It’s no secret that we’re big fans of the Sony Bravia 8 II. It did, after all, take home the TV Product of the Year gong from the most recent What Hi-Fi? Awards.

To win that prize, Sony’s flagship OLED set had to defeat not only the Samsung S95F, with which it shares its QD-OLED panel, but also the LG G5 and Panasonic Z95B, which both feature cutting-edge Primary RGB Tandem OLED panel technology.

All four of those TVs are utterly awesome, so for the Bravia to come out on top was quite the achievement.

But there was one rival that didn’t make it in time for our Awards-deciding flagship OLED shootout – the Philips OLED910.

This features the same super-bright Primary RGB Tandem OLED panel tech as the LG G5 and Panasonic Z95B, but it combines it with super-sexy European styling, a B&W sound system, dazzling Ambilight and super-aggressive pricing.

So, is all of that enough to unseat our current Award-winner? We directly compared these two flagship sets over several days, using all of our favourite discs and streams, to find out.

Spoiler alert: it’s a mighty close contest.

Sony Bravia 8 II vs Philips OLED910: Pricing

Philips went super-aggressive with the OLED910’s launch pricing, releasing it to the market for £2199 at 65 inches and £3399 at 77 inches.

Even though rival sets, including the Bravia 8 II, had been on sale a while and been discounted, the OLED910 was cheaper out of the gate.

It’s dropped in price now, too, with the 65-inch model currently available for £1799, and the 77-inch version for £2799.

The Bravia 8 II has been further discounted, too, but the 65-inch model still currently costs £2199. There’s no 77-inch version, but unlike the Philips, there is a 55 incher, which is £1799 at the time of writing.

So, in the 65-inch size in which both sets are available (and which we directly compared), there’s a big £400 price difference. That’s extremely hard to ignore, and means the OLED910 takes first blood in this face-off.

WINNER: Philips OLED910

Sony Bravia 8 II vs Philips OLED910: Design

The Sony Bravia 8 II is a smart-looking TV, but it’s barely any different in appearance to the preceding A95L, which launched back in 2023. A design refresh to match the ambitious performance upgrade would have been nice.

Still, this is a very purposeful-looking, monolithic TV that looks particularly neat when the feet are installed at their default low–profile setting, which keeps the bottom edge of the TV within about a millimetre of the surface upon which it’s placed.

Those feet can alternatively be installed in a taller setting that creates a gap of a few centimetres between TV and furniture, into which you can slot a soundbar.

The Bravia 8 II does, of course, have an integrated sound system (a good one at that), but thanks to the technology it uses, it’s completely invisible from the front, contributing further to the stylishly clean appearance of the TV.

The Philips OLED910 is a very different aesthetic proposition. The integrated sound system includes front-facing speakers, but these are incorporated into a slim bar that’s wrapped in grey Kvadrat fabric and has nicely rounded corners, giving the set a softer, more appealing appearance.

Like the Sony, the Philips OLED910 has feet rather than a pedestal, but these feet are installed further towards the centre of the bottom edge of the TV, rather than the furthest points as they are on the Bravia 8 II. In other words, while the Sony can only be placed on top of furniture that’s at least as wide as the TV, the Philips will be happy on something narrower.

And, unlike the Sony, which has a fairly uniform thickness of about 3.4cm, the Philips combines its fairly chunky 5.6cm section with super-thin panel sections at the sides and top of the chassis. To our eyes, that makes it more visually striking, but beauty is, of course, in the eye of the beholder.

On that note, we have to mention Ambilight here. This is Philips’s unique bias lighting system, which features coloured LEDs around four sides of the OLED910’s rear. These can dynamically extend the on-screen image onto the wall around the TV in the form of coloured light.

Ambilight isn’t for everyone and isn’t a bonus for all content, but it does look spectacular, and for bright, colourful movies and games, it can really add something special.

All told, while the Bravia 8 II’s monolithic styling will certainly appeal to many, the OLED910’s softer, more living room-friendly appearance and (at least occasionally) thrilling Ambilight mean it wins this round.

WINNER: Philips OLED910

Sony Bravia 8 II vs Philips OLED910: Features

On paper, the Sony Bravia 8 II and Philips OLED910 take notably different approaches.

The Bravia 8 II uses Samsung Display’s latest QD-OLED panel, paired with a custom heatsink and the XR processor. Sony claims this enables a 25 per cent brightness increase over the preceding A95L and a 50 per cent uplift over the Bravia 8 W-OLED, alongside improved colour volume and better dark gradation.

Philips, meanwhile, has stuck with LG Display technology but upgraded from MLA to Primary RGB Tandem OLED. Philips quotes eye-catching brightness figures of up to 3700 nits for small highlights and 350 nits full-screen – numbers that should translate into a more dynamic image than the preceding OLED909, even in restrained picture modes.

Processing is a major talking point for both sets. Sony’s XR Processor introduces a new AI scene recognition system, which analyses content in real time and adjusts picture parameters for greater realism.

Philips counters with its 9th Gen P5 AI Engine – a powerful processor packed with features including Machine Learn Sharpness, AI Smart Bit Enhancement and AI Perfect Reality, all designed to optimise sharpness, colour and contrast depending on what’s on screen.

HDR support is one area where Philips holds a clear advantage.

The OLED910 supports all four HDR formats: HDR10, HLG, Dolby Vision and HDR10+. The Bravia 8 II, meanwhile, supports Dolby Vision, HDR10 and HLG, but, as ever with Sony, HDR10+ is not supported.

The Sony does, however, boast IMAX Enhanced certification, and leans heavily into its Studio Calibrated Modes, with dedicated Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Sony Pictures Core presets designed to present content as the creators intended.

On the subject of Sony Pictures Core, the Bravia 8 II also comes with credits that can be used to ‘buy’ movies from Sony’s exclusive streaming service, which delivers content in almost 4K Blu-ray quality.

Gaming support is broadly similar. Both TVs offer 4K/120Hz, VRR, ALLM and a Dolby Vision game mode, though the Philips also supports 4K/144Hz, which will appeal to hardcore PC gamers with super-serious rigs (current consoles can’t go beyond 120Hz).

Frustratingly, both sets are limited to two full-bandwidth HDMI 2.1 ports, one of which doubles as the eARC socket, potentially leaving just a single 4K/120Hz input once a soundbar is connected.

Sony adds its ‘Perfect for PlayStation 5’ features, but these are a little less grand than they sound – only the HDR Auto Tone Mapping does something beyond the capabilities of other sets, such as the OLED910, and while this is useful for getting a fairly accurate HDR performance out of most PS5 games, it isn’t quite 100 per cent accurate.

Both TVs use the Google TV smart platform, which is pretty good these days, but while Sony has sought to fill in Google TV’s terrestrial catch-up app gaps through the addition of YouView, the Philips OLED910 is missing BBC iPlayer.

We’re not going to factor the two different OLED panel technologies into the round, as it’s the actual picture performance that matters, and we’ll cover that in the next section. That leaves the two TVs fairly evenly matched on the features front: the Philips has HDR10+ and 4K/144Hz support, but the Sony has IMAX Enhanced, Sony Pictures Core, and the BBC iPlayer.

Ultimately, we’re calling this a draw, but you can call it a win for one or the other TV based on which of those feature differences matters to you.

WINNER: draw

Sony Bravia 8 II vs Philips OLED910: Picture quality

Both the Sony Bravia 8 II and Philips OLED910 deliver genuinely excellent pictures, but when viewed side by side, it becomes clear that they prioritise slightly different strengths.

The Bravia 8 II sets the benchmark for balance and effortlessness. Straight out of the box, its core presets – Dolby Vision Dark and Professional – deliver a beautifully judged image with no need for tweaking.

Peak highlights are brighter and more piercing than those of Sony’s previous OLEDs, colours are richer without exaggeration, and improvements to dark gradation reveal noticeably more shadow detail.

Crucially, all of this combines to create an image with exceptional solidity and three-dimensionality: objects have weight, people feel rounded and lifelike, and backgrounds possess genuine depth.

That sense of realism holds across all content types. HDR movies benefit from punchy highlights and immaculate tone mapping, animation bursts with colour without tipping into garishness, and even standard-definition material is upscaled with impressive cleanliness, sharpness and restraint.

Nothing ever feels forced or over-processed, and the Bravia 8 II consistently presents content in a way that feels authentic and natural.

The OLED910, by contrast, can take more work to get right, but rewards that effort with a thrilling, high-impact image.

Once switched into HDR Filmmaker Mode and properly dialled in, it delivers bright, punchy HDR with excellent sharpness, fluid motion and a strong sense of vibrancy.

OLED’s perfect blacks are paired with strong shadow detail and consistent colours in dark scenes, and motion handling is a particular highlight, striking a rare balance between smoothness and cinematic integrity. In fact, we’d go as far as to say it’s a match for the Sony in terms of motion processing – something we absolutely hadn’t anticipated.

Where the Philips falls slightly short of the Sony is in absolute accuracy and subtlety. Reds can occasionally appear a touch over-emphasised, particularly in skin tones, and while this is rarely obvious in isolation, it becomes more apparent when compared directly with the Bravia 8 II’s more natural colour handling.

In HDR10 content, the OLED910 gets impressively close to the Sony overall, but the Bravia has the edge in terms of contrast control, three-dimensionality and overall image cohesion.

Dolby Vision performance on the Philips is excellent in Filmmaker Mode, though blacks can appear slightly raised in very dark scenes – again, something that’s most noticeable next to the Sony.

SDR content, meanwhile, is significantly over-brightened in all picture modes. It looks great, with oodles of punch, but having at least one preset that tracks SDR brightness accurately would have been nice.

Ultimately, the OLED910 is a superb picture performer and one of the closest challengers to Sony’s flagship. But the Bravia 8 II remains the reference, delivering a more natural, solid and consistently cinematic image across all formats, with less effort required from the viewer.

WINNER: Sony Bravia 8 II

Sony Bravia 8 II vs Philips OLED910: Sound quality

Both the Sony Bravia 8 II and Philips OLED910 rank among the very best-sounding TVs available, but they go about their audio delivery in notably different ways – and in this case, the Philips ultimately comes out on top.

The Bravia 8 II uses Sony’s Acoustic Surface Audio+ system, with actuators vibrating the screen itself to produce sound, supported by twin subwoofers.

This creates an unusually strong sense of cohesion between picture and sound, with voices and effects locked precisely to their on-screen positions. Dialogue is clear, detailed and warm, and there’s enough dynamic subtlety to convey emotional nuance in performances, as well as enough punch to handle larger shifts without flattening out.

Spaciousness is also impressive by TV standards. Effects stretch well beyond the edges of the screen, creating a soundstage that feels wider and more immersive than most integrated systems can manage.

Bass depth isn’t class-leading, but it’s controlled and weighty enough to underpin action scenes convincingly, without unwanted distortion or boom. Overall tonal balance is excellent, making the Bravia 8 II one of those rare TVs that doesn’t immediately demand the addition of a budget soundbar.

The OLED910, though, raises the bar further. Its Bowers & Wilkins-tuned 3.1-channel system delivers a sound that’s bigger, weightier and more room-filling than the Sony’s, with excellent width, precise effect placement and impressive dynamic range.

Dolby Atmos soundtracks are handled with confidence, producing a convincing sense of scale and height, particularly when the Entertainment mode is engaged.

Low-level detail is a real strength, with subtle background sounds and musical elements placed clearly and naturally, while dialogue remains full-bodied and expressive. Dynamics are handled with assurance, too, from quiet conversational moments to louder, more demanding sequences.

Deep bass is a touch soft, but crucially remains clean and distortion-free – and there’s much more of it from the Philips than there is from the Sony. Compared directly, the Philips sounds more powerful, more immersive and more expansive than the Sony.

While both TVs will still benefit from the addition of a dedicated sound system, the OLED910 noses ahead if you’re determined not to go down that route. If you are prepared to add discrete sound, you need to be looking at something on the level of a Sonos Arc Ultra before you’ll hear a clearly worthwhile improvement on either TV.

In short, the Bravia 8 II delivers excellent, finely balanced sound with superb picture-to-audio cohesion, but the OLED910 sets a new benchmark for built-in TV audio at this level, edging ahead as the best-sounding TV of the two.

WINNER: Philips OLED910

Sony Bravia 8 II vs Philips OLED910: Verdict

This is one of the closest TV head-to-head battles we’ve seen in some time, and the fact that the Philips OLED910 gets so close to the Sony Bravia 8 II is a huge achievement – particularly given its lower price, more adventurous design and genuinely outstanding built-in sound.

The OLED910 wins convincingly on value, and edges the Sony on design flair and audio performance. It also delivers a thrilling, high-impact picture once properly set up.

If you want a premium OLED that looks and sounds spectacular, and you’re keen to avoid adding a separate sound system, the Philips makes a hugely compelling case.

But picture quality remains the deciding factor – and here, the Bravia 8 II still stands apart.

Its image is more natural, more consistent and more three-dimensional across all formats, with none of the small compromises that occasionally creep into the Philips’s delivery.

Just as importantly, it achieves this with less effort from the user, delivering reference-level results straight out of the box.

That combination of accuracy, balance and cinematic realism is why the Bravia 8 II earned its Product of the Year crown – and why it keeps it here.

The OLED910 pushes it harder than almost any rival we’ve tested, but when it comes to the overall best TV you can buy right now, Sony’s flagship remains the one to beat.

OVERALL WINNER: Sony Bravia 8 II

While physical media has made a bit of a comeback in recent times, streaming remains the most popular method of music consumption. Streaming is certainly more convenient and cost-effective than traditional media, but many streaming platforms operate on a subscription basis, and some have increased their prices of late. An individual Spotify Premium subscription, for instance, went up to £13 in the UK in late 2025, while its US prices are set to rise from February.

Typically, a paid subscription allows access to more features, higher audio quality, and gets rid of pesky ads. As you go up to a more expensive tier of paid subscription, you often get access to even more features, although the downside is having to fork over more money to access them.

Of course, you may not fancy paying any money to stream music, and the good news is there are lots of free music streaming apps that provide access to millions of songs at no cost. Some even let you listen to podcasts and the radio.

To help you decide which service is right for you, we've created this handy guide. Despite its recent price increase for a paid subscription, Spotify is currently our top pick for free music, but there are plenty of others worth looking at, too.

All of the platforms listed below have been personally tested by us, and we pride ourselves in the honesty of our opinions. We're simply here to help you find the best option.

You can find out more about our testing process here, or carry on scrolling to see the best free streaming platforms.

• Eschew the mainstream? These 6 independent music streaming services want a better experience for musicians and listeners alike

The quick list

You can see a quick breakdown of all the free streaming services on this list with a summary of what they’re best at and why we think they’re worth checking out. If you need more detail, just click the photo of a product to go to the in-depth entry.

The best free streaming services in 2025

Below, you'll find our picks of the best free music services available. Every platform has been tested by our team of experts to ensure it delivers exactly what you need, so you can trust our buying advice.

Best free music app overall

The best-known free streaming service is also one of the finest – and certainly one of the most sociable. You will have to put up with irksome ads if you don't want to pay, and premium features such as Lossless audio and in-song fast forwarding are out of the window, but the free Spotify experience is actually far better than it used to be. Before, you couldn't even pick a song specifically – instead, you could only shuffle around a playlist and hope it came up.

While most streaming services have all but ditched their respective free tiers, Spotify has kept its intact. That said, there are caveats, as audio quality is capped at 128kbps on its web player and approximately 160kbps on its desktop, mobile and tablet apps, you can’t ‘download’ songs to listen to offline, and you have to tolerate adverts popping up between songs.

Oh, and if you want Spotify's new 'Lossless' tier for hi-res streaming up to 24-bit/44.1kHz in FLAC quality, you're going to need a Premium subscription, which now costs £12.99 / $12.99 / AU$15.99 per month.

However, there's still plenty to like: decent sound quality, over 100 million songs, offline listening, bags of podcasts, audiobooks, new features arriving daily and compatibility with almost any device imaginable.

Once you're in, Spotify's user interface is actually rather solid, and certainly provides you with access to the platform's broad plethora of abilities without too much fuss. If you want free music streaming, Spotify will probably be your first port of call.

The sound quality is decent, although paying more for a proper hi-res service such as Tidal, Apple Music or Tidal is where you'll need to head if you're a stickler for sound quality. It's certainly the way to go if you want a comprehensive, do-it-all service.

If you do want to pay for Spotify, prices for an Individual plan have risen significantly in the last few years, although other options, such as Family and Student Plans, are also available.

With the price for a paid subscription rising consistently in recent times, getting the free version could definitely be the way to go.

Read our full Spotify review

Best free music app for Prime users

You might not know it, but if you have Amazon Prime then you can access Amazon's entry-level music streaming service right now. That's right, as well as free one-day delivery and Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime entitles you to Amazon Music, which gives you over two million songs to stream on-demand at no additional cost. And the best bit? They're ad-free.

As you would expect, the selection is pretty mainstream, and the sound quality isn't going to blow you away, but Prime customers can't really complain. And if you're not happy, you can always step up to Amazon Music Unlimited, which costs £12/$12 (or £11/$11 with Prime) a month and now includes HD, its hi-res tier, for no extra cost.

The quality of the free tier is fine, but users wanting decent hi-res support should consider the HD tier to get the most out of their music.

There is, we would point out, also a tier titled Amazon Music Free which doesn't require a Prime Membership but does give you access to music, podcasts, curated playlists and stations, although you'll have to contend with ads and a lack of offline playback.

Read our full Amazon Music review

Best free music app for versatility

Deezer is usually seen as the 'other' service when compared with the more mainstream quadrumvirate of Spotify, Tidal, Apple Music and Amazon Music, but that's not necessarily a reason to unthinkingly skip over it. It isn't currently at the level of its rivals, but it is notable for being one of the first music streaming services around, as well as one of the earliest adopters of 360 Reality Audio.

Deezer's free tier means you have to suffer ads, and the track quality is only 128kbps. The mobile app for this tier is also a little limited, though no more so than any of its rivals.

However, when it comes to what to listen to, there's masses of choice (an impressive 90m-strong catalogue), and the layout is pleasingly simple to navigate. There are also heaps of podcasts and other non-music content to get your ears into, making Deezer a strong choice for anyone looking beyond just music.

The Deezer you think you know might not actually be how the service is these days. The French platform enjoyed a massive redesign and rebranding last year, revamping the layout and altering the brand's identity with a bold purple colour scheme and brand new logo.

We haven't had much time to play around with the new iteration, but initial reactions from both customers and critics seem to have been positive, and we're certainly keen on the endless curated "Flow" playlist feature. Watch this space for our updated review and impressions in due course.

If you do sign up for the paid Deezer Premium service, you can enjoy FLAC 16-bit CD quality audio, but you'll have to pay £12/month ($12 / AU$14) for a Premium plan account. If you're going unpaid, simply subscribe to Deezer Free to listen with ads and a slightly more restricted service.

Read our full Deezer review

Best free music app for videos

Yes, it's strange to think, but YouTube isn't just for videos. Launched back in 2015, YouTube Music is the video-sharing site's attempt to take on Spotify et al. for the music streaming crown, and just like Spotify, it too offers a free tier.

Sure, there are adverts as you would expect, but not as many as you might fear from a platform that for a time became the only reason half of us installed ad-blockers on our internet browsers.

Extras such as downloading for offline listening are pay-only (non-students will pay around £13/$14/AU$17 a month with YouTube Premium), so you're limited to streaming the service's selection, but there's a considerable catalogue to choose from, the layout is nice and clean, and its selection of music videos is, of course, unrivalled.

We've found the sound quality to be hit-and-miss with our experience of YouTube Music, but if you love music videos, it's definitely one to check out.

Read our full YouTube Music review

Best free music app for global radio

If you're looking for something a bit different, TuneIn Radio might be a little more up your street. This isn't a pure music streaming service – rather the focus is on radio stations, so think of it as getting your music fix that way, as well as all of the appeal that comes from the traditional radio format.

TuneIn offers a range of stations, including BBC Radio, NPR, All India Radio and C-SPAN, as well as news from the likes of CNN and Fox News and a host of podcasts. There are even local and genre-specific radio stations to choose from, so there should be something for everyone.

For those who want to pay full price, TuneIn will offer (on top of its free content) access to more than 100K ad-free audiobooks, comprehensive radio sport coverage and a further 100+ commercial-free music stations.

Featuring a wide choice of radio apps, this is the best we've come across for services of its kind.

Best free music app for podcasts

BBC Sounds took the place of the Beeb's iPlayer Radio app, a decision that feels utterly vindicated. As well as the usual BBC radio stations (Radio 1, Radio 4, 1Xtra, etc.) which you can listen to live or on-demand, it brings together all sorts of podcasts, music mixes, live sets and more.

There are hundreds of podcasts, loads of exclusive content, even free audiobooks, not to mention curated playlists, TV soundtracks and more. History, comedy, science, sport; there's a vast array of high-quality content just waiting to be discovered, free for anyone to use, anytime.

You can search by genre, and then download and listen on the go, as well as being able to continue listening where you left off on another device. The app has experienced some teething issues and will occasionally bug out on you, but the platform as a whole has blossomed into a suitably rich and slick home for the BBC's excellent audio output.

As the kids say, don't sleep on BBC Sounds.

Best free music app for new music

SoundCloud is known as the home of emerging artists, so if you want to check out new acts and predict which bands are going to make it big, this is the place to do it. Post Malone and Lizzo started their respective careers on SoundCloud, so you can very much take that however you see fit.

The free tier offers over 120 million tracks, mixes, podcasts and more, though we can't vouch for the quality of each (that's the trouble with 'up-and-coming' artists).

The upside is you can connect with friends and even the artists directly on the platform, make playlists, and get curated tracklists based on your taste. The downside is that, like many free services, you do have to put up with adverts.

SoundCloud is more of an alternative choice, but there's obviously nothing stopping you from using it as a place to discover offbeat offerings while also making use of a more traditional service as you do so. Still, if you are truly tired of the mainstream, perhaps it's time to take a trip to SoundCloud.

Best free music app for indie music

Bandcamp is best known as an online music store where you can support artists directly (especially those on independent labels), but did you know it also has a music streaming aspect?

Built into its app is a player that lets you stream all of the music you have bought and downloaded. It’s not just your own music you can play; it’s a great way of trialling new music and discovering bands you’ve never heard of but want to sample before buying.

Bandcamp has a terrific, dynamic interface that lets you drill down to specific genres and/or formats to find what exactly you’re after, or you can simply scroll the feed and see what takes your fancy.

When playing music you’ve bought, you have unlimited plays and can download them to listen offline. Bear in mind that if you’ve bought an album in FLAC or WAV quality, the streaming quality is lowered to 128kbps or MP3 V0 (variable, around 250kbps when listening over wi-fi, says Bandcamp). If you are trialling music (which you can do on the website too), you get three plays for free before it prompts you to buy.

The app itself is entirely free and it’s great to browse and trial new music before taking the plunge to buy a digital album, a CD, a vinyl record or even a cassette.

It won’t trouble the big boys for streaming, but it’s worth noting that when you buy music on Bandcamp, an average of 82 per cent of the money goes directly to the artist or label – this rises to around 95 per cent during initiatives like Bandcamp Fridays, where Bandcamp waives its revenue shares and fees.

Many artists also let you choose how much you want to pay for an album, and you can buy merch, too. It’s a terrific way of buying directly from artists and supporting them, and the excellent interface and trialling options make browsing Bandcamp more akin to browsing through your local record store, with a new record purchase or artist discovery at the end of the session.

With many big-name streaming services putting up prices but perhaps failing to properly remunerate their artists, Bandcamp is a great way of giving something back (while getting quite a while you're at it).

How to choose the best free music app for you

Most major music streaming services have a free tier, barring Tidal (unless you're lucky enough to live in the US), Qobuz and Apple Music, and while free services inevitably include adverts and have more limited functionality and audio quality than their paid-for stablemates, they're still pretty tempting.

Keep your ear to the ground and you'll often find one, two, three, or even six-month free (or almost free) deals on certain streaming service's paid-for tiers too, to try the sonic goods before you buy. Just remember when your trial starts and finishes, as most will automatically renew and become paid memberships once they end, rather than simply terminating automatically and leaving you back where you started.

We would always nudge you towards better quality streams (for which you'll pay a fee), but if you're only an occasional listener (or on a very strict budget), free music streaming services also make more sense than paying for something you barely use.

How we test free music apps

We have state-of-the-art testing facilities in London and Reading, where our team of experienced, in-house reviewers test the majority of hi-fi and AV kit that passes through our door.

Of course, where streaming services are concerned, a dedicated listening facility isn't always necessary, as you need just a laptop or a smartphone. However, we make sure to test each streaming platform with a variety of speakers and headphones, and them using across iOS, Android and desktop apps.

What is important in our reviewing process is that each service is compared to the best in its price and class. What Hi-Fi? is all about comparative testing, so we keep our Award-winners nearby to enable unbiased comparisons between new services and ones we know to have performed highly in the category.

We are always impartial and do our best to make sure we're hearing every proposition at its very best, so we'll try plenty of different types of music and give each service extensive listening time.

It's not just about sound quality, of course. If a service has unique and noteworthy features (including smart skills, playlist curation or the option to tip your favourite acts) we'll ensure part of our testing involves trialling the claims made by the platform.

All review verdicts are agreed upon by the entire team, rather than an individual reviewer, to eliminate any personal preference and to make sure we're being as thorough as possible. There's no input from PR companies or our sales team when it comes to the verdicts or star ratings in our reviews.

FAQ

Recent updates

• January 2026: We've updated some of the statistical information, including pricing for various paid services to reflect recent price increases.
• December 2025: We've updated some of our copy in line with recent trends and looked ahead to the world of streaming in 2026.
• October 2025: Updated our Spotify entry in line with our refreshed review and the release of Spotify Lossless.
• September 2025: Performed a full-copy check to ensure all information is up to date.
• July 2025: Checked copy to ensure all information is up to date.
• May 2025: No new entries, but checked copy to ensure all information is relevant and up-to-date.
• March 2025: Updated our introduction to make it more informative to the reader and update paid subscription prices in line with recent hikes.
• January 2025: Ensured that all copy is up-to-date for the start of the new year.
• October 2024: Added Bandcamp to our list of the best free music apps and updated our copy to include changes or additions to existing services.
• August 2024: We replaced the static images with multi-image galleries and went a little more in-depth regarding the sound quality of the various services below.
• March 2024: Amended copy to reflect the fact that Tidal is removing its free tier service.

MORE:

Happy to pay? These are the best music streaming services

More interested in classical? Here's everything you need to know about Apple Music Classical

Want the best high-quality streaming? Read our Tidal review and our Qobuz review

Just a few years ago, 4K HDR television was a product that belonged to the future.

Now, more and more reasonably priced TVs are getting the same feature list as the blow-your-bank-account sets – and although you shouldn’t expect the same performance, it does mean the middle-of-the-road is getting higher quality.

With that in mind, enter Sony’s latest KD-55XE8596. At just over the £1000 price mark, this TV gives you a natural, enjoyable picture… but it falls short of the heart-pumping excitement that its spec-list suggests.

Features

That spec-list includes 4K Ultra HD resolution at 3840 x 2160 (four times that of Full HD), high dynamic range support in both HDR10 and Hybrid Log Gamma (HLG) varieties, and full support for the BT.2020 colour space.

Dolby Vision (HDR with dynamic metadata) is missing, but very few TVs (really only LG’s 2017 OLEDs) boast that out of the box, let alone TVs at this Sony’s end of the affordability spectrum.

In short, all of the specs are here so that, provided you’ve paid for the respective subscription service or 4K discs, you’ll be able to watch content at pretty much the pinnacle of what’s currently available.

Largely, that involves Amazon Video and Netflix, the latter of which gets a dedicated button on the Sony remote (as does Google Play), but there are plenty of other on-demand services, including catch-up content from the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Demand 5.

MORE: Hybrid Log Gamma explained: the new HDR TV broadcast format

The XE8596 has YouView functionality so you can scroll back through seven days of broadcast content. While it’s not the smoothest service, and takes some time to load titles when scrolling back quickly, it’s preferable to the standard guide.

It feels odd having so many menus to contend with – the telly’s Android operating system feels like it has multiple layers of smart menus with YouView, Sony, and Google’s software built on top of one another – but you soon get used to this slightly disjointed approach.

MORE: How to set up your TV

As you’d expect from an Android TV, you also get Chromecast built-in, so you can stream content from compatible apps on iPhones and any content from an Android phone.

This also gives it compatibility with a Google Home, should you desire to shout at a speaker in order to get your favourite shows on-screen.

Even if you don’t have a Home speaker the voice control on the remote means you can still yell at the telly, although in reality it’s not any faster or more precise than good, old-fashioned buttons.

Clicking through the Android Nougat OS is nice and responsive, but it the interface still isn’t as clean or snazzy as Samsung’s Tizen operating system or LG’s WebOS.

MORE: What is Ultra HD TV and 4K TV? Everything you need to know

Build

Aesthetically, the XE8596 looks perfectly respectable. It’s not the thinnest or flashiest looking flatscreen, but the thin layer of silver around the edge of the bezel is a nice touch and, on the whole, the TV has a minimalist appearance that’s both appealing and unobtrusive.

There is an issue with stability, though; the TV rocks back and forth on its stand when knocked, and even standing still it has a slight lean to it. We would suggest keeping it out of the way of energetic children or pets.

You won’t have to worry about anything getting caught up by cables, though, as the XE8596 has Sony’s ‘cable-less’ design, which means you can tuck the cables into gaps in the legs of the stand to avoid tangling and increase neatness.

And four HDCP 2.2 HDMI connections means there are more than enough to cope with your set-top box, games console, and Blu-ray player.

MORE: Best video streaming services 2017

Picture

The XE8596 is a good performer but doesn’t quite set the standard at this level. Let’s start with the positives: this Sony has a good handling of both blacks and whites – and every shade in between.

We load up the Planet Earth II Ultra HD Blu-ray and the difference in the relatively grey shadow’s gradation when the sun breaks over the red rocks of the Arabian peninsular is really rather impressive.

MORE: HDR TV – What is it? How can you get it?

Similarly, the XE8596 has a surprising sophistication when it comes to mountain snow. The white ice under the crows, as they steal food from eagles, is satisfyingly nuanced, able to show the differences in tone where other televisions would show pure white.

It’s a mighty realistic and natural picture all-round - one that avoids exaggeration and enhancement - and in many ways that’s to be applauded.

The XE8596 is pretty detailed too; changing to John Wick: Chapter 2, there’s a good amount of insight to the beads of sweat on Abram Tarasov’s (Peter Stormare) glistening forehead as he realises that Wick is assaulting his chop shop, and the texture of his rough beard comes across nicely.

Even without Sony’s ‘Motionflow’ motion smoothing turned on, the XE8596 handles Wick’s rapid-fire punches and brutal fight scenes with ease. Putting it in ‘Standard’ mode makes the action a little slicker, improving the movements without going overboard, but our advice is to try it out and see if it’s to your tastes.

This TV has trouble when playing a lower quality standard definition broadcast. Blu-rays are a little noisy, while standard definition programming is smooth and clean, but not particularly detailed or sharp – other TVs are capable of making more of your low-res content.

It does well enough for a relatively large screen at a relatively low price, though, and the picture is watchable no matter what you throw at it.

But while the XE8596 should be applauded for its realism and balance, it’s let down by a lack of punch, and that hampers its HDR performance.

In Life of Pi, the popping, luminescent glow of the islands, the gargantuan whale that jumps over Pi’s boat, or the roaring oranges of Richard Parker the tiger, are muted and reserved.

Fiddling with the ‘Live Colour’ or ‘Adaptive Contrast’ settings can coax a bit more life out of the television, but only a bit – and at the expense of crushing the subtlety in the dark details.

For everything that isn’t HDR, the Sony’s comparative lack of punch is far less of an issue. Play The Lego Batman Movie and the levels of contrast and brightness are what you’d expect of a good LCD TV fed SDR content.

MORE: 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray – all the 4K discs on sale and coming soon

Sound

Sound quality on the XE8596 is decent, but nothing special. Going through its sound modes, we find that ‘Standard’ suits most everyday viewing, while the slightly more expansive ‘Cinema’ setting is worth a go if you’re watching something more action-packed.

Dialogue is quite clear, and on the whole it’s decently detailed, but it is limited when listening to explosive soundtracks.

During John Wick: Chapter 2, when Wick eliminates his targets during a concert, the bass beats aren’t dug into much, and there’s a hint of harshness to treble-focused effects like smashing glass.

That said, you can push this television loud without hearing much distortion, and the soundstage is pretty wide. It’s a decent sound, but we’d recommend pairing the TV with a soundbar for the complete experience.

MORE: Best soundbar and soundbase deals 2017

Verdict

The Sony has a good handling of detail, a mature picture that never over-exaggerates what you’re watching, and it tracks both quick and slow movements with ease.

But, while it ticks all of the spec boxes, the XE8596 lacks the brightness and contrast to really make the most of HDR content.

If you’re buying a new TV in 2017 it will probably be with HDR in mind. But with the XE8596, you could well end up wondering what all the fuss is about, because on this TV the step-up from SDR to HDR is a very small one.

True, the Sony is pretty affordable for a 55in 4K TV, but we think it’s worth spending a little bit more or even going for a slightly smaller telly in order to get the high dynamic range you deserve.

See all our Sony reviews

YouView may soon get Amazon Alexa support, meaning you would just have to speak to control your set-top box.

Amazon recently opened up the Video Skill API (application programming interface) to developers of all TV apps. YouView is one of the companies that has announced it will trial the technology - more should jump on board soon.

If it does roll out Alexa, anyone with a YouView box and an Amazon Echo speaker will be able to control their set-top box with voice commands. For example, say "Alexa, change the channel to BT Sport 1" and Amazon's helper will do your bidding. Just saying "Alexa, play EastEnders" should do the trick, too.

At the moment, devices containing Alexa are Echo, Echo Dot and Echo Look speakers.

MORE: 25 Amazon Echo tips, tricks and features

"We constantly challenge ourselves to identify key technology that will improve our TV service, and allow our customers to easily access the full range of content available on the platform," said Aleks Habdank, managing director of TV at TalkTalk, a partner of YouView.

"Amazon Alexa is a prime example of the kind of innovation that we look to invest in, and [we] are incredibly excited to see the results of this partnership."

Amazon announced the Video Skill API - which lets developers add Alexa functionality to their apps - in a blog post.

"Companies can now teach Alexa how to interface with their video content and services," it wrote. "This means you can build experiences that allow your customers to easily find and consume video content without invoking a specific skill. For example, a customer could say 'Alexa, play Manchester by the Sea' without specifying a provider or device."

There's no word on when Alexa will come to YouView, or other TV services.

MORE: BT TV Ultra HD YouView box review

Ultra HD broadcasting may for some time be basking in newness and the promise of more to come, but the concept probably seems more habitual to the guys at BT.

The communications company launched The World’s First 4K Channel (BT Sport Ultra HD) back in 2015, following which came our four-star review of its debut Ultra HD YouView box. And now the TV service has had an update.

MORE: 4K TV service shoot-out - BT TV G5 vs Sky Q v Virgin TV V6

MORE: BT Ultra HD YouView box review

Content

That said, BT’s 4K content scene hasn’t blossomed much since, which has to change soon if the company is to remain competitive. After all, Sky now has sport in Ultra HD as well as a movie library.

With BT, football remains the main draw, with UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, FA Cup and Premier League matches (the latter all in Dolby Atmos too) joined by Aviva Premiership Rugby matches for eggball fans, MotoGP races for petrolheads and squash coverage for… well, those who like squash.

While Sky’s Store has rentable movies in UHD, the only Ultra HD content available on demand through the BT Store is past live sports events, previously shown on the Ultra HD channel.

There’s Netflix for 4K goodness too, of course, accessible directly from the G5 box to subscribers of the streaming service’s £8/month Ultra HD subscription.

MORE: What is Ultra HD TV and 4K TV? Everything you need to know

It’s BT’s top-tier Total Entertainment package (£18/month) that you’ll first and foremost want to sign up for, though, which unlocks its 4K offering as well as expanding Freeview’s channel list to 141 by adding the likes of BT Sport, Comedy Central, MTV Music, and nine more (Disney, Nickelodeon etc) to keep the kiddiewinks happy.

That’s not half as many as Sky, however, which can offer over 350 channels (including some exclusive ones, such as Sky Atlantic), and still some way behind Virgin’s 250. You can add more channels, including Sky Movies and Sky Sports 1 and 2, but it’ll cost you, of course; £13.50 and £27 per month, respectively.

BT fights back on the exclusive front with AMC HD – the US studio behind Mad Men, Breaking Bad and The Walking Dead – so fans of the latter can eye up the superb zombie make-up in more gory detail.

Of course, that’s without factoring in on-demand content, of which there’s plenty.

Interface

As BT’s interface uses the YouView platform – a free service that uses the internet to bring Freeview and on-demand services under a single roof – you can feast on all the UK TV catch-up services (BBC iPlayer, ITV Player, All 4 and Demand 5) as well as Netflix, BT Player, Now TV and UKTV Play streaming services.

Having been treated to a very welcome lick of paint since we last saw it, the more-functional-than-flashy interface is built around an intuitive and unobtrusively translucent, over-the-top menu that pops up from the bottom of the screen.

That’s where you’ll find the usual menu fare: TV guide, catch-up services, recordings and BT Store. Far from requiring a Complete Idiot’s Guide, the platform is easy to navigate and painlessly quick, from remote-control response to app loading times.

Naturally, you also get all the benefits of YouView: a seven-day roll-back EPG with plenty of filtering options to highlight HD and Ultra HD channels, as well as a universal search bar that works across all the platforms; search ‘Breaking Bad’, for example, and it brings up both Netflix and BT TV Store results, helpfully showing what’s free to watch and what isn’t.

We feel it our duty to flag its lack of flagging for 4K on-demand content, however, as right now the only way to find it is by using the search bar.

Multi-room

The main limitation right now lies with BT’s ‘TV Everywhere with Extra Box’ multi-room option, the bomb drop being that you can’t add a second 4K box – a blow for those looking to take advantage of the growing affordability of 4K tellys for a bedroom.

BT has said it’s something it is considering further down the line, but for now you can only add a 500GB YouView+ box for £99 upfront and an extra £5 a month. Sky and Virgin’s multi-room solutions are a lot more comprehensive and versatile.

Customers taking out the Total Entertainment package do get access to the BT TV app (for iOS and Android), though, which allows the watching of select live (and on-demand) TV channels (BT Sport, Comedy Central and MTV among the most significant) on a computer, tablet or smartphone, with up to two separate devices registered at the same time, so look past hygiene concerns and you can watch TV on the toilet.

Design

In a telly culture spearheaded by streaming and both online and offline on-demand programming, recordings may have become a secondary consideration.

Still, with 1TB of memory the box can store recordings of up to 600 hours of SD TV, 250 hours of HD TV and 60 hours of Ultra HD TV.

Almost identical to the last Humax-manufactured BT box we saw, the G5 shares the compact easy-to-house guise of its predecessors and rivals, shorter albeit wider than the Virgin V6 but not quite as letterbox-thin as the Sky Silver.

As if a tribute to Stan Laurel, the remote is tall and slim, with a foolproof button layout and helpfully big, coloured menu keys.

There’s Ethernet and HDMI out, optical out, USB in and two tuners. There’s also Dolby Atmos compatibility for watching BT’s aired Premier League matches in the surround-sound form. Support for Hybrid Log Gamma (HLG) – the broadcasting HDR format backed by the BBC – is on BT’s future-proofing roadmap – good news when content finally arrives.

MORE: Hybrid Log Gamma explained - the new HDR TV broadcast format

Picture

If HLG ends up being as impressive as the other HDR formats we’ve seen (and the trials suggest it will), that’ll no doubt mean brighter, more nuanced colours.

But right now, as we boot up the Sony KD-49XE9005, we’re pleased with the G5 tuner’s palette and general picture-quality performance. Our only gripe is with the built-in Netflix app, which we find extremely laggy and jittery on a number of shows.

The live channel and on-demand content fare much better; on the BT Sport Ultra HD channel we watch Exeter take on Harlequins live, and then catch up with Bath versus Wasps.

Both streams are very sharp and flicker free with no lag, even during fast play. It offers a clear improvement over the Full HD channel, and has us crossing our fingers even tighter for more, and more diverse, content.

Let’s be honest, though, high-def programmes are what we’ll mostly be ogling for some time yet. It takes a middle spot in the rankings on this front, smidgens softer and less tantalizing than Sky’s picture, but with a realistically restrained palette that’s not as drab as Virgin’s.

MORE: BT Sport Ultra HD: What is it? How can you get it?

Sound

BT has, at the time of writing, something Sky and Virgin don’t: Dolby Atmos content, which, aside from a promising-sounding sneak preview at a BT-held event, we haven’t fully gotten our ears around.

As for stereo and 5.1 presentations, though, we can continue our praise confidently.

Again a middle-sitter between BT’s two biggest rivals, its clearer, more insightful and up-for-it presentation is preferable to Virgin’s (even if it is harder and thinner), but Sky tops the ranks with greater expression.

MORE: 5 things we learned watching BT Sport Ultra HD with Dolby Atmos

Pricing

Like with Virgin’s V6 box, the G5 box and Total Entertainment package requires you to take out BT’s Infinity fibre-optic broadband, which has a maximum 76Mbps speed (although the ‘standard’ is 52Mbps) and, for unlimited data usage, starts from £37.50 a month and requires a £50 activation fee.

£65 may seem like a grand grand total to part with each month, but actually begins to look very reasonable when you consider Sky’s most basic 4K TV-only package is £54. Of course, if you factor in extra boxes and channel add-ons, that figure could well enter three figures.

The box itself is £250, for which there’s an optional £50 installation cost.

MORE: Virgin V6 4K set-top box review

Verdict

If you find Sky Q too expensive and aren’t thrilled about paying out for a Virgin box that doesn’t have any of its own 4K content, you may find a happy medium with BT.

It goes half of the way to match Sky Q’s modernity, and is on a par with its 4K offering (where sport is concerned, anyway) for a lower cost.

And hey, if you’re in the niche club of footie fans with a Dolby Atmos set-up, and are desperate to make the most of it, this could be the most compelling TV option there is.

Get BT TV here

See all our BT reviews

The 'next-gen YouView' aims to get you to your content quicker, not only by improving the speed and responsiveness of the service, thanks in part to the adoption of a new HTML5 infrastructure, but also through various new shortcuts on the interface.

We’ve always liked YouView. Since the service’s launch in 2012, its dogged bringing together of Freeview TV, on-demand services and PVR functionality under one subscription-free umbrella has provided a flexible and convenient way to enjoy thousands of hours of live, recorded and catch-up programming. For free.

We found it possible to like it even more when it started supporting Ultra HD broadcasts and 4K content from Netflix. Now YouView is aiming to improve the user experience.

The ‘refresh’ is heralded by YouView's move to a Cloud-based infrastructure, supposedly making it quicker to implement new services and improve integration and consistency across its multiple device platforms.

YouView's CEO, Richard Halton, says: “Our move to the cloud gives us the opportunity to make large scale changes, add functionality and enhance features in days or weeks, rather than the months or years it can take for other traditional TV platforms to do the same”

That’s not exactly going to hit users in the face the minute the update has completed, but what will is the improved user interface. While it’s not a radical departure design-wise – the interface more in receipt of a facelift than facial reconstruction – steps have clearly been taken to enhance the user experience.

While the full-page EPG remains largely unchanged, the pop-up over-the-top menu that takes up the lower third of the screen is now translucent – i.e. less intrusive.

It’s now more visual, with images for every bit of content in the menus, and little touches, such as making the playback bar easier to scroll through and revealing the whole titles of programmes when hovering over them in the guide, helping to make navigation that much simpler.

MORE: Best set-top TV boxes

The loading time of BBC iPlayer has also supposedly been reduced - YouView claims from up to 20 seconds to just a few.

There are new content shortcuts, too. A new tab in the menu, ‘My TV’ (formerly ‘MyView’), is a shortcut to recorded programmes, and where the brand plans to further improve its content discovery offerings in future.

The service currently powers set-top boxes like the Humax DTR-T2000, plus TalkTalk and BT’s TV offerings, and is a feature of Sony's 2015 and 2016 TVs. The roll-out should be coming across the service’s 2.5 million connected devices, the idea being that no boxes (even the very first ones) are left behind.

And YouView says customers can rest assured that the update will deliver the new interface without deleting any programmes or settings.

The update may not be worthy of the phrase ‘Christmas come early’, but it looks like a step in the right direction for YouView. We look forward to bringing you a full review soon.

MORE: BT 4K YouView box

Ultra HD broadcast TV has finally arrived, and BT is first past the post with its BT Sport Ultra HD channel.

We watch the Premier League match between Manchester United and Newcastle and even a dreadful performance from both sides looks eye-poppingly marvellous on the screen.

Picture

This is what a hawk must feel like. The level of detail and clarity is remarkable. Not only can you make out the individual beads of sweat on Bastian Schweinsteiger’s brow – you can count the lines on the shirt of a Toon fan’s shirt 50 yards behind.

Then there’s this year’s hideous Premier League ball. Even during wide shots, it’s easy to make out its splashes of orange, spinning in the grass. It’s a stable image too, the super-slow pans show barely a hint of judder.

It’s not just a little sharper than regular HD, it’s a huge step up.

Granted, the regular HD broadcast isn’t the best we’ve seen, but the UHD performance is next-level stuff. Once you’ve sampled UHD, it will be very hard to go back.

MORE: 5 things we learned watching BT Sport Ultra HD

Features

What about the hardware? BT continues its partnership with Humax, who actually build the box. Despite all the BT branding and an appearance that fits in with BT’s routers (everything looks like a 1995 modem) the device’s real name is the Humax DTR-T4000.

Essentially, the hardware is the same as every Humax YouView box we’ve reviewed. It’s a set-top box with a built-in hard disk, which lets you record broadcast programming.

This unit has 1TB of storage, which we’re told is good for 60 hours of UHD content. That translates to 250 hours of HD recordings, or 600 hours of standard definition. Operation is a swift, stable affair, although start-up time is very long if you have ‘eco mode’ activated.

MORE: BT Sport Ultra HD: What is it? How can you get it?

The software is where the fun is. YouView’s interface is full of features, lovely to use and nice to look at too. For newcomers, YouView is a free service that uses the internet to bring Freeview and on-demand services under a single roof.

Regular broadcasts work alongside a bunch of popular apps: BBC iPlayer, ITV Player, All 4, Demand 5, BT Player, Now TV, UKTV Play, Sky Store, Quest and S4C – with Netflix coming later.

You get a clever electronic programme guide that lets you scroll back and forth by seven days. Seen something you missed? If it’s tied to an app (say, BBC iPlayer for The Great British Bake Off), you’ll be taken straight to it. You can also pause, rewind and record live TV, as well as set timers to schedule recordings.

What does BT bring to the party? Extra channels, including BT Sports 1 and 2, BT Sport Europe and BT Sport ESPN, but the main course is channel 434, where you’ll find UHD content.

MORE: Has BT Sport HD dropped in quality after Ultra HD launch?

Ease-of-use

But unfortunately, you can’t just buy a BT Ultra HD YouView box and watch 4K straight away. Firstly, you must be a BT Infinity subscriber, and you’ll need a line with a minimum download speed of 44Mbps.

Then you’ll have to subscribe to the BT Entertainment Ultra HD package, yours for £15 per month, on top of the standard £17.99 a month line rental, £44 engineer installation fee, and £50 for the box.

Newcomers to BT will get the box for free, but they need to pay an activation fee of £35 for Infinity, as well as a Home Hub delivery charge of £6.95.

Then you’ll want a compatible 4K TV. That’s a set of 2160p resolution, with an HDMI 2.0 connection that supports HDCP 2.2 content protection – many older sets won’t cut it. Of course, you can watch downscaled 4K on a regular HD TV, but you won’t get your money’s worth.

All set? The final thing you’ll need is patience. Only certain events are being filmed and broadcast in UHD. It’s mostly football – Premier League, UEFA Champions League and FA Cup matches.

There’s also Aviva Premiership rugby and the NBA basketball match from London. In between, you get endless adverts for UHD and for BT.

Verdict

Is it worth it? Yes if you’re a sports fan with an existing BT Infinity subscription. Yes even if you’re not, but desperately want to watch UHD TV right now.

No doubt about it – this is most accomplished live TV you can watch right now, and BT deserves a gold star for being the first to deliver it.

Our only concern is the amount of money you have to spend for what is currently a very limited amount of content. If BT can give us more to watch, we can reconsider that fifth star.

See all our set-top box reviews

MORE: Best 4K TVs 2015

How many remote controls do you have? Too many, probably. Our test room coffee table has so many remotes it barely has space for a breakfast bagel.

That is the one issue with having a YouView box: the service is lovely but it’s a separate offering from the TV. You end up straddling two remotes before inevitably losing one to the gods of the sofa.

Sony’s 2015 TV range marks the first instance where Youview has been available natively, as part of a TV itself. No extra box. No extra remote. What Hi-Fi? was invited to Youview HQ to see it first-hand.

What we saw running was a fully functioning YouView service on a Sony Bravia TV. We're told it’s still a work in progress, but it looks slick enough to be ready.

MORE: Sony adds YouView to its 2015 TVs

Sony YouView: operation

Start up the TV and you’re greeted by the default Android TV interface. Press ‘live TV’ and you’re off. It’s as simple as that, and entirely integrated. There’s no menu to scroll through, no walls to climb.

You'll find a YouView tile in the Apps section, but YouView is keen to stress that it’s not an app like Netflix or Amazon – it’s simply another shortcut into what is already baked into the TV’s operating system.

The Guide button immediately brings up the YouView EPG (electronic programme guide), which lets you scroll back seven days to see what you missed.

There’s even a miniguide, a small pop-up bar that appears when you press the directional keys during live TV. All the metadata and related programmes show up, just like they would on a standalone YouView box.

MORE: See our YouView set-top box reviews

Sony YouView: apps!

The most exciting thing about having YouView in a Sony TV is that it brings the UK’s four main catch-up services to the party. Currently Android TV is a very sparse service, and now it can spring to life with BBC iPlayer, ITV Player, All 4 (formerly 4OD) and Demand 5.

These players are an inherent part of the YouView service, and are as well integrated as the rest of the service. Whatever you choose in the EPG, if available, will open in the relevant player, without pause and without having to exit to load up a separate app. Essentially, the core YouView service has been transplanted lock, stock and barrel into the Sony Bravia ecosystem.

Sony YouView: things to do

Of course, there are fancier secondary features that we’d like, and both Sony and YouView are keenly aware of this. First on the to-do list is to enable a sort of native PVR function, where you can connect a hard drive and record programmes off YouView.

Then there’s talk of integrating extra apps into YouView’s search function, so you could search across, say, both iPlayer and Netflix at the same time.

YouView’s priority has been getting the core service right, but it is confident that it can make these extras work on Sony TVs. Our impression was that there is a mutual desire to have a fully functional and symbiotic relationship. The platform is built with upgrades in mind, and YouView on Sony Bravia is bound to improve.

How do you get it? Firstly, you’ll need one of the select Sony TVs from the 2015 range: X94C, X93C, X90C, S85C, X85C, X83C, W85C, W80C and W75C.

Then you’ll need an update, which takes the default TV interface and gives it the YouView makeover. This update, Sony says, will come in ‘Summer 2015’. As soon as it arrives we’ll be sure to have a good play and post our verdict right here on whathifi.com.

The design of the YouView + takes its inspiration from BT’s Home Hub routers. It looks like a modem from the 1990s with a bunch of flashing lights, and is about the size of a hardback book.

BT has stamped their logo on it, too, yet this is a Humax box; in terms of functionality, it is almost identical to the Humax DTR-T2000.

Features

In case you haven’t tried it yet, YouView is a free service that uses the internet to bring Freeview and on-demand services to one place.

You can pause, rewind and record from more than 70 live TV and radio channels. The electronic programme guide (EPG) can scroll forwards seven days, so you can set recordings for when you’re not around.

It’s also possible to roll back seven days and see what you missed. Here’s the clever bit; some programmes are tied to the main on-demand services: BBC iPlayer, ITV Player, 4oD and Demand 5. Spot something you missed? Click on it, and the appropriate catch-up app will open, and the programme will play.

The chronological EPG is a neat way of showing what you missed. It’s easier than opening up each catch-up app individually, although you can do that too.

Other apps include Sky’s Now TV (subscription film and TV streaming), Sky Store (pay-as-you-go films), Milkshake! (for kids), S4C (in Wales), STV (in Scotland) and UKTV (content from Dave, Really and Yesterday).

Don’t worry if you don’t know which channel or app is custodian of a particular programme. The search function is universal, and applies to all sources.

Just type in the name of the programme you want to watch and you’ll be told which service offers it. There’s a good amount of information for programmes, and it’s nice to see related programmes, in case you need advice.

That’s what you get from the vanilla YouView service. What else does the BT YouView+ box offer? That depends if you’re a BT customer. If not, you’re essentially getting a Humax DTR-T2000.

Build and design

There’s a 500GB hard disk, which can store up to 300 hours in standard definition, or 125 hours in Full HD. Twin DVB T2 HD tuners mean you can record one channel while watching another, or record two at the same time.

Picture and sound performance is on par with the Humax: clean, sharp, punchy, and entirely at the mercy of your reception. If you get good TV reception normally, you’ll do well here.

At the back, there are connections for aerial pass-through. Outputs include one each of HDMI, digital optical, scart and RCA. Internet is through a single ethernet socket: there’s still no wi-fi.

There’s a USB port, but it doesn’t seem to serve any particular function. The system interface, as expected, is what as you’d get on the Humax, and just as speedy.

It’s a neat, intuitively laid out system menu that shows you the settings, recordings, and apps.

Subscription plans

So, the BT difference: if you’re on BT Broadband and BT Infinity, you get the BT Sport app. That gets you live streams of BT Sport 1, BT Sport 2, and ESPN, as well as BT Sport on-demand video.

You also get the BT Player app for on-demand movies and TV shows. There are also various options you can subscribe to: BT Sports in HD, Sky Sports, Sky Movies, and extra channels like Discovery and Fox.

You have to pay extra for these, with prices starting at £3-per-month, but there’s no annual contract. Is it worth it? We think so, especially if you’re a sports fan. You get the box for free on contract.

At the time of writing, prices start from £10-per -month, plus £15.99 monthly line rental and £30 activation charge. If you’re already on a BT landline, upgrading is a no-brainer.

Verdict

If you’re not with BT, it’s still a good offering. You can get the box on its own for around £175, which is a great price for the core YouView experience.

Harder, better, faster, stronger could summarise the Humax DTR-T2000.

Rather than doing something entirely new, Humax has sprinkled tiny improvements all over its YouView box. After all, why throw out something that works?

This year’s DTR-T2000 is not very different from last year’s Award-winning DTR-T1010 - but it’s certainly better.

MORE: Awards 2014 - Best set-top boxes

For the uninitiated, YouView is like Freeview on steroids. It’s a free service with access to more than 70 TV and radio channels, but that’s where similarities end.

There’s all manner of web-based services on tap, too. The box accesses your broadband to get content from the major catch-up services. These are integrated with the electronic programme guide (EPG), which allows you scroll back seven days.

Simply browse the listings, pick something you missed and the corresponding catch-up service will load. The Great British Bake-Off, for instance, will bring up the BBC iPlayer app.

There’s also the ITV Player, 4oD and Demand 5. Other apps include Sky’s Now TV (subscription film and TV streaming), Sky Store (pay-as-you-go films), Milkshake! (for kids), S4C (in Wales), STV (in Scotland), and UKTV (Dave, Really and Yesterday).

It’s fine if you don’t want to play catch-up: scroll forward up to seven days and set the box to record upcoming attractions.

Build and design

The T2000 looks very similar to the T1010, but there are a few changes. It’s smaller. The power supply is now an external block, keeping the device cooler, which means no noisy fan – and it’s also primarily made of metal rather than plastic.

Sadly there’s no display to show info on what you’re watching or recording.

But you do get a flap hiding a USB port, which isn’t for end-user use. Instead you need to use the internal hard drive, with 500GB storage, which allows you to record around 300 hours in standard-def or 125 in HD.

There’s no 1TB model, but we wouldn’t be surprised if that appeared. The back of the machine offers standard connections: aerial pass-through, HDMI out (plus scart and RCA just in case), digital optical out, another USB port and ethernet in.

Wi-fi is still missing, though.

Set-up is easy. Plug in the bundled HDMI and LAN cables, add your own RF lead, and power it up. On-screen instructions take care of the rest.

Interface

We’ve always been fans of the YouView interface. It’s neat and nice to look at, with a welcoming blue tint.

Press the ‘YouView’ button on the well-designed remote and you’re presented with settings, apps, recordings and search.

The search function is universal. Just type in the name of the programme you want and you’ll be told the service that offers it.

There’s a good amount of info for programmes, and it’s nice to see related broadcasts in case you need advice. Start-up times vary because of the power-saving ‘Eco Mode’.

Have it set high and the box will go into a deep sleep on standby. Set it to low and it will spring to life in 10-15 seconds (slightly better than its predecessor).

There’s little lag when it comes to flicking through menus. Button presses respond well.

Performance

Video quality depends on the strength and stability of your signal, but if you get good TV reception normally then you’ll be fine.

The tuners do a solid job: standard and HD pictures are clean and detailed, with decent motion-handling and sharply drawn edges. You can record one channel and watch another, or record two channels at once while you watch on-demand content.

On-demand quality is also dependant on connections, but whichever service we used pictures were clear and judder-free.

Verdict

The Humax DTR-T2000 box is better than its predecessor in nearly every way.

Things may have moved on in the last year, with many more TVs getting some catch-up features of their own - along with Facebook and Spotify.

But when it comes to the pure simplicity of enhancing your TV-viewing experience for little outlay, there’s nothing quite like YouView.

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The Humax DTR-T1010 YouView box looks strikingly different to last year’s Award-winning DTR-T1000. Where the old version was black and sleek, this one is silver and sleeker.

And that’s where the differences end: apart from moving one of the two USB ports to the front behind a panel, the specs are identical. Not that this matters. The original Humax box was a corker, and that necessarily remains the case here.

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YouView, for the uninitiated, is a free service that uses your broadband connection to pipe through content from all the major catch-up services. It differs from the regular catch-up apps available on TVs and other peripherals in that the content is far more intuitively organised.

Instead of going into individual apps to find things to watch (although you can do this if you like), you can search them all at once, browse them all at the same time by genre or go back in the electronic programme guide to select them as you would any regular TV show. So that's BBC iPlayer, ITV Player, 4oD and Demand 5, all on one box. Now TV, powered by Sky, is also available.

Set-up

Setting up the Humax DTR-T1010 is a breeze. You’re taken through it by a step-by-step booklet, and all the cables you need (except one for the antenna socket) are included to make life even easier. On-screen instructions guide you through the rest.

The box finds your router and connects to the internet automatically, although it’s ethernet only. We won’t lose too much sleep over this, though, because this is a more stable connection method than Wi-Fi anyway.

Next, set your postcode for local services, then choose a PIN for locking the naughty content and set the Eco-Mode (which greatly affects start-up time) and you’re done.

It’s a far cry from those days of your dad – or maybe even you – laying prone on the living room floor, cursing robustly as he – or you – stabbed at the tiny buttons under the front flap of that new video recorder.

Inside this box is a 500GB hard drive. Pay around £20 more and you can get the 1TB option, which sounds like a good shout to us.

Interface

The T1010’s interface is lovely to use. It looks nice, doesn’t stutter when scrolling and presents a decent amount of information about each programme in the guide. It would be nice to be able to re-order this, though.

The HD channels are way down the list, next to the adult content. That’s correct numerically but it would be nice to have them up at the top next to their counterpart standard-def versions.

Press the YouView button on the well laid-out remote control and you can choose between settings, on-demand content, search and your hard-drive library. We found the search particularly useful: it trawls all the available content, regardless of where it appears, and presents it in one list.

You can also see programmes related to the one you’ve selected, which is great if you aren’t sure what you want to watch.

Picture quality

We’ve no complaints with the Humax YouView box’s picture quality either. Regardless of the service we used, it was clear and pretty much judder-free – although this will obviously depend on your broadband connection.

On the PVR side there are two tuners, so you can record one channel while watching another. Or, for that matter, record two channels while you watch on-demand content. The box even alerts you if a programme you’ve chosen to record in SD is available on a high-def channel, which is nice.

The tuners themselves do a good job. Standard and HD pictures are clean and detailed, with decent motion handling and sharply drawn edges.

Verdict

The Humax DTR-T1010 YouView box doesn’t go in for bells and whistles. You can’t stream content over your network, for example. Nor can you connect a USB stick or external hard drive to the USB ports (they’re marked ‘for future use’ only).

And there are no apps such as YouTube or Facebook. But you know what? We don’t mind. This box does what it does extremely well – and that’s why it easily hangs on to its five-star rating.

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YouView has given Freeview the kick up the backside it needed. With its elegant blending of on-demand content, live broadcasts and your own recordings, it’s bringing a taste of the Sky and Virgin experience to people who don’t fancy handing over a chunk of their paycheck for the privilege.

Humax has been leading the YouView charge with its Award-winning DTR-T1000, and now it’s looking to sprinkle a bit of that magic onto Freesat with this Humax HDR-1000S. Thinking of this as the Freesat version of YouView might be a bit premature, though.

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If the ability to record up to 125 hours of HD content to the 500GB hard drive doesn't sound like enough, then there's a 1TB version for just £20 more.

First impressions are mixed. On one hand the squat, curvy casework is nice,

but the HDR-1000S is rather lightweight and insubstantial.

Despite it being slightly stuttery, the Freetime animation that appears when you first turn the HDR-1000S on is a sign of good things to come. Freetime, you see, is the name given to the new TV Guide, and we have to say it’s rather brilliant.

Press the ‘Home’ button and the programme you’re watching shrinks to about a third of the full screen, with a list of clear menu options in a column on the left and a sample of the highlighted menu’s content at the bottom.

Navigation

That list on the left gives you access to settings, your recordings and the EPG, but our favourite is Showcase: it shows you six picks of what to watch today on the main screen, with a scroll to the right providing suggestions for later in the week and a flick to the left showing you the best stuff that you’ve missed but is available on-demand.

The EPG has the same system: listings for the next seven days to the right, shows from the past seven days on-demand to the left. A click takes you straight to that programme – for people who are used to using an EPG but unsure about smart TV functions this is great introduction.

Content

There is a problem, though: a slight lack of content. BBC iPlayer and ITV Player are both present, but the HDR-1000S is still waiting for 4OD and Demand 5, both of which are ‘expected 2012’.

YouView, by comparison, has all of the above plus on-demand movies from Sky’s Now TV or BT/TalkTalk, depending on which box you go for. On-demand content doesn’t show up in search results either, rather undermining what is otherwise a very useful feature.

Performance

Having said all that, the HDR-1000S is the best Freesat box we’ve tested. It’s a pleasure to use, with all the menus proving clear, colourful and quick to navigate. Picture and sound quality are also supreme – HD is crisp and clean, while standard-def content retains a natural colour balance and avoids fuzziness to impressive effect.

Surround sound audio 5.1 is supplied through the HDMI connection – a feat Sky still can’t manage – and it’s punchy and detailed. You can record one channel and watch another, or record two at once.

Verdict

So if great sound, superb picture quality and one of the most user-friendly TV experiences out there sounds like everything you want from a PVR, the Humax HDR-1000S is the one to get. Just don’t go thinking this is Freesat’s answer to YouView. It isn’t quite that yet.

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