Having to tap a channel number rather than browsing or pressing "next channel" relies upon you having to know the channel number (e.g. you have to know that 101 is BBC One HD). This is a ridiculous "solution" (It's not a solution) to have to rely upon in a product in 2018. The suggestion not to press channel up or down to avoid long delays of several seconds between channels seems amazing in a so-called high end product demanding a premium price. Another thing I particularly liked about the interface was the Global Search function. You search for the name of a show – and the device will look for it wherever it can – so on your hard drive (shows you’ve recorded), on the Electronic Programme Guide (so you can mark the show for future recording), AND on the catch-up apps (so you can watch it right now via the internet.) When Brian May plays his solo at the end of the piece, it’s like he’s making his guitar sing. Again, the sense of place is captured brilliantly in a credible rendition of the sound of the old Wembley Stadium full of 72,000 people clapping in time and singing along to Radio Ga Ga. If the thought of buying one of these boxes for every room in your house makes your wallet ache, fear not. The FVP-5000T will work with more affordable repeater boxes like the Humax H3. That means you can have one of these boxes in another room and enjoy TV as if you were watching on a dedicated box.

If you prefer to dive right into catch-up TV – which works for up to seven days gone by – then the On Demand button on the remote takes you to a menu for that too. This lays out content either by channel, app, recommendation of Freeview Play, or you can search by category like Comedy or Drama. This includes recommendations for shows on live at that moment too. Humax has had great success with its What Hi-Fi? Award-winning FVP-5000T set-top box and, four years into its life, a replacement was long overdue when the Aura launched in 2020. For both specs and looks, the Aura was the upgrade we had been waiting for. If you press OK and the blue progress indicator is not highlighted (depends on what you did before), press up to highight. The Forward and Reverse skip programmeable options now work perfectly using the left and right cursor buttons. Panasonic PVRs aren't exactly stellar performers either, based on my experience and ownership, but it's pretty much Panasonic, Humax, or something secondhand. As the demand for catch-up and streaming services continues to grow, the demand for time-shifting devices seems to be shrinking. I doubt that PVRs, as we know and love/hate them, will be around for much linger.

Humax FVP-5000T: Design and build

Thanks to its powerful boxes offering responsive interfaces where other similar competition slows to a crawl, Manhattan has made a name for itself in the set-top box space. However, the discontinuation was somewhat expected at this stage, given that the device lost support for ITV Hub in 2022 and never supported ITV’s new streaming service, ITVX. The world of set-top boxes has evolved rapidly in recent times and the go-to name for TV streaming has just upgraded to stay ahead of the rest. Yet Humax’s goal is still to offer simplicity and general ease of use, with modern features such as integrated catch-up TV, media viewing and app support all included.

When partnered with a Freeview Play FVP-5000T PVR the Espresso will view live TV from one of the FVP’s built in three tuners. Not only that all your recorded programmes can also be viewed via Espresso given you multi-room TV in any room you choose! If you don’t have a Freeview Play PVR don’t worry your Espresso can still deliver a wealth of Free TV content with our built in apps via the internet. The device was also an early adopter of Freeview Play, seamlessly integrating live TV with catch-up and on-demand services. Humax FVP-5000TThe ultimate test of any piece of tech kit is would you buy it again or recommend it to someone you care for? Nope. Even the way the remote control is layed out is rushed and not intuitive. The button to find your recordings is hidden away and too small. I'm constantly miskeying and once you press the wrong button you lose what you were trying to do and clear the cached program you were trying to watch. That said, if you have your heart set on a single-box solution for your TV recording and video streaming, the Aura is a solid choice. As you can imagine, pricing is one of the most important factors of any purchasing decision. We can find the perfect product for our needs, that fits the brief in every single way. But if it doesn’t fit our budgets, we simply can’t (or at least shouldn’t) buy it.