The notable thing about the Ultra LT is not so much what it has, but what it lacks. The regular Roku Ultra also has a USB port on the side of the case and a Find Remote button on the top. The Find-Remote feature is of questionable value, but the loss of the USB port definitely hurts a bit. You can still view your own content on the Ultra LT with a microSD card or media server, but it’s not nearly as convenient. The Roku Ultra LT runs the tried-and-true Roku operating system. Unlike many other streaming operating systems, Roku doesn’t flood you with content from first-party providers as soon as you turn on the device. Instead, you can organize your home screen as you see fit. By default, the Ultra LT home screen has a variety of options, including My Feed, the Fandango movie and TV stores, an app store to find new streaming channels, and so on. However, you can disable many of these options in the Settings menu so that only the features you actually use are displayed on the home screen. The Ultra LT comes with the second best Roku remote you can get. That’s not a puff piece, it’s just that the new Ultra’s remote has two additional programmable buttons. The Ultra LT remote, however, has everything else: Media control buttons, directional buttons, a voice search button, and power and volume buttons that work on newer TVs after an effortless pairing process. There are also four dedicated buttons for Netflix, Hulu, Vudu, and Sling. This is good if you use these apps, and useless if you don’t. If there is one area where the Ultra LT was a bit disappointing, it was in its performance. Granted, there is nothing wrong with the way the Ultra LT works. Navigating from menu to menu is quick, and there is never any lag, whether scrolling through dozens of channels or returning to the home screen from a complex app menu.
