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Freeview relies on over-the-air reception. If your indoor aerial isn’t good enough, or – more commonly – if you live in an area where the Freeview signal is too weak – you won’t get a high-quality picture on your TV, or – in worst case scenarios – won’t be able to watch Freeview at all. One of the (long list of) questions that I asked before buying my smart box was ‘can you record live TV with a Now TV Smart Box?’.If you don’t have an internet/ethernet connection, don’t worry. These additional channels are optional, and your Freeview box will still be able to receive standard major TV channels, including from the BBC, ITV and UKTV. There’s no built-in storage, so you can’t record any programmes – that’s what the catch-up apps are for, grandad – but you can pause and rewind live TV, which is a bonus. It takes a few seconds to load but breaks up the available content in line with the different passes that are available: Movies, Entertainment, Sports and Kids.

NOW | Freeview

Just don’t get too excited by the USB or Ethernet ports; the former only covers firmware updates while the latter works with a small number of minor internet TV channels. The important thing is that the T1 delivers decent HD pictures, complete with Dolby Digital surround sound, and it has a clear, well-designed EPG that isn’t painfully slow or unresponsive. It won’t give you recording or smart TV services, but it’s the simplest, cheapest way to get Freeview HD.

Best Freeview box for recording and streaming in 2023

While you can’t record live TV as such, there is an option to use Now TV on your laptop and watch programs offline at a later stage.

Solved: Is the Now TV Box a freeview box? - NOW Community

If the item was delivered by Royal Mail or if you collected the item yourself then you will be required to return it at your expense via the same method.

The Now TV Smart Stick finally has FHD streaming support. But is it too little, too late?

This used to be one of the most advanced devices on this list when it came to features. The Humax FVP-5000T will give you excellent picture quality, several Smart TV apps (including Netflix), and a huge hard drive for recording your favourite programmes (There’s a 500GB version, a 1TB version, and even a 2TB version). Yes, a digital aerial is required to receive Freeview’s digital terrestrial channels. Can I use my Freeview box with an indoor aerial?

Now TV: how to watch the contract-free service - Digital Spy Now TV: how to watch the contract-free service - Digital Spy

Whether you’re watching a Freeview channel or a stream, fast-forwarding or rewinding isn’t an exact science with this box, but there’s no sign of pixellating or buffering as it catches up. Well, you will be once you’ve signed up for an account online first. Once you’ve done that and selected which Now TV passes you’d like to sign up for (from a choice of Movies, Entertainment, Kids and Sports), you have to connect the box to your Wi-Fi network – or, you can use Ethernet if you’re feeling old-school. It is possible to pause and rewind the live TV channel that you’re watching (but I don’t consider that to be a recording functionality per see).

What about using an external hard drive for TV Recording?

The Smart Box has all the major ones covered: BBC iPlayer, All 4, Demand 5 and ITV, plus YouTube, Vevo, Vimeo and UKTV Play, which offer catch-up for channels such as Dave and Yesterday – although considering how many shows are repeated on Dave, this seems slightly unnecessary. The best Freeview recording device (at least while it was still widely available), when you consider all the important features AND the cost: You get Freeview Play catch-up apps, 4K support (though it’s mainly used for YouTube and a select few BBC iPlayer shows, for now), and a VERY fast, modern interface. The service provides access to free-to-air TV channels and radio stations, including more than 80 standard channels and 15 HD channels – and that number keeps growing every year. The range goes from all the BBC channels (including HD), ITVX, Channel 4, Channel 5, The Food Network, QVC and many others. Note: The FVP-5000T has lost access to the ITV Hub app, along with several other devices and Smart TVs, and doesn’t support ITVX either. It has now been officially discontinued.