The new Fibre Zive box would be “ The most powerful box market .” And this is not 01net.com who says … but the boss of SFR, Michel Combes. Comments made at its launch conference November 9, which leave little room for doubt about the fact that it is the Freebox Revolution is referred.
In fact, the box of Free, However launched in late 2010, remains the most technically advanced box, the box “geeks” par excellence. Could it be dethroned on 17 November with the arrival of the craft of SFR? Here is a comparison of the two technical platforms before our first tests.
Design and installation: a matter of taste
The assessment of the design criteria and the physical properties of boxes will probably be very different in user functions. Design side, SFR box up on sobriety as the single box, designed by Sagem, is entirely black, just massive. Living with Free, the operator has used Philippe Starck for the design of its two boxes: the modem unit and the TV box
Some of neutrality and therefore prefer the compactness of the SFR box (25 x 21 x 7.3 cm). Other Starck design and solution of two boxes, if only to enjoy the Blu-ray Disc Player’s (31 x 22 x 7 cm) of supply Revolution.
A preference which may also depend on your interior. If your fiber intake is away from your TV, both Freebox, joined by CPL, are ideal. Otherwise, only one case is more practical: there are fewer outlets to plug in, no big bulky Freeplugs … It simply takes less space!
Connections: SFR advantage
Despite its 5 years of existence, the Revolution at the time placed the bar high enough to hold the road today. Thus, the Server (modem), includes, in addition to the entry for the fiber, two USB 2.0 ports, one e-SATA port, input and audio output, four Ethernet ports . Gigabit and an interface (recently delivered to subscribers) Wi-Fi 802.11ac dual band (2.4 and 5 GHz – MIMO)
In addition to the four Gigabit Ethernet ports, the box SFR offers a new generation connectivity, also including Wi-Fi ac, but also a USB 3.0 port in addition to two USB 2.0 ports. These will allow to connect an external hard drive and thus share content with computers, smartphones and other media centers of the house (Apple TV, Nexus Player, Nvidia Shield, PlayStation, Xbox, etc.)
SFR even plays the card of originality by including an HDMI input. It will be activated only by means of an update to be deployed in the first quarter of 2016, but it will bring some interesting features. This will allow, for example, to connect a console to play a video game while watching a TV program in a corner of the screen using the PiP (Picture in Picture).
Contairement the Freebox, the Zive also supports Bluetooth and NFC. Bluetooth will broadcast the audio from a device compatible content on the TV speakers. The second, more original and extremely practical, can automatically configure access to the Wi-Fi network to an NFC-enabled smartphone.
Finally, big news, SFR not include the box under eight tuners DVB-C, for multiplying TV access. For example, according to SFR, it is possible to watch a live 4K, while activating a HD channel in PiP, while recording two streams 4K and taking advantage of the “Quick Zap”.
Multimedia and performance: SFR advantage
This is precisely highlighted by SFR. It uses two tuners 8 of the box for “zapping” snapshot. For this, the box caches both chains “contiguous” to that viewed by the user. For example, if you look BFM TV, France 4 channels (channel 14) and iTele (channel 16) will they also charged for a minimum of lag when changing channels using the buttons “P + and P-.” With Quick Zap, the operator would correct a big deal of his current TV box, namely the slow zapping time
Let us quickly NAS functionality of the box. If the Freebox Revolution marked the kick in his time by integrating a 250 GB drive, Zive it offers 500 GB of storage space … but should not benefit from the most functions “geek” Freebox, as his download P2P functions for example.
Just as Free, SFR will offer video on demand services, as well as mobile applications that will drive the multimedia box (access channels, timer recording, etc. ) from a smartphone or tablet.
Also note that the SFR box promises a multimedia compatibility – with files stored on a NAS, for example – because complete enough even supports the latest formats like H265 / HEVC … until ultra high definition. And for fans of HD, noted that the box Zive fiber therefore incorporates no Blu-ray player, as is the case of the Revolution Player. As for the 4K, remember that Free Mini also offers its 4K housing, which now enjoys access to the Festival chain 4K
Performances:. Match (for now) no
It’s hard to compare the two boxes on this, especially as we have not yet tested the Zive. On paper, a Freebox was a side whose player is equipped with an Intel Atom 1.2 Ghz and a Server ARM9 chip clocked at 1.2 Ghz.
Zivebox integrates for its two processors, a Broadcom 7252s to 1.5 Ghz for the decoder and a Broadcom 3384 for the modem part.
The Freebox Revolution, despite his age, works quite properly, with a fluid interface. We will wait for the tests to rule on that of SFR and to see how its engineers have taken advantage of the material to provide a smooth and efficient interface … hoping it is more successful than the current box Numericable.
Price: Free advantage
The exact price of the offer Fiber Power + SFR that will enjoy the Zive Box is not yet final. According to our first exchanges will require minimum subscribe to at least one Power + subscription charged EUR 42.99 per month for twelve months and then 57.99 euros. The box should Zive Fibre will be delivered in December to subscribers. The Freebox Fibre is itself much cheaper, since proposed 38 euros per month.
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