Netgem PLEIO Reviews 53

I bought the Pleio specifically for the Live TV functionality, but it has been a massive disappointment.
1. The Sound Issue
The device has completely stopped outputting audio. I contacted technical support, and not only was their response incredibly slow, but their "fix" is ridiculous: they told me to turn off surround sound because there is a known issue with the hardware. Their supplier is apparently still investigating the root cause and "believes" a firmware update might eventually fix it. Essentially, I’ve paid for a device that is broken from the start.
2. Constant Software Glitches
The Freely app is a nightmare. It constantly tells me I have no internet connection when I clearly do—I know this because the live channel continues to play perfectly in the background while the error message sits there. I haven't even bothered with the games control (what is the point).

Also for those you don't know, you "don't own the hardware" the price is for the "extra channels" (which are free via other apps) and for the games.

Support needs to do better I first contacted them 11 April, it's now 18th May, no fix in sight.

Summary
This product is not fit for purpose. It’s riddled with hardware defects and software bugs that make it frustrating to use. If you’re looking for a reliable way to watch Live TV, steer clear of this until they actually figure out how to make their hardware work. Not a good product at all.

The device itself is quite small. It is responsive, the Freely app works fine. The home screen is OK. The version of Android TV is locked down, no Developer mode, no sideloading of apps. There are hundreds of additional channels mostly American so being added to a UK based device is a bit poin tless. Not interested in the games so having to buy with the bundled controller is a bit annoying. Sell it without for £10 less. All those contollers not being used, its an environmental tradegy.

I wanted to buy the Netgem PLEIO mainly to get freely TV on a small TV in my spare room as I can't get Freeview where I live. The Netgem PLEIO works well I can get all the Freely channels.

Freely worked fine.

The freely tv is great and works well in my summer house. Only slight downside is the game side of it doesn’t really work. The controller works but the actual games don’t seem to work. The tv side of the package is perfect.

Not a good set up for live TV. Slow in starting and changing channels. Many other different issues with it which I cannot remember right now. Would definitely not recommend it I'm afraid.

Inconsistent service.
Wouldn’t connect properly for the first week. Watching a film, The Martian, the other night, half way through the screen went blank. When it works it’s good, but it’s very inconsistent which is frustrating. Just glad we don’t need to use it for our main TV.

Great box , not perfect however I can run stemio, netflix and all live tv channels in am easy to navigate ui.

While most of it is great, channel 5 won't link to the freely guide so I'm having to go in through the app. But it has easily updated an older TV in the bedroom

I’ve been using the Pleio since February, device was bought on Amazon.

Overall it is a fantastic device but the software is quite buggy. It has excellent picture quality with many of the channels in HD and it is very responsive as regards menu usage etc.

If you have kids then the gaming side is genuinely very good though it would be better if they sold one without the gaming controller which would keep the costs down. As regards costs then the Pleio is now £99 whereas the main competitor the Manhattan Aero is now £89 which makes the Pleio fantastic value.

The Pleio also runs Android TV with access to the vast range of apps on the Google Play store which is far better than the Aero which is missing some key apps.

However, it has not been all plain sailing. For a while I thought I had maybe got a bad device but it turns out that the problems have been experienced UK wide.

First of all about 2 weeks ago the Pleio lost all ITV channels plus Channel 4. They where in the guide ok but when selecting the channel it simply showed a black screen.

After some research online I came across a fix on a Facebook group setup by users of BRSK/Youfibre broadband customers. Apparently they are offered the Pleio as part of their broadband package and many users also experienced the same ITV black screen issue. The fix was to clear the cache/data on the Pleio app in Android settings. This worked but I had to re-sign back into all the apps again which was a pain.

However, this fix is ok for technical minded people. I imagine there are some non technical users still sitting with no ITV channels and wondering how to fix it. Users should not have to clear data/cache on app settings to get it to work.

The next issue concerned the ITVX app and it still affects many over the last week or so. The device has ITVX preinstalled as part of the Freely system but now when opening it a screen appears with a message re cookies and 2 buttons, 1 for more info and the other for continue. I’m afraid that clicking on each does nothing, ITVX does not open. Again this is affecting numerous users, there is also a dedicated Freely user group on Facebook and many users have reported the same issue. More worryingly some users have said that a factory reset does not resolve the issue so hopefully Netgem will roll out a fix soon if they are even aware of the issue.

Users should not have to clear data/cache or do a factory reset a few weeks after buying the device. I used BT Youview boxes for almost 10 years before moving to the Pleio and never once did I have to do a reset of any sorts.

Bugs aside, overall the Pleio is a great choice for a Freely device.

It's very good

Excellent and prompt help to fix the problem

Works great good picture would be nice to have blaze tv app and realy tv as well but very pleased with it .

Laggy, buggy, slow piece of rubbish.

Two updates so far have resulted o the remote failing to work and having to use a universal alternative to navigate to the menu that allows remote pairing for the original.

Sound sync issues are an absolute mile out. So out of synch that manual adjustment isn't even an option. I'd dread to think how someone not technically minded would cope with it.

Gaming is non existent, don't even bother considering their terrible third rate streaming service, which just adds an unrequited additional cost to the whole package.

When ITVX, changed requirements to recieve it's format I was contemplating upgrading my tv. This box changed all that and saved me a lot of money and stopped my tv going to landfill. Would/will recommend getting one.

Brilliant little device, easy to set up , designed for android as opposed to apple, so just took a little more time to set up as I had to manually sign in to google! Other than that has turned my tv into a place where I can flick through channels to find things to watch, rather than open every single app for live tv. All other apps signed in easily for set up too 👍

Great customer service - I needed a new remote for my Pleio device and the CS rep was able to send me one with no issues. Very pleased with the service so far!

Easy to set up. Great picture

Quick delivery through Amazon (within 12 hours!) and the Plieo itself is well packaged and compact. It’s easy to set up and use. A great alternative to Freeview and to sticks from NOW and Amazon. Using android it’s easy to have all the streaming apps installed on one device. I’m really pleased with it after cancelling Virgin Mafia as we don’t have a smart tv. It’s a bit more expensive than other items but I think it’s worth it. The games are pretty good too.

excellent google tv box with freely built in. ordered from Amazon.co.uk on saturday 21st March delivered next day.