Smart Vu X vs Vodafone TV Gen 2 - which one is better

Forums › Online streaming services › Smart Vu X vs Vodafone TV Gen 2 - which one is better

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Benoire

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#2413518 6-Feb-2020 10:58

Thanks for all the replies, food for thought. CAn someone explain to me in detail how the freeview app on the Smart Vu X actually works and what functions does it provide as I'm still not clear.

freitasm

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#2413558 6-Feb-2020 11:02

On the Vodafone TV basically when you turn it on it will streaming Freeview content.

Menu button will show an overlay with your content (things you recorded), current Freeview programs, and on-demand (apps, SKY).

If you push down button on each section you get corresponding content. The Freeview will will show EPG. Click on the program to restart it - or go back in time to another program and click to watch - up to three days later. Otherwise use on-demand to see other programs.

Benoire

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#2413565 6-Feb-2020 11:16

freitasm:

Basically when you turn it on it will streaming Freeview content.

Menu button will show an overlay with your content (things you recorded), current Freeview programs, and on-demand (apps, SKY).

If you push down button on each section you get corresponding content. The Freeview will will show EPG. Click on the program to restart it - or go back in time to another program and click to watch - up to three days later. Otherwise use on-demand to see other programs.

This is the vodafone box? You had the Smart Vu X too didn't you? How did that do its functions?

freitasm

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#2413569 6-Feb-2020 11:21

Sorry, yes, the Vodafone TV. On the SmartVU it's an app - from what I remember (I have the STB 1TB model here but the SmartVU was a bit different when I tried it) it will have a mini EPG for the current channel at bottom of screen when you press the menu button, and if you scroll down you will see the other channels. No catch-up functionality like the Vodafone TV though.

Apsattv

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#2413640 6-Feb-2020 12:31

The smartvux and using the freeview app is crap.

Get the Vodafone tv if watching and recording tv is what you want. It uses high quality streams not some crap mishmash of web streams that the Smartvu uses.

allan

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#2414658 8-Feb-2020 16:53

freitasm:

Sorry, yes, the Vodafone TV. On the SmartVU it's an app - from what I remember (I have the STB 1TB model here but the SmartVU was a bit different when I tried it) it will have a mini EPG for the current channel at bottom of screen when you press the menu button, and if you scroll down you will see the other channels. No catch-up functionality like the Vodafone TV though.

But it does have access to the Freview On Demand services from the same location at bottom of screen for TVNZ, Three & Maori.

Yabanize

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#2414764 8-Feb-2020 22:25

I know it's not ideal but get the Vodafone TV and a Chromecast if you need other apps. Hopefully Disney will come to Vodafone eventually.

The Freeview watching experience of Vodafone TV is pretty nice, (apart from the licensing on recording shows etc) but it will only improve with time.

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xpd

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#2686813 5-Apr-2021 20:00

Has anything changed with these devices in the past year ?

I use Plex and wife uses the TVNZ On Demand service etc - currently just have an aging FV box but if can replace with a half decent STB, would be better.

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#2686864 5-Apr-2021 21:35

It depends. The Vodafone TV Gen 2 is pretty good - streaming freeview channels, virtual cloud recording, catchup episodes up to three days even without recording. Plus TVNZ, Three, YouTube, Netflix, Prime apps.

Hammerer

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#2686876 5-Apr-2021 22:25

alasta:

Have you read the Vodafone TV thread? In a nutshell it's usable, but has a lot of irritating minor bugs which seem to be a combination of device and content cataloguing problems. Vodafone staff in that thread have been generally helpful, but reluctant to engage on some of the more complex issues which makes me think they are unlikely to get fixed.

I used my VTV for a couple of months before stuffing it in a drawer and going back to Apple TV, but I probably could have tolerated it if I were desperate to have a Freeview device with live pause and a consolidated content catalogue.

I agree with a lot of what @alasta says above but he stopped using his VodafoneTV whereas I use mine almost every day and I'm way more optimistic that issues will be fixed. So I see the VodafoneTV as a good option for all the streaming services it accesses.

On Freeview, my VodafoneTV works great. The biggest issue is that content providers don't allow everything to be recorded or time-shifted. So if TV3 daytime news, for example, isn't able to be time-shifted then I just watch something else like TV 1 news.

Most of the other problems relate to apps which is where I have a a few intermittent problems such as sound not syncing correctly. It doesn't stop me watching anything and, as with any other problem I've had, I expect a solution will be found once someone can work out how to reproduce the problem.

On our paid subscriptions, I much prefer to use the VodafoneTV for Netflix, Amazon Prime, and SkyTV Neon. Here's one benefit for me where Neon's app doesn't have jump forward. While the Neon app on VodafoneTV doesn't use the jump/skip forward button on the remote, the Vodafone TV fast forward provides a preview which allows me to skip forward e.g. one step forward in a movie is about 30 seconds.

Paid YouTube is better on my computer simply because I can type searches so much faster on it but I still use the VodafoneTV for half my YouTube video watching.

An Apple TV+ app is not available on VodafoneTV but if it were, I would expect that I would prefer to watch it using the VodafoneTV too rather than on my iPad Pro.

alasta has a more expensive Apple TV box which has much broader range of apps and I'd agree that its many apps beat the range of VodafoneTV apps. While it doesn't have Freeview, you can use the on-demand apps for TVNZ etc but the VodafoneTV still has some advantages on those channels, e.g. you can fast forward through the ads which, AFAIK, you cannot do in the apps.

alasta

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#2686919 6-Apr-2021 07:47

Hammerer:

alasta has a more expensive Apple TV box which has much broader range of apps and I'd agree that its many apps beat the range of VodafoneTV apps. While it doesn't have Freeview, you can use the on-demand apps for TVNZ etc but the VodafoneTV still has some advantages on those channels, e.g. you can fast forward through the ads which, AFAIK, you cannot do in the apps.

I don't use TVNZ, but it's worth noting that ThreeNow's Apple TV app appears to be standard definition so the quality is quite poor compared with what you might get on Freeview or Vodafone TV. I just live with it, because there isn't much that I watch on Three apart from Newshub Nation.

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