No triple tuner and limited storage options was a deal breaker so I punted for the Aura on its release in November and even with the initial software it worked reasonably well, the interface speed was like night vs day compared to the 5000T. While these looked spectacular, those trials come and go, and while you can’t even watch the archived versions of Blue Planet II and Dynasties in 4K, other BBC 4K content is sometimes added (such as the recent Doctor Who new year special in 4K). Whether you're in the mood for a blockbuster movie or a gripping drama, the Genre view helps you find exactly what you want. The casing is the same shape as the T3 but slightly larger, which may affect placement options, and the supplied mains lead could usefully be longer.

We’d also like to see some options to customise the home page, largely because the YouTube Kids icon will be an annoying waste of screen real estate for many users. Our suggestion would be to hard-wire the network connection if you can, to avoid any weak Wi-Fi connectivity or wireless interference. Sometimes I leave my PVR on the channel of something I plan to watch, so if I get distracted I don't miss the start (or for Ad-skipping), then something else comes up and I'd like to record it, but currently can't as quick-record only starts at the current time, despite it having all the data in the buffer (this is from a channel without a catch-up service)?Today, we have millions of users a month from around the world, and assess more than 1,000 products a year. A Freeview Play box that also serves as a (limited) streaming device, but with no recording capabilities – the Manhattan T3.

I did briefly have the Aura (mine was faulty) but I think I prefer the T3-R interface although to be fair I only had the Aura for a day. The 1TB hard drive holds up to 600 hours of recordings, smartly organised into categories and series. Over the years, Manhattan kept pushing out software updates with new features and apps, and more updates are expected in the future. The item may be missing the original packaging or protective wrapping, or may be in the original packaging but not sealed. This Freeview Play box has a super-fast interface, smart recording of up to 600 hours and the ability to pause live TV, all the main catchup apps and even support for UltraHD (4K).You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice. There’s also a variable lip-sync delay – up to 250 seconds – in case you’re suffering with sync issues because of a soundbar. The T3-R will never clip the end of a programme before its scheduled end time, even if another programme starts early and the tuner is needed. If you go with WiFi, you’ll have to enter the password using the remote, and at that point, the T3-R will also check for software updates. The Manhattan T3-R is a Freeview Play-powered set-top box with an integrated hard drive for recording.