EE TV Box Pro VS Apple 4K Box

[DStructUK]

HI

I am soon going to take up EE Broadband with EE TV

I am aware I can choose either the EE TV Box Pro OR the Apple 4K Box. I have watched some YouTube videos on them both to try and give me the best understanding, I am still undecided on which to choose though. Can anybody please help me distuingish the differences? 

I know the main difference is that you can record on the EE TV Box Pro but you cannot record on the Apple 4K Box, If I decide recording is not so important to me, what other factors are there? 

Which box is the most powerful hardware that will give me best performance switching through apps etc, best viewing / sound quality and least problems etc etc 

Please go all out on the differences, pros and cons of both 

Thank you 

[Midnight_Voice]

@DStructUK 

The Apple box is the superior piece of hardware, everything that a regular Apple TV Box is, plus the EETV app. And it has an App Store you can add apps from.

Besides not being able to record, it also doesn’t take an aerial, so the only Freeview channels you get are the selection that EETV provides over the internet (IP Mode). Though the complete set you can get with an aerial into your TV,  but you can’t pause and rewind them.

The Pro box can record, can get all the Freeview channels over an aerial, or you can run it in IP Mode. For apps, you are restricted to the selection provided (no Disney!)

I’ve had six YouView boxes, and only one has ever gone bad on me, (3 weeks in, design flaw) but its replacement has been running for twelve years. I’ve had four Apple TVs, one stopped working, the latest, a Gen 2, is currently playing up. But it doesn’t matter if an Apple TV fails, you just get sent a new one and off you go again.

But if a Box Pro fails, it takes all your recordings with it, irrecoverable.

There are other differences, but nothing major; you’ve said what isn’t important to you, but if you say what is, maybe we can help you decide better.

[DStructUK]

Not being able to pause and rewind live TV could be a deal breaker. You can pause and rewind on other IPTV boxes from other providers so would have expected this to be possible with either box option from EE, in Internet mode. 

For me what's important, good question.. I'll blabber on now whilst I think 

Live TV I mostly watch as background viewing when I don't really have anything specific to watch but I still want live TV.

Is having the EE TV app on the Apple BOX an identical experience as having it on the EE box, I.e the interface, TV guide etc? Does it all look the same and perform the same?

If the above is yes then I guess, the best picture and sound quality, pausing and rewinding, performance of the actual TV guide and epg 

Then it's the apps, so again what performs best. No sluggishness flicking through the app screen then inside the apps themself browsing for something to watch 

If I get an apple box as my main, can I then still take out the free second box to have in another room and will it work or do you need the ee pro box as the main

[Weerab2024]

You can now pause and rewind for upto an hour even if you just switched to the channel you want to rewind on the EE Apple TV.

There was an update to introduce this feature.

The guide app is similar to the EE Pro box. With an additional feature to show you the most watched channels from the main part of the app.

There isn't a watch list, hopefully this could be added in future. 

There's not a full app rail on the EE app but that's no issue for me, I just go into into the main apple TV app screen. 

You cant hide channels, but you can favourite ones. 

There's absolutely no sluggishness on my EE Apple TV whatsoever, I've had it a month. 

You can use the mini box with the Apple TV or the Pro box. 

I can verify this as I have the EE Apple TV box. 

[Weerab2024]

Another thing to note is that you can't scroll back or forward more than a day on the EE Apple TV Pro, hopefully this can be added in the future too. We also have Sky Stream in the living room and this doesn't have that either though.

It's easier to set up the Apple TV box if you have an apple device, due to the linked Apple ecosystem. 

Maybe one day there might be an EE Google streamer for android users lol

[Midnight_Voice]

@DStructUK 

To clarify what I said about Pause & Rewind; you can Pause & Rewind the channels offered by the Box Pro, the Box Mini, and the Apple TV Box. But because there is only a restricted range of channels in IP Mode:-

https://ee.co.uk/help/tv-sport/manage-use/channel-guide

only the Box Pro, operated in Aerial Mode, will let you Pause & Rewind all the Freeview Channels. Look at each section (they scroll) versus the full Freeview EPG, see what channel numbers are omitted, and if being able to pause and scroll them matters to you. e.g. Talking Pictures, the U family…..

if you get the Apple box or the Box Pro as your main, you can have two Box Minis for other rooms, one free, and another, optional, one that is paid for if you want it. Note that while all these devices share information held centrally, staying in sync to a great extent, they don’t actually talk to one another, and so the Box Pro can’t share the recordings it makes with any of the other boxes.

[Weerab2024]

I am hoping that the U channels and others will come along at some point soon, following our lengthy discussion at the weekend 

[Profile closed]

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@DStructUK wrote:
Which box is the most powerful hardware that will give me best performance switching through apps etc, best viewing / sound quality and least problems etc etc 

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Apple TV 4K, end of discussion.

In terms of other benefits…

• The ATV supports all the apps you are likely to need, the Pro Box does not
• The ATV supports better versions of the apps than the Pro Box (HD and live streams for example in the likes of itvX or Channel 4)
• The ATV does have a watchlist (called Up next), in the Apple TV app which organises your viewings across core apps and does not need an Apple TV+ subscription to work
• In an up coming update to TVOS, this will be renamed “Continue watching” and a new section called “Watchlist” will be added so you add content from apps to that for tracking

Things it doesn’t do:

• Track viewing through Netflix, but then neither does the Pro Box
• BBC iPlayer maxes out at 720p, although upscaling is excellent for most content (sports is a struggle)

What you ultimately need to know is that, you can buy your own Apple TV 4K, subscribe to the apps you want on more flexible and favourable terms, and use an app called TV Launcher to recreate the experience on hardware you own, without a contract, annual price rises and using any ISP, as long as you are happy to manage it yourself.

Sure there will be a few live channels missing, but for those you can always access the content on demand. The U app also delivers HD on the ATV.

[wgwright]

Hi @Profile closed I’m currently considering swapping my EE TV pro box for an EE Apple TV 4K box. Would you say that there is any noticeable improvement in picture quality using the Apple TV 4K box over the TV pro box?

Many thanks 

[Profile closed]

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@wgwright wrote:

Hi @Profile closed I’m currently considering swapping my EE TV pro box for an EE Apple TV 4K box. Would you say that there is any noticeable improvement in picture quality using the Apple TV 4K box over the TV pro box?

Many thanks 

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Major caveat: All picture quality is very subjective!

But I would say yes. The Apple TV upscaling is far superior and I believe standard definition channels via the EE TV app on an Apple TV really benefit.

I used to test the MotoGP coverage in SD via the Pro Box and the timings graphics are practically unreadable, but on the Apple TV they are much clearer for example. 

It is a little closer with HD content, but I always found the IP channels through the Pro Box “soft”. I don’t have the same issues with them via Apple TV.

One note of caution, although this will improve in time, the Pro Box IP channels are delivered via Multicast (one to many) technology that means it has a very favourable delay about 20  - 30 seconds behind satellite delivery when I tested it.

The channels in the EE TV app on Apple TV use Unicast (one to one), just like NOW, Sky Stream etc. so the delay from a traditional broadcast is around 60 - 90 seconds.

Hope this helps.