Humax has launched the new HDR 1100S range of Freetime Freesat boxes.
The smart new boxes are roughly a third smaller than the previous 1000S range and boast integrated WiFi like the older 1010S range. Controversially, they also do away with the old-school SCART connection; it’s apparently HDMI and composite all the way from now on.
There’s also no LED display on the front cover, a decision made to help drive down costs and get more Freetime boxes on the shelves.
Humax’s commercial director Graham North said that the old 1000S has been the best-selling Freetime unit to date, shifting around 4,000 units a month.
Most growth in customer demand is coming from customers who want to be able to access catch-up services like BBC iPlayer and All 4 through one box.
North said: “The new box adds even more appeal to the popular Freetime service, allowing great streaming and on-demand content to be easily accessible. Its compact size and range of colours provide further value and choice to consumers, making it a must-have product for home entertainment.”
Freetime is Freesat’s connected TV platform that provides streamlined access to catch-up portals including BBC iPlayer, All 4, ITV Player, Demand 5 and other paid services including kids on-demand platform Hopster, arthouse service Curzon Home Cinema and YouTube.
Humax has plans to add more on-demand services, which will be accessible through the ‘Humax’ section of its boxes – the same menu you’d open up if you wanted to access content stored on an external hard drive or a NAS drive.
Giving folks the option to pick a wired or wireless connection means you should be able to get on-demand content whichever room you set up in. Humax couldn’t confirm if the new 1100S range supports dual-band WiFi or not, but given that the older 1010S range does, it’s safe to assume it will. What we do know at the time of writing is that it won’t support WiFi AC.
Customers have the choice between 500GB, 1TB and 2TB editions which cost £189.99, £219.99 and £269.99 versions as well as the option to buy black or white models.
In terms of how many hours of programmes you can record, you’ll be able to put away 250 hours of SD or 125 of HD content on the 500GB drive, 500 hours of SD or 250 hours of HD on the 1TB drive.
The 2TB drive, as you might of guessed, doubles that, letting you record up to 1,000 hours of broadcast content or 500 hours of programmes in high definition. Recordings can be set and managed remotely using the Freesat App for iOS, Android and Kindle.
You can buy the new 1100S boxes directly from Humax’s site or from John Lewis, Dixons, Richer Sounds, Argos, CIH Euronics and Tesco.
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