Foxtel iq5: lots to love
HOME ENTERTAINMENT JUST GOT SMARTER, SIMPLER AND MORE PORTABLE
CABLE television has long been called that for a reason. And Australia’s biggest provider of it, Foxtel, has been hooking up black boxes to coaxial cable since 1995. But this approach is about to change permanently. The cable that has delivered millions of hours of TV shows, movies, music and difficult decisions about what to watch is about to be cut and replaced by wireless streaming and a miniature box you can install yourself. There are other big changes coming too, including new apps, crisper content, and the return of the TV antenna.
We plugged in Foxtel’s new iq5 set-top box to find out what you need to know about the new era in cablefree pay-tv.
WHY CUT THE CABLE?
There’s no need to run a long, black cable from the pit in the stre street, t to t string it through your house, and to install an outlet with this TV gadget.
And it no longer matters if you’re renting, if you plan to move your TV, or if you can’t get cable in your area.
The $199 iq5 just needs power, a TV connection, and your Wi-fi password.
You can, of course, choose to connect more cords to this box for a better experience.
There are colour-coded ports at the back of this device to plug in an Ethernet cord from your router for consistent download speeds, to screw in a satellite cable to avoid download charges, and to connect a TV antenna. More on that later.
Apart from added simplicity, Foxtel (which is part-owned by
News Corp) also cut the cable to its set-top boxes to future-proof them. NBN Co will take full possession of Australia’s HFC network in mid2023, which would have left satellite dishes as the main means of connecting pay-tv. This move makes the connection simpler.
CLICKING AND STREAMING Australian audiences no longer just sit back and watch television as programmed. They also lean forward, click plenty of buttons, watch a lot of previews and eventually order the program of their choosing.
With this set-top box, Foxtel underlines that it can do this too.
There are reportedly ortedly 50,000 hours of ondemand TV available from a full Foxtel subscription and the redesigned menus make it easier to discover.
Find a show you like, for example, and you can unearth other seasons of it and stream episodes within a couple of clicks rather than waiting for its timeslot.
For many, this could mean the end of recording or downloading shows.
For those who prefer to stash them away safely, this box fits on to an optional base that is actually a one terabyte hard drive. It’s a canny design and an addition that should suit those who are upgrading from old boxes in particular.
WHAT ABOUT OTHER SHOWS?
Foxtel added Netflix to its menus in 2019 and now boasts a tally of six apps from different services, ranging from SBS to Youtube.
Apps for Vevo Music, Amazon Prime Video, and all the major TV channels are promised by the end of the year.
But there’s something worth noting about watching free-to-air shows on this box: it requires an antenna. The iq5 cannot stream these channels but will add them into its program guide if you can hook up a roof aerial or plug in some
who do connect an rewarded with access to all the FTA broadcasts, including the high-definition channels that are not currently rebroadcast to satellite users.
When combined with access to Foxtel’s two Ultra High-definition channels for movies and sport, this could make the iq5 a sensible upgrade for those with demanding 8K TV screens.
OTHER CONSIDERATIONS
You will, of course, need a reasonably fast and generous broadband connection to make use of this
Foxtel gadget.
Streaming 4K shows requires a download speed of 12 megabits per second (18 for the best picture), and streaming an hour of high-definition content uses about two gigabytes of data. Most NBN plans will accommodate it.
It’s also worth noting that TV tuners inside this device will also only let you record one FTA show at a time, though that should be less of an issue when catch-up apps launch.
FOXTEL IQ5 VERDICT
This compact black box is a smart upgrade for multiple reasons.
The iq5 is likely to appeal to viewers with big-screen TVS hungry for high-definition and 4K content, just as it will to those who don’t want to be tied down to an address with cables or satellite dishes.
Buyers should go to the extra effort of plugging an antenna into this gadget when it launches later this year, but it definitively brings what was cable(d) TV into the streaming age.