The Roku Ultra is one of the best streaming boxes on the market, and depending on the person, it might be a better pick than my beloved Apple TV 4K. At their core, both devices do the same thing, and they even come with some nice bonuses that you don't see on streaming sticks. What I'm talking about are the USB ports, and if you take advantage of those, you can open up a bit more functionality from your regular streaming device.
The Roku Ultra USB port falls flat
It's a nice idea, though
Having more ports is never a bad thing because there's no telling what somebody might need to plug in someday. The problem is that my TV has more than plenty for this specific need, so what value does my Roku Ultra bring to the table? The answer is not a lot. The big thing is that I can't use the USB port for anything other than reading devices. Flash drives and hard drives work, but if I wanted to plug in a pair of headphones for nighttime listening, it's not going to work. The answer to this problem is to use Bluetooth and pair that way, but that defeats the purpose of having the USB port.
Due to my TV having a couple of USB ports, I can't think of much I can do with my Roku Ultra's port that makes a lot of sense. Fortunately, it's not the end of the world, as the Roku Ultra excels in anything else I ask of it, so this is more of a bonus feature simply not being as valuable as I thought it could be. The Roku Ultra is a great device, and I'm glad I have one. I just wouldn't recommend anybody to go out and buy one just to use the USB port.
At least the Roku Ultra has the port
Credit is due when it's due
My Roku Ultra has the advantage over Apple here, as my first-gen Apple TV 4K doesn't have a USB port at all. I figured part of that is because Apple was still forcing Lightning on us at the time, but even the third-gen model doesn't have a port at all.
I suppose I can't be upset about that, because it's not like I was going to get much use out of my Apple TV's USB ports anyway. However, it's always nicer to have the option than not. This is especially the case when the Apple TV 4K costs much more than a Roku Ultra -- you can frequently find the Ultra on sale while the Apple TV 4K is hardly ever discounted.
I don't know how many people out there are making a purchasing decision based on a single USB port, but if you're out there, the Roku Ultra is the winner here over the Apple TV 4K. If you don't need to have a USB port on your device, then either of them is fine. The Roku Ultra can do a little bit more, but what you get out of the port boils down to how you plan to use your device and if your TV has USB ports to spare.