Manhattan T3-R Freeview Play 4K Smart Recorder 500GB

Product Information

There’s not much noise when the Manhattan T3-R is making recordings, though here we spotted its first flaw.

The Manhattan T3-R only sports three tuners, two of which can be used simultaneously to record live programming, while the third lets you watch another channel. As expected, SD channels are more compromised – but, again, what you see is what you’d have viewed live, so no complaints here. I've never used a T3-R but what impressed me was that Manhattan were actively developing and supporting it. My lg tv can for youtube but not recordings and I have an old now tv black box but the youtube app does not support changing playback speed.The casing is the same shape as the T3 but slightly larger, which may affect placement options, and the supplied mains lead could usefully be longer. I had contacted them before, and I repeated my request to provide feedback when I contacted them about a faulty remote, but they completely skipped over it as if I hadn't mentioned it. The significance of this will, to a certain extent, be determined by the size of screen with which you intend to partner this box. I have had theT3-R for a couple of weeks and have been surprised I have not found it a problem even though I previously had the 3 tuner Humax 5000.

I just purchased a T3-R to replace my Humax Youview box which has been getting slow and a bit unreliable. A remote you won’t want to put down The T3•R's learning remote has a spacious, clean layout and sleek, rounded shape that sits perfectly in your hand.

It’s particularly enticing if you want to upgrade your viewing experience but don’t feel the need to invest in a new TV (we can imagine it being partnered with long-serving plasma sets, which seemingly refuse to give up the ghost). Audio visual quality is top-notch, having the ability to stream in 4K from YouTube is welcome, and the Freeview Play interface is on the right side of leading-edge.

In some ways that’s not Manhattan’s fault; the Manhattan T3-R supports 4K resolution and HDR thanks to its compatibility with HDR10 and HLG, but Freeview Play doesn’t yet broadcast any 4K content. I've looked into the HDMI1 input settings on my Bravia where its input is half expecting a video setting that would sort this but there is nothing. Would be great if you can do this on Freeview recordings too (like Tivo V6) but I imagine that is less likely?They issue interim software updates every so often and they be able to advise you on whether there is an update available for your unit. Only downside is as others reported that you have no idea if it's recording as the light on front just stays it's normal blue colour. Packed full of the latest technology, the T3-R features Wi-Fi, a quad-core CPU for lightning-fast performance and support for Ultra HD and HDR (with supported apps compatible TVs). In this on-demand age, the need for time-shifting isn’t what it once was – so can the Manhattan T3-R rekindle our love for series-linking?