New Freely TV box unveiled with space for 1,000 hours of recordings, is it time to ditch Freeview?

hand holding a remote control with the humax Aura EZ 4K TV Recorder with Freely pictured in the background

With the new HUMAX Aura EZ 4K TV Recorder plugged in beneath your telly, you'll be able to record from four different channels simultaneously, pause and rewind live television – or restart a show with the tap of a button

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HUMAX PRESS OFFICE | GB NEWS

Aaron Brown

By Aaron Brown


Published: 16/02/2026

- 13:08

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It unlocks access to 70,000 hours of on-demand content too, that's bigger than the entire Netflix catalogue

This is the Humax Aura EZ 4K TV Recorder with Freely.

What it lacks in a catchy name, it more than makes up for with its long list of functionality. Humax wants this plug-and-play box to be as simple as possible, so viewers can connect the Aura EZ via HDMI to any telly and enjoy thousands of hours of live and on-demand TV.


It's the third set-top box to launch with the Freely platform baked in, following the first effort from French manufacturer Netgem (£99), and British brand Manhattan's sold-out Aero 4K TV Streamer (£69) in recent weeks.

The newest addition from Humax is a little pricier, with a price tag of £249.

Be one of the first to own the HUMAX Aura EZ 4K TV Recorder with Freely

Humax has become the third manufacturer to launch its own Freely-powered set-top box, with access to the biggest free-to-air channels, including GB News, ITV, BBC, and Channel 4. There's also an on-demand catalogue brimming with over 75,000 hours of on-demand content and support for next-generation features like the ability to pause and rewind live television

HUMAX Aura EZ 4K TV
$249

The Aura EZ 4K TV Recorder is one of a new breed of set-top boxes that brings the Freely platform to your existing flatscreen, so you can pause and rewind live television and access 70,000 hours of on-demand content directly from the TV Guide

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HUMAX PRESS OFFICE

Inside the Aura EZ 4K TV Recorder is a 2TB hard drive capable of recording up to 1,000 hours of content. When connected to an aerial, this new Humax device enables viewers to record up to four channels while watching a fifth channel live, ensuring they never miss their favourite television shows, sports fixtures, or films.

In the box, you'll find a remote control with a dedicated Freely shortcut to jump into the streaming platform

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HUMAX PRESS OFFICE

To schedule a recording, you can tap the Menu button on the remote control to reveal the seven-day TV Guide, making it faster – and simpler – to select a show for recording. The Humax Aura EZ comes with a dedicated Freely button on the remote control, enabling fast and convenient access to the newest streaming platform.

Of course, on-demand and catch-up services like BBC iPlayer, ITVX, and Channel 4 are supported by the set-top box, so if you don't remember to schedule a recording, then there's still a sure-fire way to watch the episode that you might've missed.

Humax Aura EZ logo shown on a smartphone screen with the living room in the background

Humax has confirmed that an upcoming app, dubbed Aura EZ, will let you schedule recordings and watch your favourite shows and films from anywhere via the Aura EZ 4K TV Recorder

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HUMAX PRESS OFFICE

In the coming months, a Humax Aura EZ app will make it simple for Aura EZ owners to navigate, plan, and schedule recordings remotely from anywhere. Humax Aura EZ supports 4K HDR picture quality with Dolby Digital Plus sound, delivering an immersive viewing experience.

You'll also be able stream the shows and movies you've recorded anywhere – even on the go.

For those who don't know, Freely launched in the first half of last year.

animated gif showing the mini guide on-screen with freely TVWith Freely, the redesigned Mini Guide offers extra information on the programme you're watching, a shortcut to additional episodes from catch-up services, and the ability to restart from the beginning with a single tap | FREELY PRESS OFFICE | GBN

Built by the same team behind Freeview and Freesat, this new broadband-powered platform is forecast to overtake both by the end of the decade. At the beginning, Freely was only available on brand-new Smart TVs built from the ground up for its software, which lets you pause live free-to-air television channels and rewind a show that's already in progress. The TV Guide lets you scroll backwards in time, bringing a selection of on-demand content drawn from catch-up services like BBC iPlayer and ITVX into the EPG.

But if you didn't want to upgrade to a new flatscreen, you had to stick with Freeview or Freesat. That's all changed with the arrival of these Apple TV-like boxes that bring the latest Freely features to any television with a 10Mbps internet connection. And there's more on the way.

With the Humax Aura EZ 4K TV Recorder, you can keep your existing flatscreen and soundbar set-up, but benefit from the convenience of beaming all of your live television via Wi-Fi, rather than a traditional aerial. Just plug in the box and you'll be 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). Freely doesn't support recordings, so you'll need to plug in an aerial into the back of the box to unlock this functionality – adding even more flexibility to your set-up.

Neither the Netgem Pleio nor the Manhattan Aero 4K TV Streamer has this as an option.

Be one of the first to own the HUMAX Aura EZ 4K TV Recorder with Freely

Humax has become the third manufacturer to launch its own Freely-powered set-top box, with access to the biggest free-to-air channels, including GB News, ITV, BBC, and Channel 4. There's also an on-demand catalogue brimming with over 75,000 hours of on-demand content and support for next-generation features like the ability to pause and rewind live television

HUMAX Aura EZ 4K TV
$249
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