British binge-watchers that don’t have a TV aerial now have a new way to upgrade their existing telly to Freely. The Manhattan Aero 4K TV Streamer set-top box can add live broadcasts, catch-up and on-demand to any TV, anywhere in the home, using Wi-Fi and broadband instead of an ugly bit of metal on the roof.
Originally the only way to get Freely in your living room was to buy a brand new TV that had the service baked in. Except most people only change up their telly once every five to ten years; there weren’t too many brands on board at launch; and none of ’em offered an OLED. The Netgem streaming stick that arrived later always felt more like a cloud gaming device than a TV add-on, even shipping with a controller in the box.
This has changed in double-quick time, with newcomers Philips and Panasonic offering cinephile-grade screens with Freely on board, as well as earlier supporters like Hisense, TCL and JVC. Brands like Sony, Samsung and LG are yet to join the party, though.
The £70 Aero 4K TV Streamer is a much cheaper alternative to upgrading your whole TV, putting over 60 live TV channels and thousands of hours of on-demand content from BBC iPlayer, ITVX, Channel 4 and 5 just a few prods of a remote control away. The box itself is actually smaller than the bundled remote, so should be easy to hide out of sight if you’ve wall-mounted your screen.
It runs the tried-and-tested TiVo operating system so has all the major streaming services on board, including Netflix, Disney+, Prime Video and YouTube, along with more than 400 IPTV channels and on-demand content.
It’s also not like Manhattan is a stranger to a set-top box or two, having long held the title of Britain’s leading Freeview/Freesat box and recorder manufacturer.
While the majority of British households have at least one TV aerial connection (typically in the living room), getting live broadcasts to other rooms in the house can get complicated. And expensive, if you hire a professional to do the installation. If you don’t have an aerial at all, putting one on your roof can run to several hundred pounds.
The Aero 4K TV Streamer is the inexpensive alternative anyone can fit, without having to break out a ladder: power, HDMI, job done. I’m already planning to put one in my garage so I can watch the second series of The Night Manager while riding my exercise bike.
It goes on sale in February for £70. The Aero 4K TV Streamer be available from all the usual suspects including Amazon, Currys and John Lewis.
- Related: What is Freely? The new BBC, ITV, C4 and C5 on demand service explained
