So looking to outfit my house with Plex access and currently I use Samsung TV app and iOS app to stream to chromecast. I need a few more “devices” and want to consider which ones have best performance/features/etc. I’m guessing a PC with PHT is best, but I’m looking for a “box” to add, chromecast, Roku, fire tv, etc. Things like functionality, features, “presentation”, etc. I use the iOS app in the bedroom, but really don’t like to have to go to my phone to fast forward commercials, etc. I believe the ROKU and Fire TV both have remotes so would be convenient. I also am not against an apple TV. Anyway just looking for peoples experience from the different devices and any comparisons in the UI functionality differences.
And lastly, am I missing something? Are there even better ways to get it? Let me know. Thanks.
Have fire stick/tv have issues with aac audio above 2.0 ( no voices just music - known issue) and no h265 support.
My Roku 3 plays avi/mkv/mp4/ with aac/ac3 .264 direct stream/direct play up to 1080p and will play h.265 but transcodes.
My Roku premiere + plays everything the roku 3 plays but includes .h265 direct stream/direct play up to 4K (tested and does work) with no transcode.
I just purchased another Roku premiere (+)Plus as I like it that much.
My 2 cents
I have a couple of Rokus, a FireTV, some android mobiles and computer terminals.
In that group Roku is so far out in front the others can’t even smell the dust. As a result my Rokus see pretty much exclusive Plex use - apart from the rather disappointing stroll through the Plex app neighborhood. A great side-efffect of using Rokus a lot is that I can also use RARflix - still the best Plex app IMO.
I would like to use FireTV more, because it’s clearly the more powerful box, but App development on FireTV is, for all intents and purposes stopped and that’s if you ever could have considered it started. I really do believe there isn’t anyone at Plex that knows anything about how to develop an app for FireTV… at least that’s what it looks like from here… as I reboot my FireTV often to get out of a crashed AFTV app or it performs suicide crashing itself back to AFTV home.
Are you looking for a pure Plex client or do you want more functionality, like e.g. Netflix, Hulu support, etc?
Pure Plex clients are the Raspberry Pi 3 (up to 1080p resolution, no HEVC decoding)
or the Odroid C2 (up to 4K support and HEVC decoding on board)
Depending on the type of your video files, these two devices achieve a pretty high ‘Direct Play’ ratio. So they’re ideal for Plex Servers running on weaker devices like NASs.
They both run OpenPHT, so they will “feel” very much the same as the desktop version of OpenPHT.
As long as the TV in your bedroom supports HDMI-CEC, you won’t need a separate remote control for either one.
Both devices feel most comfortable if wired up per Ehternet to ypur home network (and thus to your Plex server) but they can be fitted out with WiFi modules as well.
The Odroid supports bitstreaming of quite a few higher-quality surround sound formats, so it is very well suited even as a main, “living room-class” Plex client.
The Raspberry Pi can alternatively run PMP so it looks more similar to the surface on the FireTV.
Well went out on a limb and bought a FireTV (not the stick). Had I waited for your reply bombage I would have got the Roku tho I really was tossed up between them. I was leaning toward Roku but talking to the guy at Best Buy he mentioned you can sideload non-approved apps easily and Kodi w/NextPVR came to mind. I like the Plex FireTV app. It seems to flow better than my Samsung TV app, it’s more response on the fast-forwarding of commercials (30-second skip) than my phone casting to chromecast. I may end up getting a Roku at some point to compare. My server can handle transcodes but I’m watching a recorded show on it now and my CPU is sitting at 1% so no real overhead there tho I’m okay with transcoding (granted of course I’d rather not). I do have a mixture of .avi, .mp4 and .mkv so I’m sure some of it will be transcoded.
I have a bunch of devices. I really like my Roku 3’s. The fire TV’s suck for plex. The xbox one does a very good job, seems like it has better image quality than almost everything else. Chromecasts are ok.
But my go to client is the Nvidia Shield Android TV on my projector as it plays anything, namely h.265 and HD audio, and the quality is great.
On my LG OLED tv i’m using the built in plex client for web os 3 and it works well and has native h.265 support…
@JBinFla said:
Well went out on a limb and bought a FireTV (not the stick). Had I waited for your reply bombage I would have got the Roku tho I really was tossed up between them. I was leaning toward Roku but talking to the guy at Best Buy he mentioned you can sideload non-approved apps easily and Kodi w/NextPVR came to mind. I like the Plex FireTV app. It seems to flow better than my Samsung TV app, it’s more response on the fast-forwarding of commercials (30-second skip) than my phone casting to chromecast. I may end up getting a Roku at some point to compare. My server can handle transcodes but I’m watching a recorded show on it now and my CPU is sitting at 1% so no real overhead there tho I’m okay with transcoding (granted of course I’d rather not). I do have a mixture of .avi, .mp4 and .mkv so I’m sure some of it will be transcoded.
So you asked the question - then 5 hours later you have purchased a box.
Didn’t give the guys here much of a chance now did you?
Something that for me weighs very high in usability for any of these clients is the REMOTE.
From personal experience here is the order (best first) of remotes.
- XBOX one Remote
- Roku - the one that doesn’t have the microphone button.
- Shield TV
- Roku - with the mic button
- Apple TV4
- Xbox one controller
- Shield controller
- Samsung TV remote
LOL yes I wasn’t planning on it but wife and I went to dinner and it was next to a BestBuy so we went in to look at new TVs. Waffled back and forth on whether to get one then jumped out. I have 2 weeks to return it, I’m thinking of picking up the Roku and running both. I really like the plex app in the FireTV, the FF/skip 30-seconds/etc. buttons work great without long pauses. I know my iOS app isn’t as responsive even tho I’m on an iPhone 6S (isn’t that considered fast?). Anyway don’t take my quick rush out as I didn’t o don’t care, I truly am looking for the best experience. It’s more of a “$100 wont kill me and my inability to leave BestBuy without something problem” 
FireTV is FANTASTIC for streaming Prime material (I’m in love with X-Ray) and nearly every single Plex-it addition to the Watch Later list direct plays instantly - instead of the hic-cup-stall-think-decide-reload-transcode sequence on a Roku (at least on my units).
There are some apps that aren’t available on Roku - Weather Earth (or whatever it’s called) got my attention this past summer with their whole-earth wind current thingy. I had no idea how many Tropical Systems form in the Eastern Pacific and then are sheered to bits right before they hit Hawaii as nothing more than a good thunderstorm. The app needs work, but it’s still neat for a free app.
If a private developer would create a decent Plex app for AFTV (I’d pay 'em anything they asked) I’d spend a LOT more Plex-Time on my AFTV.
Having a Roku and an AFTV isn’t the worst thing that could happen. I find they both have uses and when you’re dealing with Plex it seems one box just isn’t enough… as much as Plex would like to believe that one app fits all… out here in the real world I find that it takes a few boxes and a few apps to really get the job done.
Besides… if you have an open HDMI port on your TeeVee, Bubba… stick somethin’ in it… that’s wut it’s thar for!
