Netgem Pleio Freely

Introduction

The Netgem PLEIO is a coaster-sized puck that brings Freely TV, 4K HDR streaming apps and cloud gaming to any TV with an HDMI input. It’s designed to modernise traditional public service channel viewing, by combining linear TV with streaming convenience, delivered entirely over broadband.

Being the first gizmo of its type, it sits high in a category of one.

Of course, the concept isn’t a million miles away from Fire TV and Roku streaming sticks, and there are echoes of Sky Stream in the proposition too. If you want to transform how you watch TV, and maybe relocate an older telly to a room not served by a conventional aerial point, it could be a godsend. 

Price

The Pleio puck is priced at £99, off the shelf. In addition to Freely, buyers receive access to Netgem’s FAST channels and cloud gaming, as part of the user experience, for free for 12 months, after which both services become pay-walled, accessible through an optional £9.99 monthly sub.

However, if you receive the Netgem streamer as part of a bundle with an ISP, you’ll most likely have access to the whole enchilada without having to pay that separate subscription.

Netgem has already struck deals with Connect Fibre and Brsk, who will be offering the streamer as part of their ultra-fast broadband offering, so keep your eyes peeled for deals.

Design

• Compact form factor
• Non-backlit remote control
• Single HDMI connection

The Netgem Pleio is not going to hog your AV rack. The circular puck has the footprint of a coffee mug, and all but vanishes alongside a TV and home cinema kit.

Build quality and design are solid enough, with a USB-C power point and HDMI connection located on the rim. Wireless connectivity comes via Wi-Fi 5 and Bluetooth.

The supplied remote is light, tactile and easy to use. Dedicated buttons for Freely and Netflix are joined by fast access buttons to the Pleio FAST channels and cloud gaming services. It would have been nice to have backlighting, but there you go.

The Pleio unit also comes with a full-sized joypad, comparable in style to an Xbox controller, so you don’t need to buy a third party Bluetooth controller to play games, as well as an HDMI cable, which is helpful.

Features

• Freely channels
• Pleio FAST Channels
• Cloud gaming portal

If content is king, then the Pleio wears a large crown. First and foremost are the native Freely channels.

At its core, this includes all UK public service broadcasters with additional support from  UKTV Play, and others. It’s not as comprehensive a collection of channels as you’ll see on Freeview, but the number of services does seem to be steadily increasing.

Essentially, if you’re happy with these mainstream offerings, plus a few side dishes, you’re covered.

In addition, there are integrated premium service apps, including Netflix, Prime Video, Apple TV, Disney+, and YouTube. Then there’s the Pleio Channels+ selection of themed linear streams.

On top of which is a comprehensive Cloud gaming portal, featuring a wide range of streaming games which are largely casual in nature.

User Experience

• Shortage of curated content
• Main streaming apps not on Home page
• Unreliable Voice Search

While conceptually strong, it’s still early days for the service, certainly when compared to more mature platforms.

The Home page is a bit frugal. It features a variety of Freely-focused content rails, plus a few themed selections. Interestingly, I could see Freely adding rails during the audition period, so that bodes well going forward.

Oddly, premium streaming apps are not on the home page. They’re siloed away in a separate Apps section. There’s no listing guide for the PLEIO channel bundle, either, which rather flies in the face of how these linear channels are meant to work. I also found the Voice Search rather flaky, simply delivering the wrong results when asked for specific content (star, channels, etc).

You’ll also have to log into each of the separate Freely player apps as part of the install process, which is laborious and inconsistent. Is it really too much to ask for a unified single log-in for the big five channels at least?

Performance

• 4K UHD iPlayer support
• HDR10+ but no Dolby Vision
• Cloud gaming suffers lag

Given that Freely is a TV over broadband service, your internet connection is key to performance.

Freely specifies a minimum speed of 10Mb of higher, but to really take advantage of this little puck’s 4K UHD talents, you’ll need a connection that’s 25 – 35Mbps.

While all the linear Freely channels are HD, the device itself is 4K UHD enabled, and will deliver that higher definition from BBC iPlayer and streamers like Netflix and Prime Video.

Overall, I was impressed with its performance. HDR10+ and HLG is crisp and dynamic. Colours are natural, contrast detailed, and motion interpolation from partner apps clean. UHD material looks appropriately cinematic.

While both HDR10+ and HLG are supported, Dolby Vision isn’t available. The device labels it as ‘disabled’ in the HDR menu, implying the hardware may be able to support it but the implementation, or the hardware, is incomplete.

One curious anomaly though: The Disney+ app is not streaming 4K, which limits content like The Mandalorian to HD only. Other platforms offer the same shows in 4K HDR, so this discrepancy feels like a platform limitation Netgem needs to resolve.

Hopefully, the House of Mouse will turn on the 4K tap at some point soon.

With HDR-compatible material, blacks stay reasonably deep, specular highlights are precise, and there is a clear sense of expanded contrast compared to SDR playback.

Native 4K content is sharp, with no obvious scaling artefacts; it’s at least comparable to rival wireless streamers.  

AV sync also remained consistent, even when routed through an external receiver.

It’s a slightly different story when it comes to cloud gaming though. Even using a very healthy connection, I experienced stutter and lag. This seems game dependent, with action-heavy titles like Lords of the Fallen and Ride 4 suffering the most.

Lighter titles, be they 2D, casual, or indie, like Worms, Overcooked 2 and Zombie Pinball, play smoothly.

Sound Quality

• Very good immersive audio
• Some dropouts when cloud gaming

Dolby Atmos support is a surprise strength of this svelte streamer. Routed through a Marantz Cinema 60 AV Receiver, the Pleio consistently delivered clean, dynamic multichannel audio. Atmos mixes (where supported) carry height cues convincingly, and 5.1 playback is robust with great channel separation.

Not all streaming apps, or shows, provide Dolby Atmos, but when they do, I felt its performance rivalled that of popular streaming sticks. However, when cloud gaming I did experience occasional audio dropouts, which could be platform-specific, or bandwidth related. Not really sure.

Should you buy it?

FAQs