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In this guide
Roku sells the Streambar SE as a two-in-one: a compact soundbar and a 4K HDR streaming player in one 9.6-inch box, connected to the TV by a single HDMI ARC cable. Model 9104R measures 2.4 by 9.6 by 3.5 inches, weighs 2 pounds, and holds two 1.9-inch full-range drivers behind a fabric grille with a bass port on the back. Roku's US store lists it at $149.99 and sells it for $99.99, read on 2026-10-04.
The decision turns on whether that combination is a bargain or a tax. Roku's own players page on 2026-10-04 priced the Streambar SE and the Roku Ultra identically at $99.99, both struck from $149.99, and the Streaming Stick 4K at $44.99 against a $79.99 list. So what a buyer has to value is the speakers against a stick plus a separate speaker, and the answer rests on how small the TV is and how bad its sound is.
Our verdict
A tidy dialogue fix for a small or older TV that also brings Roku's 4K interface along. At $99.99 it still costs what a Roku Ultra costs, and its speakers are two 1.9-inch drivers with no Dolby decoding.
- A good fit for
- A bedroom, dorm or kitchen TV with weak built-in speakers where one HDMI cable, one remote and clearer speech are the whole goal.
- We would skip it if
- You want Dolby Vision or Dolby Atmos, you are outfitting the main living-room TV, or you already have a soundbar and only need the streaming half.
Reasons to consider it
- Everything for a one-cable install is included: HDMI cable, optical cable, remote with TV power and volume, batteries and power adapter
- Speech clarity in four levels plus leveling and night volume modes, which is the feature that matters on a small TV
- 4K at 60 fps with HDR10 and HDR10+ from the built-in player, plus AirPlay, HomeKit, Alexa and Google Home support
The compromises
- Audio format is PCM only, no Dolby Digital or Atmos, and picture is HDR10 without Dolby Vision
- $99.99 on 2026-10-04 is Roku Ultra money; the Streaming Stick 4K was $44.99 that day with Dolby Vision and a voice remote, leaving $55 for a speaker
- Wired Ethernet needs a USB adapter that Roku sells separately, and the remote is not a voice remote
What we have not verified: Loudness, how the bass port behaves in a corner, Bluetooth latency with headphones, and the clarity gain over a given TV's own speakers are all unverified; those judgments rest on Roku's published specifications. The $99.99 sale price carries no closing date.
The things in this guide
A closer look at the products, who they may suit, and what to check before buying.
Streambar SE · 9104R
Two front-facing drivers, a four-level speech clarity setting, night and leveling volume modes, a 4K HDR10+ Roku player, and every cable needed in one box with one remote.
Before you buy: PCM audio only, no Dolby Vision, no voice remote, and a price that matches Roku's top player without matching its feature list.
Price checked October 4, 2026. Retailer prices can change.Two 1.9-inch drivers and a lot of software
The hardware half of the audio story is short. Roku lists two 1.9-inch full-range drivers and a rear bass port, and the only audio format on the sheet is PCM. There is no Dolby Digital decoding, no Atmos, and no driver dedicated to bass. The sheet prints no wattage, no driver excursion and no figure measured against another bar.
The software half is where Roku has put the effort. Sound modes are Dialogue, Movie, Music, Night and Standard; speech clarity has Off, Low, High and Auto; volume modes add Leveling, which tames loud commercials, and Night. The marketing header over those settings reads 'No need for closed captions' with the line 'Hear every word with enhanced speech clarity', which is the pitch in Roku's own words. Bluetooth 5.0 runs both ways: headphones for private listening, and phone audio to the bar as a music speaker. On a bar this size, the modes are the product.
The streaming half, and what it lacks against the stick
The built-in player outputs up to 2160p at 60 fps on a 4K TV with an HDCP 2.2 HDMI input, upscales 720p and 1080p, and supports HDR10 and HDR10+. On an HD set it runs at 1080p. Networking is 802.11ac dual-band Wi-Fi; wired Ethernet is possible only through a USB adapter that Roku sells on its own. AirPlay, HomeKit, Google Home and Alexa are all listed, and the USB 2.0 socket plays local files in H.264, HEVC and VP9 with a long list of audio codecs.
Against the Streaming Stick 4K, which Roku priced at $44.99 against a $79.99 list on 2026-10-04, two things are missing here: Dolby Vision, which the stick has and the bar does not, and the voice remote. The Streambar SE remote is a standard Roku remote with TV power, volume and mute buttons, which covers the daily job but leaves voice search to the phone app. For an HDR10 bedroom TV neither gap matters; for a Dolby Vision panel, the bar is the wrong player.
One cable to the TV, everything included
Roku's compatibility rule is simple: the TV needs either an HDMI ARC input, for a single-cable install where the bar plays TV audio and the TV remote's volume keys can drive the bar, or a plain HDMI input plus an optical output, in which case the included optical cable carries TV sound back to the bar. The bar itself carries an HDMI 2.0a ARC socket, an optical input, a USB 2.0 socket, reset, and power at 100 to 240 V and 0.7 A.
The package lists the bar, the remote with TV controls, two AAA batteries, the power adapter, a high-speed HDMI cable and the optical cable. Nothing else needs buying for a first install, and the optical cable is what makes a TV without ARC usable at all. Pairing with a Roku TV is automatic during setup and the TV remote then controls the bar's volume, which is the one situation where the missing voice remote stops mattering.
Ultra money, a warranty of one year, and a 30-day return
Roku's players page on 2026-10-04 priced the Streambar SE and the Roku Ultra at the same $99.99, both struck from the same $149.99 list, and the Streaming Stick 4K at $44.99 against a $79.99 list. That is $55 between the bar and the stick at the prices a buyer sees today, and $70 between them at list. The store also lists the bar as expandable to 2.1, so a Roku bass speaker can be added later: a path to real bass, and a second purchase at the same time. A stick plus a speaker bought with the $55 difference is the obvious alternative, at the cost of two remotes, two power adapters and no speech-clarity modes.
Roku's hardware warranty for US buyers lasts one year and covers durable hardware faults, and Roku decides whether to repair the unit or swap it; claims need an RMA number, which stays valid for thirty days, and the unit ships back at the buyer's expense with all accessories. Purchases on roku.com can be returned for a refund for 30 days from the ship date, again with the buyer paying return shipping, in the original packaging with every part present. Refunds post 7 to 14 days from the warehouse receiving the box.
Skip it for the main TV, or if you own a bar already
A 55-inch living-room TV with a Dolby Vision panel is the wrong home for this bar. Two 1.9-inch drivers and a rear port are the entire low end, PCM is the only audio format the sheet lists, so a Dolby stream is not decoded by the bar itself, and the player skips Dolby Vision entirely. In that room, a Streaming Stick 4K at $44.99 plus a proper soundbar, or a soundbar with HDMI passthrough, is the better spend even if it costs more in total.
Also pass if a soundbar is already under the TV. The value of the Streambar SE is the merger, and buying it for the player alone means paying $55 more than the stick today, or $70 more at list, for a worse remote and no Dolby Vision. Where it does make sense is narrow and real: a bedroom, dorm or kitchen TV, one HDMI cable, a remote that runs the TV too, and dialogue you can follow without captions.
How we put this together
Built from the product pages and listings below, without test scores or results we have not measured. Specifications and prices change, so check the original page for the exact model, current price, delivery, and returns.
- Roku: Streambar SE product page (opens in a new tab)
- Roku: Players overview (opens in a new tab)
- Roku: Order FAQs, return policy section (opens in a new tab)
- Roku: Limited Warranty for Roku brand devices (US) (opens in a new tab)
- Roku: Streaming Stick 4K product page (opens in a new tab)
