Joined in 2023 
82 
63 About this deal
On paper, it’s a potent combination, with Android giving Humax a leg-up with Google Assistant voice control, Chromecast streaming plus the load of apps in the Google Play store. Just how strong is the aura that surrounds Humax’s set-top box? Design As well as the aforementioned live TV channels, there’s a binge-tastic box-set collection and thousands of hours of on-demand content courtesy of BBC iPlayer, ITV Hub, All 4, My5, UKTV Play, CBS Catchup Channels UK, Horror Bites, STV Player and BBC Sounds, all in one place and all for free – thanks to Freeview Play. I find playing audio through the Aura’s apps to be similar enough to playing it through the TV. The slight difference I can hear is that there’s a little more weight and excitement to bass when watching the Eternals on Disney+.
The Aura comes in 1TB and 2TB versions, allowing for up to 500 and 1,000 hours of recording respectively, and both include three digital tuners, allowing you to record up to four programmes while watching a fifth (depending on what you’re actually recording). There’s also the Humax Aura app for iOS and Android that enables remote planning, recording and viewing on the go.
It’s the best Freeview Play and streaming box yet, but the Humax Aura still needs work
Away from the video side, the hi-res audio support is a welcome addition. It means those connecting the Aura to a decent external speaker system can get a strong performance from locally stored or streamed audio files, even if connecting through the HDMI, which can handle up to 24-bit/192 kHz levels. As you’d hope for with any PVR, recorded image quality is transparent to source. That means linear HD channels look crisp and detailed, with bit-starved SD channels a little more bleary around the edges. The recording accurately reflects both, for good or ill. Dive into the settings and there are plenty more features to have a look at. One I’d recommend is ‘Dynamic Refresh Rate Scaling’. The Aura scales the resolution of each app to the resolution of the TV (in this case 4K). I found it was too annoying with its constant blinking and oftentimes crashing.
It’s one others have sought to capture, and like the wake produced by a boat, in Sky’s stead has followed a succession of efforts from BT, Manhattan, Virgin and Humax. The Humax Aura’s three Freeview Play tuners bring access to over 70 non-subscription live TV channels and over 20,000 hours of on-demand entertainment through the catch-up services, with BBC iPlayer, ITV Hub, All 4 and My5 all present. Those tuners allow you to pause and rewind TV, as well as record up to four channels while watching a fifth one live.Freeview Play takes the nation’s most popular TV platform to the next level by offering easy to access, catch-up TV. With over 70 subscription-free channels and 20,000 hours of on demand TV available, there's always something to watch on Freeview TV. With Chromecast built-in as standard on Android TV, AURA enables users to stream photos, videos, music and other media to their TV screen from a laptop, tablet or mobile phone via a home Wi-Fi network. While the Aura is spot on for sound, we still recommend that you buy the cheaper but still brilliant Humax FVP-5000T while you still can, and add a Google Chromecast with Google TV if you also want streaming. The experience won’t feel much more split than the Aura already does but, more importantly, the smart offering will be more complete and a little better for picture quality too. Google Assistant is integrated into the remote control, allowing users to benefit from Google Home services – simply press the button to activate voice control and ask an unlimited number of questions such as finding out the weather or travel information, choose favourite types of content, change channel or volume – or connect to smart home devices to play music, switch on the lights or heating, and much more. The Aura trades a touch of detail for this better blending and, while some might prefer harder edges to stone walls, it feels like a well-judged decision from Humax. There’s a proper sense of complexity to the bright blue TV shelf as one of the bargain hunters haggles over a few Euros. It makes for a more natural aesthetic to the picture and feels believable when upscaled to 4K.
In terms of firmware, Humax states that it will be upgrading numerous aspects of Aura’s performance, from video and audio enhancements to an improved UI experience. Featuring a high capacity, 2TB hard drive, it's easy to record, pause and rewind live TV. The extra-large capacity storage holds up to 1000 hours of TV - enough to be able to catch up on all your favourite TV even after an extended break away. With the pause and rewind function, interruptions from phone calls are no longer an issue - simply pause the live TV and resume when you're free again. When Brian May plays his solo at the end of the piece, it’s like he’s making his guitar sing. Again, the sense of place is captured brilliantly in a credible rendition of the sound of the old Wembley Stadium full of 72,000 people clapping in time and singing along to Radio Ga Ga.
Recording and Playback
CEC Control - can’t be turned off, so I had to deploy an in-line CEC disable connector. While using ‘family style’ HDMI settings for use with just a TV or soundbar may work, with a HiFi/AV System this is often not that simple. It should allow for complex systems that need to choose HDMI/CEC options - e.g. my AV Amp can individually select CEC Control to allow volume, device on/off etc.
Great Deal 
New Comment