The first 4K TV recorder box with Freely streaming built in is here — is it the ultimate way to watch things any time you want? | Daily Reports Online
- Humax’s new set-top box has Freely streaming
- 2TB drive can also record broadcasts for up to 1,000 hours of recording
- Available now for £249
Humax has launched the Aura EZ 4K TV recorder with Freely, the free-to-view UK TV service that combines multiple broadcasters in a single app – it’s essentially Freeview or Freesat but transmitted over the internet.
The recording part is separate to Freely – that’s for aerial transmissions, which it also picks up. It’s capable of recording up to four channels at once while you watch something else.
Between this ability to record from live channels and over 60 live channels and over 75,000 hours of on-demand programming over the internet via the Freely platform, there’s basically no reason to ever miss something you wanted to watch.
Humax Aura EZ: key features and pricing
The recorder has a 2TB drive that can store up to 1,000 hours of recorded TV, and it supports 4K HDR and Dolby Digital Plus sound. It’ll also be getting an app that’ll enable you to navigate, plan and schedule recordings from anywhere. That’s currently in testing and promised to launch soon.
Connections are straightforward. There’s an RF aerial input and RF output; HDMI for your TV; SPDIF optical digital sound; and Ethernet. Wi-Fi is dual-band 2.4Ghz and 5GHz.
The new Humax recorder isn’t the only way to add Freely to your TV, but it’s designed to be one of the simplest. It features a seven-day TV guide and a Freely guide too, and it connects to your home network over Wi-Fi.
Freely is operated by Everyone TV, formerly Digital UK, which also operates Freeview and Freesat. It’s supported by the BBC, Channel 4 and 5 and features a large selection of channels from those broadcasters, much like Freeview/Freesat does. It also includes channels from elsewhere including PBS America, QVC, the Food Network and more.
The Humax Aura EZ is available now for £249.
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