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These are photos of Roku's next lineup of streaming boxes

These are photos of Roku's next lineup of streaming boxes

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New names, no radical design changes

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After leaking the new product branding for Roku's upcoming hardware refresh, Zatz Not Funny has now published the first photos of the company's latest streaming boxes. And they look... like Rokus. At the bottom of the yet-to-be-announced lineup are the Roku Express and Roku Express Plus — two models meant to take the place of the existing Roku 1. These are actually the most unique of the bunch from a design perspective; it looks like Roku just chopped one of its current boxes in half. Zatz isn't sure what the difference between the regular and "Plus" models are, so Roku has managed to keep a lid on some things.

Roku Express

Next are the Roku Premiere and Premiere+, which return to the regular Roku aesthetic and replace the Roku 2 and 3, respectively. They're actually closer in design to the Roku 4, though, and both "may" share the 4K capabilities of that box. The Premiere+ version gets an ethernet port for speedy, reliable streaming and a microSD card slot — both absent from the regular model. The Plus may gain HDR as well.

The Roku Ultra headlines the new portfolio with optical audio out, and a clever remote locator button located right on top of the set-top box. Says Zatz:

This flagship Roku appears to be a lock for HDR in 2016 and may be the only model to feature USB for accessing local media. The Ultra may also be the only model to ship with a motion-control gaming remote capabilities this time around.

Roku Ultra

So that's a pretty thorough look at the 2016 Roku family. These devices haven't been announced just yet, but with these product shots now floating around, it probably won't be long until they're official. Once we know the full story and feature set, we should have a better idea of whether they'll be worth the upgrade.