Best Set-Top Boxes: The best affordable and premium PVRs (2024)

We watch a lot of TV on these set-top boxes, paying attention to the image and sound quality. When possible, we compare that picture quality to what is expected from the television itself, to gauge what, if anything, these set-top boxes are bringing to the picture.

Interface is a big part of how we review set-top boxes. Is the remote easy to use and responsive to presses. Is the user interface intuitive? Is it easy to navigate and what forms of navigation does it support? All these things will help determine how good the user experience is.

And what about content? How much content is available, which apps are supported and is support in terms of features up to the standards we’d expect. If a set-top box says it supports apps in 4K HDR, we’ll be looking for apps that actually carry support for those features.

Other features we look out for are the number of tuners supported, connectivity and how do the catch-up features work. Smarts are to be expected, and we’ll test these to judge whether they’re implemented well and live up to expectations

Finally, every element is judged against the price. If a machine represents good value generally, we’ll be a little more lenient on a bad remote. Pricier machines, however, had better be great.

£33

£199

£249

Sky Q

Best set-top box

The Sky Q is a smart looking box, with a design that set the tone for all other boxes that followed like the BT TV Box Pro, and Virgin V6 box.

Sky’s UI is one of the best in the business, offering a convenient means of finding on-demand content, recordings and browsing its TV guide. It has a clean appearance, loaded with images for a more visual-based means of interaction as well as convenient text descriptions. There are dedicated sub-menus for different categories or types of programming, which comes handy for more specific searches.

Sky Q supports a multi-room configuration with additional Mini boxes. These are small devices that connect to other TVs to stream content from the main box. The Mini Boxes only support HD though, while the main Q box streams in 4K. We found that disappointing, especially if the Mini box is connected to a 4K TV.

Sky’s range of content is vast and arguably the best on this list, with US dramas, comedies, films, thousands of TV box-sets and sport in the Premier League and Formula One but the subscriptions are not particularly cheap – this is a premium service. The UHD content is better than any other service we’ve reviewed, and there is paid content though the Sky Store that provides access to instant downloads.

Our reviewer found picture quality outstanding, with HD programming presented in sharp detail, and UHD content looking fantastic (although this will depend on the TV its connected to) and with HDR support, films and TV series look much better with greater contrast and a wide range of colours.

On the audio front there’s Dolby Atmos support, which we found to be a step-up in quality with extra height and width to audio. Easily one of the best set-top boxes if you can afford Sky’s premium subscriptions.

There is now the option of Sky Stream, which includes Atmos and Dolby Vision HDR among its specs, for those who want a streaming-based solution. EE TV also provides some competition in the streaming market. You can read our first impressions of that service.

Reviewer: David Ludlow
Full Review: Sky Q

Humax Aura

Best Freeview box

The Aura is Humax’s most recent set-top box, offering 4K HDR support and plenty of storage. It’s not perfect but it’s competitive when put against other Freeview boxes.

The design of the Aura mimics Sky Q in its aesthetics: a black, sleek, and curvy effort than the older FVP-5000T. We do find that the glossy sheen can pick up dust and requires a wipe every so often. We’re not fond of the remote packaged with the Aura. It’s large and stuffed with buttons but the feedback is stiff.

Android is the interface of choice, divided into four tabs. The home screen can be customised and there are lots of shelves to scroll through, however traversing the interface isn’t always the speediest experience with a little lag noticeable. It’s the one area where we feel the Aura should be better.

In terms of apps there is plenty to choose from within video, music, sports, and fitness; from Prime Video, Disney+, Apple TV+, ITVX, Paramount+, TikTok, Mubi, Deezer, Roxi, Discovery+, and more. It’s not as many as Fire TV, Google TV, or Roku, but it’s a strong enough roster of apps. If you’re looking to record content, there 1TB and 2TB versions available.

With its AV performance, there are positive gains in overall sharpness, clarity, and detail with HD broadcasts. Noise is pretty much removed. It’s with HDR content where the Humax Aura struggles the most as it only supports HDR10 and not Dolby Vision and HDR10+. Playback of HDR streams have a dimmer appeareance with less contrast than Dolby Vision streams.

With music the Aura delivers a dynamic and snappy performance streaming from Spotify. It sounds clean and neutral in tone, showing plenty of skill in navigating the differences between quiet and loud, with a performance that’s spacious, clear, and well defined. This is a solid if expensive Freeview set-top box. Manhattan has launched the T4R and T4 recording/streaming boxes and we’ll be looking to review those models in the coming months.

Reviewer: Kob Monney
Full Review: Humax Aura

Freesat 4K TV Recorder

Best Freesat box

If Sky Q is too expensive, then the Freesat 4K TV Recorder is a more affordable satellite alternative. It is a neat looking box, with almost everything you would need in terms of connections with an HDMI port, Ethernet, a digital audio port for audio, and a pair of satellite inputs.

How these satellite inputs are used depends on which type of LNB (Low Noise Block) the satellite dish has. A standard LNB allows for two channels to be watched simultaneously, while wideband offers up to four. There’s also Wi-Fi for streaming over the Internet.

During testing we found the interface to be responsive and intuitive, with the minimally designed menus featuring convenient access to on-demand apps, live programming and saved recordings. We also found a good selection of live channels with 180 made available although only 24 are broadcast in HD.

On-demand content constitutes of BBC iPlayer, My5, STV Player and UKTV Play, giving access to most of the main free-to-air channels. There’s further convenience with a mobile app that allows for recording shows when you’re outside the house, although it’s worth noting it takes up to 30 minutes for recordings to appear on the box itself.

When it comes to visual quality, we found the Freesat conveyed HD channels in a detailed and sharp with no artefacts. With SD content, there is the typical softness around the edges of people and objects things, although the Freesat box does a decent job of reducing artefacts where possible.

Unlike Sky Q, Ultra HD isn’t available on Freesat platform itself, with only Netflix and YouTube support 4K HDR. Watching Netflix in 4K HDR and our reviewer noted more impact in terms of excellent detail and colours with more subtleties in tone. A solid box and a more affordable price than Sky, although without as much content.

Reviewer: David Ludlow
Full Review: Freesat 4K TV Recorder

We’ve reviewed

636

DVRs and Media Player

See all reviews

Sky Q

£33

–

–

–

–

Sky

2TB

345 x 210 x 43 MM

1.47 KG

B07RHC2955

2018

18/09/2020

–

2TB Ultra HD box

3840 x 2160

Yes

12

HDMI, Satellite, USB, Optical S/PIDF, LAN

Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0 LE, AirPlay

Blacl

Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital+ (Atmos)

Yes

BBC iPlayer, Netflix, Disney Plus, Spotify, YouTube, Amazon Prime Video, Discovery+, Vevo, Roxi, XITE, FiiT, YouTube, YouTube Kids, Roku, Red Bull TV, BBC Sounds, Play.works, Beehive Bedlam, Highbrow, Tastemade

Freesat 4K TV Recorder

£199

–

–

–

–

Freesat

512GB, 1TB, 2TB

250 x 150 x 35 MM

1.34 KG

B07XRQ9JS6

2020

12/03/2020

UHD-4X-500

1TB, 2TB, Non-recordable version

3840 x 2160

Yes

4

HDMI, Digital Optical Audio, LAN

Wi-Fi

Anthracite

Dolby Digital, Dolby Atmos

Yes

BBC iPlayer, ITV Hub, My5, STV Player, BritBox, Netflix, Eros Now, CBS Catchup, UKTV Play, BBC Sounds, YouTube, YouTube Kids, Pop Player, France 24, Horror Bites, Amazon Prime Video

Humax Aura

£249

Unavailable

Unavailable

Unavailable

Unavailable

Humax

2TB

258 x 200 x 43 MM

764 G

B08LFGYT1F

2020

–

FVP-4KGTR /GB/2TB

Humax Aura 1TB

3840 x 2160

Yes

3

Ethernet, USB 2.0, USB 3.0, HDMI, optical

Bluetooth 4.2, Wi-Fi

Black

–

Yes

Prime Video, Disney+, Apple TV+. Lionsgate+ ITVX, Paramount+, TikTok, Mubi, Deezer, Roxi, Discovery+, BT Sport, Steam Link, Spotify, Vevo, Tidal, UFC, Peloton, BBC Sounds and DAZN