Roku 2 XS

As an alternative to the Apple TV, the Roku 2 XS streaming player has a few additional services, like iPlayer and access to games like Angry Birds…

With its £100 pricetag, the Roku 2 XS is the same price as the Apple TV box, and both have 1080p HD outputs, but while the Roku lets you access BBC iPlayer, Netflix and play Angry Birds, there’s no ability to stream content from other devices wirelessly. Instead, there’s a memory card slot and USB port for hooking up flash drives or hard disks.

The motion controller is certainly clever and rather unique to all but some LG televisions (correct at the time of writing) and this speeds up the navigation of the menu system, which is kept very simple – much like the Apple TV. When it comes to playing games, it comes into its own – with Angry Birds a clear and obvious beneficiary.

Connecting to your network is via a wired Ethernet connection or Wi-Fi, with software updates performed automatically and the ability to hook up to your social networks with ease.

Roku website

Roku 2 – Key Specifications