Updated June 2022 – go to bottom.
Recently, I received the Freesat 4K recordable 1TB box and was hoping to be impressed. Would it really be better than Virgin Tivo or the Sky Q box? I downloaded the user guide a while ago and was impressed with its (potential) capabilities so I was all revved up and raring to go. Connecting to my Sky dish with Wideband LNB was easy peasy but then it all went downhill :-((
One of my “Tenda P200” homeplug adapters appears to have been fried, so couldn’t use Ethernet over mains. No problem the Freesat box has WiFi.
The gotcha, a very big gotcha ! The remote (control) box, the bit that allows “(Hu) man to communicate with machine” is basically not fit for purpose! Its very narrow and it’s very difficult to press a button and not have it “duplicate” what you have pressed. Got my wife (thinner fingers) to try and she had same problem, this meant that trying to enter the WiFi password was verging on impossible. We know the password we are trying to enter is correct and can connect several devices using the same password but there is no way to see if what we were entering was correct because it doesn’t have an option to “show password”. So basically a fail at the first hurdle.
Looking at the feedback on “Currys site“, there are over 1000 comments and quite a few non complimentary comments about the remote!
It’s very disappointing to find that the Freesat box has a Remote (control) box that doesn’t appear to be fit for purpose. It won’t matter how good the UI (User Interface) is on the box, if the “main” means of communicating with the Freesat box is compromised with a device that isn’t fit for purpose. The remote (control) box / device is the “gaffer”, the UI (of the box) could be the best in the world but if the remote doesn’t work as intended; the whole “concept” is a fail!
You could use the “Freesat App” on your iPad or your Android device but you would first need to find a way to enter the WiFi password, using the remote. If you are unable to enter the WiFi password, the “App” won’t find the box. Assuming that you have managed to enter the WiFi password, why would you want to use a £400+ iPad as a remote control for the Freesat box because the supplied remote (control) box isn’t fit for purpose? A work round would be to use Ethernet, in my case I wasn’t able to use “homeplug” but I could try using a very long Ethernet cable to get round the initial setup problems but the “Elephant in the room” is still the Remote (control) box that duplicates the buttons you press. This means that your main interaction with the box is compromised by not having a reliable means of communicating with the box. A major fail!
I suppose that in summary, the Freesat box is let down by a remote box that is unfit for purpose and software that doesn’t cut the mustard, with regard to not being able to see what WiFi password you have entered. It could be that not all “remote (control) boxes” are “problematic”, in which case, I imagine that the Freesat box is a very good alternative to the SkY Q and the Virgin Tivo boxes; if you are getting all the channels you want!
Set-top boxes in general MUST HAVE a remote (control) box that is “Fit for purpose” because this is the primary means of communicating with the set-top box. With this in mind, it is a non starter if you have to enter info e.g. passwords using an archaic method of scrolling left, right, up and down to select a number or letter. The modern way would be to use a device with a “Qwerty” or other keyboard arrangement. Yes you can use the “numeric pad” but if it duplicates what you have (or thought you have) entered, it isn’t much use.The remote should never be an “after thought”.
I wasn’t able to complete the set up and that was very disappointing. I can’t comment on the UI (user interface) but according to the user guides, it should be pretty good (feedback on the Currys site give a mixed reaction to the UI) Hopefully it will be intuitive, unambiguous and won’t require you to read through reams of an “instruction manual” to do the most basic of operations. If the UI is not intuitive, the UI is a fail. To offer a good (or better) alternative to Virgin (now 360) and the Sky Q box, the Freesat remote needs to be offering voice control and the UI interface needs to be better and offer more user control than Virgin and Sky Q but it has a long way to go. Getting the the primary means of communicating with the set top box right is paramount and could be a game changer. Sorting out the UI is another game changer, making it intuitive and user friendly is a must.
I still think Freesat ought to be the way forward for a lot of people but the current set top box offering is not “Humax” and isn’t close to being a contender 🙁 Unfortunately Humax are no longer in the Freesat arena, the reason is unknown. Maybe Freesat (who have now been forced to do an “in house” alternative to Humax) will get their act together in the coming 12 months or so and resolve the current problems with the remote box. If they get it right, they will have a lot potential customers who want a subscription free TV service. They need to think outside of the box, starting with the remote box because this is the primary means of communicating with the set top box. Having an “App” that gives the same “facilities” as that offered by using a remote box interactively would be a very good move but the UI needs to be intuitive and user friendly.
As my Sky contract is close to the end and Freesat are not coming up with the goods, I have gone back to Virgin and hopefully their “360” offering will be to my liking. I won’t hold my breath 🙂 Looking at a lot of feedback, the Virgin 360 box is “work in progress” 🙁
On closing, Freesat (as a company) are nice people to deal with, they even have a proper email address so you don’t have to fanny around with phoning them. They have accepted that I’m not a happy bunny and have offered a full refund, they have even provided a returns label so that I can return the box at no cost. So as a company they basically ROCK. I really hope they can address the remote box problems so that I can give them another go in 18 Months time.
Hopefully Freesat can become a real competitor for Virgin and Sky. They can only do this by having a “remote box” that works as intended (maybe adding voice control) and having a UI that is easy to use and uncluttered.They need to “think outside of the box” (pun intended) and have a “Remote” that includes a “Qwerty” (or similar style) keyboard for entering text commands, easily and without any ambiguity.
Microsoft have the “Insider program“, which allows Millions of people to give feedback on future “public releases” of Windows 10. Maybe Freesat could do something similar. Most users know what they want! Freesat need to champion the needs of TV users. A remote box (primary means of interactive communication) that does what is intended is a must. An App that allows users to do everything remotely that can be be done interactively (with the remote box) is very desirable but maybe not a “must”.
The “user” should be in full control of what is recorded, content that has already been seen should not be (automatically) recorded again.
(Potential) Recording clashes should be “flagged” in advance.
Content that has a series link should be easily identified along with “planned recordings”.
Freesat is definitely worth keeping an eye on, hopefully they will pull the rabbit out of the hat!
Update September 2021.
I’ve been aware of a few software updates for the Free sat 4K Recordable box, which may have improved the UI (User Interface) but the “remote box” doesn’t seem to have had any improvements. There is still no easy way to input text and it still has no voice control input, this is very disappointing
Update June 2022.
I note that Freesat no longer advertise an email contact address, that bothers me!