In a somewhat surprising move, telecommunications giant Vodafone has announced its first UK set-top streaming box.
In a similar vein to Sky Stream, Vodafone TV will be a subscription-based device aiming to bring together Freely live TV, streaming and even gaming under a single hub.
With Netflix and HBO Max included, as well as support for Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos, it certainly has some home cinema credentials and has piqued the interest of the What Hi-Fi? team, in theory at least.
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But how does the streaming box work in practice?
I have been lucky enough to try the all-in-one video streamer/set-top box/gaming machine over the past week (rather good timing, as my ageing smart TV now refuses to connect to the internet) and have a few first impressions ready to share below.
As the worlds of mobile and home entertainment become far more linked, what can Vodafone offer our living rooms? Let’s have a look…
Like: a slick, responsive and personalised UI
Vodafone TV is a rather late entrant to the world of streaming interfaces, which have been evolving and improving for more than a decade now. The Android OS on the Vodafone TV doesn’t reinvent the wheel here, but it excels at what it’s supposed to do: make it as easy as possible to find the content and services you want to watch.
Freely live TV, domestic catch-up services, international streamers and digital purchases are all integrated nicely into the homepage, allowing the user to browse everything on offer at once. There was no need for me to jump between various services to decide what to watch, and there are several categories at the top that let me filter by shows, movies, sports and more.
There is also an AI-powered search service complete with Google Assistant, which lets me search by whatever niche…