Two things have proved themselves true in 2020: We're all spending a lot more time at home streaming video, and we're all looking to save more when we're streaming video.
Those two things will certainly come together on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving when all the things go on sale. Or, rather, that's the official day of the sales. In reality, Black Friday is more like "Black Week or Two or maybe the whole month if we feel like it."
One of the biggest-ticket items on Black Friday is streaming sticks. We'll see the likes of Amazon, Roku and others shave prices where they can, because a few bucks here and there can make a big difference.
Here's where we're looking to see sales on Black Friday. (In fact, we're already starting to see some major price drops a full week ahead of the official day of savings.) We'll update this post as more items hit the list, and as prices drop.
Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K
The Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K is the one we recommend for most folks. It's inexpensive even when it's not on sale — and you better believe it's going to see a decent discount for Black Friday. In fact, it's already seeing some major discounts a full ahead of Black Friday — currently $20 off.
The Fire TV Stick Black Friday deal has all the specs you want. It handles 4K resolution just fine. It has support for Dolby Vision HDR, and Dolby Atmos audio. It has Wifi 5, which is the spec you're most likely have in your home, so it should stream without any issues.
And the Alexa Voice remote means you've got all the power of Alexa right there in your hand, routed through your television. It's very cool.
Still need more? Read our full review.
Amazon Fire TV Stick Lite
The Amazon Fire TV Stick Lite is great for a secondary TV in a spare bedroom. It tops out at 1080p resolution, and the remote control doesn't have volume buttons or a power button. And there's no support for Dolby Vision, but you do get HDR 10.
It's hard to discount this one too much below its retail price, but expect to see savings from a little bit of price shaving. In fact, a full week before Black Friday we're already seeing it down to below $20, which is really good for this sort of thing. Just be aware of its technical limitations is all.
Roku Ultra
Technically the Roku Ultra isn't a stream stick. It's more of a box. But whatever — it's the best Roku you can buy, and we usually see a little bit of a haircut on Black Friday, if not before.
In fact, it's already down to $69.99, which is the perfect price for this excellent streaming device.
And that's more important than ever this year because Roku Ultra finally supports Dolby Vision as well as Dolby Atmos. And because it's Roku, you know it's going to be easy to use.
There's also the excellent remote control that has its own headphone jack for private listening. (And it still comes with a pair of quality earbuds.)
Roku Streaming Stick+
You don't get as many bells and whistles with the Roku Streaming Stick+. No headphone jack in the remote. No Dolby Vision. But you still get 4K resolution and Wifi 5 to keep things chugging along nicely.
This is the Roku player you get when you don't want to spend $100. It works great, it's just not the best of the best.
