Freesat Recordable 4K TV Box 1TB

Arrived as stated and setup was easy.Had to contact Freesat directly as the version and update were from 2023 but told to leave box in standby for 2 hours and should update to latest firmware.All good though sound is slightly quieter through speakers so now volume has to be turned up higher to hear tv.Overall happy as it is to replace SKYQ and not taking long in getting used to ho remote works and general usage.After 5 months it will have paid for itself compared to SKY prices as was hardly watching SKY channels as too many repeats etc.Also did not have to change the LNB as SKYQ LNB works fine with it.

This unit connects to a Satellite dish (traditional or broadband) and lets you record a programme and potentially watch or record something else at the same time (Requires 2 cables from the traditional dish - otherwise of course it's one thing at a time)I already have a TV that 'can' receive and record Freesat but when it's recording you are often unable to change to or watch another TV channel. I bought this so that recording could go on separately from the family 'channel hopping' around as usual.Compared to the TV the Box HD output quality is as good as the original programme on the TV and recordings don't show any quality loss. Signal quality levels reported from the dish were also fine and similar to those on the TV's own signal meterAudio output on HDMI or Optical can each be selected as Stereo or Surround (although the latter is only going to be noticed if a surround track is being broadcast Otherwise you just get Stereo but its all managed seamlessly and works well). The box remote has its own volume control which can get confusing if someone turned it right down - I just leave it on full volume and use the normal TV volume as everyone knows where that isThe unit as delivered had 2 year old firmware and operation (while fully functional ) did seem a bit clunky/slow sometimes in the guides/menus. The Manual had nothng to say on updating this manually but I had connected it to a wired internet network connection, left it in standby overnight, and next day it had updated itself to the latest 2023 firmware. This may have included a few menu improvements but the main difference was there were now no unreasonable hesitations when moving around menus and functions.Timed recordings started and stopped as expected and where available captured both the surround and stereo tracks so you can (re)select what you want to listen to after the recording which is nice.SO generally this would be great for providing improved FreeSat 'box functionality to a TV that doesn't include it or (as in my case) to provide a 'child proof' stand alone free-satellite dish recording capability.With the latest firmware installed there is nothing to complain about and operation is easy and quality is great.

Bought this to replace my sky box as I didn’t watch any sky programs and was unable to record without a subscription so saved up and bought this 1 TB Freesat box from Arris I believe I’ve seen lots of poor reviews this is my take the box itself is ok it’s plastic like most things but serve’s it’s function only one button on there which is a power button.One good thing is if you connect it to a dish that had sky Q box you will be able to record 3 programs and watch a fourth handy setting up is easy.HD picture quality looks very good to me normal channels are ok.the first half negative is the menu and the guide the guide doesn’t move very smoothly and there’s not many options in the settings not as nice to use as skys but still usable the remote is again ok does the job but does not feel so tactile but is again ok.the phone app needs work is slow but again works just.overall it pretty good but needs fine tuning especially for the price of the box.reliability so far so good time will tell will update in a month or so.

Fabulous, fabulous, fabulous. Don’t listen to the naysayers, this box is near perfect. Early adopters got the bugs which are now all sorted. It gave the best initial user experience out of all the boxes I’ve ever had including Sky, BT and Freeview. If some of you are still experiencing bugs then they must be associated with your individual box and you should arrange a replacement under the terms of the guarantee.Why move to Freesat? Well, in the STV area they recently rejigged the transmitter frequencies and despite three aerial visits by Freeview they were unable to facilitate a reliable signal. They would leave it working but in the days following all the HD channels would intermittently disappear and some SD channels occasionally got pixellated. Apparently it had to do with nearby wind turbine interference.Some pros of the box are that it is quiet, fast, has a quality remote which is responsive, is relatively cool running, has a small footprint and a good choice of energy management settings. Other reviewers have criticised the guide as being outdated but I love it because actions are clearly explained in logical steps. One reviewer complained about excessive clicks to delete a recording but I prefer that to the instant delete on Freeview - will likely lead to fewer mistakes.The only improvement which comes to mind is the registration process on the box to obtain a Freeview account. This is slightly confusing.A couple of subsidiary comments that may help. During setup I tested the record function but it wouldn’t let me record and view at the same time. I checked in settings and it declared only one cable despite my having fitted two. Examining the cables I saw one had got loose which I fixed and retested but still no joy. I fiddled for half an hour, repeatedly swapping cables, was about to send it back as faulty but a quick Google search led to the word RESCAN and bingo two cables were declared and the record function then worked properly.The other point is about picture quality. All in the household mentioned that the picture was a “bit garish” which hadn’t manifest itself on Freeview. That was fixed by going into my Panasonic TV settings and deselecting “Dynamic” mode in the picture section. This is variously known as “Vivid”, “Movie”, “Pro”, or something similar. Of course some people prefer a vivid setting but I don’t and after this adjustment the Freesat picture is now perfect for my mid-range equipment. The picture is deep, rich, focused and a smidgeon better than Freeview!All that’s now left to do is to replace the LNB with a wideband one so that I will be able to record up to 4 programmes at the same time.