Freesat, the satellite-based Freeview equivalent, is slashing up to £40 off two of its 4K Recording Boxes, in a limited-time offer for Black Friday.
If you were thinking about ditching a pay-TV subscription (such as Sky or Virgin Media), or if aerial reception (for Freeview) in your area is bad – then Freesat can be a great option.
With Freesat, you can watch more than 80 channels (20+ of them in HD – including ITV 2, 3 and 4 HD which were recently added), without paying a monthly subscription fee to anyone (though you would still need a TV Licence in most cases).
The Black Friday promotion is available from now until December 5, across several retailers (such as Currys), with the biggest discount applied to the 1TB 4K Box (see full details below).
Freesat, which was originally a joint venture between the BBC and ITV, was acquired by Digital UK last year – the company that leads the development of Freeview – therefore Freesat and Freeview are now one company.
Instead of having to rely on aerial transmitters, you just point your small satellite dish to the sky, connect it to a tuner inside the house, and you’re good to go (Some can also use their old Sky dishes for Freesat, though those sometimes require retuning).
In 2020, Freesat launched a new range of set-top boxes, replacing the older Humax Freesat devices. The new boxes combine the Freesat service – which requires a satellite dish – with streaming via broadband.
The line includes a 4K Freesat Player with some streaming apps, and a 4K Freesat Recorder (which also comes with streaming apps) that can record up to 4 programmes at the same time – you can read more about the boxes in our Freesat recommendations roundup.
Note that while you may still find the old Humax Freesat boxes sold in some online stores – those are no longer being updated, and no longer support ITV Hub or its new replacement, ITVX.
All the newer 4K boxes feature a collection of catch-up streaming apps from the public broadcasters (similar to what’s on Freeview Play), such as BBC iPlayer and the upcoming ITVX, as well as Netflix, YouTube, Amazon’s Prime Video and more – and they still get software updates with new features.
These Freesat boxes also support Ultra HD (4K), but keep in mind that for now, there are no over-the-air 4K broadcasts in the UK – instead, you can only use that feature for 4K content on Netflix and YouTube.
Freesat 4K Recorder Offer
The primary Black Friday deal offered by Freesat, is on the 1TB model of the 4K Recorder box, though some retailers are also discounting the 500GB version of the box (there’s also a 2TB version – that lets you record even more hours of TV – but that one is not currently discounted).
The Freesat Recordable 4K TV Box 500GB can be used to record up to four different programmes at the same time, as well as Pause and Rewind live TV. With 1TB, you can record up to 500 hours of content.
Normally, the Freesat 1TB 4K Recorder costs £259.99, and until December 5, you can get it for £219.99.
Even at this price, however, a Freesat recorder is still more expensive than a Freeview recorder – such as the Manhattan T3-R, but for people who can’t get decent Freeview reception at their house, Freesat can be a good alternative (especially if you already have a Sky dish).
The Black Friday offer is available across several retailers, including:
You can’t get channel 4hd on freesat or the 4od catch up freesat gone down hill big time 😡
Anthony he said it is a freesat?
To record four different programs how many inputs eg 4 cables from 4 lnb,s do you need or are the 2 normal inputs sufficient?
There is only room for 2 cables on the box. So you need a hybrid lnb with the 2 connections on it. Then you can record 4 channels at a time.The lnb I have has 6 on it so I can run more cables to bedrooms etc but then you will need a freesat box for each tv.
If its anything like my Human freeview recorder which only needs one aerial, the unit has three inbuilt tuners and can only record four shows if two are on the same ‘clump’ of channels as another being recorded.
Nigel have a look at this
https://www.smartaerials.co.uk/blog/new-freesat-wideband-lnb-system-benefits-solutions