These streaming devices and TV upgrades are worth buying before football season

Football season has just started, and the MLB playoffs are a little over three weeks away, so now is a great time to improve your streaming setup and catch the most games in the highest possible quality. The jump in storage and memory prices that hit the tech industry last year has made streaming devices more expensive, but you can still find a good value if you know where to look. 

Plenty of TV accessories, including soundbars and smart lights, can make watching your favorite shows and sports matches feel more immersive, while setting up an HDTV antenna can actually save you money if you decide to cut the cord. We’ve collected the best TV accessories and streaming devices to help your home theater last longer. 

Amazon’s Fire TV Stick 4K Max is the company’s latest streaming stick, and it allows you to access every major streaming service in a few taps. It supports every contemporary HDR format, so the colors of whatever you’re watching should look more true-to-life, and Dolby Atmos surround sound. The Fire TV Stick 4K Max’s remote has a built-in microphone, so you can use it to talk to Alexa, Amazon’s smart assistant. Using Alexa, you can control compatible smart-home accessories, or allow you to open the streaming app you’re interested in using your voice. 

Smart lightbulbs have been popular for years, but Govee’s TV Backlight 3 is the best smart lighting accessory for your living room. The kit includes a camera mounted on top of your TV and an adhesive light strip that installs on the back of your TV. Once configured, the camera sends a signal to the light strip and dynamically changes its color based on what you’re watching. The color changes happen in real time, so the light around your TV will match what you’re seeing on screen. 

If you want to compare other options, we tested the best TV backlights to find the ones that make the biggest difference.

If you’re mainly interested in watching local sports and shows on broadcast TV channels (CBS, ABC, NBC, FOX), Mohu’s Leaf Amplified can make cutting the cord much simpler. The antenna can receive a broadcast signal from up to 60 miles away and connects to your TV’s coaxial (sometimes labeled cable) port. The number of channels you receive depends on your location, but you can watch broadcast TV in HD or even 4K without paying a monthly fee. For best results, mount the antenna on a window using the included kit. 

Sling TV’s Essentials Plan was designed to make it easy to keep up with sports without paying for a bloated monthly cable package. The plan lets you watch 12 channels, including ESPN and ESPN 2, on your smart TV, smartphone, tablet, or computer for $20 per month. The subscription is available on a month-by-month basis, so you don’t get locked into a year-long contraction, and also includes access to an on-demand library of TV shows and movies. Sling’s more expensive plans include the same general perks, plus more channels. 

Sling also offers day passes, which can be useful if you only need access for a specific game or event.

There’re hundreds of great soundbars, but JBL’s Bar 700MK2 is the most space-efficient way to set up a Dolby Atmos-compatible surround sound system. It edges out similar soundbars because its wireless surround speakers run on batteries and recharge when connected to the sides of the soundbar. That design lets you enjoy a 7.1 surround sound system with only two outlets and no speaker cables. The soundbar supports Google Cast, Apple AirPlay, and Bluetooth, so you can use the soundbar as a living room speaker when you’re not using the TV. 

Fluance’s Ri71 bookshelf speakers are another great, living-room-friendly all-in-one audio system that’d be a huge upgrade over your TV’s built-in speakers. They look great and feature a dual-driver audio system: a 5.25-inch woofer for midrange and bass and a 28x35mm Air Motion Transformer tweeter for high frequencies. You can connect your TV to the Ri71 using an HDMI cable, or wirelessly via Bluetooth. The speakers also have RCA inputs, so you can plug in a turntable, CD player, or other audio source.

For more options that can pull double duty around the house, check out our guide to the best Bluetooth speakers

Mount-It!$129.99 at amazon.com

Mount-It!’s Heavy-Duty TV mount lets you position your set at the perfect viewing height and angle while saving space by eliminating the need for a bulky media center. It works with almost any TV between 37 and 80 inches that weighs under 110 pounds. Once your TV is mounted, you can swivel the articulating joints so you can watch without straining your neck. The mount attaches to a single stud, so you can easily install it in a room corner. 

An unintended consequence of mounting your TV is having to look at power cables running down your wall. Delamu’s TV Cord Hider is a slim sheath you can attach to your wall between the TV and your outlet. All power cables fit inside, where they’re easily accessible without looking obtrusive. Delamu offers its Cord Hider in four colors and over a dozen sizes, making it easy to find one that looks good on your wall and keeps your cords almost completely out of sight. 

More TV and home theater reviews

1. Hisense C2 Pro Mini Projector review: Massive screen and powerful sound
2. Nebula X1 Projector review: The most innovative home theater solution yet
3. XGIMI Aura 2 Laser TV review: A huge-screen alternative to a traditional TV

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