Netgear NeoTV 550 review

The high-resolution interface looks good and is easy to use, helped by the chunky remote control. The streamer had no problems playing any of our videos, from high-definition AVI files to a straight rip of a Blu-ray disc’s file structure. It could also play all our MP3, WMA and AAC audio files, as well as high-quality FLACs. The 550 was also fine with files stored on USB drives or SDHC cards, so we could take the memory card straight out of our portable camcorder and play its H.264 files on the big screen.

We were less impressed with the streamer’s internet functions. There’s a fairly limited selection of internet radio stations, which work well but tend towards the mainstream, so no dedicated drum n’ bass channels. The YouTube function is harder to use. You can browse through the latest and top rated videos, or search for a video. Entering text with the remote is fiddly, but you can plug in a USB keyboard – however, the space bar isn’t mapped to add a space in the media player, so searching for multiple words is a pain.

Netgear’s NeoTV 550 is a competent media player. It’s ugly, though, and playing content from the internet can be fiddly. We don’t think it’s worth the hefty price premium over the Western Digital WD TV Live. Although that device will play Blu-ray format video, you won’t get full menu support from ripped discs.