If you’ve been waiting patiently for the Manhattan Aero to come back into stock, today’s your day. The £69.99 Freely streaming box is available again from this morning – but if the last few months are anything to go by, it won’t hang around for long.
The Aero is available now at Currys, with John Lewis expected to follow within a day or two.
Amazon is a different story – Manhattan has confirmed that the stock they’ve sent to Amazon likely won’t extend beyond the pre-orders already taken, so don’t count on it appearing there as publicly available for long (but you can check the stock here).
A Quick Recap: What Is The Manhattan Aero?
The Manhattan Aero launched in February 2026 as the second standalone Freely box on the market, and the most affordable – at £69.99, it undercuts its main rival, the Netgem Pleio, by a significant margin.
It’s a compact streaming box that brings Freely – Everyone TV’s broadband-based TV platform, backed by the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 – to any TV with an HDMI port.
No aerial, no satellite dish, no installation. Plug it in, connect to Wi-Fi, enter your postcode, and within minutes you’ve got 60+ live channels and over 75,000 hours of on-demand and catch-up content, all completely free.
On top of Freely, the Aero runs TiVo OS, which brings Netflix, Disney+, Prime Video, YouTube, and a selection of other streaming apps alongside the Freely platform.
It also supports 4K output, Wi-Fi 6, Ethernet, and voice control.
I reviewed the Aero shortly after launch and gave it 4.5 out of 5 – an Editor’s Choice. It’s fast, easy to set up, and a genuinely compelling package at the price.
The main caveats are a handful of missing apps (more on that in a moment) and the dual-system nature of any Freely device, where the Freely side and the TiVo side operate somewhat independently of each other – separate searches, separate watchlists.
Neither of those is a dealbreaker for most viewers, and Manhattan deserves real credit for bringing a device this capable to market at £69.99 with no ongoing fees.
Why Has It Kept Selling Out?
The Aero has now sold out not once, but multiple times since its February launch – which raises a reasonable question: why does this keep happening?
The honest answer is that the standalone Freely box is still a brand-new product category.
Before the Netgem Pleio arrived in November 2025 as the first device of its kind, there was simply no market to reference, no historical data to work from, and no reliable way for manufacturers or retailers to predict how strong demand would actually be.
What’s become clear is that demand has been stronger than almost anyone expected. Both the Pleio and the Aero sold out within hours of their respective launches – and the Aero has continued to sell through rapidly with each new batch of stock.
Whether that reflects a sustained mainstream trend or a concentrated wave of early adopters who’ve been waiting years for an affordable standalone Freely device is still an open question – but the pattern is hard to ignore at this point.
Alex Arbab-Zadeh, Manhattan’s COO, said: “The Aero sold out faster than we could have anticipated, and we know a lot of people missed out.
“We’re delighted that a significant new shipment is now available. The response since launch has been a genuine validation of what the Aero offers and of where free TV in the UK is heading.”
What About The Missing Apps?
The Aero’s main weakness at launch was its app selection – or rather, what’s missing from it. TiVo OS covers the major bases well, but Sky’s NOW, Apple TV+, Discovery+, and Paramount+ don’t have native apps on the platform.
There’s some good news on that front, though. TiVo have told me that the HBO Max app – which launched in the UK on March 26 – is already available on TiVo-enabled smart TVs, and should be coming to the Manhattan Aero in the coming weeks.
No confirmed date yet, but it’s on the way. That’s worth knowing, because TNT Sports has now moved to the HBO Max app – so it plugs what was one of the more notable gaps in the lineup.
NOW is also expected to arrive on TiVo OS at some point this year, though again, no firm date has been confirmed.
In the meantime, TNT Sports, Apple TV+ and HBO Max are all accessible as Prime Video Channels if you have a Prime subscription, and the Aero supports Google Cast for anything else you might want to throw at it from your phone.
How Does It Compare To The Competition?
The Aero’s main rival remains the Netgem Pleio, which originally launched at £99 and is currently priced at £109.89 (it does occasionally drop back down to £99 for limited periods, so worth keeping an eye on).
The Pleio runs Android TV rather than TiVo OS, which means access to the Google Play Store and a broader app library – including HBO Max, which is already available on the Pleio now.
If app selection is a priority, that’s a meaningful advantage.
The Aero fights back on price, on connectivity (it has an Ethernet port; the Pleio doesn’t), and arguably on overall polish.
For most viewers who are happy with the apps TiVo OS offers – or are willing to wait for the ones that are coming – the Aero is the better value proposition.
The third option in the standalone Freely box market is the Humax Aura EZ at £249 – a hybrid device that combines Freely streaming with a traditional Freeview recorder (2TB, triple tuners).
It’s the only Freely device that lets you record, which makes it relevant for a specific audience. The trade-off is that it has no third-party streaming apps at all beyond the Freely broadcaster apps, and, for now, still has a lot of issues.
Getting One Today
- Currys – available now, online and in store
- John Lewis – expected within a day or two
- Amazon – Stock won’t hold for long, but more should arrive at some point.
At £69.99 with no subscription required, the Aero is still one of the easiest device recommendations we’ve made in a while. Just don’t leave it too long – the last few batches have gone quickly.
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Manhattan have just announced that again the Manhattan Aero Freely Box is out of stock and that when it does come back into stock the price is increasing from £69.99 to £89.99 which is quite a jump.
https://manhattan-tv.com/aero-availability
Netgem must have got wind of this as they have now reduced the Pleio to £99 on Amazon.
The Aero price rise makes the £99 for the Pleio very good value plus the fact the Pleio is in stock and also as the Pleio has more relevant apps than the Aero.
I know that you can watch Sky News live on YouTube, but the whole point of Freely is the universal programme guide.
Why is Sky News absent from Freely?
I bought one to give to an elderly relative, but I’m reticent to hand it over when (the right-wing propagandists) GB News are on the EPG and (the more balanced) Sky News isn’t!
I thought that Sky were partners in this Freely endeavour?
I’m going to test this box myself. Hoping that you can delete channels from the EPG.
Sky are NOT partners in Freely. The main partners, or only partners, in Freely are:
B.B.C.
I.T.V.
Channel Four
Channel Five
I have a Freely telly. Currently channels can’t be deleted, or edited, or moved, on the telly guide. But the manual suggests that something may be possible eventually. There is a TiVo on-screen button for that kind of purpose, but, at the moment, it just does the same as the “Guide” button.
I’ve recently bought the Aero box and cancelled my Sky TV, be aware that the advertised channel list on Freely’s website includes a fair few Freeview channels that are only available through an aerial connection and are not available if just connected through the internet. Good picture and TV guide and most apps that you’d expect. Those that aren’t included are available through the Prime TV app.
One of the problems with freeview has been the limited number of HD channels available, even though it’s nearly twenty years since the switch over from analogue to digital. For older people like me who have an older plasma tv with no apps it means you are limited to mostly SD channels. In HD the quality of picture on an older Plasma tv is ideal for all I really require for tv.
It’s especially irritating as most of the free to air channels are available in HD on a basic Sky stream contract. I know a number of people who only subscribe to Sky so they can receive those Chanel’s in HD. But that is £180 per year. With this box some have already said they will be cancelling their Sky subscription as it also means they won’t need a multi room contract subscriptions for extra rooms. Just a one off payment for each box for each room and you are good to go. No subscriptions needed.
I realise this is a relatively small number of people, as most now either have more modern TVs with build in apps, or subscribe to a streaming box service or stick. But I only need free to air tv and would like more HD content, and prefer plasma to LCD so do not want to lay out for an expensive Oled tv just yet.)
Also, as the price of all these various subscriptions channels keeps going up, and with a cost of living crises unfolding many people may decide to just settle for mostly free to air content for tv, and spend their money on more essentials. We will see.
I didn’t realise that Freely has more HD channels than Freeview. In that case, I might consider running a Freely box alongside my Roku.
I don’t see the advantage over the much cheaper Roku or Fire sticks.
While the Aero can’t record, smart TVs can with usb memory plugged in. I have yet to try it, but I can’t see why it shouldnt work with Freely. The TV doesn’t know the source connected via HDMI.
I just bought one for my Samsung smart tv which has the Now app. Freely is great for live TV, with an excellent TV guide. When I want to watch shows and movies on Now, I simply press the home button on my Samsung remote and I can access it in an instant. I use the Samsung apps to access Disney and Netflix too, as I get full Dolby surround sound through my Samsung sound bar. It’s also easy switching back to Freely using the Manhattan remote control. For the one off cost of £69.99 it’s absolutely worth every penny!
I also watch NOW via Samsung control. This works well and it’s easy to leave and go back to Manhattan.
The only thing stopping me from really getting this for a second room is the lack of several Freeview channels notably the ones owned by Sky who are probably going to dig their heels in as long as possible before they add them and I would imagine that is the same with Now TV as that would effectively eliminate the choice for many people on choosing Sky Stream over this.
Currently i have a Freesat set up i can input any post code in the settings menu and get what BBC and ITV region i want if i get one of these new boxes can i still input what region i want because if i can’t im not wasting my money I’m certainly not being told what BBC and ITV region i can view.
With the B.B.C. every different region is on the Freely telly guide.
With I.T.V. every different regional news is available through I.T.V.X*.
* Select “Categories” on the menu, then select “News”, then go down to your regional news, and then scroll right to “Change Your Region”.
According to Manhattan’s website, you can change the postcode by:
Go to “Settings”, then “Live T.V.”, then “T.V. Channels”, then “Channel Scan”, then “Start Again”.
Why isn’t sky news on
Sorry but those missing apps are a deal breaker. Why has hbo max arrived before paramount plus. Having to pay one sub to access another is a huge no no in 2026. When all is present and correct then it will be a good proposition.
Apparently “Now” is coming to TiVo. Date unknown.
I have a tv with no aerial, so this now sorts out a problem without investing in coax to the room. In addition, when I travel in the UK I can use it where the location has a rubbish tv, either through poor freeview signal, or, a basic, bad tv. It’ll also work where some locations have the basic Sky package.
Why does everyone quote that the areo has 60+ channels when in reality it only has 53, 54 if you count dave ja vu Daves +1 channel
They must be counting every regional BBC One and Two variant as it’s the only way to get to that kind of number.
It’s more likely that they are counting the extra so-called “top-up channels” from Freeview, if you plug an aerial into your Freely telly or Freely device.