SiliconDust HDHomeRun Flex 4K ATSC 3.0 NextGen TV: 2/4 Tuners HDFX-4K

This was a quick setup that was actually so easy it threw me for a loop. I had no choice but to get a replacement for my Amazon Fire TV Recast. Support was dropped for that and mine finally just failed.After reading reviews, I settled on the 4 tuner (4 x ATSC 1.0, with 2 x ATSC 3.0 capable). There are a couple of things to be aware of on this model and I'm going to go with them under the pros and cons, but suffice it to say, so far, I'm satisfied with it. I wasn't satisfied with my Recast unit from almost day 1, but read on.Pros1. Handles through ATSC 3.0 so it'll do NextGen channels if you have them in your area and your gear is capable of getting them.2. Has four tuners so you can record or watch programming on four different tuners, though only two can handle ATSC 3.0.3. The apps to facilitate getting programming from the HD Homerun appear to work well so far on both the Fire TV, Windows 11, and Android. Scratch that - they work. The Windows 11 app almost locked my system up solid while doing this review.4. The picture is not only good, on HD broadcasts, it's OUTSTANDING on both the Fire TV and via the Windows app, and it looks fine on the phone, but why bother with a phone when you've got a larger screen?Cons1. This doesn't come with a guide - if you want the guide and DVR capability you have to do the following:a. Shell out $35.00 for a year of DVR / Guide capabilityb. Shell out for an external hard drive - yeah, you heard that right - this comes with no hard drivec. While I have nothing good to say about my previous Recast unit, at least that came with a guide, DVR capability and a TB of storage for $179. This was $199 with no no disk or guide.3. That you even have to use an app to view it on the Fire TVs, but it's not an Amazon product4. While you may see that I did a scan and found 99 channels (I have 2 x HD OTA antennas) probably 10 to 12 of those cannot be viewed because they're DRM protectedSo, with those cons, why did I buy this one?First, read the reviews on the other units outside of Amazon. From what I could find online, the top models appeared to be the Silicon Dust HD Homerun models, the Tablos, and the ZapperBox. They each had their pros and cons and the ZapperBox also has a similar setup to the HD Homerun for recording and a guide. The Tablo would have been the more economical model in initial cost, that it came with storage, and has no charge for it's guide. Unfortunately, it's only equipped for ATSC 1.0 (I'd like to be ready for 3.0) and if you look at some of the reviews, no thanks, they're not very good. There was a greater than 20% return rate on the models I looked at on Amazon. I already had enough of that with my Recast unit.So that's why I went with the HD Homerun 4-tuner model.My photos include out of the box (the first 2), via the Fire TV app, and on my Windows 11 Desktop which uses an HDMI input into the same Fire TV as it's monitor. These photographs do not do the HD broadcast pictures any justice. You have to see them in person.Yes, I'd recommend this just out of taking everything into account including technology, customer service (I read ZapperBox now has customers IM or email them?), cost, and the aggravation I was hoping to avoid. It's my hope that in the future, some company will come out with something that's a bit more reasonably priced overall, like the Recast was, if only it had worked right out of the gate.

This is by far the best TV Tuner out there. Living close to an airport I've always had problems with multi-path interference from low flying aircraft or windblown trees so after learning about the how the new ATSC 3.0 tuners worked to alleviate these problems, I jumped at the chance to try the HD Homerun Flex 4k. It's true. The 3.0 tuners have alleviated the problem. But the thing with the Flex is the ATSC 1.0 tuners do a pretty darn good job of alleviating the problem as well. My Tv's tuner is terrible. I get breakups all the time on it. I had a Tablo that did a little better, but I hated how it took 5 seconds to change channels. I also had a Fire TV recast and its tuners were ok, but it downscaled the picture and the PQ was pretty bad. You could change channels faster, but it took a few seconds for the picture quality to get up to HD. The Tablo and Recast PQ had a compressed look to it.The HD homerun Flex 4k blows them both out of the water. The PQ is the same as if you were getting it straight from the antenna. I use the HDHomerun app, and I see no compression whatsoever. It really is an awesome picture. Changing channels is fast. The 3.0 stations take a couple of seconds longer. Right now, I don't see a reason to use the 3.0 stations because the 1.0 tuners do a fine job. In Orlando we get all the major Networks in ATSC 3.0, though the NBC station has turned on encryption. Silicon Dust says an update will be forth coming to allow viewing of DRM encrypted channels, but this isn't something you can bank on. Right now, ATSC is up in the air. It may all go away so who knows. None of the stations are doing 4k, it's all 1080. Be that as it may, I'm really happy with the 1.0 tuners on this thing.I use the HDHomerun app. People dis it all the time and use the Channels or Plex apps but those require a computer. I don't want to have a computer on. Plus, the Channels and Plex apps transcode and that can affect your PQ. The HDHomerun app does no transcoding. It's basically 4 tuners streamed wirelessly to your whole network. A decent router is required. If you can get 4k from your streaming apps you'll have no problem with this.I signed up for the $35 a year DVR and guide service. Less than $3 a month. I stuck a 256gb micro-SD card into a Micro/USB adapter and it works great. The recorded quality is a whatever the tuner received. No compression.If you use the HDHomerun app, go into setting and TURN OFF SLICE VIEW. Then you get the normal grid guide by hitting the up or down button. To close the guide hit the back button. People dis the app because of the slice view, which I admit looks pretty bad but it actually is great for touchscreens like a tablet or phone.Setting up is easy peasy. You can do it all from inside the app. Here's a hint, don't delete channels. Just click on the ones you don't want by getting to the red X. If you delete them, when the homerun does a scan, it will add them again.As you can tell I'm pretty happy with this product. I'm actually blown away. I could have gotten away with the 2-tuner dual flex for nearly half the price, but I got a $100 gift card from my employer so decided to put it towards this.If you're buying this for 4k, the tuner can do 4k, but nobody is broadcasting it. You can't really blame that on Silicon Dust.