My TV Got a Major Upgrade With the Roku Streambar, Now a Black Friday Deal

Sometimes the best deal doesn't always mean the best product. I scored a 65-inch 4K TV for $250 on Black Friday a few years ago, but I soon discovered some of the set's shortcomings.

After a few months, I already had pretty major issues with the TV: The audio from the speakers was bad, the smart TV interface was lagging terribly, and lots of apps were missing from the built-in app store. You get what you pay for, but I didn't think it would be this bad this quick.

Read more: Best Black Friday TV Deals

The TV felt almost unusable, and I was considering getting a new one, but I was still pretty happy with the size and resolution, so instead I thought it might just be better to update the aspects I felt were lacking. 

And that's where the Roku Streambar comes in -- it's currently $100 for Black Friday ($30 off).

Unlike your regular streaming player, the Roku Streambar is both a streaming device and a high-quality soundbar. The Streambar features Roku's streaming player, which offers 4K HDR streaming for your TV, along with a library of applications like Max, Disney Plus and Netflix, and you can get live and local TV channels, as well as live sports. The Roku streaming interface doesn't lag like the one on my TV, and it also has many of the apps that were missing, so that's two upgrades right there.

And on the audio side, you have a four-speaker soundbar with Dolby Audio. I placed the Roku Streambar right in front of my TV, and the difference in sound is stark: the dialogue is crisper; sound effects are louder and clearer. I feel much more immersed in the shows and movies that I watch than when using the built-in speakers.

The Roku Streambar does lack a bit of the bass I wanted, so I paired it with a Roku Wireless Bass (there's a bundle package you can get) for the low tones. You can even add multiple Roku Wireless Speakers for a full surround sound experience, but that's overkill for my apartment, so I'm happy with just the Streambar and Wireless Bass, which have both upgraded my watching experience  -- and I didn't even have to get a new TV.

Not yet, anyway.