A POPULAR telly box that gets you access to the Freely service has been given a huge price hike.
The device lets you access Freely, which is a free TV service destined to replace Freeview.
Normally the only way to access Freely is with a TV set that has it built in.
There are lots of TVs that now support Freely, including well-known brands like Panasonic, Toshiba, and Sharp.
But if you want to upgrade your existing TV with Freely then you currently need a plug-in box like Netgem’s Pleio device.
It was previously available for £99 and even sold out initially – but is now up for grabs at £119.88.
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That’s a price rise of around 20%, marking a significant jump in cost for TV fans.
Freely launched back in 2024 to give Brits an easy way to watch telly over the internet.
It comes courtesy of Everyone TV, which is a joint venture between the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and 5.
Freely works entirely over the internet, rather than relying on aerials or dishes.
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And it’s expected to eventually replace Freeview – although it hasn’t yet.
Freely lets you watch both live TV and on-demand content, and features a full TV guide.
But it’s still very early days for Freely, so Brits have to rely on a relatively small number of brands making supporting devices.
Freely itself is free, but the Pleio box bundles the box with an included 12-month subscription.
This Pleio Extra subscription adds an additional 150 TV channels, as well as unlimited access to 250 video games streamed over the cloud (a bit like Amazon Luna).
As with all Freely platforms, you need a decent internet connection to watch the TV.
According to Freely, you need download speeds of at least 10Mbps.
It’s likely that yours is better than that, as it’s well below the national average.
But if you’re unsure, you can check by going on Speedtest.org or Fast.com.
You’ll also need a TV licence because you’re watching broadcast telly via Freely.
In terms of core Freely channels, you get access to:
- BBC One
- BBC Two
- ITV
- STV
- UTV
- Channel 4
- S4C
- 5
- ITV2
- ITV3
- Channel 4
- BBC Scotland
- BBC Three
- BBC Four
- BBC ALBA
- Film4
- E4
- More4
- 4seven
- U&Dave
- U&Drama
- ITV4
- ITV Quiz
- 5STAR
- 5ACTION
- U&Yesterday
- U&W
- 5USA
- 5SELECT
- Talking Pictures
- TRUE CRIME
- LEGEND
- PBS America
- TRUE CRIME Xtra
- LEGEND Xtra
- BBC Scotland
- BBC ALBA
- The Chase
- Saturday Night Every Night
- 4Reality
- 4Homes
- S4C
- 4Christmas
- BBC News
- BBC Parliament
- GB News
- CBBC
- CBeebies
- QVC
- QVC 2
- Gems TV
- Hobbymaker
- Jewellery Maker
And there are dozens of radio stations that you can tune into too.
But if you don’t want a Freely box from Pleio, you’ll need to get a Freely TV instead.
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Freely says that these brands currently offer TVs that support the service:
- Hisense
- Pansonic
- Toshiba
- Sharp
- TCL
But for plugging in to upgrade a regular TV with Freely, the Pleio box is currently the only option in the UK.
