Best Set-Top Boxes 2025: The best affordable and premium PVRs

Sky Q‘s UI is one of the best in the business, providing a convenient means of finding content whether it’s on-demand, recordings and browsing through the TV guide. It’s clean appearance loaded with images for a more visual-based means of interaction, as well as convenient text descriptions makes it easy to understand. There are dedicated sub-menus for different categories or types of programming, which comes handy for more specific searches.

Sky Q supports a multi-room configuration with additional Mini boxes. These are small devices that can be connected to other TVs to stream content from the main box. The main Q box streams in 4K but the Mini Boxes only support HD. We found that disappointing, especially when the Mini box is connected to a 4K TV.

Sky’s range of content is vast with films, US dramas, comedies, thousands of TV box-sets and sports in the form of Premier League and Formula One, however the subscriptions aren’t inexpensive. The UHD content is better than any other service we’ve reviewed, and there is paid content though the Sky Store with access to instant downloads.

Our reviewer found picture quality outstanding, with HD programming presented in sharp detail, and UHD content looking fantastic (though this depends on the TV). With HDR support, films and TV series look much better with greater contrast and a wider range of colours.

On the audio front there’s Dolby Atmos, which we found to be a step-up in quality with extra height and width to audio. Sky Q is easily one of the best set-top boxes if you can afford Sky’s subscriptions.

There is the option of Sky Stream which includes Atmos and Dolby Vision HDR for those who want a streaming-based solution. EE TV also provides some competition in the streaming market, and you can read our first impressions of that service.

The Aura is Humax’s most recent set-top box, offering 4K HDR support and plenty of storage. It’s not perfect but competitive against other Freeview boxes.

The design of the Aura mimics Sky Q in its looks: a black, sleek, and curvier effort than the older FVP-5000T. We do find that the glossy sheen picks up dust and requires a wipe every so often. We’re not fond of the remote packaged with the Aura though. It’s large, stuffed with buttons and feedback is stiff.

The Android interface does look dated after a few years and we’re hoping the next generation of set-top boxes evolves to having Google TV. For now though, the home screen can be customised and there are lots of shelves to scroll through. Traversing the interface isn’t the speediest experience with a little lag. It’s the one area where we feel the Aura should be better.

In terms of apps there is plenty to choose from with Prime Video, Disney+, Apple TV+, ITVX, Paramount+, TikTok, Mubi, Deezer, Roxi, Discovery+, and more. It’s not as many as Fire TV, Google TV, or Roku, but it’s a strong enough roster of apps. If you’re looking to record and store content for later, there 1TB and 2TB versions available.

With its AV performance, there are positive gains in overall sharpness, clarity, and detail with HD broadcasts; with noise pretty much removed. It’s with HDR content where the Humax Aura struggles as it only supports HDR10 and not Dolby Vision and HDR10+. Playback of HDR streams has a dimmer appeareance with less contrast than Dolby Vision streams.

With music the Aura delivers a dynamic and snappy performance streaming from Spotify. It sounds clean and neutral in tone, showing plenty of skill in navigating the differences between quiet and loud, with a performance that’s spacious, clear, and well defined. This is a solid if expensive Freeview set-top box. Manhattan has launched the T4R and T4 recording/streaming boxes and we’ll be looking to review those models.

If Sky Q is too expensive, the Freesat 4K TV Recorder is a more affordable satellite alternative. It is a neat looking box, with almost everything you’d want in terms of connections with an HDMI port, Ethernet, a digital audio port for audio, and a pair of satellite inputs.

How these satellite inputs are used depends on the type of LNB (Low Noise Block) the satellite dish has. A standard LNB allows for two channels to be watched simultaneously, while wideband offers up to four. There’s also Wi-Fi for streaming over the Internet.

During testing we found the interface responsive and intuitive, with the minimally designed menus that featured convenient access to on-demand apps, live programming and saved recordings. We also found a good selection of live channels with 180 available although only 24 are broadcast in HD.

On-demand content constitutes of BBC iPlayer, My5, STV Player and UKTV Play, giving access to most of the main free-to-air channels. There’s further convenience with a mobile app that allows for recording shows when you’re outside the house, although it’s worth noting it takes up to 30 minutes for recordings to appear on the box itself.

When it comes to visual quality, we found the Freesat conveyed HD channels in a detailed and sharp with no artefacts. With SD content, there is the typical softness around the edges of people and objects, although the Freesat box does a decent job of reducing artefacts where possible.

Unlike Sky Q, 4K Ultra HD isn’t available on Freesat platform, and only Netflix and YouTube support 4K HDR. Watching Netflix in 4K HDR and our reviewer noted more impact in terms of detail and colours with more subtleties in tone. A solid box at a more affordable price than Sky, although without as much content.