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French manufacturer Netgem has U-turned on its recent price rises for its sold-out Pleio streaming set-top box ...albeit temporarily. For a limited time, you can snag the Pleio box for its original £99 price on Amazon UK.
Pleio was the first set-top box to bring the Freely platform to any television, although British brand Manhattan has since launched a rival £69 box with the same functionality.
Dubbed "the puck" by manufacturer Netgem, Pleio lets you stream live free-to-air channels and on-demand boxsets from dozens of broadcasters. It's a similar lineup to Freeview or Freesat, but you can ditch the aerial in favour of a Wi-Fi connection.
That means you can place your television anywhere in the house as long as it has a minimum 10Mbps connection, and that bad weather can't disrupt your latest boxset obsession, sports fixture, or movie night.
For those who don't know, Freely launched in the first half of last year. Built by the same team as Freeview and Freesat, this new platform is forecast to overtake both of these by the end of the decade.
When Netgem launched the Pleio, it sold out within hours due to "exceptional demand."
Upgrade your telly with Freely's Netgem Pleio at its original launch price
French entertainment brand Netgem is the first brand to launch a plug-and-play box that brings Freely to any television. Connect via HDMI, and you'll be able to stream the most popular free-to-air channels, including the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, U, and of course, GB News. Freely arrives packed with several features previously only found on paid-for options like Sky Stream and EE TV
With sales so strong, why has Netgem decided to cut the price? While it could be a timely Valentine's Day promotion, it could also be a strategic response to the recent release of the Aero 4K TV Streamer.
This rival box is only available from a single UK retailer (for now), but has already sold out within 24-hours of its debut. This is the second Freely TV-equipped box to launch in the UK and the cheapest. At £69.99, this British box is much cheaper than the Pleio box from French manufacturer Netgem.
Unlike its rival Pleio, there's no controller in the box or access to video games via the cloud with the Aero 4K TV Streamer | MANHATTAN PRESS OFFICEThe Aero 4K TV Streamer is built by the British brand, Manhattan.
Plug this box into the HDMI port on the back of your telly, and you're able to stream the biggest free-to-air channels, including GB News, ITV, BBC, Channel 4, and more.
There's also an on-demand catalogue brimming with over 75,000 hours of on-demand content (believe it or not, that's more than Netflix).
Unlike Freeview, Freely boasts several clever features that you'd usually only associate with paid-for platforms like Sky Glass or Sky Stream, including pausing live television and rewinding a show that's in progress.
Before the launch of the Pleio and Aero 4K TV Streamer, the only way to access the latest Freely features was to upgrade to one of the new flatscreens built from the ground up to support the modern streaming platform.
With these new set-top boxes, you can keep your current set-up, but benefit from the convenience of beaming all of your live television via Wi-Fi, rather than a traditional aerial. That means you'll be able to place your telly anywhere in the house (with a decent wireless signal that delivers 10Mbps)
However, several noteworthy features could have you investing the additional £20 to have the new Pleio paired with your telly.
Add Freely to ANY television by upgrading to the Pleio box | NETGEM PRESS OFFICEThe Pleio box includes a set-top box, remote, game controller, a 12-month subscription to premium channels, and cloud gaming.
It's worth remembering that ownership of the hardware is deferred until the 12-month subscription period ends, which means you’re essentially leasing or financing it as part of the subscription. You can't sell the Pleio box after six months as a second-hand item, since you don't technically own it at that point.
If you're not much of a gamer, the Manhattan Aero 4K TV Streamer may be a better pick since it misses out on the game-streaming capabilities of the Pleio.
Out of the box, PLEIO lets you stream 250 titles via a dedicated game streaming service. There's an Xbox-like controller in the box that uses Bluetooth to connect to the Freely-powered box | NETGEM PRESS OFFICE Freely has a few new tricks up its sleeves when compared to watching many of the same channels on Freeview or Freesat. For example, you can restart a show that's already started with a single button press — saving you the hassle of jumping to a catch-up service to watch the beginning.
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You can also browse through previously aired episodes in the same series directly from the TV Guide, bringing together on-demand catalogues available to stream and live terrestrial television in a way previously only seen from the likes of Sky Stream, Virgin TV Stream, and EE TV.
New features are being added all of the time, with the Everyone TV team behind Freely adding the ability to scroll backwards through time on the TV Guide to access content from streaming services, earlier this year. Likewise, the catch-all My List feature announced earlier this year is now available on all Freely-powered gadgets.
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If that isn't enough, the Android 14-powered Pleio includes access to the Google Play Store, so you'll be able to download a wide selection of streaming apps, like Netflix, Prime Video, NOW, Disney+, YouTube, and more.
Still want more to watch? Netgem can unlock more than 150 FAST channels to your Pleio box if you subscribe to its optional monthly plan. Not only that, but the Pleio can double up as a fairly convincing console too.
There's a dedicated Bluetooth-enabled controller in the box, and you'll unlock more than 250 titles as part of that same subscription. Netgem owns a cloud gaming service, so most of the grunt happens on its servers.
Armed with nothing but Netgem's miniscule "puck", PLEIO lets you stream the most popular free-to-air channels in the UK, access over 75,000 hours of on-demand content, streaming hundreds of video games, and download apps like Netflix, Prime Video, and Disney+ from the Google Play Store | NETGEM PRESS OFFICE | EVERYONE TV PRESS OFFICE | GB NEWSWhat's the catch? Netgem hasn't included an aerial port on the back of the Pleio — something that isn't the case with all Freely-enabled devices available on store shelves today.
As such, if you lose your broadband connection, there's no way to continue watching free-to-air television via this Freely-powered box.
Netgem also decided not to include a hard drive, so there's no way to record shows when they air — you'll be completely reliant on the libraries of streamers like BBC iPlayer, ITVX, Channel 4, U, and others.