Thank you for subscribing!
Vodafone just announced a plug-and-play box designed to make it easier to find your favourite entertainment.
Dubbed Vodafone TV, it brings together live channels, on-demand boxsets, streaming platforms, and video games into a single platform, so you can move between them without changing HDMI inputs or reaching for another remote.
On paper, it's a one-stop shop for all of your entertainment. But has Vodafone done enough to compete with the likes of Roku, the bestselling Fire TV Stick, Apple TV, and others?
GBN Tech was one of the first in the UK to take a look at this device, and we were left pretty impressed.
One of the first things that stands out about Vodafone TV is the lack of a satellite dish or aerial installation. Powered by the same Pleio platform created by Netgem for its Freely set-top box, the box connects via an internet connection, making it straightforward to get up and running. You won't need to organise an appointment with an engineer or worry about bad weather disrupting your signal.
If you're renting, Vodafone TV can be set up without any additional equipment attached to the outside of your home — so there's no chance of losing your deposit.
All you need to do is plug the device in, connect to Wi-Fi, and start setting up a profile.
Vodafone TV gives you the option to take a mini quiz each time you create a new profile to see which shows and movies you prefer. It instantly picked up on the fact that we enjoy romantic comedies, and so it added a few to the homepage pretty quickly.
If you feel that it didn't pick up on your likes and dislikes, you can always take the quiz again.
The personalised profiles are also a welcome touch, particularly for families. Each person can have their own recommendations, while the setup questionnaire gives Vodafone some information to work with from the outset.
You're then taken to the homepage. At the top, you'll see different sections in white text such as Home, MyTV & Apps, Shows, Movies, Games, Kids, Sport, MoreTV, and Shop.
As you scroll down, you'll see different downloaded apps as well as the suggested titles from the quiz.
There are more than 200 channels, including live and on-demand content available through Freely, while Netflix and HBO Max are bundled in from the start. Each of these have their own section. For instance, you'll find Freely's live and Free Ad-Supported (FAST) channels you can scroll through and choose.
If you're not familiar with Freely, it launched in the first half of 2024.
It's built by the same team as Freeview and Freesat, and is forecast to overtake both by the end of the decade. It adds a slew of features that aren't possible on either of those other platforms, with deep integration with catch-up services like BBC iPlayer, ITVX, Channel 4, and others.
The hardware also seems to be more capable than its compact size might initially suggest. Out of the box, Vodafone TV supports 4K Ultra HD, Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos. It also packs 32GB of storage, which should be plenty of room to install apps and streaming services.
Just like the Pleio, Vodafone TV arrives with access to the Google Play Store, where you can search and choose from thousands of different apps to download. Given how much we love streaming music, we immediately searched for apps like Spotify.
The inclusion of more than 300 cloud games is another feature that helps Vodafone TV stand out against some other plug-and-play options. You can play any of these titles with a Bluetooth controller or even your smartphone, without the need for a dedicated console. It makes for a great alternative to shelling out extra cash for a PlayStation 5 or an XBOX console due to the recent price hikes.
While we wouldn't necessarily see this replacing a PlayStation or Xbox for serious gamers, it's a nice extra to have sitting alongside the TV experience for casual gaming. Vodafone isn't alone, with Apple TV offering access to games via the App Store and Apple's Netflix-like Arcade subscription. Fire TV Stick can access console-quality games via XBOX Game Pass too, and boasts Amazon's own Luna gaming service too.
But if you're looking for a simple set-top box that offers more than just live free-to-air channels, like GB News, as well as catch-up via BBC iPlayer and ITVX and US streamers such as Netflix and HBO Max, the inclusion of cloud gaming could make for a fun distraction from time to time.
Perhaps more interesting is how Vodafone is trying to make the experience work beyond the TV itself.
The companion app lets you continue watching on your phone, while profiles, recommendations, favourites and gaming progress follow between devices. That means we don't have to start again every time we leave the house.
And if you have a child in the household, we were told we can toggle on parental controls — limiting how much we can watch. For example, we set the Disney+ app to be accessed by those 15+, and so age-inappropriate shows for those below that age were locked on the homepage.
It's ideal as it gives peace of mind about what they can watch, especially if we're not always in the room when they want to turn on the TV.
After our first look, Vodafone TV appears to be less about reinventing television and more about making the current TV landscape less complicated. It brings together a lot of things we already use, but puts them behind a single interface and removes some of the friction involved in switching between them.
Whether that makes it genuinely better than a smart TV or existing streaming box will come down to how well the interface pulls all of those services together in everyday use. But with its combination of traditional channels, streaming, apps, gaming and mobile viewing, Vodafone TV is certainly trying to be more than another box sitting underneath the television.
Vodafone TV launches in October and will be available to new and existing customers with a home broadband, 5G broadband or mobile plan.
