The Netgem Pleio – the first standalone Freely box – is turning three months old this weekend, and Netgem is marking the occasion with what might be its biggest update since launch.
A console-quality blockbuster game is arriving on the platform for the first time in the UK, new channels and on-demand services are being added, and two long-awaited interface features are finally making their way to the home screen.
Oh, and the price? It’s going down again, for a limited time, with everything landing on Saturday, February 21.
Quick Recap: What Is The Pleio?
The Netgem Pleio is a tiny streaming puck that brings Freely – Everyone TV’s streaming platform designed to eventually replace traditional Freeview – to any TV with an HDMI port, without needing an aerial or a new television.
For £99 (more on that price in a moment), you get 60+ live channels through Freely, the full Android TV app library including Netflix and Disney+, and a cloud gaming service with 250+ games and a bundled wireless gamepad.
It launched in November 2025 as the first device of its kind, sold out within hours, and has had a fairly eventful few months since – including stock shortages, a somewhat confusing ownership structure, and a pricing rollercoaster that saw it go from £99 at launch, up to £119.88 in January, briefly back to £99 for Valentine’s Day, and then up again to £109.89 just this week.
The Freely box market has also heated up considerably, with Manhattan’s Aero launching at £69.99 and selling out overnight at Currys, and Humax’s Aura EZ hybrid recorder arriving at £249 for those who still want to record from an aerial alongside Freely.
Against that backdrop, Netgem is now celebrating the Pleio’s three-month anniversary with a content update and – welcome news for anyone who’s been watching the price bounce around – a return to £99.
The Price Is Back To £99 – But Only Until The End Of February
Let’s get this out of the way first: from February 21, the Pleio will be available at £99 – back to its original launch price, and £10.89 cheaper than the £109.89 it’s been sitting at this week.
The catch is that this is a limited-time offer running until the end of February, so if you’ve been on the fence, the clock is ticking. After that, it will likely return to £109.89.
New Interface Features: “My List” and “Continue Watching”
Also from February 21, the Pleio’s home page will gain two new rows: “My List” and “Continue Watching”.
If you’ve used any modern streaming device, you’ll know them immediately. Continue Watching lets you pick up content where you left off without hunting through menus. My List lets you save things you want to watch later, all in one place.
There are some important caveats worth knowing about, though.
For now, Continue Watching only tracks content you start watching from within the Pleio’s own interface – it won’t pull in what you’ve been picking to watch directly on Netflix, Disney+, or other third-party apps.
Netgem tells me that cross-app integration is something they’re looking at for the future, but it’s not there yet.
Similarly, My List only saves content you add from within the Pleio UI – it doesn’t sync with your Netflix watchlist, your Prime Video favourites, or anything else.
And, as a limitation familiar to anyone who’s spent time with the Pleio’s somewhat fragmented interface, the Freely section has its own separate watchlist that doesn’t sync with this new My List either.
So it’s a step in the right direction, but not quite the unified experience you’d hope for.
The home page is also getting an expansion of content recommendations beyond Freely – so you should start seeing more suggestions from third-party services sitting alongside the Freely content.
New Channels and Streaming Content
The update also brings a handful of new channels and on-demand services to the platform – a mix of kids’ content, wildlife, and niche interests.
On the channels side (part of the Pleio Extra subscription):
- Masha and the Bear – the popular animated series for young children, which has racked up a staggering number of views on YouTube over the years
- Terra Mater WILD & Adventure Earth – wildlife and nature documentaries with high production values
- Autentic History & Autentic Travel – documentary and travel content for those who’ve exhausted the BBC’s back catalogue
On the streaming side (free on-demand content for Pleio Extra users):
- Toon Goggles Jr – animated shorts and series in a safe, dedicated kids’ environment
- Duck TV – specifically designed for infants and toddlers, aimed at supporting cognitive development (useful if you’ve got a little one who commandeers the remote)
- Motor Vision – on-demand automotive content covering everything from supercar reviews to racing history
It’s a fairly family-friendly batch overall, which fits with what Netgem calls their “Family First” approach to content curation.
The Gaming Update: Mafia: Definitive Edition Arrives
Mafia: Definitive Edition – the 2020 remake of the 2002 open-world classic by 2K – is also coming to the Pleio’s cloud gaming service on February 21.
It’s an action-adventure game set in the fictional 1930s American city of Lost Heaven, following gangster Tommy Angelo. Think GTA but with a Prohibition-era storyline and considerably more style.
It’s a notable addition for gamers – this is a console-quality title that normally lives on PlayStation and Xbox consoles, and Netgem says this is the first time it’s been available on a UK TV streaming device.
It joins a library of 250+ games already available through the Pleio’s cloud gaming service.
New games also arriving on the 21st include The Smurfs: Dreams (a platformer for younger players), Totally Spies! Cyber Mission, Tintin Reporter – Cigars of the Pharaoh, and My Universe – Doctors & Nurses – all aimed squarely at the family audience.
For those who’ve been sceptical about whether anyone actually uses the Pleio’s gaming features – Netgem tells me the numbers have genuinely surprised them.
They say Pleio users are playing three times more than users of similar cloud gaming-capable devices that don’t include a bundled gamepad, and they attribute this directly to the gamepad being in the box from day one.
The logic makes sense – if you have to go out and buy a controller separately, you probably won’t bother.
Netgem also notes two distinct gaming spikes during the day: around 4:30pm, when school-age children get home and grab the controller, and just before 10pm, when the adults apparently take over.
Sylvain Thevenot, Managing Director of Netgem PLEIO, said: “Adding Mafia on PLEIO Gaming – included in the 12-month access to Cloud Gaming – is a real indication of what consumers can expect from PLEIO in the future.
“It’s a truly phenomenal, console-quality game, and we are excited to be the first ones in the UK to enable it on TV via a streaming service.”
Gaming remains part of the optional Pleio Extra subscription – currently included free for 12 months with purchase, and £9.99 per month after that. Freely itself, of course, remains completely free.
Is This Enough To Justify The Pleio Over Its Rivals?
The Pleio is now operating in a more competitive market than it was three months ago when it launched as the only game in town.
The Manhattan Aero undercuts it at £69.99 but lacks gaming, Google Play Store access, and some key apps like NOW and Discovery+. The Humax Aura EZ offers Freeview recording alongside Freely at £249 but has no streaming apps at all (other than Freely’s apps).
The Pleio sits in the middle – more expensive than the Aero, but more capable in terms of app selection and gaming. At £99 until the end of February, that gap narrows considerably.
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I’ve not had the new software update that was promised on 21st Feb. The box has also been taken off the freely website.
The Netgem Play-doh is on the Freely website as of now (I’m not sure it was removed).
Yea it’s back now. Have you had the update?
I don’t have a Netgem Play-doh.
The Pleio has disappeared from Amazon as of 26th Feb 2026.
@U&DaveJaVu and @U&Eden have been added to the Freely EPG, channels 259 and 71 respectively.