scene-by-scene and even respond to adjustments you make to other picture modes.
It’s hard to test Smart Picture Max thoroughly since it only works with non-Dolby Vision streaming content and doesn’t support live TV. We tried some reality TV and streaming sports, and both seemed to auto-adjust to something akin to Standard Mode, skipping Sports Mode. For a more accurate image that suits most rooms and content, we recommend just sticking with the regular Movie Mode with a few minor tweaks to account for lighting conditions. That said, Smart Picture Max could be useful for some scenarios and users who don’t like to mess with settings, especially if it continues to improve.
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The TV comes with Roku’s second-gen Voice Remote Pro, which is packed with handy features. As mentioned earlier, it’s rechargeable via USB, so you don’t need batteries, and it even has backlit keys so you don’t accidentally hit the wrong button in the dark.
Roku’s voice search is as easy and accurate as ever, and the remote supports hands-free commands when you say, “Hey, Roku.” If you’re not keen on a device that’s always listening, you can turn off this feature via a switch on the side of the remote and use the dedicated mic button instead.
Smarts aside, the remote’s most convenient feature has to be its location chime. If you lose the remote in your couch cushions (or the bathroom, the kid’s room, etc.), you can press a button on the TV’s right side to activate the remote’s chime. Frankly, every TV should have a similar option.
On the downside, the remote no longer has a built-in headphone jack, which was previously featured on older Roku models. But since the TV makes it so easy to pair Bluetooth headphones, we don’t see this as a big drawback.
The TV’s gaming features are solid, but there are a couple of omissions
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The Pro Series offers most of the top gaming features we expect from a flagship TV. That includes a screen with a 120Hz refresh rate for smooth gameplay. It supports HDMI 2.1 across two of its four inputs for extras like VRR (Variable Refresh Rate) and AMD FreeSync Pro for tear-free gaming, as well as ALLM (Auto Low Latency Mode) to provide fast input response when you connect a gaming console or PC.
It’s also nice to see that the HDMI eARC port, used for connecting an A/V receiver or soundbar, is separate from the HDMI 2.1 ports, meaning you can connect an audio device without taking up one of your precious gaming inputs.
However, unlike similar TVs from TCL and Hisense, the Pro Series does not include a dedicated gaming pop-up menu for viewing your refresh rate in real time, adjusting contrast or gaming-only picture modes, or adding onboard crosshairs. Though not a dealbreaker, a gaming bar is something we’ve come to expect from a TV at this price.
For those with select gaming PCs, the TV is also capped at 120Hz rather than the 144Hz refresh rate you’ll find in many competing midrange QLEDs. It’s not a huge problem, especially for console gamers, but it is something to note for the more ardent gaming fans out there.
Should you buy the Roku Pro Series TV?
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The Roku Pro Series is a worthy buy for anyone who wants a great midrange QLED TV. However, compared to similarly priced competitors, its strengths lie more in its convenient interface and handy design perks than in its image performance.
Don’t get us wrong, the Roku Pro Series is an impressive-looking TV with great contrast and colors. But it doesn’t offer the best picture quality in its class. Hisense’s U8N, often on sale for around the same price as the Pro Series, offers better processing and much higher brightness, while the cheaper U7N (which we haven’t tested yet) is likely to offer as good or better image performance for less. You’ll also get higher brightness and better picture processing from TCL’s pricier QM8 series.
But the TV experience is about more than just picture quality. What really makes the Pro Series cook is its distinctive blend of good picture performance and easy usability. From the breezy Roku OS interface to a remote that’s tough to lose and never needs batteries, the TV’s intuitive design makes it effortless to use as your daily driver.
It all comes together to make the Pro Series a worthy new option in the increasingly competitive mid-tier TV market. We tested a 65-inch Roku Pro Series model, but our overall impressions also apply to the 55- and 75-inch sizes.
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