Freesat Reviews 

Bought Freesat when moving away from Sky. Freesat is in no real way as good as Sky. Slow and buggy software is the main issue.
I think the October update is more processor intensive than before , looks good but so slow.
Many times a key press elicited no response.
Come on Freesat, processing power and memory are cheap these days.
Plus points are picture quality just as good as Sky and live pause and record etc. do work.
So yes it's passable as a downgrade from Sky but disappointing.
When I buy a new TV with Freely on it I will junk it.

Possibly the highest value duff purchase I have ever made-bought to replace my reliable Humax that finally died after 15 years. My set frequently fails to record and give the pointless information that there is a technical error. User interface is terrible and often when I switch on it simply says "no stream" I am comfortable enough to write this off but if you aren't then please read all the other reviews-it shouldn't be possible to turn a profit selling stuff of this poor quality-I'm on the verge of unplugging it, binning it and tolerating adverts on when necessary

Faulty Freesat Box

Ordered box in mid September which arrived on the 24th but would not power up, contacted Freesat who emailed return label the same day and I posted box back to them on the 25th September. They confirmed receipt and stated that a replacement box would be dispatched within 3 days.

Replacement box was not received so rang them and was told it was to be dispatched the next day. The replacement box was not received so rang them again and was told that box would be dispatched that day.

3 days later box still not received despite emails and phone calls, so in the end asked for a refund which again I was told would be arranged within 3 days, refund not credited back to my credit card so contacted my bank and raised a dispute, they refunded me the purchase price so it is now up to Freesat to prove that they have provided me with a replacement box or a refund.

To get to this stage I had emailed Freesat 10 times and had multiple telephone calls totaling nearly 2 hours. Asking to be transferred to a member of management to discuss the issue I was told the customer service team could not transfer me and that there was no other number to ring and no direct email addresses.

I wish I had looked at reviews here before buying the box.

I wonder if Freesat are sending out the same faulty box to multiple people just to get a payment and them delaying refunds as long as possible. My box serial number was M92226PM1523.

The whole process felt like I was dealing with a company in financial difficulties who would tell any lie to delay giving a refund and that the management were hiding behind the “helpful” but completely inadequate “customer service” team.

I wish I had read the trust pilot reviews before buying!
After just 14 months the "there seems to be a problem with your hard drive", appeared, and it stops the box from working, I contacted the company who were not very helpful. After several unsuccessful attempts to re boot, it was clear that the fault was permanent. The company were not interested in helping me further, and seemed to imply that I just discard the box. I realise from reading the reviews that this is not an uncommom problem, and I am sure that the company are well aware about hard drive issues!
For what its worth. I have discovered, that with the hard drive removed, the box can still be used without record facility.
Interestingly freesatuk sell spare hard drives!!

Since the recent update which has only happened to our boxes this week we are so frustrated I'm soely tempted to go back to subscription TV. We can't stand it. This new interface just doesn't work. You can be watching a few recordings of the same programme but unlike before the update when you stayed where you were in that section to enable you to just go to the next recording oh no now you are taken back to the beginning to have to scroll through a whole load of screens again. Well that's if you can actually get it to do anything. Who ever signed this update off clearly doesn't have or use a freesat box or it just wouldn't have happened. We are upset 😡

Absolutely rubbish what have they done to it with the new update more like downgrade leaving not using this anymore

Ruined since the updated. Binned it moved to another service

Had my box since July and with a few glitches it was OK. Not now since 15th October. Buttons on my handset don't work anymore like iplayer, list,etc etc. The tv guide went from simple to tiny and a colouring scheme that you can't read the faint words. I liked the passive mode which has gone, cost much less than standby. Its very sluggish and to view a programme you have extra layers of pressing to do. It forgets scheduling of recordings and sometimes records twice!! And once a recording is deleted you can never get it back. Overall I wish I had gone with Freely. Totally dissapointed and I paid £290 with a 3 year guarantee!!!

Since the 15th Oct update the UI is slow and lags, the guide often doesn't fully populate.

The box now reports "We are setting up your dish...." on each power up. This used to be able to be resolved by changing the power mode from passive to active in the settings. That menu option has disappeared since the last update.

Oh dear.....

Having spent £250.00 on a Freesat, 4K box, I thought, that I was buying the best, I was disappointed from the start when I couldn't use the app as a backup to control it.
I liked the idea of searching, and being able to set record anything that I wanted to, I tried for a frustrating long time to get into the app, only to find "Freesat" has decided to remove that option completely, I can no longer set a record from the app, I wish now that I had bought a second hand unit, what a waste of time and money, why have you done this, just pulled the plug, customers don't matter, we have no say, disgusting....
The update... TV guide is extremely, annoyingly slow, please put professional people back in control, can I get a refund??

I moved to a new house where the previous occupant used Freesat, I having no knowledge of Freesat did some research and found there was only one option from Freesat direct. What could go wrong? Haha. The first box lasted 12 months before the "oops something went wrong" with the hard drive. Contacted Freesat and did all they told me blaming an update for the issues. They finally sent me a new one refurbished of course so now I've spend £200 on a second hand box but hey ho it was working until low and behold 18 months later same issue and no warranty. I tried replacing the harddrive but had the same error therefore the box had another issue.

£200 for 18 months is shocking but I went to a local car boot and found an old humans 1100s for sale for £3 so bought it and would you believe that box fired right up and works perfectly even though it's a good few years old.

If I was looking for Freesat I wouldn't buy the ones sold by Freesat save your money and get a second hand 1100s which are when boxes were made to last not expire and take your money

I bought direct from Freesat. I was disappointed with the number of channels I could get, so returned my box. I only had it 3 days. I spoke to Customer Services and started the return process. The back office for this company is pathetic. I am still waiting for my refund 3 weeks after I returned my item. I got automated email saying refund is being processed with standard 3-5 days. Now their customer services saying may take an extra 14 days. Completely unacceptable in my opinion.

I've had Freesat for over 12 years, it used to be very good. In the last few years it has got much worst. I have 2 Humax boxes which are well over 12 years old both work well with no problems. Four years ago I thought I would upgrade to the Arris 4K box, this was a mistake, the box has been replaced twice, & last year the hard drive failed. Freesat deny that this is a common occurrence with this equipment. I replaced the hard drive myself easy to do takes about 15 minutes, plenty of information on how to do it on Youtube. Another problem with Freesat is the removal of channels. Also every time there is a software update it makes things worse, it appears the software writers would struggle to write their own names. The Arris box is really over priced at almost £230 for a box which is made in China and probably costs around £20 to manufacture. One star review because I can't give a minus star review. This review will probably be removed like several other reviews I have posted.

This is a review regarding the latest update which reading other reviews has not gone down well. The TV guide page is ridiculous the only programs you can read are the ones current on and they are lit up, the rest are almost blacked out WHY!
Who sat down around a desk and thought of this ridiculous design for a guide page.
I am not impressed with the rest of the changes but this part is a joke.

21/10/2024 and already loads of reports about the rubbish update on the 15th. I bought this 4k box because my 10 year old Humax had suffered a major heart attack to one receiver. There was no other choice because Freesat decided to use Arris for making these boxes citing better technology than Humax. Ha ha.
The first thing you notice is the number of button presses to get to where you want to be has increased, e.g. recordings on the Humax, 1 button press but 3 on this box so already I don't like it. I would not think that to be better tech. Fast forward to the 15th and it now takes 6. How on earth is that considered progress? Many things have been said about the update and they are all true in my opinion. I resent paying for a product and then someone alters it without my permission. It's like taking your brand new Jag into the dealership for its first service and when you collect it you find they have put Mondeo wheels on because they think it looks better.
It has been said before but I will say it again, if it ain't broke don't fix it, especially if you do not know what you are doing and Freesat clearly don't.

After the latest update the menu/guide is small and unsharp (on a 50" HDTV) parts of the lists are not on the screen with no scroll function to see them.
The TV Guide no longer gives information on the program without clicking on it and is slow to load, as you try to scroll through.
The app has lost the function to remote record making it basically useless.
This is a change for the sake of change, if ithis is the best your software developers can mange it is time to get new developers.
None of these problems where on the previious version, Freesat would do well to admit a mistake and go back or give customers the opportunity to reset.

The new page is far to small and the background colouring makes it almost unreadable.
They should have left it as it was, If it aint broke then don't try and fix it.

Purchased Freesat box brand new! Volume didn’t work on remote! Rang shop and they said use your TV remote, Freesat have decided to help the public so they don’t have to use too many remotes around! But you need remote for other functions, ie to record programmes, look at settings and many other functions! Dur…!
Also you can no longer record programs from the App on your phone AT ALL! They decided they didn’t want us to have this function any more. Phone Apps are the future not the past Freesat!

Freesat app used to be great but unfortunately its rubbish now.

Bring back the Android app remote recording feature and app remote. Without this the app is pointless and might as well be uninstalled !

Unacceptable Freesat Changes – 4K Box 2TB
Like many Freesat users who have commented on the online AV Forum I am very disappointed with the display interface changes arbitrarily imposed with the latest software update on 15 October 2024. I much preferred the previous user interface layout. I find the new version confusing with much lagging when changing views. Worse still my box is failing to show various shows in the recent section which are recording. They remain in the planned recording section many hours after they were meant to show in the recent recording section. Now you cannot chase an item that is recording. Instead you need to wait to watch, probably until the next day! Also the record series link does not work.
This is surely evidence of new software not matched to the processing power of the box. The processor & hard-drive are probably overwhelmed with information and bloated pictures to display. The programme guide is far too small on my 49 inch Samsung TV and cannot be sorted into Favourites, Entertainment or News channels anymore. A You Tuber has demonstrated that the hard-drive in the box can be swapped for a higher revolution model to speed up response times. Surely we should not have to that!
I switched to Freesat because Freeview reception & channel choice dramatically deteriorated in West Chelmsford when 4K Mobile phone frequencies took priority over TV. I spent £299 on a 2TB box plus the cost of a dish. Surely I deserve better. I get the impression you may be trying kill off Freesat due to the expense of maintaining a service to its loyal 1.2 million users.
I understand the old software cannot be reinstalled like I & many viewers are asking, but WHY-NOT? Please think again. If it isn’t broke don’t fix it. After all you are supposed to be providing a public service.

The above is a copy of an email sent on 20 October to the customer team at .co.uk. So far I have an acknowledgement that they will reply within 2 days.

If you are having similar issues I urge you to do the same. We must not let them get away with this.