Humax HD-Fox T2 review

It’s taken a little longer to arrive than we expected, but we finally took delivery of the first Freeview HD product: Humax’s HD-Fox T2. We first saw a working prototype at Humax’s pre-release demonstration in early December 2009, and now we’ve had time to properly test out what this tiny box is capable of.

Given that the only advantage of Freeview HD over its standard-definition counterpart is two extra channels – BBC HD and ITV HD, you’d be forgiven for wondering what the fuss is all about. Plus, the HD-Fox T2 is merely a player and not a recorder, so you can’t pause, rewind or record programmes. However, before you factor in the steep £170 price and think this review isn’t worth reading, stick with it as the HD-Fox T2 is more capable that it first appears.

For a start, the entire menu system has been redesigned and is a lot prettier and faster than Humax’s previous models. It’s also been pared right down to avoid bewildering users with too many options. The dark grey colour scheme – along with the fact that everything can be displayed at 1080p via HDMI – means everything is clearer and easier to read.

The eight-day EPG is a joy to browse – you can see a two-hour period of seven channels at once. Plus, it’s easy to skip to the channel you want by typing in its number or using the page up/down buttons to jump seven channels at a time. You can search for programmes by name or genre, and even create a favourite channel list.

There are all the connections you’d want at the rear, including HDMI, two scart sockets, plus stereo phono and optical S/PDIF audio outputs. More interesting are the Ethernet and USB ports. The former allows you to stream content from a UPnP server on your network, while the latter lets you do the same from a local hard disk or flash drive. Currently, standard definition XviD, JPEG and MP3 files are supported for video, photo and audio respectively, but Humax says format support will grow in the future with firmware updates.

We found the interface very clunky and unresponsive. Although our Synology NAS drive was found instantly on our network, the HD-Fox T2 wouldn’t display the folder list where our photos were stored, and refused to play any MP3 files. As with other media streamers we’ve seen, you’re forced to choose what type of media you want to play before browsing the network, yet even if you choose Video, other types of media are displayed, but can’t be accessed until you change to the appropriate media type. Humax still has a lot of work to do before media streaming becomes a reason to buy this box.

The remote control is well designed and responsive. There’s a tantalising TV Portal button, but sadly it doesn’t do anything. Humax promises that it will be enabled later this year, to provide you with content from partners such as YouTube, Flickr and possibly even BBC iPlayer. This is a far better use of the Ethernet port, and we hope Humax comes through with the goods before too long. BBC iPlayer alone would make the £170 price a lot more bearable for most people.

Of course, what you really want to know is whether BBC HD and ITV HD are any good on Freeview HD. The answer depends on how large your TV is and how far you sit from it, just as with any HD content. We tested the HD-Fox T2 on a 32in Philips, a 37in LG and a Panasonic PT-AE3000E projector. Naturally, the biggest display showed the biggest improvement in quality between the HD and standard-definition channels. Watching documentaries or sport on a 100in projector screen is very impressive on BBC HD. Textures and details are crisp, whether it’s a player’s face on a football field or the brush strokes in a close-up of a painting. Standard-definition broadcasts, by contrast, look like a blocky mess at this size.

Watching the same broadcast on a 32in TV, it was hard to tell the difference between the HD and SD channels from a normal eight-foot viewing distance. The difference was more pronounced on the 37in TV, but still subtle. In general, we’d say that you’ll notice the extra resolution of HD channels only if you have a 42in TV or larger.

It’s worth pointing out that the BBC HD feed is identical for both Freesat and Freeview, so there’s no difference in quality between the two. ITV HD has a dedicated channel on Freeview HD – channel 51 – which is more convenient than on Freesat, where you press the red button to access it from ITV’s standard-definition channel.

Unlike BBC HD, where everything is broadcast in 1080i, ITV HD’s content varies from true HD programming to upscaled SD content. Upscaled content didn’t look much better than ITV’s SD channel, mainly because our test TVs and projector were all fairly capable of upscaling SD content to 1080p anyway. Currently, there are only one or two HD programmes shown per day. BBC HD broadcasts from 4pm until midnight each day, but it’s all in HD. Channel 4 HD is expected to arrive by the end of the year, but an HD version of channel Five won’t appear until 2012.

At the moment, then, there’s little reason to rush out and buy the HD-Fox T2 or any other Freeview HD product. It’s certainly the simplest way to get HD without a subscription, but with so little content, we can’t recommend you spend this much money. If you’re planning to buy a new TV before the World Cup, it makes sense to buy one with a Freeview HD tuner so you can watch England’s mistakes in their full glory, but not a dedicated set-top box that costs almost £200. By the time Humax enables the PVR functionality and the TV Portal, prices are sure to have dropped considerably, and that will be the time to buy either the HD-Fox T2 or Humax’s dual-tuner box that will have a 500GB hard disk. In the meantime, Virgin and Sky are the HD leaders, but you’ll have to pay for a subscription for both of those.