Comcast flexing its streaming muscle
Flex box has some advantages and some setbacks — but most of all, it’s free.
Last year, Comcast jumped into the streaming-box business, selling an intriguing product called Xfinity Flex. It promised to put all your favorite streaming apps in one place, with an interface that’s similar to that found on its popular X1 cable TV box.
For cordcutters who escaped from high Comcast cable TV bills to go allstreaming, it provided familiar ground. For Comcast, it was hardware that could keep customers in the fold. And given that it only cost $5 a month, it could be alluring for internet-only customers who hadn’t yet settled on a way to stream shows and movies.
And as I wrote in my initial review of the Flex last June, it had drawbacks. It required that you use Comcast’s own modem/router combination, and it didn’t offer apps for services designed to replace the cable bundle, such as the U.S. version of Sling TV or YouTube TV. And that $5 monthly fee, which is reasonable, added up to $60 a year, $10 more than the cost of a competing Amazon Fire TV Stick.
But Comcast is now giving away the Flex box for free. (If you want more than one in your home, additional units are still $5 per month each.) The company also no longer requires you to use its modem/router combo – it works with your own hardware.
The company has kicked off a marketing campaign for the Flex, targeting its internet-only customers. It has apparently been effective: Comcast announced last week it now has 1 million Flex users on its network.
As a result of the push, I’ve heard from a lot of folks who want to know if it’s worth getting one, even if they already have a way to stream.
My admittedly glib response has been, “Hey, it’s free, why not?” In fact, because it cost nothing I ordered one for myself.
This is despite the fact that I use a fourth-generation Apple TV, which is attached to a circa-2011 Samsung HDTV.
Installation is simple and fairly painless, with plainlanguage, step-by-step instructions oncreen.
The picture the
Flex delivers is gorgeous – in fact, it looks much better than the Apple TV’s picture. For a while I thought it was using motionsmoothing, the feature found on modern TVs that can make film look like it was shot on video. But Comcast assures me it’s not doing anything fancy with the signal. It’s just great video hardware.
For apps, the Flex has the usual suspects. There’s Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, CBS All Access, YouTube and many more. But as when I first looked at Flex, there remains a lot missing.
There’s still no ESPN, just ESPN3, the lower-tier version of that sports service. And, if you’ve got kids or Star Wars/ Marvel fans at home, there’s no Disney+. No Baby Yoda for you!
Most importantly, the Flex is still missing the bundledchannel apps that are an alternative to a cableTV package. There’s
no Sling TV, YouTube
TV, AT&T TV Now, Philo, fubo or Hulu with Live TV.
Steve Meyer, Comcast’s vice president for Xfinity
Flex, told me that it’s “not policy” that is keeping these cable-alternatives off the Flex box. He pointed out the presence of the international version of Sling TV, and said that Comcast has an agreement with Sling. When I asked if that meant it was just a matter of time until the U.S. app made it, he said that “we are onboarding apps as we go along.” So, maybe.
One app it does have, which for now you can’t get anywhere else, is Peacock, the new streaming service from NBCUniversal, which is owned by Comcast. That will become more widely available this summer, but its “premium” tier is free to Flex users.
After living with the Flex for a while, I’m glad I have it but if I had to ditch it, I probably would not miss it. I could not recommend the
Flex to those who are new to cord-cutting and who want a cable-alternative app, because Comcast is not publicly committing to adding them.
But if you want free access to Peacock; want the familiarity of Comcast’s Xfinity TV interface; only want to use the most-common streaming service apps; or just want it because it’s free — go for it.
Why not?