2025 has been a whirlwind for Roku. The company has refreshed its TV lineup, launched the Roku Howdy streaming service, rolled out the Aurzen D1R Cube Roku TV Smart Projector, brought Philips Ambilight TVs into the Roku OS fold, and pushed Roku OS14 updates—making it clear Roku isn’t just playing catch-up, it’s aiming to own your living room.
Roku Fall 2025 Updates: AI Voice, OS14 Enhancements, and Smart TV Innovations
Never one to rest on its laurels, Roku is rolling out updates designed to actually make life easier. Leading the charge is AI-Powered Roku Voice, which borrows a page from Alexa+ and Google Gemini—only this time, it’s on your TV. You can ask questions, get answers on-screen, and even follow up without repeating yourself. Access it via the Roku Voice Remote or the Roku Mobile app using your phone’s mic.
Some examples to test if Roku’s keeping up:
- “What’s Squid Game about… and why did everyone suddenly hate everyone else?”
- “How scary is Jaws—am I going to ever go back into the water?
- “What kind of fish is Nemo… and why did he get lost in the first place?”
Yes, you can carry on a full conversation with Roku Voice. Whether it actually understands you—or just humors you—well, that’s the fun part.
Smarter Search and Streaming Navigation
Roku is making it harder to get lost in the streaming jungle. Its search feature now covers more ground, including What to Watch, Live TV Zone, and the Live TV Channel Guide. There’s also a new “Ways to Watch” button popping up under trailers and streaming apps—so you can finally figure out if that show is on Hulu, Netflix, or buried somewhere in a forgotten corner of your subscription pile.
Because yes, apparently finding what to watch can be a full-time job—and Roku wants to make it slightly less painful.
Real-Time Sports
Roku Sports just got a serious upgrade for anyone who can’t stop obsessing over the scoreboard. Live Scores and Reminders keep you in the loop so you never miss a game or that embarrassing last-minute goal. Prefer to live in blissful ignorance? You can hide scores and still get mobile notifications when matchups start, letting you choose between spoiler mode or full-on sports nerd mode.
Smarter Mobile Companion: Roku is adding quick-access shortcuts, rating tools, and a new navigation bar for curated content on the Roku Mobile App.
Bluetooth Headphone Mode Expansion: Being able to listen to your Roku-accessible content on headphones is a very convenient feature, but it hasn’t been available on all Roku devices. As a result, Roku is adding this capability to the Roku Streaming Stick and Streaming Stick Plus.
Vankyo Roku TV Smart Projector
Roku already shook things up with the Aurzen D1R Cube, the first mini-projector running Roku OS. Now it’s back for round two with Vankyo. The H500R is a 1080p LCD projector with 330 lumens—so don’t expect it to outshine your living room lights—and it comes with Roku OS built in. You can grab one at Walmart for $198, which is just enough to make you wonder if your couch is ready for its new big-screen companion.
Pioneer Roku TV: Another addition to the Roku TV family (which now numbers 40 brands) is Pioneer, which has added Roku OS to select 4K UHD TV models.
The Bottom Line
Roku has been busy in 2025, adding AI features, expanding to over 40 TV brand partners—including Pioneer—and testing the mini-projector waters. But when it comes to projectors, Roku is playing it safe with low-end devices instead of challenging Android and Google TV in the mainstream home theater space. The updates are solid, but there’s still room for Roku to prove it can do more than just keep up. How the rest of 2025 and 2026 unfold will show whether Roku can move from clever convenience to serious home entertainment contender.
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