Manhattan T1 Freeview HD Box, Black

Product Information

As you’d expect, there are plenty of retailers offering great value deals on MANHATTAN T1 Freeview HD Set Top Box so let’s take a look at the offers that we’ve discovered and how the pricing compares to alternative products. It’s everything you love about the core Freeview service, but cut free from the restrictions of a broadcast schedule thanks to the addition of an internet connection. We've been busy finding the best Freeview boxes for recording and streaming, grouped into handy categories.

No, but our T3 and T3-R boxes both need the internet to access the great range of on demand services they offer and take advantage of all of their features. It’s not the cheapest out there, and it has no recording capabilities – but it makes up for that with how fast and easy to use the interface is. Key specs – Dimensions: 265 x 207 x 53mm; Tuners: 2 x Freeview HD; HDD: N/A; Smart apps: BBC iPlayer, All 4, ITV Hub, UKTV Play, YouTube, Demand 5, BBC News, Horror Bites, STV, CBS Catchup; Connections: HDMI, USB, Ethernet, SPDIF, antenna in, antenna out, 802. Other boxes have internal hard drives for storing your recordings - and they come in different capacities. As mentioned, some Freeview boxes combine these two services – they offer you direct over-the-air channels, as well as catch-up apps that use your broadband connection, saving you a box.

Please note that unless the update is considered critical, it will only be released over the internet and not broadcast over the air, so we recommend keeping your T1 connected to your internet router by Ethernet cable. It won’t give you recording or smart TV services, but it’s the simplest, cheapest way to get Freeview HD.

And then there’s the recording feature: without it, a Freeview device only lets you watch “live” shows, as they are aired. It’s also worth noting that the Freeview set-top box market is currently at a crossroads: the popular Manhattan boxes have been discontinued, and new models (the T4 and T4-R) are coming soon – but until then, there’s limited choice. Right now, the main place to access 4K content is on YouTube, and BBC iPlayer also displays featured programming like Planet Earth and Wimbledon in 4K.Humax is a big name in the Freeview Box market, as they have been producing various models for years.

It’s worth mentioning, however, that Freeview device manufacturing has already suffered setbacks this year, due to the pandemic and global chip shortages (the Manhattan T3 box, for example, has been suspended recently due to some of these issues). You can even stream media from the USB port or broadcast it back out using DLNA to other PCs and devices in the home. But it’s so much more - it actually brings the content from these different apps together, making Freeview Play a joy to navigate. When making a regional selection during Installation, the wrong regional services could be selected. As with the more expensive Manhattan models, the T1 has a snappy interface which makes using the Electronic Programme Guide a joy.It remains to be seen whether the bigger manufacturers like Humax and Manhattan will be able to compete on the budget-end of the market, with new – cheaper – devices, though that will be harder with the mandatory support for Freeview Play. Freeview TV is a wonderful service for UK cord cutters: you get more than 80 channels, without a monthly subscription, with some relatively cheap equipment.

However, most dedicated streaming devices offer a bigger library of apps than Freeview boxes that also offer streaming. When RF Loop Through in Standby was enabled in the System section of Settings, disturbances in the output could be observed for a few minutes after entering standby.They’re easy to work with, too – all you need is a spare HDMI port on your TV and a cable to connect the two. Our Freeview Play boxes also feature a 15-day TV Guide which lets you scroll back through the previous week’s TV and catch up on the shows you’ve missed. An excellent FreeviewPlay box with a speedy, slick interface that also serves as an advanced – but limited – streaming device. However, if you have Freeview Play, an internet connection will need to access the on-demand features. The point here though is that you can get a good idea of the quality of a product by the number and type of features that are available on the product.