Comcast again courts cordcutters
Flex streaming box brings content value, but it’s far from a replacement for cable
Flex streaming box brings content value but falls short as a cable replacement .
Arguably the main reason why people drop traditional cable TV in favor of streaming service is cost. Over time, that cable bundle you initially thought was a great deal balloons into a serious dent in your budget. Dumping the TV part of cable TV gets that elephant off your foot.
New cordcutters — as former cable users like to call themselves — often rely on third-party streaming boxes that connect to a TV’s HDMI port. Their names are familiar: Apple TV, Fire TV from Amazon, Roku. Now you can add a new one to the list: Xfinity Flex, and it costs only $5 a month.
And it’s from Comcast. That’s right, the cable company you just fled wants you to come back and give this new, low-cost box a shot. For some folks, it might be a great deal. Others will want to stick with the more established competitors. It offers a lot of choice on one hand, but virtually none on the other.
You see, the Xfinity Flex is built around the idea that people really do like the way Comcast’s X1 cable TV box organizes television content. Indeed, the X1 has received accolades for its voice-control capabilities, intuitive onscreen layout and frequent updates with new and useful features.
One of the biggest frustrations cordcutters face is figuring out how to find the content they want to watch. A lot of companies are trying to solve this problem; it’s one of the concepts around the new TV app on Apple TV, for example. When you shell out big bucks for your cable bill each month, what you’re really paying for is organization and convenience. Almost everything you watch on cable TV is now available a la carte via streaming, with the exception of some sports. You just have to figure out a way to get it.
Comcast’s Flex box gives you the organizational structure of its X1 service. But instead of the cable channels you know and love, you’ll find the usual suspects — Netflix, Hulu, Amazon
Prime — and a collection of lesser-known services. There’s no CNBC for business news, for example, but you do get an obscure channel called Cheddar. Another example: The main ESPN channel isn’t there, but the lower-tier ESPN3 is.
The one offering you definitely will not find is one of the streaming packages that are designed to replace and replicate the cable TV experience, which are found on most other streaming boxes. There’s no YouTube TV, DirecTV Now, PlayStation VUE or Sling TV.
Wait, let me take that last one back. There is a variant of Sling TV, designed for international viewers. You can watch TV shows from Poland, for example, but not from the United States.
The reason for this glaring omission is obvious. These packages are a replacement for Comcast’s core product, and the company doesn’t want you to use them on its hardware.
And that’s not surprising, because the Flex eventually will provide the entire Comcast Xfinity cable TV experience, obviously at much higher prices than $5 a month. In that sense, the Flex is a Trojan-horse attempt to lure back cordcutters.
One of the best aspects of the Flex is that it’s decent hardware. The tiny, slim
Flex box supports 4K displays. It’s zippy, moving between screens easily. It connects to the xFi Advanced Gateway modem/ router combination via either Wi-Fi or an Ethernet connection.
A Comcast spokesman told me that the Flex does require that gateway, which I reviewed last week. That means if you currently use your own modem and router and want to try the Flex, it will actually cost you $18 a month, not just $5, because you must include the $13 rental for the xFi.
But is it enough pay $60 a year, or the $256 a year additional, for the xFi Advance Gateway? That’s the tough call you’ll have to make.
If Comcast were to open up the Flex to other streaming packages, and make it work with third-party routers, it would be a tempting offer. But in its current, walled-garden state, it’s intriguing hardware that’s badly crippled.