Roku announced on Thursday that its Ultra streaming box will include its Voice Remote Pro, which upgrades the company’s standard remote by adding more buttons, always-on listening, and a rechargeable battery. Despite the fact that Roku is including a remote that costs $30 to purchase on its own, the Ultra will stay at its original $99.99 price point.
In its press release, the company says that the bundling will begin in “mid-May,” and its website already says that the Ultra comes with the Pro remote. When my colleague Chris Welch reviewed the remote last year, he liked that he had the option of giving voice commands to his Roku without having to press a button. And while I admired the fact that it no longer required AAs, it was a bit of a bummer that the remote charged via Micro USB.
This isn’t the first time Roku’s bundled in the remote with one of its streaming boxes. The $70 Streaming Stick 4K Plus also includes it. That model, however, comes at a $20 premium over the regular 4K Streaming Stick. It’s nice to see that Roku is just including it with the Ultra without a price bump. That makes the streaming box, which features HDR and an ethernet port, a pretty decent deal — even more so when it inevitably goes on sale.