I have both. I much prefer my Roku units. The chromecast has been flaky at best. I also don’t like using my phone for a remote which is a big negative to me for the Chromecast. It’s all about tactile feedback, I don’t want to turn on my phone, unlock phone, launch app, press pause. When I could just press pause on a remote.
For flipping through shows, I still gotta go with the Roku. My wife and I sit down to watch something, I don’t want us crowding around a cell phone screen to pick something to watch. A lot easier for everyone to see up on the TV, including my son who likes to point at his kids shows to watch.
The chromecast has youtube, that’s about all it has going for it IMO. I guess you can “cast” a browser window from your laptop, but I don’t think I’ve ever needed that functionality.
When the Chromecast was basically $11 after Netflix discount, it was well worth it. Now, not so much. I probably wouldn’t buy a second one.
If you’re buying a roku at least get the Roku 2 XS or Roku 3 and use an ethernet cable to connect it to your router so you’ll get a faster connection and less buffering time.
Don’t forget there are lots of “private channels” which simply means they aren’t in the public channel is and you just have to know the specific code to use them.
I use the unofficial justin.tv channel all of the time. They must have recently changed their streams too so now they are much better quality.