EE TV Box v Apps

[HavesomeQs_123]

I am setting up a new TV on the wall and have EE box (also have mini box for another TV). I have power behind TV so no cables need to run u the wall currently (and don't currently any way of feeding cables through the wall). If I have access to all my channels via apps (e.g. NOW TV, Discover+, iPlayer etc) do I really need to plug in my box to the TV?

If I didn't use the box, would I be missing out on anything?

Note: My home is internet TV anyway, no ariel or satellite dish.

[Peter_W]

Good morning @HavesomeQs_123, welcome to the EE Community 😊

I just want to make sure that I'm on the right lines with what you're querying here, so am I correct in thinking you've upgraded your TV to one featuring multiple Smart TV apps, so are unsure if you need to keep using your EE TV Box?

Whilst Smart TVs have access to a lot of content now, EE TV is still great for having everything centered in one place. 

If you're using this in IP mode you get all of the available channels over the internet, but still can scroll between channels seamlessly without needing to go in and out of apps and find specific live feeds.

Not to mention the option to pause, record and rewind is great too!
Peter

[HavesomeQs_123]

Hi Peter

Thanks for taking the time to come back to me.

Yes that's right it will be a smart TV with all the relevant apps. In which case the main benefits of the box I would lose by not using it would be the pause/rewind/record?

Would there be any limitations to UHD avaiability through apps (e.g. you could get via the box but not direct via aps)?

Thanks!

[Peter_W]

Thanks @HavesomeQs_123, it's hard to say without knowing the TV model you've gone for and which services you plan on using. 

It also depends on if you tend to gravitate more towards viewing live content or on demand / catch-up, each person watches TV differently.

With me personally I tend to use the apps built into my TV for on-demand more, and I've never had issues with UHD on Netflix, Disney+, YouTube etc on my LG TV.

The EE TV still comes into its own at times though, as sometimes I like to just watch things live, and the subscription channels are just easier to flick through.

Peter

[Weerab2024]

With you saying your home is internet tv (IP TV) set up already. I presume the TV you are using is a freely one or you have sky stream?

Some customers just decide to go with what they have and use the apps, so you shouldn't miss anything if your happy with everything that you have already. 

[Midnight_Voice]

@HavesomeQs_123 

The main problem with the broadcaster smart apps on TVs is that with the exception of the BBC iPlayer, they don’t tend to let you watch live TV. Check this out on your smart TV.

 And as you don’t want to use an aerial, you can’t get them that way.  Though if it’s a Freely TV, you can get the live channels over the internet; but if it isn’t, you have two choices.

Get a Roku device or an Amazon Firestick, £40-£65 with UHD, and use that; the broadcaster apps on those do include live TV. And the devices are small enough to hide behind the TV.

Or join EETV, and not only get your broadcaster channels on the EPG over the internet (though just from the major broadcasters, you don’t get everything Freeview has to offer) but get all the other channels you are subscribed to out of Now, TNT, etc., higher up in the EPG. And if you take Box Pro, you can even record them.

I’ve tried running a TV without an aerial, and first off I hit the problem with no live channels in the apps. And second off, even with a Roku plugged it, it’s no fun ‘changing channels’, as it means leaving one app, and then finding your place in another, where none of them default to live 😢

So not using the EE box means missing out on all the above, to say nothing of paying for an internet service you aren’t using. My EETV boxes sit beneath my TVs, and the cables go up on-wall channeling to the TVs, which likewise have power behind each set. It looks neat enough, even for my wife. Pictures tomorrow, perhaps.