7 top streaming devices to give for the holidays – CNET [CNET]

Streaming players are some of the most versatile gifts in the tech world. They’re small enough to fit in a stocking but powerful enough to offer entertainment for the whole family. And let’s be honest: Cuddling up with your media streaming device in front of the TV to watch your favorite shows is a perfect way to spend a cold winter day. So if you’re thinking about giving yourself or someone you love the cozy gift of streaming, but are unsure of which device will work best, you’ve come to the right place. 

We’ve reviewed nearly every streaming device and major smart TV system on the market today, including Roku, Google Chromecast, Amazon Fire TV and Apple TV. These add-on streaming devices often have simpler remotes, more apps, better search and more frequent updates than the smarts built into your TV set, especially older models.

We’ve rounded up a list of our favorite streaming devices for the 2021 holiday season and the Roku Streaming Stick 4K and the Roku Express 4K Plus are neck-and-neck in our race for top overall pick. The Roku Express 4K Plus is normally cheaper than the Streaming Stick 4K, so it’s usually our top Roku pick. But sales prices have fluctuated on both of these models this holiday season, so we generally recommend the cheaper of the two. 

That said, Roku faces stiff competition from Amazon, Apple, and Google, who also have plenty of streaming stick and streaming box devices to offer.

Read more: Best streaming service of 2021

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67 results

n LG C1 OLED 65-inchn

n “,”topic”:”http://www.cnet.com/”,”ttag”:”http://www.cnet.com/”,”variant”:”http://www.cnet.com/”,”viewguid”:”http://www.cnet.com/”,”event”:”gift_finder|link-button|1″,”correlationId”:”http://www.cnet.com/”,”_destCat”:”https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08WG4HKKY/ref=asc_df_B08WG4HKKY1635246000000?tag=cnet-ce-20&creative=395261&creativeASIN=B08WG4HKKY&linkCode=asn&ascsubtag=a1171c8430db4106bd345f4801514a96%7Cf9073051-06f5-4f63-9ce2-e434a9a1ada7%7Cdtp”,”productName”:”LG C1 OLED 65-inch”,”formatType”:”BUTTON”,”location”:”LIST”,”position”:1,”dwLinkTag”:”article-body|gift_finder|button”}}’ rel=”noopener nofollow” target=”_blank”>

LG C1 OLED 65-inch

n “,”topic”:”http://www.cnet.com/”,”ttag”:”http://www.cnet.com/”,”variant”:”http://www.cnet.com/”,”viewguid”:”http://www.cnet.com/”,”event”:”gift_finder|link-button|2″,”correlationId”:”http://www.cnet.com/”,”_destCat”:”https://www.mirror.co/shop/mirror”,”productName”:”The Mirror”,”formatType”:”BUTTON”,”location”:”LIST”,”position”:2,”dwLinkTag”:”article-body|gift_finder|button”}}’ rel=”noopener nofollow” target=”_blank”>

n $1,495 at Mirrorn

nn “,”topic”:”http://www.cnet.com/”,”ttag”:”http://www.cnet.com/”,”variant”:”http://www.cnet.com/”,”viewguid”:”http://www.cnet.com/”,”event”:”gift_finder|link-button|2″,”correlationId”:”http://www.cnet.com/”,”_destCat”:”https://www.mirror.co/shop/mirror”,”productName”:”The Mirror”,”formatType”:”BUTTON”,”location”:”LIST”,”position”:2,”dwLinkTag”:”article-body|gift_finder|button”}}’ rel=”noopener nofollow” target=”_blank”>

$1,495 at Mirror

n Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultran

n “,”topic”:”http://www.cnet.com/”,”ttag”:”http://www.cnet.com/”,”variant”:”http://www.cnet.com/”,”viewguid”:”http://www.cnet.com/”,”event”:”gift_finder|link-button|3″,”correlationId”:”http://www.cnet.com/”,”_destCat”:”https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08N2MSSZY?tag=cnet-api-20&linkCode=ogi&th=1&ascsubtag=cce5b14749194587a24fca3e2fc5fbea%7C13198a3b-52c9-4377-8a09-f70b9da6032f%7Cdtp”,”productName”:”Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra”,”formatType”:”BUTTON”,”location”:”LIST”,”position”:3,”dwLinkTag”:”article-body|gift_finder|button”}}’ rel=”noopener nofollow” target=”_blank”>

Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra

n “,”topic”:”http://www.cnet.com/”,”ttag”:”http://www.cnet.com/”,”variant”:”http://www.cnet.com/”,”viewguid”:”http://www.cnet.com/”,”event”:”gift_finder|link-button|4″,”correlationId”:”http://www.cnet.com/”,”_destCat”:”https://www.bestbuy.com/site/dell-g15-15-6-fhd-gaming-laptop-intel-core-i7-16gb-memory-nvidia-geforce-rtx-3050-512gb-ssd-black-dark-shadow-grey/6470463.p?skuId=6470463″,”productName”:”Dell G15″,”formatType”:”BUTTON”,”location”:”LIST”,”position”:4,”dwLinkTag”:”article-body|gift_finder|button”}}’ rel=”noopener nofollow” target=”_blank”>

n $1,100 at Best Buyn

nn “,”topic”:”http://www.cnet.com/”,”ttag”:”http://www.cnet.com/”,”variant”:”http://www.cnet.com/”,”viewguid”:”http://www.cnet.com/”,”event”:”gift_finder|link-button|4″,”correlationId”:”http://www.cnet.com/”,”_destCat”:”https://www.bestbuy.com/site/dell-g15-15-6-fhd-gaming-laptop-intel-core-i7-16gb-memory-nvidia-geforce-rtx-3050-512gb-ssd-black-dark-shadow-grey/6470463.p?skuId=6470463″,”productName”:”Dell G15″,”formatType”:”BUTTON”,”location”:”LIST”,”position”:4,”dwLinkTag”:”article-body|gift_finder|button”}}’ rel=”noopener nofollow” target=”_blank”>

$1,100 at Best Buy

n HP Pavilion Aero 13n

n “,”topic”:”http://www.cnet.com/”,”ttag”:”http://www.cnet.com/”,”variant”:”http://www.cnet.com/”,”viewguid”:”http://www.cnet.com/”,”event”:”gift_finder|link-button|5″,”correlationId”:”http://www.cnet.com/”,”_destCat”:”https://www.hp.com/us-en/shop/pdp/hp-pavilion-aero-laptop-13-be0097nr?&a=1&jumpid=cs_con_nc_ns&utm_medium=cs&utm_source=ga&utm_campaign=HP-Store_US_All_PS_All_AMD_Google_All_Smart-PLA&utm_content=sp&adid=528037761309&addisttype=u&406J8UA%23ABA&cq_src=google_ads&cq_cmp=13541623146&cq_con=123108433905&cq_term=&cq_med=&cq_plac=&cq_net=u&cq_pos=&cq_plt=gp&gclid=Cj0KCQjwlOmLBhCHARIsAGiJg7ny5w6duo3W9LphQI3G8cx696wHpv3UNcgwaynZrxPhVfdYSLrtffgaApUuEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds”,”productName”:”HP Pavilion Aero 13″,”formatType”:”BUTTON”,”location”:”LIST”,”position”:5,”dwLinkTag”:”article-body|gift_finder|button”}}’ rel=”noopener nofollow” target=”_blank”>

HP Pavilion Aero 13

n “,”topic”:”http://www.cnet.com/”,”ttag”:”http://www.cnet.com/”,”variant”:”http://www.cnet.com/”,”viewguid”:”http://www.cnet.com/”,”event”:”gift_finder|link-button|6″,”correlationId”:”http://www.cnet.com/”,”_destCat”:”https://www.bestbuy.com/site/macbook-air-13-3-laptop-apple-m1-chip-8gb-memory-256gb-ssd-latest-model-space-gray/5721600.p?skuId=5721600&ref=212&loc=1&extStoreId=187&ref=212&loc=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwlOmLBhCHARIsAGiJg7m61oVDcD1XjYnpNpvvveYbCYKIDG81QW_l6p-_IOqHvaD7VJxT59kaAoooEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds”,”productName”:”MacBook Air M1″,”formatType”:”BUTTON”,”location”:”LIST”,”position”:6,”dwLinkTag”:”article-body|gift_finder|button”}}’ rel=”noopener nofollow” target=”_blank”>

n $1,000 at Best Buyn

nn “,”topic”:”http://www.cnet.com/”,”ttag”:”http://www.cnet.com/”,”variant”:”http://www.cnet.com/”,”viewguid”:”http://www.cnet.com/”,”event”:”gift_finder|link-button|6″,”correlationId”:”http://www.cnet.com/”,”_destCat”:”https://www.bestbuy.com/site/macbook-air-13-3-laptop-apple-m1-chip-8gb-memory-256gb-ssd-latest-model-space-gray/5721600.p?skuId=5721600&ref=212&loc=1&extStoreId=187&ref=212&loc=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwlOmLBhCHARIsAGiJg7m61oVDcD1XjYnpNpvvveYbCYKIDG81QW_l6p-_IOqHvaD7VJxT59kaAoooEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds”,”productName”:”MacBook Air M1″,”formatType”:”BUTTON”,”location”:”LIST”,”position”:6,”dwLinkTag”:”article-body|gift_finder|button”}}’ rel=”noopener nofollow” target=”_blank”>

$1,000 at Best Buy