The Humax Aura, one of the last remaining Freeview recorders with modern streaming capabilities, has been officially discontinued after a turbulent five years on the market.
The device has vanished from most retailers across the UK, and Humax has now confirmed to Cord Busters that production has ended – with remaining stock unlikely to last long.
For anyone still hoping to buy one of the few Freeview recorders that combine traditional recording with streaming apps, time is running out.
But this discontinuation isn’t happening in isolation – it’s part of a shift as Freely prepares to replace Freeview, with Humax already developing what will likely succeed the Aura.
The writing has been on the wall for a while, but this marks the end of an era for a device that tried to bridge two very different approaches to television.
What Was The Humax Aura?
The Humax Aura launched back in 2020 as something unique in the Freeview recorder market – a hybrid device that combined traditional recording capabilities with Android TV’s streaming platform.
The Aura offered up to 1,000 hours of recording, 4K support, and access to streaming apps like BBC iPlayer, ITVX, Channel 4, Channel 5, YouTube, and Disney+.
The device ran Freeview Play alongside Android TV, theoretically giving users the best of both worlds – reliable recording of broadcast channels with the flexibility of modern streaming services all in one box.
At launch, it seemed like exactly what the market needed as viewers increasingly split their time between traditional TV and streaming. Why juggle multiple devices when one box could handle everything?
The reality, as my full Humax Aura review showed, was more complicated. The Aura delivered on its core promise but struggled with reliability issues, missing apps (Netflix never arrived despite early hopes), and a somewhat troubled support record that left some owners frustrated.
Aura Officially Discontinued
Over recent weeks, readers have been contacting us asking where they can still buy the Aura. The device has all but disappeared from Amazon, Argos, Currys, and most other major retailers, with only scattered availability at a handful of smaller shops.
When we reached out to Humax for clarification, they confirmed what the empty shelves suggested:
“The Humax Aura Freeview recorder is no longer in production, so availability is while stocks last within the retail channel.
“Humax is developing some exciting new products and we will be making announcements on those in the next few weeks.”
In practice, stocks appear to already be minimal or non-existent at most retailers. If you’re determined to buy an Aura, you might find one at a specialist electrical shop or find used boxes, but don’t count on it being around much longer.
Over the years, the Aura has been plagued by recurring stock shortages throughout its life, disappearing from shelves for months at a time before eventually reappearing.
But now we have a definitive answer – Humax simply isn’t making them anymore.
For existing Aura owners, the discontinuation raises obvious questions about future support. The device hasn’t received any major software updates since July 2021, when it added Apple TV and NOW app support.
There’s been talk for ages about a significant software overhaul that would improve performance and add new features, but whether that update will ever materialise is now in doubt.
We’ve asked Humax whether the rumoured major software update is still coming for existing Aura devices – we’ll update this article when they clarify.
What’s more certain is that minor bug fixes will likely continue, at least for a while.
Humax has form for supporting discontinued devices with essential patches – but transformative updates? That seems increasingly unlikely for a product that’s no longer being manufactured.
A Pattern Of Discontinuation
The Aura’s exit continues a familiar pattern in the UK set-top box market (and in tech more broadly), where once-popular devices reach the end of their lives as streaming technology advances.
Humax’s previous flagship, the FVP-5000T, was discontinued in August 2023 after losing ITV Hub support and never gaining ITVX compatibility.
That device had been hugely popular for years, earning recommendations from review sites and building a loyal customer base – but the pace of streaming evolution left it behind.
Before that, Humax’s older models faced similar fates. The FVP-4000T lost ITV Hub alongside the 5000T. The HDR-2000T completely lost BBC iPlayer support in November 2023 due to technical issues that were never resolved.
YouView-based Humax devices like the T1000 faced total app meltdowns as the platform aged out of compatibility with modern streaming requirements.
Of course, it’s not just Humax facing this. Manhattan’s T3-R Freeview recorder – a device I was a big fan of – was discontinued in March 2023, months ahead of its successor’s launch.
What’s Coming Next?
Humax’s statement about “exciting new products” and “announcements in the next few weeks” isn’t exactly subtle. We already know what’s coming – or at least, we have a pretty good idea.
Back in September, we spotted the Humax FHR-6000T Freely recorder appearing on retailer websites across the UK.
Product photos showed the distinctive Freely logo, specifications suggested recording capability and a 2TB hard drive, and crucially, an aerial port for traditional Freeview channels.
Then in October, Humax’s own website briefly published support pages for what they called the “Aura EZ 4K Freely Recorder”.
When we asked about it, Humax confirmed the device exists and is “under internal testing and development,” though they couldn’t share official details yet.
The Aura branding (if it sticks) in that name is telling. This isn’t just any Freely box – it’s positioning itself as the Aura’s successor, likely combining Freely’s streaming platform with traditional recording capabilities and possibly Android TV’s app ecosystem.
Whether it can actually record from Freely’s streaming channels or only from aerial-based Freeview broadcasts remains the big unknown.
Given how aggressively the industry has been moving against recording functionality, streaming recording seems unlikely.
More probable is a hybrid device: Freely streaming for live channels and catch-up, with recording limited to traditional aerial-based Freeview.
That would make it a transitional product – useful during the awkward period as Freeview gets phased out, but ultimately building in its own obsolescence.
The timing of the Aura’s discontinuation suggests the Freely device could be launching soon. Humax has cleared the decks, and production capacity is presumably shifting to the new model.
For anyone who needs a Freeview recorder right now, the options are shrinking fast.
Manhattan’s T4-R remains available and is excellent for pure Freeview recording – but it doesn’t support Freely, and won’t be getting it.
Freely Replaces Freeview In Hardware Too
The Aura’s discontinuation is about more than one device reaching end-of-life. It’s another signal that the transition from traditional broadcasting to streaming is accelerating – and not just in how we watch TV, but in the hardware available to watch it on.
Freely launched in April 2024 as Everyone TV’s streaming platform designed to eventually replace Freeview and Freesat. The platform delivers live channels and on-demand content entirely through broadband, with no aerial or satellite dish required.
Until recently, accessing Freely meant buying a brand new TV from select manufacturers. That’s changing with standalone boxes – Netgem’s Pleio launched in November as the first option, though at £119.88 after a recent price increase, it’s not exactly cheap.
The government is pushing for an “IP switchover” by the 2030s, phasing out traditional broadcasting infrastructure in favour of internet delivery. Research suggests Freely could become the UK’s dominant TV platform by 2030 as that transition accelerates.
The Aura represented one approach to that transition – keeping Freeview recording alive while adding streaming apps on top. Its discontinuation in favour of a Freely-based successor shows which direction Humax thinks the market is heading.
Whether viewers are ready for that shift is another question entirely. Recording remains hugely popular for the control it provides – skipping adverts, building libraries of content, watching on your own schedule rather than when catch-up services decide content should be available.
The upcoming Humax Freely device, if it follows the expected pattern of aerial-only recording, will be a compromise solution at best.
Useful during the transition, sure. But ultimately a product with a built-in expiry date as the infrastructure it relies on for recording gets switched off.
The Aura tried to bridge two worlds. Its successor will likely try the same thing, just with different technology.
Whether that’s enough to satisfy viewers who value recording, or whether it’s just postponing the inevitable, remains to be seen.
- For more news about TV and streaming, Subscribe to our free newsletter.
The LG recording capability, sorting and renaming of programmes is completely useless. Its also coded to the specific TV if indeed it records at all so you cannot play back 49″ tv on my 55″ tv. There is no solution to this or getting the recordings onto a hard NAS drive either
I have a variety of Humax boxes which generally work although the key issue is failing to be able to backup or transfer the 1TB recordings to anywhere else
I regard the whole system especially introduction of Freely as a complete con.
At least Freely is honest about there not being any capability to record its streams. The future is obviously going to be streaming and catch-up (or buying a disk of some kind) so we are just going to have to get used to it.
The only other thing is that in time there will be the computer-based ability to record streams (like how you can record YouTube streams in a browser with the appropriate extension). But it all depends on whether you want the hassle of this. For most of us it will not matter as we don’t have enough time to do anything that avail ourselves of what is easy to get!
Yes I have the same problem. The Humax (both FreeSAT and FreeVIEW) work extremely well with excellent user interface BUT the inability to backup and store recordings offline is a major exposure if any of the hardware fails. I’m looking for a PC solution, which being potentially more complex, would at least be secure.
Any ideas?
Hey Goren,
I wonder if you would know if Ugreen USB hub or any other ethernet adapter works with Pleio? For example for Fire Sticks/android streaming boxes those adapters work perfectly.
Thanks
Completely agree!I tried to contact them about bugs I Experienced asnd got no joy at all! I think this sector is doomed.
My Aura occasionally shuts down and re starts during streaming which is annoying. The picture in TNT sports streaming through Discovery + jumps every 5 to 10 seconds so I guess these bugs will not get fixed.
I don’t like the way the whole page in the TV guide moves when scrolling channels instead of moving to the next channel only.
There is no 2 min skip when fast forwarding progammes. Not sure why they took this away. I had it on my 1000s
So, I’m not supprised it has been discontined, there are too many bugs in it and features that need improving,
The Aura has been generally good for to the extent we have 3. Makes tv control simple the same in every room. I look forward to it’s successor.
Mr Goren, very useful site but could you extend your coverage to include recording, storing and organising TV programs on a computer. I’ve been a big fan of Humax’s Freeview and Freesat boxes through a number of generations but it seems to me that the migration to TV delivery through broadband is going to force us to have a very constrained recording facility. Furthermore the current problem of not being able to backup or transfer recordings to another box is a real issue for me. I recently lost almost 2TB of HD recordings on a Freesat box, with no recovery possible. I have resisted the temptation to move over to a PC solution because clearly it involves more technical knowledge, but it seems I am going to have to get up to speed on this if I want to have a full recording and storage solution. If you feel this is not the role of this site could you at least point me in the direction of some PC solutions. Or perhaps some of your readers could comment below on their solutions?
It looks like people like us are not in the thinking for the future of tv consumption, SSD hard drives are the way ahead, but not cheap! I still have my olderHumax wired in, as it is loaded with concerts, all the Bowie docs, and a few classic mafia films. It looks as if our end of the market is not under consideration within the media tech of the future. I genuinely fear for older folks who simply can’t embrace new technology. My dad gave up on his Humax Aura, citing it was too complicated compared to hi older box.
Thank you for the Cord Buster e-mail review.
Q: If the government gets its way with an “IP switchover” In 2030, will my Humax Freesat recorder model [HDR-11S ] 1TB still be able to record programmes via my satellite dish, as I do now? PS, At the moment, I am only able to record 1 channel and watch 1 other channel. If I wanted to record 2 or possibly 3 channels, do you know if I need to upgrade my Satellite dish or change the Satellite recorder to something completely different? Reply via e-mail is welcome.
I think the IP switchover is more related to broadcast TV than satellite TV.
As far as satellite TV is concerned it will entirely depend upon whether the companies operating the satellites and their base stations which relay the TV up to them are still able to make money from their infrastructure or not. So it will largely be the market which decides.
It looks like Sky will discontinue their satellite service at some point over the next couple or so years, and that may be a big factor in the viability or otherwise of the satellite infrastructure.
For your issue it depends on what type of LNB you have receiving the signals from the dish, whether it supports more than two channels. There are different types of LNBs so you need the correct one. It also depends upon what your box can receive and what type of LNB it is designed to work with.
Sky’s current contracts with the satellite owners, run until the year 2029. It’s likely that Sky’s satellite service will end then. Some broadcasters have already stated that Freesat will not be financially viable when Sky’s satellite service closes. So it’s likely that Freesat will end then too.
The broadcasters have already decided that eventually ALL the current old systems will be shut down, in favour of internet streaming!
Currently the only other possibility is “5G Broadcast”, which is a mobile phone network based technology. But the broadcasters are currently saying that they don’t even want that! It’s possible that they will change their minds about that, or even be “forced” to accept it by popular demand.
So glad that I read the Cordbusters reviews and bought the Manhattan T4-R instead of the Humax Aura.
Having come from the Humax HDR 2000T and the FVP 4000T I was loathed to move to a different manufacturer because I liked the ecosystem of the Humax, I still think it’s more intuitive than the Manhattan but what can you do?
Just hope the Manhattan keeps going until it’s obsolete.
There are two main things I would like from a new Freely box which the Pleio box doesn’t have: (1) an ethernet port, because WiFi is never as good as a wired connection, and (2) proper buffering of live broadcasts so that you can rewind. The latter would presumably require some form of local storage beyond what the puck currently has in it.
Apart from these issues I think the Pleio is a great product. If they were to introduce a Pleio Pro with both of the above I would upgrade in a heartbeat.
Users aren’t being served by manufacturers. Whether it’s this in-between time of freeview play and freely causing the problem, or whether it’s the lack of apps on the “box”, there is no longer the all-encompassing device.
That’s poor, imho.
We can only hope for the future.
For me personally, I feel Humax has a history of discontinuing or unsupporting models so would prefer to buy a model from a different manufacturer should one become available.
I’m hoping the agreement between Tivo and Freely brings a medley of new set top boxes maybe branded as Bush (Argos) or Toshiba – mid range price point with and without recording opportunities.
I know that it is capable to record IPTV streams – Tivimate app and Cosmi DVR apps (android) for example do allow such an option so it would be good to see manufacturers offer this in their models. It is after all something the public wants so why not include this?
When it comes to recording, it all comes down to what Freely, and the four P.S.B.s want, which is control over THEIR content. They might allow it, and I hope they do (eventually), but they will still control all the recordings through the system, by using things like Digital Rights Management (D.R.M.). So they will be able to edit or amend or delete people’s recordings, as they wish.
Still there’s nothing stopping people from recording content “the old fashioned way”, by putting a camcorder, or a smartphone, or similar, in front of their screens!
Will the Aura still be fully functional for the foreseeable future?
Generally speaking, yes.
Its a shame those Freeview Boxes are going. But what would be nice if they could bring the New ones to 2000 Minutes while Recording a program. Compared to a Freeview Recorder.